Slow Down, Curves Ahead!

I had leftovers cut out from the challenge wallhanging of last year; I found them when it was time to purge that bin of its contents and reassign it to something new. So, what to do with the leftovers? Pitch them? Nah, I decided to put them together and add them to the burgeoning Orphan Block bin. I had never been too excited about the piecing order on the Winding Ways block and tried something new this time. I put together the top and bottom sections and decided to join the block along the gentle "S" curve center seam.

Pin, pin, pin... never too many pins on curves; and slower stitching, let up a bit on that foot pedal!

Voilà!

Voilà  times four! These have now joined the other orphan blocks for a someday quilt.

So, I'm on a roll... plenty of pins and a deep breath; there are more curves just ahead... stay tuned!

Life is Good!

Time Saver?

This is a very basic and traditional block; "Airplane", cut precisely with my new Accuquilt "toy". I just love the die cutter and my mind is spinning with all the great projects I can accomplish in a more precise and faster way. We're rocketing into a new year, 2013 will be here tomorrow! My grandmother told me, when I was too young to understand, that as we grow older time seems to go faster. This memory is so vivid that I remember the exact spot where both she and I were standing at the time; I didn't believe her though.  It's funny to me now how I have remembered this and how much wiser she's become as I have aged. And so, now I have a tool to assist me make more quilts... faster and better. Will I have more time in which to quilt them? Probably not, I'll only find more to do! Will that make a difference? Not one bit!  It's almost unbelievable to me that another Christmas has come and gone; I hold on as tight as I can but the moments, days and weeks still fly by. When I began quilting in 1983 I didn't even own a rotary cutter, I carefully cut my fabric shapes with shears outside the pencil lines drawn around hand-cut cardboard templates. The quilt world has changed enormously in thirty short years; and yet, with all the time saving devices that I accumulate, that one precious commodity still slips away! Today I'm only looking forward. After all, I don't have time to look back! There are more quilts to make, faster and better. I've decided not to blink anymore, it's my resolution.

Happy New Year!

Life is Good!