My First Quilt Square!

If you've been reading for a while, you will remember that I started a Quilt-a-long quite a while back.  Well, I only got as far as cutting the squares when our world was rocked by a surprise set of orders.  One day I will finish that quilt, but I've decided that what I really need to propel me is actual need.  And we have an actual need here.  The quilts we sleep under are falling apart.  So I've decided to make a quilt for Caedmon first.  Something very simple and made with love for my little man to sleep under (should he ever decide to sleep in his own bed -HAHA!).

So here is my first square.  I'm glad I made a sample because I definitely think it needs to be bigger, and I screwed up the seam allowances.  But I'm pretty dang proud of myself for getting this far.  :-)

Great Expectations

So a week ago, I was working on a great post about how I finished cutting the fabric for the Quilt Along and it only took me an entire week:

 Or how I failed at my second attempt to make bread:

And then Monday morning happened.  The gods of the Navy stepped in and decided to through us for a loop.  I was lying in bed trying to get back to sleep despite a huge headache (possibly from the three glasses of wine I had the night before - it only takes two to get me drunk so...) when my phone started honking at me to let me know my dear husband was calling.  I squawked out a hello, and (it all gets a little fuzzy here) I remember him saying, "Well, it's not Lemoore, but...we're going to China Lake...in the mountains...it's kind of like the desert (go ahead and imagine a dramatic echoing there because that's the word the needle in my mind has been stuck on for four days now...desert.)  We hang up.  I hit the "Maps" button on my phone and type in "China Lake."  There is a large span of land between that dot and the blue stuff I so love living near.  Okay.  I hit the satellite view and everything turns tan.  Nasty, yucky, dirty tan.  No green.  No blue.  Desert.

Okay, I should backtrack here.  We thought we were going to Monterrey.  At the very worst, we thought we were staying in Jacksonville with a seven month hiatus in San Diego (the two trips across the country in less than a year being the bad part).  The most warning we got was a message a week before the orders that said, "We might have a flying billet for you."  That's it.

I should backtrack further.  Three years ago, as were driving through the desert, I said, "This is ugly.  I can't imagine why anybody would want to live here.  I never want to live in the desert.  Don't ever ask for Fallon.  Seriously, I don't care how much you love your career.  I will not live in Fallon."

One more step.  Almost four years ago, when we were dating, I said, "I don't ever want to be landlocked.  I'm from the water.  My people are from the water.  I cannot be landlocked.  You're in the Navy so that shouldn't be too much of a problem, right?"


Now, fast forward to now.  Desert.  Well, crap.

With all that being said, I will admit that I know it could be worse.  He really should have started the conversation with, "It's not an IA."  Because it's not.  It's not a separation.  And there are so many things for which to be thankful.  God has a plan (other than playing jokes on me, which He loves to do - in fact if the joke's on me, that's how I usually know it's straight from God).  But sometimes, it takes a while to see it.  And it takes a while to adjust to the idea of spending the next three years in the desert (two hours away from civilization as you know it) when you thought you were going to be in beautiful places (at least my idea of beautiful places).

So I guess there's a new chapter opening on The Writing Fox.  The first of which will be about how to get a toddler, an old dog, a grumpy cat, two adults, two normal cars, and a Frankencar from Jacksonville to China Lake and still keep your sanity.

Is this normal?

I washed the fabric for my quilt today.  And here's what happened:

I swear I don't remember this kind of mess when I washed fabric a couple of years ago.  Granted, I wasn't washing eleven different pieces back then, and I was using my washing machine that doesn't have an agitator.  I washed it on the gentle cycle. 

After thirty minutes of untangling and trimming, I was left with this:

Did I miss something?  Is there something you can do to prevent this?  Or is this perfectly normal? 

Week One of the Quilt Along

Yesterday, I took a trip to JoAnn's to pick out fabric for the quilt I'm making for the Quilt Along, and I got totally overwhelmed.  Mostly because I wasn't completely sure what I wanted to do.  My original idea for my first quilt was to attempt making a quilt that could go on Caedmon's bed when he moves to a single size mattress.  That was probably a bit ambitious for my first project, but I figured I've got time, and Caedmon won't judge if Mom's first try is a bit off.  But when I saw this Quilt Along, I thought it would be a good way to keep myself on track and get some encouragment.  So now I'm making a lap quilt.  All that to say, I hadn't really thought about what I wanted this to be when I went to the fabric store which resulted in a spinning head from all the options.

So I came home, regrouped, looked at my fellow quilter's selections, and anxiously awaited my next attempt.  Today, I went back with my best friend (Happy Birthday to her!), and it was much easier to have someone give a second opinion (although she will say it was just so I could reject her suggestions) and tell me that it actually is alright to stack your cart with twenty reams (Is that the right word?) when you only need ten.

So here is the final result:

Next step is to wash, dry, and iron them.  Believe it or not, I have done that before, so I think we will be okay!