Three-Day Weekend

I think I'm really thankful it's a three-day weekend, with Monday being Veteran's Day...and no school, which equates to "I don't have to do the back and forth school drive.".   With today's traffic, thankful is an excellent word!  At least half of the drivers on the road were out to frustrate me.  It was a conspiracy, I know it was, lol!!

We spent several hours at the financial adviser's again.  That can be frustrating as it seems like some of the same stuff is said over and over again ad nauseum, and a lot of it is Marty's fault. And I'll leave that at that! We signed a lot of papers today.  It reminded me of all the papers you have to sign when you sign for a new mortgage!  There were a few things I didn't have with me today, so will have to gather them and drop off on Monday, and we should be set, at least in the sense of our some day retirement.  Marty still needs a job though, we are not retired and won't be for several years yet.

Yesterday I spent over eight hours sewing 77 blocks for my next project, setting aside Gathered Over Time (G.O.T.) temporarily.  Again, I was sewing 9-patches.  These are larger and use 2.5" squares.  I could have used 2.5" strips, but since I was again pulling from my scrap bins, it was easier to make sure I had the right set quantities by cutting into squares.  I'm posting several pictures of some of the blocks.  Though the 9-Ps are done, they are not the entire block, but rather are the centers of each block, so there will be more revealed in the future.

I really, really loved how the fabrics came together for these blocks.  When I was matching up the sets of five pieces and the coordinating four pieces, I did some planning, instead of going willy-nilly.  I'd put my five or four piece sets together and lay them out separately in rows and then grab a set of fives and coordinate them with something from the fives.  Sometimes they blend well, other times they contrast, and some are just really fun combos with the coordination from the patterns in the fabric.  Here are some picture examples.

Contrasting fabric styles, but the blues are perfectly aligned.

Viny plants along a green pebbled path?

Hmmm, beyond description.  The five-patches remind me of wall-paper from a house I lived in 1980.

Coordination sunflowers and flying objects with contrasting blues.

The solid yellow sets off the vibrant reds and purples and coordinates with yellow-toned ribbon

Blue shades, very calming and simple.

Hmmm, maybe not huge on contrast, but the pinks coordinate, along with flowers, and aligning the "border" in this way draws more interest than had they all gone the same direction.

Loved the houndstooth pattern and it looks great with the greys and black.

Recognize those flying objects? This time they coordinated with colored patchwork squares.

This quilt will be as interesting as an "I Spy" though that is not what it is.  

Off to start the next step.....after these parting shots:

Flame on G.O.T.

Raven is not about to be outdone by Flame, taking her turn on G.O.T.

Ninety-Nine Nine-Patches

Yes, indeed, 99 were required, and yes, indeed, I miscounted.  I was nine short so had to pull out the scrap bins again and find enough for nine more sets to make those last 9-patches.  They are now done, and what I need to do next is select the background white or other neutral.  Here are the 90 stacked all neatly and tidy:

The pattern called for light shirtings, but I don't have such things, and I want to reserve as much variety of my white/cream scraps as I can for Bonnie Hunter's 2013 Mystery Quilt and depending on the size I go for on that, I will need anywhere from 2 to 4.25 yards. 

I calculated I need approximately 1.3 yards of neutral background for Gathered Over Time.  That sounds low, but let's do the math:  80 5" squares (25 sq. in. each) = 2000 sq. inches, which, based on 1512 sq. inches in a yard of fabric (36 x 42) divided into 2000 = 1.327 yds.  Of course, that also needs to take into consideration that I'm cutting from scraps and may not be able to cut the scraps into 5" sq. pieces, so I need to allow for more yardage.  Additionally, I need about a half-yard of white/cream neutral for the setting triangles and corners.  I was thinking I'd keep the background more in the white range, and the setting triangles more towards cream causing them to create a faux border.

I could go ahead and cut the 5" squares (80 of them), but before I could begin sewing, I would have to lay the 9-Ps out on the design wall for placement, and then I'd either have to sew all the blocks into rows, or be very careful making notes and/or stacks as to which block goes where, and I know how I am about that! By the time I'd get back to it, I'd have forgotten what my notes meant!  So now, I'm trying to decide if I want to at least cut the squares, or just stop at this point and begin sewing on the November NewFO, especially since the first instructions for the mystery quilt will come out on 11/29.

I had a foot-warmer last night while I was sitting here playing on the computer after finishing all the sewing I felt up to doing.  

Raven is very good at warming feet, and this new sewing cabinet has a little ledge at the back of the leg well where I can prop my feet and Raven thought it was a good idea to snuggle up :)