Wednesday, May 28, 2008

MONKEY BUSINESS

Now is this a fun quilt or what! When I look at my "to-do" list for today I see nothing about making a sock monkey quilt, but I guess this is a clear example of what they call "going with the flow" or "striking when the iron is hot." So, as Paul Harvey would say, "... and now, for the rest of the story ..."

My daughter has a friend who is expecting and due in October. Eryn has been after me to design a quilt for her to make for her friend. First was the picking of the fabric. Sock Monkey fabric was the selection of the day. And now for the pattern.

At first I thought I would use the same pattern as the one (Bebe Bears) I pieced for the twins and released at Spring Market. But, when I got up this morning, something just didn't feel right about that pattern with the monkey fabric.

Back to the drawing board and in just a quick 15 or 20 minutes I had the pattern done! Well, the drawings were finished; the pattern still has to be written. Some quick calculations as to how many strip sets were needed for the sashing blocks and how many squares would be needed for the half square triangles, and I was on my way to the cutting board rotary cutter in hand.

Piecing began at about 11:00 this morning and the borders were on with the top being finished by 6:00 this evening. I think I just set a new PR for the fastest time on record I've ever had a quilt come together. I took lots of construction/technique photos along the way to help in the pattern write-up. Tomorrow I will finish cutting the kit for Eryn, get the first steps of construction written out for her, and ship it off to her in a priority envelope so she can get started piecing the blocks.

If you're reading this post, Eryn, you need to call me and let me know if you have a 1/4" foot with your "Hello Kitty" sewing machine!

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