A group quilt

My quilt group is making a quilt for charity. The top is a photo of some of the pieces on our little design board. Here is a photo of the 9 patches (6.5") I contributed this week - I did 4 the week before and this week I brought home fabric to make 8 blocks - long legged triangle blocks.
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I am rather liking triangles these days and have sewn all these HST's together since last week.



On my living room floor - Lego cities are springing up. Here is SB's lighthouse/docking station/helicopter launch pad.

Sewing and Lego's - a perfect combination for cold weather.

Scrap quilt finished!

50.5" X 62". Yet to be named... any suggestions??? I was thinking Saphire Sunbeams or Saphire Sunlight, but am not sure.

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I made these blocks last spring(?) with the blue/purple/yellow scraps from my Scrappy Bargello. They are just 9 patches sliced through the middle 2X - you can Google Disappearing Nine-Patch if you haven't seen this type of pattern yet - I just set mine differently than is typical. I only had enough scraps in those colors to make the 12 blocks, but figured I could grow the top a bit with some sashings/borders. So, it is the size that it is.

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Here is a photo of my wedding ring on the pieces so you can see how small they are! It has occurred to me in the past that I would use my fabric much faster if I would just settle on a pattern with bigger pieces, but I do so much love those itty bitty pieces.

Although not my favorite, and a funky size to boot - it is nice to have these blocks all sashed together, bordered and ready to be quilted. Of course, once it is quilted I probably will love it - that always happens. In anycase - School Boy certainly loves, loves, loves it - which means I will probably buy either fleece or flannel for the backing - he likes snuggly and soft fabrics! And he has already demonstrated to me - by crawling under it during construction process - that it truly is the perfect size for him!

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When I have used fleece for backings in the past, I have not used a batting. Fleece usually comes in 60" width so if you get it on sale it is a good bargain for kids quilts backings. I always pay extra for the anti-pill fleece, it is well worth it because it holds up to repeated washings!

Organizing stuff

I don't really"do" New Year's resolutions, but in January 2008 - I decided that I would like to get my stuff more organized. But guess what? I got to thinking - if I don't have the stuff in the first place, I won't have to spend all that time organizing it all. What you are looking at - in this photo - is my floor to ceiling PILES of empty plastic containers. What you don't see is the 4 good sized and 2 smaller cardboard boxes because I threw out the cardboard boxes - obviously I don't need them if I have all these plastic ones! That is all the "stuff" I got rid of this past year. I did a little bit every month.
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All through the year I've been slowly emptying containers. Goodwill, passed on, handed down, some to the dump - all gone. As I emptied a container - I would fit a smaller one into a larger empty one. And put it back from where it came from. This past week I was curious as to exactly how many empty containers I had so after the Christmas tree was put away - I stacked all the empties in the corner. Ta-Da! That is all "stuff" I won't have to organize anymore!
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I still have 3 totes of photos - this coming year I hope to do something about that - whether I weed out the excess or scan the favorites, or buy some digital photo frames - I would like to get those 3 totes down to 1. And I have 3-4 totes of random stuff- those odds and ends (like my high school diploma, old coin collection, costume jewelery, childhood dolls, etc.) I never can seem to bear to part with. This coming year I would like to get those totes down to just 1.
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For the New Year - I am still thinking about what my "goals" will be. I am thinking along the lines of schedules and structure... things that most people don't really like, but in the long run really make your life so much easier. I'll mull it over for another week or so before I come up with a game plan. Whatever I decide - it won't be an overnight process - just like my slow and steady progress in emptying all those containers wasn't. It probably won't be something easy for me either - getting rid of stuff wasn't easy. But I am happier for it. Change isn't always an overnight process, but something that we must make a conscious decision to do, to try, to sometimes flounder, but then remember our goal - get back on track, and keep going. Keep your eye on the prize!