First of all, Happy Independence Day to my American friends and family. To my British friends, Happy “Good Riddance Day”!
Yes, I know it’s been a while since I posted anything here. But I finally managed to finish ManChild’s birthday quilt, albeit a day late.
All along, he kept commenting about how nice the quilt looked, and that he really liked it. He honestly thought it was for somebody else. So he was very surprised, and thrilled, when he found out last night, as I pulled it off the sewing machine and presented it to him, that it was for him! He said, “This is the best birthday present ever!” And that even after he got his first phone, a good pair of “working” cowboy boots (not fancy ones), and dinner at the restaurant of his choice.
Since I know you’d like to see it, here it is:
As I mentioned before, I had started this quilt a couple of years ago, as part of a quilt-along project. It isn’t perfect, but it feels great to have finally finished it, and that ManChild likes it so well is icing on the cake.
The original project was called “Supernova”, but I added “Tropical” to the name because of all the batiks and tropical/Asian prints I used in it. The dark blue background is a starry sky pattern, and the back fabric is like the background print on the front, only in black. I ran out of time to do anything fancy on the back, so it is just the one fabric.
This quilt took longer to complete than I had hoped. I might have been able to finish it on Sunday, but I woke up feeling a bit ill, and had a slight fever, so I didn’t get as much done on Sunday as I had hoped. Once again, I have learned that I tend to underestimate the time it will take me to complete a project, especially in the summer when there are all sorts of family activities to do as well. I would say “lesson learned”, but I doubt this is the last time I’ll learn it.
Other than that, I’ve been busy with other “creative” projects, like trying to redo the database at work. I also just learned I’ll be changing jobs at the end of August. I’ll be working in the same office I’m in now, but taking over the project that is currently done by someone else, who will be leaving our organization at that time. Remember that creativity has little to do with “art” or crafting, and everything to do with problem solving. That’s what I do: I’m a problem solver.
Every day presents new creative opportunities. Even though I haven’t blogged about it every day, I do work on creative projects all the time. I suppose it’s just easier some days to make the time to write about them than other days. Some projects simply take more of my time, energy and attention. Still, I know I could make a “Project-A-Day” book or calendar, and still have plenty of ideas left over for a follow-up. Some daily projects might be in the form of detailed instructions to make a specific thing, while others might have suggestions on how to make a different thing, while still others might simply be prompts, like the Illustration Friday site, with their weekly prompts.
So, what’s next? WomanChild asked for a birthday quilt, once she saw her brother’s quilt last night. I’ve already picked out fabrics, and I’m still trying to decide exactly how I’ll make the pattern that I’ll use. I have 2 different design concepts in mind, and I just need to decide between them.
For today, we have a family celebration to set up, so I’d better get moving…
