Resuming work during the National Corona-cation and National Craft Month

With all the shut downs happening because of the Corona Virus, everyone is looking forward to new found time in their quilt spaces.  Which is a good prompt for me since I haven't sewn a thing in two weeks!  A series of events prompted my work stoppage, starting with having so many projects in the air and then hitting roadblocks on a few.  Of course the roadblocks were on the two projects I had really hoped to get done before the end of February:

I had started these pillow covers as one of TWO projects I thought would be really quick-to-make Valentine's day projects to coordinate with the other projects I previously made for decorating for that holiday.  But nope, I also ran into trouble with the other project (a runner) before moving on to this one which worked well as a leader/ender while I was finishing work on the Girl Scout quilt top.  I got them almost completely done until I tried to make a faux piped binding.  Although I have made that before,  I once again ran into trouble and was frustrated enough at that point to just put them aside.  Speaking of the the Girl Scout Quilt:

I was nervous yet jazzed up to move on to quilting this after showing the top to the other facilitators I had worked with to help the girls make the blocks. I had designed a layout for the back that fortunately made use of all of the 4-H fabric we had also purchased for this project.  After showing the top, I had gone to pick out a bunch of potential binding and hanging sleeve fabrics by "shopping the stash" of the group that had funded both this project and my EPP workshop and then drafted a label for the quilt.  The only thing I still needed were the names of the girls from the workshop attendance lists to finish the label and add it to the backing layout.  I wanted to keep the design wall and the sewing table clear to work on that as soon as it came in.  However, I wasn't sent the label information until the first week of March.  So February ended with two more projects piled up that I had wanted done by February's end!

This didn't help my sewing mood since I had already abandoned plans to finish two OTHER projects in February because of the above projects:  one was my Tobacco Road quilt:

A completed center still waiting for some borders!

I had already missed my own deadline to get the top finished by the time the "Frolic" mystery ended in mid February so had really hoped I could finish this top by February's end or at least as soon after that as I could.   Then there is also Emeralds:

This is as far as I got last year.

When I had planned my projects for the year, this one was slated to be worked on at the end of February in the hope of having it finished for St. Patrick's Day display in March.  The good news is that the delay has prompted a change of course for the back of the quilt (now the third such change of plans since I started this project last year).  Very much inspired by Carole at the "From My Carolina Home" blog and her always lovely seasonal and holiday tablescapes, I learned that this year Mardi Gras was in the last week of February so just a few weeks before St. Patrick's Day.  Green also figures heavily in the Mardi Gras color scheme and I immediately thought that a simple quilt design in Mardi Gras colors for the back would make this a two-sided, two-holiday quilt.  Love it!  Of course that meant starting a search for potential designs and at least a few Mardi Gras fabrics.  That search is still under way so it looks like Emeralds will sit for another year......

So March started and I was already not sewing and what's the worse (but enjoyable) thing that could happen then?  I discovered a new crafty binge-watch obsession: does anyone else watch The Great British Sewing Bee?

I watched from Season 1....

...through Season 5!

Looks a bit like a quilt retreat,huh?

OMG, I LOVE that show!  Of course it played right into my long simmering desire to return to clothing sewing.  Unfortunately I had discovered it five seasons in and equally unfortunately all the seasons were available on YouTube!  So there I was in the first week of March with errands to run because DH was due to be on vacation the following week and we had projects and an outing planned.  Then an emergency call came in needing someone to meet the delivery of the Porta-Potty for our community garden.

Well needless to say it was not hard to spend the down time between tasks getting through the GBSB episodes.  Not to mention also looking up patterns, fabrics and technique books (on freehand pattern cutting) related to the challenge projects given to the contestants.  Oh, and thinking about that DIY dress form I've also longed to make again.  Another Honey-Do project for DH's vacation?

DH's vacation has followed the GBSB binge (not to mention following the course of all the Corona developments), taking me even further off track. Sigh!  No matter, after spending the first work day in the garden for the new season on Saturday, I'm ready to refocus.

As always, I'm with Bonnie!

I already see things I want to get done in my garden bed and also need to get up to speed on starting the plants that will get put out in late April and May once the weather breaks for good and is consistently warmer.  Fortunately the things I planted in the Fall have managed to survive so I've also already got a good start for the early season too.

So it will be important to get back in gear on my quilt projects because it won't be long before the garden starts taking up a lot of my time.  Oh and I've got to catch up on this month's BOM work too!!

So I certainly have more than enough projects lined up for either a Corona-cation, National Craft Month or the upcoming National Quilting Day which is this coming Saturday!   If anyone needs a project, check out the Quilt Alliance NQD page which has links to free quilt patterns offered by popular quilt industry companies in honor of the day.  The Alliance is also rekindling a project that was founded by the (now defunct) National Quilting Association – Happy Birth Day, Baby!   For it, quilters or quilt groups can make a quilt for the first baby born on National Quilting Day in their local hospital.  The Quilt Alliance has a free downloadable pattern and full details about participating here.

As always, so many quilts, so little time --- especially when you take a loonng break to binge-watch!!