Operation Quilt: Day 4
I fought the quilt and the quilt won. I hate to admit defeat but Operation Quilt has to be shelved before I lose my mind. I sewed fifty-seven squares and I think it’s cost me my sanity. That’s four straight days of quilting. I hate projects that take more than two hours.
Bethany is coming home Tuesday and I don’t think I can wrap the project up that quickly. So I’m going to put it aside and finish it later—not to be confused with never. I really am going to finish this. I just need to figure out how I can squeeze three more squares out of the scraps I have left over and hopefully learn to love this fabric again.
It’s amazing how staring at something for hours on end can drive you buggy. So in order to distract myself from my crazy quilt I’m going to give away a crazy mug. Anybody want a lumpy orange mug with brown shoes and eyes? It’s free to a random commenter!
I know she’s a bit odd. Perhaps a bit of a white elephant of a mug but I think somebody out there would appreciate her. I think I’ll call her, “Orange you glad I stopped blogging about quilting.” If you want her, comment before Wednesday morning and I’ll send her to you FREE!
87 Comments
Kerry
Aw I think she’s cute!
Jen B.
I wanted to start a quilt years ago when my sister made hers. But my mom told me sequins aren’t very warm. It made me sad so I gave up and forgot about it.
Fight the quilt! Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow- but someday you will defeat it. And it will be wonderful.
margalit
I’ve never made a quilt but I know a very accomplished quilter where I live and it takes her MONTHS to make one quilt. I gasped when I heard you were going to try to make one in a week. I mean, if anyone can, it’s you. And you’ll get back to it, finish it, and cuddle with bug under it soon enough. You know Bethany goes out of town every other week. I’m sure you’ll be cat sitting soon enough. :-)
Kerri Anne
I would love! a Mrs. Kool-Aid mug. (She looks great for soup!)
Jennifer W.
You are quickly eliminating all sense of creativity I thought I might have stored away for a rainy day with your awesome quilt skills. Just looking at all those tiny rows makes my brain itch and run away screaming. Also – I agree that the mug totally looks like Ms. Kool Aid but with way better shoes. I want her.
AnotherBethany
I think the mug is charming and I would love to win it. Pick me! Pick me! :)
bethany
yes, adorable. and I too have a 2 hour limit on projects, and end up cranky and irritable if they stretch longer. unless i have complete silence and no kids running around, then I have a one day limit :) 57 is amazing!!
Meghan
Who wouldn’t want to have her?!
Rachel
Oh poo, it’s way to late for me to beg, buy, or steal that mug, isn’t it?
She’s like a pig or a cow, but not. She’s like a perfect quilt-squares weight.
Long Story Longer
I think it’s darling :) And your quilt fabric and squares are gorgeous!
Ashley
I adore that mug! That is my favorite shade of orange and I love the cute eyes!
Good luck with finishing that quilt (at some point) it looks like it will be amazing :)
Erin
Love the mug!
Clover
I’m impressed you got that far on the quilt! It looks great, and maybe at some point down the road it will be fun for you again! That’s the great thing about using vintage fabrics, too– it’s not like the patterns are so 2009 you’re gonna cringe when you finish it in 2011. Cute mug, too!
Erin
I adore the mug! I’m a teacher and I can envision it greeting me every morning full of my favorite pens!:)
My hat’s off to you for quilting. My aunt is an avid quilter and I think I’d go bonkers with all those perfect cuts and straight seams! It gives me a headache just thinking about it. I do think quilts are lovely though! Just glad I have someone else to make them:) Good luck!
Robin
ummmmm, since I live in the orange state…….I call dibs…….wait I live in the sunshine state that enables the oranges……….whatever… I still call dibs.
Kuky
Ok I’m behind on my reading and didn’t even know it. More pictures of the quilt. And wow you have 57 squares now?! That’s amazing. I know I definitely didn’t make that many squares.
SusieQ
Oh, she’s so cute! looks like she needs a good home. Maybe with me?
SuperCareo
OMG!! I even thought about going to your shop and buying that very mug. Please, please, please … I love her.
Carolina
Agh! I totally get the quilting overload. Just started my first quilt (a doll quilt for my daughter). My machine crapped out after the first 6 blocks. I love the mug! My 2 year + daughter just started to make ‘goo goo’ eyes like that this weekend.
erin
I love her and would call her “Orangina”. :)
bethany actually
Haha, Margalit’s comment about me going out of town every other week is funny. :-)
Am I making your life harder by commenting and then telling you not to count the comments as entries? Hope not. See you guys tomorrow!
