In Which I Test Gravity, and Gravity Wins

Welcome to Treadlestitches!

I started out this week on the right foot.  I had 3 quilts my friend Joey had quilted for me back in March 2023 (more than a year ago!) that were waiting to be bound.  It was long past time to get that done, so I started on this one, an 1800s reproduction medallion.  

On Sunday night, I sewed the binding on the back, and started doing my usual machine binding on the front, but it just didn't look right with this reproduction quilt.  So I ripped out the little I had done, and planned to finish the binding by hand.

On Monday, for Veterans Day, I made two of these blocks for our guild's Block of the Month.  These will be donated to a local group that makes quilts for veterans and their families.

That was the last time I did any machine sewing.

Tuesday morning, while bringing a load of laundry down the stairs, I tripped over the cat (he was lying on the bottom stair) and managed to break my toe.  (No worries, Snicky the cat was fine, just freaked out.)

In the grand scheme of things, although painful, this was a minor accident.  I broke the smallest toe on my right foot.  On the intake form they wrote "pinky toe" so I guess that's the technical term.  X-rays confirmed a tiny break.

If you're familiar with sports injuries, you might already know about the recommended treatment.  It's called a buddy wrap.  The injured toe is wrapped with a special tape to the uninjured toe next to it, to help the break heal in the right position.  I'm so glad my poor toe has a buddy to help it!  I hope all the other toes aren't angry with me for making this happen to their friend.

Wearing shoes is still painful, so they gave me this boot.  Eventually I'll be able to get back into my regular sneakers.

So things are under control, and I'm able to do almost everything I normally do.  

Except driving.  AND MACHINE SEWING.  (Nooooooo!)

  Good news, though, I got the medallion quilt bound.  And it was very pleasant to do.

I made this quilt as part of an online "class" by Barbara Brackman on fabric prints from the 1800s.  The stars in this quilt were made with prints first published before 1850 (mine of course were repros).  The bird print in the center (see also the first photo on this post) is a copy of a print by John Hewson, an English fabric printer who came to Philadelphia in the late 1700s.

This is the back, a repro pillar print, first popular in the early 1800s.  I chose the blue binding to go with both front and back.  (Joey's quilting is amazing!)

Now I can stop feeling guilty about a least one unfinished object!  

But it's still too painful to work a foot pedal.  So what about cutting up scraps?

Our quilt guild has been gifted a LOT of fabric lately, including scraps and cut pieces.  Wednesday night after the meeting I took home a bag of 2.5 in. x 4.5 in. rectangles, and found all these fun Hot Wheels prints in it.  I cut up some light fabrics and some other car prints to make a kit of 20 Windmill blocks.  I found a good backing in my stash, although I will need to piece it to make it long enough.

Do you see the post it note?  I have been doing this lately whenever I cut out a quilt.  On the note I put the details about it, including the measurements, border ideas, etc.  Then I put it all in a clear plastic bag.  When I have time to work on it, I don't have to wonder what I was thinking, or do the math again!  Revolutionary.  (Why on earth did I never think of doing this before?)

Once the kit quilt reaches the quilt top stage, I put the post it notes in my notebook.  Now I have all the details if I want to make something similar again.

I tried driving yesterday with that boot on, and it went okay, but my foot was sore when I got home.  Maybe I will try machine sewing sometime this weekend.  I hope I'll be successful soon.  If not, there may not be an uncut scrap left in the sewing room.  I might even have to resort to hand applique.

Take care, everyone!  And watch out for cats!

Thanks for reading,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:

Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Angela at So Scrappy