Catching Up- No. 2

I spent the last week at the Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester, TN. CJ has been going for 6 years now, and I started joining him last year. Festivals are so much fun, they're full of music that you've been listening to for years and music that's just waiting for you to walk by and catch a chord. And there's never enough time to see it all.

Bonnaroo is by far the friendliest festival I've been to. Everyone there treats Bonnaroo like a holiday, with free hugs and high fives and good vibes and an upbeat attitude. It's so easy to make new friends while waiting for an act to start or while waiting in line for food. I definitely made some new friends, and I plan on keeping in touch with them and meeting up again at next Bonnaroo (since I won two tickets for next year's festival! YES!)

Favorite Sets (in no particular order)

- Jack White (CJ and I sang enthusiastically to Love Interruption)

- Phoenix (They played Love Like a Sunset, my favorite! And I helped the lead singer crowd surf)

- Cake (They played Stick Shifts and Safety Belts, my mom's favorite)

- John Butler Trio (HE PLAYED OCEAN OH MY GOD)

-Kansas Bible Company (A small band I saw in Nashville last New Year's)

-Taran Killam, from SNL (He performed Boy Dance Party and the Sloppy Swish)

-Disclosure (Sam Smith came out to sing, it was fantastic)

Anyhoo. On my way home, I stopped to visit my Grandma. I had some furniture to pick up and take to Blacksburg, and she had some delicious food to fill out bellies with. We were talking during the meal and she chastised me for not uploading my blog (sorry Grandma!), so here is post number two.

After Anna's travelling quilt came and went, I received Allison's! I remember the blocks she initially made- she tried paper piecing for the first time, and her use of color was fantastic. But as I opened the package, I noticed that everyone who had made pieces had contributed four 12.5"x12.5" blocks. So I went online and found four block patterns that I really liked. I used DelewareQuilts.com, they have tons of patterns. 

The Alpine Cross

Card Tricks

Shoofly Variation 

(Which I now realize is pieced wrong... I need to fix that)

Monkey Wrench

When I was selecting the colors for these blocks, they looked a lot more epic next to each other without the white background. I really like how the Alpine Cross turned out, but I'm feeling a little self conscious that the blocks I made just aren't enough. I was going for a downward spiral effect with Money Wrench, having the colors fade darker and darker, and I think it turned out nicely, but I don't know. I'm just self conscious. I haven't been able to sew much lately, so I feel off my game.

I did end up with a few half square triangles that I'm going to throw into the bag when I mail it off. I'm thinking of turning the scraps into a bunch of 2.5" squares, so maybe Allison can piece them together and turn them into sashing or something. I just don't know, I don't want to impose my ideas too much onto this quilt.

HSTs!

Also, this is my sewing dungeon now. I've gone from the spare bedroom in my apartment in Blacksburg, to my bedroom in Richmond, to the basement at my mom's in Nashville, to the loft in Alexandria, and now back into a basement. This is by far the least inspiring place I've sewn in. But I'm planning on working on my sewing this Sunday, so hopefully I can pull out of this rut.