Monday, December 30, 2013

Perhaps an Intervention?

Seriously -- what is happening here?

1.  All the Christmas gifts are finished -- no wait!  I have one more pillowcase to do out of dino fabric but have until New Years Eve to get that done.  Oh  -- and I forgot -- I haven't finished binding the dino quilt and that has to be done by New Years Eve, too.
2.  I am knee deep in Bonnie Hunter's Mystery Quilt and determined to stay on top of every clue -- otherwise it will end up in a tote and become a chore to finish at some point. You can see how others are progressing at by clicking here.
3.  I have joined a HST swap using Edyta Sitar's piecing papers and that's due the end of January.

4.  And -- here's the kicker and the need for possible outside help -- I have decided to make a baby quilt (or slightly bigger) out of my African fabrics.  That's not too hard, right.  You only have to cut a bazillion logs and then start assembling them.

Like many of you, I don't really have yardage of African fabrics -- I have scraps that have been given to me or a scrap bag that I picked up from a vendor at a quilt show (usually from the garment district in NYC which means it pieces of clothing or leftovers from clothing).  These pieces are highly irregular - they may be a pocket, a shirt sleeve that was miscut, something that was disassembled and the button cut off.  They really are perfect for logs but each piece has to be individually cut.
For the first time ever, I know that I haven't over cut my logs.  I usually get really focused on cutting and I end up with too many of one size or one fabric.  The design wall is a life saver.  While this is a terrible picture -- you get the idea.  They are sorted by size and right beside my machine.  I can grab and go and make sure that no blocks have duplicate logs. I am hopeful the time spent doing this will save time (and order) on the backend when I start assembling.
This quilt will be 49"x 49" (7 x 7 of 7" blocks).  I say "this quilt" because there could be more.  Not because I have more scraps of African fabrics.  Those have been depleted.  But because I just found out that the young couple that I'm making this for may be adopting more than one child.

I knew they were well on their way to adopting a baby up to 18 months old from Ethiopia.  What I found out this weekend is that if the baby has siblings, they will take up to 3-4 children.  I am ashamed to say that "Oh how wonderful" was my second thought.  My selfish first thought was "holy cow, that could be four quilts -- I don't have enough fabric".  I am guessing my Australian fabrics will have to suffice along with a number of other African reproductions (you can see some of those in the logs I have already cut -- I think I have stayed away from the Australian ones thus far).

Obviously, the quilts could be out of anything but my initial thought was to have a bright baby quilt out of fabrics from the same continent (I doubt any of these scraps are purely Ethiopian).  My second thought is to try to make the appropriate number of quilts out of ethnic fabrics and that may change, depending on how this goes! So, I will make the first one and have it ready and see what blessings they are able to adopt.  They will be in Ethiopia for a few weeks and then come back without their baby(children).  That will give me some time to figure this out.

But -- if I agree to any more swaps, mysteries, gift quilts -- I may need an intervention.  I am on sabbatical from my two hospital quilts a month until March.  I need to use that free time wisely I think.

I hope there are people in your life that are full of the generosity and love that exist in this young couple!

Jan


11 comments:

Missy Shay said...

At first I was wondering why you would have chosen those fabrics for a baby, then when I read the baby was from Ethiopia I realized how perfect it was! If you have to make more quilts, you will definitely need to choose a quicker pattern to make! LOL It looks great BTW! Maybe someone with some African fabric can help you out with a swap, or maybe you can find a good deal on Ebay! I don't have any or I would send you some.

Marly said...

Nice colour choice in the Celtic Solstice.
I love the way your log cabin quilt is taking shape. I hope you find your African fabric; I can't help there I'm afraid.

TLC said...

WOW! That baby quilt will be so cool!

Andee said...

Your mystery quilt is coming along nicely!

Pam said...

4 children! Wow! If they are able to adopt more than the one that you are planning for, please let us know. I'm sure some of us can find some suitable fabrics to send your way for the other quilts of love!!

Sweet Woodruff said...

Those African prints looks wonderful in a log cabin. And that is why i didn't do this mystery, even though I was dying to do it. I haven't finished any of the others. :(

Michele said...

Wow. That is some project you've got on your hands. I so understand the want and need to make a quilt for each of the kids. I wish that I could help but I don't have an African prints, only lots of Asian ones since both of my kids were adopted from Asian countries.

Diane said...

Your log cabin is beautiful! I am sure the family will love and accept any quilt that is given as all of your projects are wonderful!

Marsha Cooper said...

I recently (October) took a workshop with our guild on making log cabins. Now I am chomping at the bit to make blocks like crazy!
I love how there are so many ways to make cool designs with them.

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Dar said...

Your log cabin baby quilt looks wonderful. What a wonderful act of love to adopt so many at one time. I hope they are lucky to get what they want.