Grad. School | Collect Create Circulate

Hey folks!

I know it’s been quiet around here the last few weeks. But that always seems to happen around the beginning of a new semester. Three weeks in to another semester as a full time PhD student, working ~30 hours a week, with a broken wrist –needless to say, things have been pretty busy!

But believe it or not, I have managed to get a few things done this past month! It’s been a great start to 2014, and hopefully I can keep it up over the next 11 months and have an amazingly successful year of quilting and crafting. One project that I have been meaning to tell you all about is the Vintage Quilt Revival Sampler Quilt a Long hosted by Sukie Don’t Ya Know.

I love me a sampler quilt, you never get bored because each block is different! Since, I had been hearing about this quilt a long a few weeks before it got started, and knowing that I would be returning to classes about the same time, I decided to get a jump on some of the blocks. I managed to complete four blocks before the QAL even started, and I even did a little math to make a mini of the first block!

If you haven’t heard about the book yet, it is a compilation of 20 traditional/classic quilt blocks explored in new and modern ways. The book was written by bloggers, Katie of Swim Bike Quilt, Faith of Fresh Lemons, and Lee of Freshly Pieced. Included in the book, are directions for piecing each block and a project utilizing each (quilts, bags, etc.) as well as 3 sampler quilts. Many of the blocks are constructed using paper-piecing so the book comes with a cd with each of the paper patterns. I have really enjoyed the different blocks in the book, but advise you to check the pattern errata before cutting your fabric. I forgot to do so, and have had some grumbly moments as I have constructed my blocks.

Around the same time that I received my copy of Vintage Quilt Revival from Amazon, (I pre-ordered way back in the summer/early fall, but Amazon sure did take it’s time after the book was released) I picked up a fat quarter bundle of Joel Dewberry’s Heirloom. I love Joel Dewberry fabrics, like love in a really big way, and I sure had been eyeing Heirloom for weeks! So the timing seemed like kismet, new book, new fabrics, yes please! (I sure hope a fat quarter bundle of about 10 prints will be enough combined with my Kona Snow background solid to construct the entire quilt top.)

Anyway, Sukie decided to manage the QAL in order of easiest to most difficult, lucky for me I also started with the two easiest blocks. But then later decided to go in order of the blocks in the book, which translated to weeks 1 and 4 of the QAL. The QAL actually began on Jan. 21, so this past week was technically week 2, and I definitely wanted to keep up with the linky party. So yesterday and this morning, I went ahead and finished up the blocks for week 2 of the QAL.

Now, I probably wont be able to keep up sharing a blog post about each week of the QAL, so this week you will get my first six blocks (which by the way are actually weeks 1, 2, and 4).

xo,

Each time I start to type, I have the greatest desire to remove my splint… Or just give up before I hardly get started, I suppose this is a test of my patience.

You see, winter arrived in full force this week, just in time for the solstice, and I fractured my right wrist when I slipped on the icy sidewalk in front of our house. I definitely underestimated the layer of ice that had rained down the night before. But it was the last day of finals, and I had things to do…

Anyway, its fractured and splinted now, and I still have things to do–but I have a pretty good excuse for not doing them…

=====Nine Days Later=====

Well, I started writing this post Pre-Christmas, but with the splint and the fresh fracture I just didn’t have the patience for it… Now, I have a neon yellow cast which I will wear until February. And, I need to practice typing with it anyway because my life will not wait for it to heal. Yes, it was my right wrist and yes, I am right-handed. About as frustrating as it can get…

But anyway, before visiting with the orthopedic surgeon today, I did a little bit of cutting and sewing with the splint on. You see, I had a grand plan to finish some WIP’s and start a few new projects during this break. So I ordered some new fabrics and was very excited to work on the Tone it Down quilt designed by Lissa of Moda Lissa for the American Patchwork & Quilting Quilt a-long. I finally ordered some Essex linen to make up a few projects from Ayumi Takahashi’s Patchwork Please book. I will be working on Elizabeth of Don’t Call me Betsy’s Lucky Stars Block of the Month in 2014. Working on my Lala Salama 100 Quilts for Kenya quilt. And continuing the And Sew We Craft Modern Blocks QAL and Crochet a-long blanket!

I had big plans for this Holiday from classes! It was the last day of Finals week when I injured my wrist and on the same day I began to receive some of the beautiful fabrics I had ordered! Then for Christmas, I received a generous gift certificate for the Fat Quarter Shop from my parents. My pre-order of Vintage Quilt Revival arrived on my doorstep, along with the rest of the fabrics I had ordered pre-injury (I mean, those holiday sales were crazy good right?).

So, as I said, I did a little bit of cutting and sewing between the time when I injured my wrist and today’s orthopedic casting. For starters, I spent a good amount of time cutting fabric for the Tone it Down quilt. Just last night, I finished cutting all of the bright fabrics–leaving only the low volume background fabrics to finish up. Right about now, I am wishing I had a die-cutting machine… I think I could manage cranking that with my left hand since I have been strongly advised against using my right hand for much of anything beyond typing.

I also, cut and stitched up a Prettified Pincushion from Patchwork Please with my new Essex linen.

There are a couple of other great little patterns in that book that I would love to work on, I admittedly got on the Zakka 2.0 bandwagon a little late after seeing all of the darling projects pop up during the Zakka a-long. I am pretty excited about the Happy Hexagon trivet, Sweet Trips Embroidery Pouch, Vintage Pencil Case and Triangle Patchwork Box Pouch, all are far too cute (take a peak at some of these in the flickr group.)

That’s all I managed during those few days surrounding Christmas. Maybe I can sew with my hand in the cast, but I probably won’t be able to do much else (rotary cutting, crochet, etc…) The good news is that I officially finished my Master’s degree (yay!), the bad news is I am pretty behind on a lot of other things (graduate assistantship hours, journal submissions, conference abstracts, literature reviews, class prep. *the exciting life of a PhD student*), but maybe I can catch up a bit now that I wont be tempted by crafting… We’ll see!

Oh, and Happy New Year! To quote Walt Disney, “Keep moving forward.”