Stressed and Making Mistakes

That is the title of the week. Making Mistakes!

I hate to sew when all I do is use the seam ripper, or recut pieces because for some reason the block comes out too small. I am generally speaking something of a perfectionist, so substandard work gives me heartburn.

Despite having many (many) pans in the fire right now, some of which I am desperately trying to complete, here's a glimpse at my July blocks for Kate's Birthday block swap. They are for 3 different people. One of my group 3 quilters asked for a garden-esqe block in any color & size. So I used a lovely Monet rose print and did the picket fense. I hope it is not too simple, but I do like it. The other group 3 block is the blue & white star. She's making a quilt for a friend that lost everything in hurricane Katrina. Having lived 45 minutes from there as a kid, I was passionate about her cause, and very glad to see that her "birthday" is the first month of the swap. I did make a small "oops" on her block. See if you can tell...In the end, I thought that it still looked really good, so I decided it was just part of my design! My last block is for Group 4 (the advanced group) - the New York Beauty in ocean colored batiks. It took me forever to make (makes me IMMENSELY) glad that I will be receiving 11 of these come November:-) I think it looks pretty good; most of the points are clean.

I have been battling the FMQ tension on my machine lately. It really makes me UGLY. I get the loops on the back side regardless of what I adjust. It makes using a different color top thread (or non-patterned back fabric) impossible. I seem to have it under control a bit this morning and have begun the quilting of my 4SQS top (yes, the second one!). It is very sweet, and remainiscent of the New England summers. I believe my partner will be craving a trip north soon!

I need to finish a Linus quilt that has sat idle for a week or so (it's awaiting 2 rows of my hand quilting and a binding. That's been ignored as it is "boring" work!

My daughter's dress is also in that perpetual state of "sew - n - rip". I keep thinking that it is a simple pattern (so why don't I actually read the directions!), so there have been some mistakes. I will work on it this week more.

Happy Humpday...It's finally sunny here. We've had a boatload of thunder storms over the last 2 weeks, nearly every afternoon. Our yard is shin-high and very wet. Gotta get the kids outside after the wild-kitty goes to the vet this morning. I hear chaos upstairs so I must sign off now :-)

Cheers!