Monday, September 3, 2012

Sidetracked

Sidetracked
How do you like my newest quilt design? It's called Sidetracked, and there's a story behind the name. I finished piecing the front yesterday, after a day of cutting and sewing leftovers from my scrap basket. It was a spur of the moment design inspired by moving furniture in my sewing room. But I'll start at the beginning.

Last Tuesday I had planned to sew a vest for my mama. Amazingly, I didn't have the right color fabric. That's right, with hundreds of yards of material in my stash, I didn't have anything to match her camo print cargo pants. Yeah, I realize she's 79 years old, but those of you who know Sam understand the feisty redhead who is my mama. 
 
Anyway, after putting away the fabrics I had pulled out, I couldn't get interested in sewing anything else. As I was sitting there, a new layout for my furniture just popped into my head. I love to rearrange furniture, so I had to do it right then. I put the sewing table and desk back to back by the windows, and moved the cutting table on the other wall. This may work better when I sew quilts, so they won't fall over the edge of the table as I sew.

During the upheaval, I found a scrap bin that had been tucked under the sewing table, behind my thread cabinet. Aha! Inspiration can come when you least expect it. After I had put the finishing touches on my room, I sorted through the fabric pieces and started laying out a design.

I have to admit that I've been a little sidetracked lately. But I did order some fabric to match the cargo pants, got a fresh new sewing room, and pieced a quilt from forgotten scraps. So it must be a good thing to divert onto another path every now and then.  

Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. --Ralph Waldo Emerson


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