Overdid It!

 When my mind is racing with all kinds of ideas, and deadlines are looming, it's hard to rein myself in, and not just sew, sew, sew! When I couldn't wash my hair last night because I couldn't lift my right arm that high, I knew for sure I had overdone it. My repetitive stress injury (RSI) hurts quite often, so I don't always pay attention to it, but I should have listened earlier. I need to lay off the sewing for the next few days, but maybe that will give me a chance to clean up my sewing rooms a bit. If I am good and only use the die cutter, I might even be able to cut up some of the scrap pile that's about to topple out of the basket I toss it in. It depends on how wrinkled the fabric is, ironing is a big no when my arm is like this. 

Usually it's FMQ that makes my RSI act up, but this time it was just hours of piecing by day, then pressing all I had pieced every night. I knew better, I did, I just didn't heed the increasing pain until it forced me to listen. But, hey, I got a LOT done, and a LOT prepped, and both my fabric room and the sewing studio are a mess, so taking a few days off isn't the end of the world, right?

So what did I get done?

I finished the alternate blocks for the sunflower quilt, then started playing around with possible half blocks to "finish the pattern". I decided I liked the half block option, so I got all of those pieced yesterday, finished laying out that quilt, and now it's piled in rows ready to assemble. Now I'm thinking I'll just add a cream border to make the quilt center float. If I want to add a border after that, I'll need to buy something, because the only things I liked in stash I don't have enough yardage for an outer border. I may just skip a darker border. 

While I was working on the sunflower blocks, I started using up some of the leftovers from the quillows I've made. The little four patches finish at 2" so a 16 patch block ends up at 8" and this is four blocks. I'm thinking I'll make one quilt from the warm colors, and another from the cool colors. Some of the four patches are all the same color, just different fabrics. I always want to use every bit from strip piecing, so I end up with things like 2" four patches to use. 

I need to get I Spy quilts made for two of my grandsons turning two this year. One has already had his birthday, but the parents knew I'd be late with it. Once I got the sunflower quilt off the design wall, it was easy to get the I Spy quilt laid out.

I have to lay out twin sized quilt sideways on the design wall, but that's fine. This is the one that is overdue, but I've got it sewn into rows now. 

This is the other one I need, and I have half the rows sewn now. The other half are still up on the design wall. 

I also got another UFO that I had laid out earlier sewn into rows. 

Right now I have two machines set up for piecing. My Bernina has a light colored thread in it, so I'm piecing the sunflower alternate blocks and the 16 patches on it. My vintage Singer 201 has a dark grey thread, and I'm sewing the I Spy quilts on it, along with some stoplight blocks.

When I was making the quilt for my BIL from my sister's clothes, I realized the block I had chosen for his quilt would make a good stoplight. I haven't finished all I cut yet, but I went ahead and laid some out with some novelty fabrics to see how it would look. I think it will make a cute boy quilt. These blocks are so simple, they are a good leader/ender project to use while assembling the I Spy quilts. 

I also got some long overdue cutting done, and I cut all the sashing, cornerstones, and borders for a quilt that's long overdue for DD#1. 

So, super productive, but now I need to lay off for a few days. Maybe if I'm good the next couple days, I could at least finish DD#1's quillow on Sunday, which she's also waiting for. It's quilted, the pocket is cut and ready to sew, and it should be an easy finish. When I was hunting for a cotton fabric to use on the outside of the pocket, I found a very large scale print I only had a fat quarter of. A quillow pocket is a great use for that! For the size quillow I make adults, I need to cut a 17" x 19" pocket, so most of a fat quarter.

I can't believe we've already had over a month of 2021 go by. I need to be better about pacing myself so I can get all the deadline stuff finished this year!