Re-Entering the Land of the Living

Slowly but surely, I'm crawling out from under my rock for what seems like the umpteenth time this year. After finally emerging from my post-Christmas funk a few weeks ago, I came down with a nasty cold this past weekend, and it ripped apart at the (crooked) seams all my well-laid plans for crafty productivity on the long weekend. No worries. I'm feeling much better now. I guess it was just my body's way of telling me to slow the heck down already and get some rest before I got too carried away with my Big Plans.

On the upside, I got a ton of sleep and drank water by the gallon, so even if I'm still a little congested, my skin is looking better than it has in MONTHS. I'll take what I can get.

On the crafty front, I made some forward-backward-forward progress with my jelly roll quilt for this month. Um, y'all. Please tell me you're not following my oh-so-prideful cutting instructions from a few weeks back and hoping to easily crank out a quilt that looks like this.

Source: camilleroskelley.typepad.com via Megan on Pinterest

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if you follow my cutting instructions and piece the blocks the same way I did, your strips will not cleanly line up on the diagonal without much weeping and gnashing of teeth.

 

You'll spend some serious quality time squaring up subunit after subunit and block after block with your trusty ruler and rotary cutter.

Even after hours of squaring up, the blocks will look more like this.

 

You will not be able to line up those diagonal rows so neatly, and then you will punch your sewing machine in the face.

 

source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/markkelley/253278143/

I wish I could say that this piecing travesty was the result of me "chasing the Ny/DayQuil dragon" (husbatron's coined phrase), but alas, I started all the cutting and piecing well before the Great Plague struck my house this past weekend and caused me to seek over the counter relief. Sometimes, I wish I wasn't such a cheapskate and that I had just hauled @$$ to Joann's with my trusty coupons to buy the friggin' book. Moral of the story: If you want to make the quilt pictured above, buy the book! Don't follow my lame attempt at directions! I'm sure there's some great nugget of wisdom in the book about what to do exactly if you're not using the fancy schmancy ruler she recommends.

Alas, we live with the decisions we make. For a brief nanosecond, I considered un-piecing everything, buying the book, and trying to make everything "right." I'm pretty sure I was chasing the DayQuil dragon pretty hard at that point. Then I came to my senses and remembered that I like spending time with my seam ripper about as much as I like having my annual exam with the Lady Bits Doctor. So, in my DayQuil-induced state, I headed to the local Hancock Fabrics down the road, picked up a couple of yards of Kona White (the last of the bolt, no less!), and sashed the heck out of all my wonked out blocks.

And just like that, things are looking up.

Never doubt the power of some good old-fashioned sashing, y'all.

I'm linking up to W.I.P. Wednesday over at Lee's place. Be sure to check in and see what everyone else has been up to lately!