Blue Brick Quilt

I had really big sewing plans for this week.  (What else is new?)  Alas, my day job has been acting up (as it does from time to time) and 14 hour work days (including weekends) don't leave much time for sewing or blog reading.  For as much stress as I often get from my job, though, I have received so much more from the friendships built during those stressful times.

 

This quilt was inspired by one that Sarah made, using a tutorial from the Moda Bake Shop.  It is going to a very dear friend of mine, all the way in India.

See my "helper" peeking through the window?

I "met" Sujay last summer, at 3am (my time) during a conference call for a project we were working on which was (obviously) not going well.  I am the Project Manager, he is a tester.  Most of the testing is done offshore (while I sleep) but from time to time, issues arise that mean I'm (semi) awake and working for crazy, overnight hours.

 

The issue we were having was not Sujay's fault, but he stayed in the office for more than 24 hours straight to help me get it resolved.  Wasn't his responsibility to do so, but he refused to let me (who he didn't even know, except as a voice on the phone half a world away) struggle through it on my own.

We have gotten to know each other better over the past year or so, and I just adore him.  I would adopt him as my own if I could.  He's had a rough year for a number of reasons -- things that I, as an American, won't ever fully grasp.  I wanted to make him something to let him know that even though I'm half a world away, he'll always have a friend in me.

The top to this quilt was done in April.  The quilt tag was finished in May.  The quilting and binding took forever, and I'm hoping it gets to India in less time than it took me to make.  

Sujay, if you are reading this, know you are loved and hugged and appreciated every single day!

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Linking up with: 

Confessions of a Fabric Addict for "Whoop Whoop Friday"

Sew Many Ways for "Find a Friend Friday"

Pieceful Life for "Show Off Friday" 

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~*~ May your day be full of Love and Ladybug Hugs ~*~


Thanks for stopping by!
~ Kat ~

Mug Rug, Brick Quilt & a Personal Record

I had another less-than-ideal sewing week, but I did manage to start (and finish!) a small project I've been wanting to try, as well as start a long overdue birthday gift for a friend half way around the world.  However, the "finish" I'm most proud of this week has nothing to do with sewing.

Last Sunday, I ran in a 5k race called "Sprint for the Cure," with proceeds to benefit the Florida Brain Tumor Association.  I call myself a "runner" like I call myself a "quilter."  I like to do both and I'm decent at them, but neither gets as much dedicated attention as I'd like.  I've only run a handful of "official" races since I began running about 1 year ago, but I had a definite goal time in mind for this race.  I'm not fast (and I'm OK with that)...  I prefer to focus on distance over speed.  However, I had a goal to run a 5k (3.1 miles) in less than 30 minutes.  I'm SO happy to say I finished this race in 28:20.  I'm done making 5k goals.... on to 10k's now!

With my 2 favorite girls after the race.

Notice that their little skorts matched the color of my lucky running shirt.

We won a pretty awesome gift basket at the race's silent auction.  It was taller than my 5-year-old!

You might remember these pictures from last Friday's post.  I said I wanted to make something with these:

That had something to do with this:

I know, I know... the suspense is killing you, right?  Well, he's my first ever mug rug:

I "winged it" with a wonky log cabin design.

I got to try a lot of things I've been seeing on other blogs -- like using blue painter's tape as a stitching guide, straight line stitching (which took longer to do that assembling the entire top of the mug rug!), basting spray to attach all the layers and hand-stitching the binding to the back.

The mug rug, black mug and canister of Vietnamese coffee will be a Mother's Day gift for my friend Kim,who mentioned to me how hard it is to find Vietnamese coffee here in the States.  (Amazon.com has *everything*!!!  LOVE that site!)

Last but not least, I started a blue brick quilt, which will be a (very) belated birthday gift for my dear friend Sujay, who lives half way around the world in Pune, India.  More about him when the quilt is done.

I was inspired by Sarah's blue brick quilt, which she made using this pattern/tutorial from Amy Smart.

I'm using all stash fabric.  Sujay's favorite color is blue but I only had 6 blues that weren't a floral print.  I am arranging the bricks in a pattern, which I probably wouldn't do if I had a larger variety of blues to start with.

This is my oh-so-sophisticated way of remembering which order to sew the bricks in, since I'm chain piecing.  I sew in my dining room (thus, glass door on the china cabinet) and the blue painter's tape was already hanging around from the mug rug.... seemed to be the perfect solution!).

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I plan to link up with: 

Confessions of a Fabric Addict for "Whoop Whoop Friday"

Sew Many Ways for "Find a Friend Friday"

I'm looking forward to seeing what you've worked on this week!

~*~ May your day be full of Love and Ladybug Hugs ~*~