Angella
If I don’t win it, I’m totally making one with you guys when I come back down.
kristie
This quilt is going to be so beautiful when you finish it, and I for one am not tired of you blogging about it! I can’t wait to see it in its completed glory one day (whether it’s sooner or later…it would be never at my house, as I am the queen of unfinished projects, so I am humbled by your progress so far). I would give this adorable, silly orange mug a very happy home, and fill her with coffee every day if I were to win!
Maria
I recently shelved a quilt too. It was supposed to be for my daughter’s 1st birthday (and is still technically her birthday present from me), but I got busy at the end of summer and wasn’t able to finish. The top got finished, but now it’s just sitting in a bag with the back and the batting.. waiting.
SIGH. I’m in there with you when you start up again. Maybe I’ll quilt by hand too. O_O
Sonja von Franck
I did a quilt when I was 15 too. My Mom even let me stay home from school to work on it – she was so proud that I was tackling such a project! It was a Christmas present for a boyfriend. After things didn’t work out with us, I wanted to ask for it back, but a couple months later he got robbed and would you believe it – they stole my quilt!! It really was cool… Anyways, YEARS later I took some old rolls of film in to get developed and lo and behold – there was a picture of me holding up the quilt before I gave it to him. I was so glad I had something to prove all my hard work and creativity. The energy and passion you have for things when you’re 15!! Your little mug would be a great replacement and reminder of you and your amazing creative fountain!
Danna
That’s a ton of quilting in a week! WOW…
That mug looks like she knows something. It’s cute….I think she would look cute with daisies.
Cassie
I love love love that little orange mug. I keep singing I’m a little teapot short an stout…LOL I’d love to win!
alfredsmom
I not only want her, I NEED her. I have been on the hunt for a quirky unique large mug and SHE IS IT.
Ninabi
The mug- so cute and flirty!
I’ve made six quilts and I have enjoyed looking at all the fabric you’ve chosen. I have a little stuffed dog made out of tiny scraps of fabric from the 1940s? 1950s? and it’s fun to see bits of tiny pictures printed on the wee squares and wonder where each piece came from.
But after all this sewing, aren’t you thinking about people who had quilting bees? And how Amish women get together to complete them after piecing the tops? It’s tedious job otherwise.
I ended up creating mine when my children were small. Tuesday nights were quilting nights at my house- everybody had the smaller lap-sized frames and we’d stitch and talk about everything and those Tuesday nights kept my sanity- my husband was in the military and we were far from home and not much money for sitters.
I loved those Tuesdays with their cookies and conversation. And they kept me on the “straight and narrow” when it came to finishing my quilts- every week there were the other women asking how it was coming along.
I can’t wait to see your finished quilt! I absolutely love the fabrics.
speckledpup
I want her with all my heart. I will fill her with coffee and kiss her each and every day.
Gillian
Good for you for attempting that quilt, I’m sure you’ll get it done eventually : )
Love the mug!
Blue Kaeru
The mug reminds me of the Kool-Aid man! Only with an extra pair of legs and in orange. ;-)
MargieK
First time I’ve ever commented without reading the others’ comments first!
That little mug is sooooooo cute! And how cool would it be to have a SAJ original!
I like reading about the quilting project, but fully understand that sometimes you need to take a break from a project, particularly something this big, and especially when you have “Bug!”
OK, I’ll go read what everyone else said now. :)
Karen
I just love your lumpy orange mug! I’m also very impressed with your quilt-making. Maybe that should be your house-sitting project? It’s going to be beautiful!
gingermog
Wow I’ve been away visiting family in the mountains for a few days where there is no internet only to find you’ve been quilting four days straight! Who are you? Super women? I take my hat off to you. I thought quilting was reserved chilly for winter evenings? Aren’t you in the middle of a heat wave? In a fit of quilting fever I once made a load of patches from clothes I was sentimental over. That bag of patches resided at the bottom of my wardrobe for five years! I know with your crafting resolve you will finish this quilt ( I remember when you upholstered your couch!). Good luck x
beth
Such a cute mug….. I would pass it on to my dear sis who has also given up quilting for a little piece of mind. I bet she’d plant an herb in it!
Jade
I would love to start my day with her.