In Preparation...

…for this weekend’s retreat I have all the crunched up, wrinkled, stashed and stored scraps-of-old neatly pressed and cut into strips. It took me days and days to do this! That’s a big relief, as these were only taking up space, and had been doing so for years. The background triangles and foundation papers are patiently awaiting their place in the bin, too. These will be transformed into String-X blocks, hopefully MANY; I’ll take pictures. I am deeply grateful to Laurie Ann for turning my attention to Bonnie’s blog and the multitude of helpful scrap-reduction patterns available there, Bonnie is a wonder! Check it out, her machine quilting is incredible!

The bin of strips is being accompanied on the trip by the fabrics for setting my BOM from last year! The BOM teacher from our LQS just so happens to be going along, she’s in my small group. Several of the Miss Bee Havens are in need of her assistance in setting theirs, too; at least I’m not alone… I hate being the cheese. I’m bringing her a bottle of wine for her trouble! (Not that I am any trouble, of course!)

All of this work, the cutting and preparing for a weekend away can be quite tiring. My studio assistant dozed off during all the excitement. He crawled up and over the sofa arm to gain this vantage point; when your legs are only 6” high you need to do what you can to see the world outside the windows! Living the life of a German guard dog is so rigorous that naps are a required daily activity!

Update on "Can This Quilt Be Saved"? Quiltkeemosabe helped me figure out that the eye needs a place to rest. I cut out some solid red cornerstones and placed them in position on the design wall... (compare in the photo below). I think this helps enormously. Kyle thinks that this project is dated and should therefore be abandoned. My plans are resuscitation; I think it is worth finishing out with a narrow black inner border followed by a wider red one, it deserves a chance at a FIESTA! life.

Life is Good!