Sewing Pains

It's been so long since I have made a traditional quilt that I've forgotten how painful it can be! I feel like I have been moving furniture all day, when all I've done is sit and push a foot pedal so the machine works, press seams over and trim fabric away. Real strenuous right?

Maybe it's because I haven't sat in that position for long periods of time in months that my back and shoulders are killing me so much. But I now remember why I had decided not to make *real* quilts anymore!  I'm just hoping that it's gone by morning, but I'll probably still be achy when I wake up.

I have to admit that it's worth the pain though. When this is done I'm going to have a pretty quilt for the living room, or maybe even a gift for next Christmas. Now there's an idea! Start making stuff now for gifts. I should be able to make at least a couple in 11 months. :-D

If you're wondering what I'm working on, I decided to do Ann M. Smith’s NYE Mystery Quilt this year. It's been years since I joined in on the fun of one her NYE mysteries and it just seemed like the time to do one again.She does design some great quilts. I wish she had a website  I could point you to,  but I think she sells them  by word of mouth and emails. I'll have to find out and pass the info along.

I'm almost done with it, just have to assemble the blocks and then the top, far enough along that I can tell how it's going to look. I really love the fabrics I chose to use! Here is a sneak peek of how it should look when it's done.

Pretty, huh? A LOT different than the type of quilting I have been doing in recent years though! I have one more in the works, a skull quilt for my grandson, but after that, my traditional quilt making days are definitely done. I really prefer making the type I have been making, like this one...which is sort of a self portrait of me designing a quilt.

Below is a closer look at a small part of this to show you the scale of things. Don't you just love the bunny slippers?! THIS is what I LOVE making. little scenes made from fabric. Maybe not what a lot of folks would consider a quilt, but it IS made of cloth and it WILL be quilted.

I just find making these so challenging and fun, especially when somebody commissions one, like the one below, ordered by a Dr, for one of his team that was leaving the practice and relocating. She loved this and said it was going to be hung in her bedroom so that Steve McQueen would be the last thing she saw before going to sleep!

Anyhow, besides  photography, which has become the main love of my life, this is what I like to do and while it has been fun to do one of Ann's mysteries again and I really like how it is looking, I don't see myself making anymore full quilts anytime in the near future. It just seems like too much of a chore now, so I'll be sticking to my pictorial and art type quilts and enjoy looking at all the beautiful traditional style quilts that all my quilting friends make!

My muse just leads me to a different place...what can I say? :-D