Social Distancing Quilt Top Done!

This might actually be the quickest quilt top I’ve ever made. And it’s one of my favorites.

I had planned to finish up this quilt top last weekend since I only had a few horizontal seams left to sew. And those seams are really quick because the blocks are so big — there aren’t a lot of seams to line up. I am a died-in-the-wool pinner when it comes to sewing rows of blocks together. So the fewer intersections I have to manage, the happier I am!

I typically sew rows together in sets of two, then I sew those sets together. And then sew the resulting pieces together. This makes it a little easier to manage all the bulk. I really don’t love maneuvering all that bulk through a sewing machine.

I like to accordion-fold my pinned rows to make a more compact strip that I have to move under my needle.

I had so much fun making this quilt top because the fabrics are just amazing and it went together really quickly! The colors are so vibrant and the large prints are so dynamic. I love that the blocks are irregular — the fabric designs are not carefully organized within each block. I love that it’s very organic and not overly manipulated. I think that’s part of what makes it work.

I’m in the middle of my third week of working from home. It’s been really busy and stressful. My internet the first week worked really well, and the last week it all went to hell. I couldn’t do much of anything that required the internet… which is pretty much everything these days! It took me several days to just reach a person at Centurylink. And finally, I had new internet installed yesterday. I really didn’t like the idea of having to bring someone into my home when I’ve been so careful about staying isolated. But I really didn’t have much of a choice… I have to be able to work.

And my new internet is screaming fast! It’s going to take some time for me to stop being startled by it!

I spent a little bit of time making a few face masks last weekend. I made six masks out of my substantial stack of batik scraps and still don’t have the pattern adjusted to where I like it. I got another pattern from a friend that I’m going to try this weekend. It’s really fitted and has less bulk. The pattern is pretty simple.

When I first told my dogs that I’d be working from home, they thought it would be a lot more fun. Not sure who is having more fun here!

Rico (with that big old ear) is a pretty chill guy. He slept on the bed next to me for a good portion of the day today. Bender, on the other hand, spends a good portion of the day gated out of my makeshift office. He just won’t leave me alone and I can’t concentrate on work with him shoving toys at me and climbing on me. He occasionally gets to make an appearance during a video meeting.

And once in awhile, he’ll take a nice nap.

Sometimes, this is my view as I work….