Day in the Life of an Idiot

 
Image: a nearly finished (piecing) bow-tie quilt over an armchair.

The other day, when Shawn was looking for a container to bring along on our upcoming road trip to Connecticut, she came across a bow-tie quilt project that she'd left unfinished. I immediately seized on it and said, "Oh! I can finish this up for you!" So, I spent the last couple of days finishing off squares and the like, 

You can tell the ones I finished because many of them are MUCH bolder and brighter than those Shawn did. Also, hers are machine sewn; mine are by hand. (Though I was surprised I couldn't automatically tell just by looking at the front, which was machine sewn. I had to check the stitches on the back to be sure.)

As part of another project, but in the same box, she had dozens of little squares the same size as the center of the tie. I am in the process of sewing those together to make a loop round the edge of this quilt. The neutral blue color is going to be the outer edge as well as the backing. 

Once again, this will only be the size of a small lap quilt. 

But it's yours, if you want it. 

Here's a look at it when it is laid out on the floor:


Same quilt, only more flat.

I'll probably have it all the way finished by the end of next week. If no one wants it, I get another lap quilt. But if it appeals to you, I'm very happy to send it along to someone who will enjoy it. Quilts are light and cheap to send anywhere in the US. International gets more pricey, but we can figure something out, if this is something you really like the look of and you live far away. As always, my caveats are: I have cats. There is, despite my best efforts cat hair sewn into this thing. Second, I am an amateur, so I'm not sure if I would my stitching to necessarily last in a washing machine? You could try it, with the understanding that it could all fall apart. 

Otherwise, feel free to admire it. I do this as a fun hobby, so no need to critique. It will only make me sad and you frustrated because I will not take instruction or advice very well. :-)

 It is time to hone the old apocalypse skills so that I'll have something to trade when the economy collapses.


Image: sewing project laid out on dining room table: colorful velvet strips badly sewn into strips.


To that end, I decided to try my hand at some simple sewing. I should preface this by saying, I don't sew. I have never sewn. I normally would never have pegged myself as a person who would enjoy sewing. HOWEVER, the real story of how this all happened is that when I was visiting Terry Garey regularly I happened to time my visit to the Ladies Sewing Circle and I thought, "Huh, if this happens again, I'd really like to have something to do with them, since it looks so neat, everyone busily doing their crafting."  So, I asked Shawn if we had some DEAD SIMPLE project lying around that needed doing. Some time before Mason was born we started collecting and cutting squares of velvet for a crazy quilt. They had been collecting dust in a plastic bin in the sewing room upstairs, so I said, "Okay sure, so long as no one cares if the seams are straight." Shawn said, "Just make them strong." I thought, okay, why not?

So, I just started pinning and sewing.  Now I have nearly enough strips that I can cover a large portion of the bed:


Image: Quilt squares (some of them sewn together, others just laid out) mostly covering the bed. Cats acknowledging this project as a blanket by instantly lying on it. Void cat blending with black velvet bits.


This weekend was just so lovely that I will confess to having spent much of it on the porch sewing with my wife. Shawn is working on a far more complicated quilt, a style I think she called "grandma's garden" and hexagon shapes, paper backing, and basting?? I don't know. It's above my quilting pay grade.

Shawn is already talking to me about the next crazy quilt project I can tackle once I finish this. I do like the randomness of this project? I have always enjoyed watching colors come together, so there is something really satisfying about seeing which strips go together. I have already made some mistakes. There are dark patches sewn next to dark ones and light ones together (I'd been hoping to be more checker board-like), but this is my learning quilt and so I accept all mistakes as part of the process. The seams are already crooked, so who the hell cares? That's the crazy part of crazy quilt, I've decided.

But, it should keep me occupied while we are all shut in during the coronavirus pandemic. 

For those curious, there are already two reported cases here in Minnesota. We had previously already had two University of Minnesota students in quarantine, but now we have two official cases. One in Ramsey County (my county) and the other in Carver County (the county just south east, I think, of us.) It is what it is.  My wife has been a light prepper for a long time, being part of the Liberal Prepper's Facebook group, so we are prepared to shelter in place for a couple of weeks. 

We are washing our hands and being sensible. What else can you do?