Relaxation and Wellness War Room

Just a shell haunted by a wraith, trying to get by as human, crafting and generally stealing joy. Cheers.

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Update on the Leaf Pile- it may become a quilt top soon. Eek. Border and backing and quilting next, oh my (and double fucking eek).

The winter blocks are dark and moody, with some light pops just because. I am not sure I'm all the way in love with what I have accomplished- it really didn't come out as i pictured it- but I think it is, something... maybe, crush worthy. It has been fun to make. Still need to play with orientation some more before I sew everything together. Maybe I can still make it better. Maybe I'm still too close to it, and love is coming.

I'm hoping the right border and quilting will help tie it all together? I will try.

Quilt Inspector Jinx is helping choose border fabric and decide how on earth I am quilting this with my little machine....maybe grey all over, swirling like wind? Maybe hidden in the ditch to let the leaves pop? The closer to the end I get, the more overwhelmed I feel by the choices, weirdly. We will see. HERE WE COME, FINISH. (...eventually, don't get up or anything, lol)

Yay.

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Finish for the office.

Pattern by Dirty Cuss Stitch on etsy.

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Update on the Beast. The Leaf Pile.

Chugging along on the Falling Leaves quilt. I am leaning into the paper piecing process. Trying to simplify by chain piecing... It's still messy, wasteful, and time consuming...but definitely getting easier, even repetitive, meditative.

Process: Set up the scraps in piles. Sew seam. Then the next. Sew many seams, all chained together...

Cut chain apart.

Trim seams. Iron seams. Make sure to have your work checked and approved by a qualified Quilt Inspector.

Finger press the next seam while the fabric is warm, and line up the next fabric scraps. Repeat.

Sew many seams. Cut apart chain. Repeat.

Slowly, slowly, gain 4 leaves at a time. Repeat.

Is that perhaps a light at the end of the tunnel? Getting close enough to tell, soon... (!)

I'm starting to play around with orientation of the leaves and I know I will want to mix and soften the transitions between seasons a bit more, still. Looking forward to getting back into winter colors... Feels good to be excited to finish this, again.

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Quilt Inspector Jinx oversaw some work and finally approved some fall blocks. We are making progress again...

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Slowly, surely...

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Leaves update...fall is coming...

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Rolling in batiks like a pig in mud. Delicious.

Time consuming. Needing lots of space and feeling decadent with the shameful amount of waste. Trying to rein that in but paper piecing is just Like That. Making a mess but also leaf blocks like little jewels...

That's the first 2 rows, and the 'spring' tones.

I feel like this project is clearly me punching above my weight class, but I am loving the results, with an acceptable level of hair tearing so far.

'Summer' tones up next!

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Another recent finish.

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A finish.

(Take your medicine) is 11" square and now hanging where I can see it. It makes me happy to look at.

I made this to save the center embroidery somehow, it had a wreath that did not come out as intended, so I cut around it and made this mini wall quilt with the lettering instead. Hey, self-forgiveness is medicine, too.

The tiny sleeve on the back, squee....

Heehee, teeny.

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*~~~\° g r e e n °/~~~*

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(Take your medicine)

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I love paper piecing. And I found a cool little leaf block pattern.

Staying organized is a challenge, and the amount of batik scraps I'm producing already feels downright sinful (note to Future Self: find good small scrap projects holy shit), but I am so in love with the results.

Still waiting on some fabrics in the mail and playing with the background colors, but I think this will keep me busy for awhile. It is a 6" finished block and I've lost my mind and decided to try for my first queen size...for my own bed.

Eeek. This might be a mistake. What am I thinking?? Dare I?

:)

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Quilt finish!

The Teal quilt is very imperfect, only my second machine quilted and it shows, but it's done and I'm pretty sure it will hold together...

Gifted it to it's keeper yesterday, that was a great feeling.

And on to the next project...

Paper piecing and batiks, mmmm.

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Basting the Teal Quilt for machine quilting...

Machine quilting a mostly black background for the first time, and picked a 50/50 cotton/ bamboo to try... happens to be the lintiest batting I've ever used. Lovely otherwise.

Boy do I overstand why black batting is a thing, now. Live and learn, maybe next time.

The Quilt Inspector happens to be a big fan of sticky rollers, so she is having an A+ time this week.

Next up, the Teal Quilt gets binding, and a finish shoot.