Creative Roads are Rarely Straight

So in my last post, I had been crocheting squares of scrap yarn with the intention of making an afghan. While working on the squares yesterday, I decided to make them into a bag.

I don't really know why, because I was excited about the idea of a scrappy afghan. The little knotted yarns just asked to be made into a tote. You can find the tote on my Etsy shop:




I love the way this came together. It is not too big and is perfect for summer.


When have you been creating and found your project move you in an unexpected direction?

Bad Math = Opportunity

I used to do well in math. I suppose without constant exposure to geometry, one can lose those skills (like a language learned in high school). So I drew out how I wanted to use a stack of fabric. I counted, I added, I multiplied, I did it all again. This will be great! So I began cutting it all out. I love this Dick and Jane fabric!

I made two sets of open nine-patch blocks, one with blue and light pink and one with green and a red-pink. Hot diggity, the blocks came together nicely! Then it was time to lay out the blocks. At this point, it was probably 11:30pm and I was feeling giddy. I love it when projects are closer to completion than beginning.

Wait a minute. I had done bad math! Or miscounted! Or ahhhgkkghh! I made too many blue and pink blocks and not enough of the green ones. So the alternating pattern I had in mind wouldn't work out! Gah! Should I make the top and bottom just blue blocks? Should I make a throw-size quilt and a baby quilt, instead? (I had intended this to be a twin-sized quilt). It was time to leave the miscounted blocks laying there and go to bed.

The next morning I got up early and took a moment to appreciate the day and drink some coffee. My dad's coffee is near thick enough to have to cut with a pair of scissors. It surely will kickstart anybody's day. With a breath of fresh air in my lungs and caffeine surging through my veins, I decided to do some rearranging. 

Half of me loves the new layout (with a different design within the blocks). Half of me knows this is just a cover up for bad math. Ultimately, I ran out of time to piece these together, so I put them in a box for the next time I venture up to my mom's. Maybe by then, I'll have completely come to grips with the new block pattern and will complete it. (Or maybe I will just go ahead and make two separate quilts).

Qualitative brains, unite!

Scrappin' Log Cabin-Style

My mother brought me a bag of scraps during my time working at an isolated park (in rural, south Georgia... in a cabin). She mentioned I might have time (since I had no cable nor internet connection) to iron some of the pieces out and "do something" with them. She was correct. I had time.

So I ironed and cut. I did not have a sewing machine, so I just laid the blocks out. On the kitchen floor.

Kitchen floors *can* serve as a work space.

Log cabin-esque seemed appropriate, as it could accommodate various sizes AND I was living in a cabin (although, it was not made of logs). I stacked them neatly in a box for when I had a chance to use a sewing machine. (I cut out enough for two quilts... incidentally, I still have a box of scraps in my closet). That chance was at my mom's house a few weeks ago. So I headed up to Cumberland City with my box-o-scraps.

A table, mat, and ironing board prove better work surfaces than kitchen floors.

I pieced the blocks together as I had originally intended, then laid them out into rows (the blocks varied in size, so I laid blocks into rows with similarly-sized blocks). I pieced together the rows, then cut the edges so they could lay together.

TA DA!

The finished product!

It came together quite nicely, if I say so myself. I chose to quilt it with an all-over larger stipple, as I did not want to take away from the funky of the scrapness. So now I have a scrappy, log cabin quilt (that was born in a cabin). I have more pictures over at the Cumberland Quilting Co.'s Etsy page, if you want to take a peek.