Today is special. I spent four hours with a hands-on lesson in Humility, and it only cost $6.15!
This week I received a little packet with the colorful fabric and directions for the January block of my first-ever Block-of-the-Month Quilt!
Everlyn at Golden Triangle Fabric Center in Starkville is offering two colorways of this BOM. Each month would only cost $2.50 IF I could manage to be at the store in Starkville the second Saturday of each month...and that includes pattern and required fabrics. For January and February, that is not possible, but $5.00 plus shipping is still a fab price for this painful torture fun adventure. *grin*
So, when the little kit came in, I jumped in and cut out the pieces required. That is in the top photo. There was fabric left over, and I was purring over these scraps that I could use in applique. I've been pleasantly day-dreaming how I would organize and store these scraps as I thought about washing and pressing the many scraps we had found in Grandma's house from her lifetime of sewing.
Today, a cold, dreary Saturday afternoon, I took my little Tupperware project box up to the old farmhouse (just 50 steps from the studio), put Mac in Mama's lap, and settled in for chatter and piecing of my first BOM quilt block.
This was going to be easy. After all, I had pieced some on a "Double Irish Chain" and a "Trip Around the World" back in the early 80's. I took to that Mary Sorensen applique class this past summer like a duck to water. I've done oodles of hand-sewing, including just whipping up my own pattern for dog collars and such. Why, I could whip up this simple little "Ribbon Star" block with one eye closed and one hand tied behind my back! (*grin* Have you been this overly-confident before?)
Well, to spare me from reciting the painful details, this little 12 inch square has 94 inches of hand-sewing in it...and I had to rip out and re-hand-sew 66 inches for this one little simple square! Almost four hours of teeth-gritting-determination to get it right "this time".
Mama and Unc, who did not have the pattern and were not following my efforts, could just look at the block across the room and tell me which pieces I had sewn incorrectly. *hummph*
We laughed and giggled over this teriffic lesson in humility. Mama tried to reassure me that even experienced quilters we both knew had to rip out and re-do. (Not 66 inches per 12-inch block, I betcha!) LOL
So, if you know some prissy-priss-miss who needs to have her humility-setting adjusted a little, I know a perfect and inexpensive gift for you to give her! *grin*
Take a look at my growing list of Quilt/Fabric shops in Mississippi. Most of them have Block-of-the-Month projects you can join, and not all of the projects start in January! Many of these Mississippi shops have websites and Internet specials along with teriffic service. Let's support our Mississippi Quilt/Fabric shops!
If you know of a Mississippi Quilt/Fabric shop that I do not have listed, please let me know. This list is a free service for my quilting friends...a one-stop-list with phone, email, address, hours, etc.
Recent Comments