New top begun

I am still contemplating which top to finish a backing for and take to the shop next - they have some cool new pantograph designs.

The woman who runs it (one of a pair of sisters) did say "We're almost up to Christmas at this point....and of course it's entirely possible we all get locked down again" (I agree, it's possible) so I should decide soon whether to just have the little Tilted-nine-patch (which would be easier to find a piece big enough to back) or the Floral quilt with a green backing

(Fricking New Blogger: it doesn't recognize the old "a href" terminology for creating a link, you have to use their silly button instead)

(It's also possible - I think they still sell the extra-wide backing - of going there and just buying the backing from them, I think they give a discount if you do that, or if the backing needs piecing, they will do it).

I like the idea of getting both finished. I'll have to think on it more and see if I have a piece big enough for the floral one.

Anyway - I did go to the quilt shop on Monday. I think it's probably safe; they are limiting admittance to just a couple people at a time and they're never very busy, and it's easy to distance, the woman working there is behind a big table and is about 4' away from you at the closest. And it's a family that runs it - the mom and two daughters, and I think there's an aunt working there now, and somehow that seems....safer? than a bunch of people from different households.

And anyway, I want them to keep going (though I think the longarming business goes a long way towards that) and I NEED to get out of the house occasionally for more than a quick Pruett's run. I think the quilt shop is the safest "other place" I can go.

(Last night, at Board Meeting, the church board voted to continue video church, on the grounds that there's no way we can do in person church safely enough in a county with a rising caseload. I will also note that's the first place I've been where 100% of the people were wearing masks)

And yeah. I bought a "Layer Cake" to be used later (I think I found the pattern I want to use) and also some yardage:

Sheep! I might use this in the quilt I am planning using "British themed" fabrics (everything from Paddington Bear to the Dr. Who TARDIS and things like London buses)

This one is called Desert Song, it is all Southwestern birds (there is a roadrunner and a scissor-tailed flycatcher and what I think is a kingbird and another one I don't recognize but that looks sort of like a killdeer). I don't know what I'll use it for but I just LIKED it and wanted some - I like that bluegreen color that the background is, and I also like nature-themed fabrics.

And so I was inspired. I had cut the fabric for this top (the pattern is, ironically, called Homebound; it is a variant on the old Courthouse Steps pattern) and started doing the strip-piecing, but I finished the strips and pressed them off and subcut the first batch and made the first eight blocks as a test

Just three fabrics - all the blocks are identical, which means I won't have to crawl around on the floor or strip my bed to lay out the quilt. There are several different ways the blocks can be arranged

this is one way, but the pattern booklet also showed a zig-zag arrangement I think I like better and might wind up using.

The green-based fabric has unicorns hiding in it; the blue one is really atmospheric castles. I'm pleased with how well they blend, especially with the "grunge" setting fabric. ("Grunge" is a line of fabrics; mostly-solids with a little overprinting of some other color so they look....not exactly dirty, but that might be the allusion. This one is pink with a peach overlay which picks up some of the colors in the castle fabric).

I'm thinking maybe for the rest of the summer? I try to get in a couple good hours of work/reading during the day and then just knock off in the mid afternoon and do sewing. It would be nice to work my stash down, and I have lots of inspirations for things I want to do. Or knit, or crochet.

I hope this means my craft mojo - which mostly disappeared during the early weeks of the pandemic because I was so sad and freaked out and it felt like "what's even the point in making stuff" - is returning.

If nothing else? Making stuff gives me something to write about here, and maybe if I make some quilt tops I don't love or want I could even consider selling them or trading them with other crafters.

(Though I am pretty sure I am going to very much love the current one, and want to get it quilted as soon as possible)