Here and there... Hexies!

I have, of course, been bitten by the hexagon bug that's spreading through Flickr at an alarming rate. On my lunch breaks, I've taken to turning these:

(2 inch hexagons, from paperpieces.com)

And these:

(4.5" - 5" charms from old charm packs and my stash...)

Into these!

(about 80 or so completed so far, only about 270 to go--oy!)

More pics coming soon!

This week has NOT been productive, but it HAS been eventful! My Singer is still living with the repair folks, so I said the hell with it and went to go and get another machine. I am now the proud owner of a cute little Janome electric. I will post pics once I am home with access to my camera. (I'm on break at work, at the moment.)

I have been insanely busy since the machine purchase on Monday, so at most I've gotten a little hand-piecing done on the interminable white and blue HSTs for my pinwheel blocks. Enough for three or four more blocks, perhaps.

I'm also working this Saturday, which cuts me to one day to be really productive. My goal for Sunday is to get caught up on my 9-patch one-a-day challenge, since I'm now about 2 weeks behind. 14 blocks should be easy, right? Famous last words... If I'm fast and it's not too hot, I may try and tackle sashing blocks for a couple of baby quilts, one for Project Linus and the other for a friend's little girl.

I also signed up for a swap! It's a miniature quilt swap that will have a ship-date in mid autumn. I don't even have any information for my swap-ee yet, so I am sort of aimlessly brainstorming. I AM hoping that I have a fellow blogger, so I can go and stalk them to find out some preferences! :)

So, pictures over the weekend, some catching up to do. And a bit more sad news--another local quilt shop is getting ready to close their doors. So if you're near Fairfield County, CT, stop over at Jigglestitch in Monroe to check out their clearance. I haven't heard yet whether their intention is to move (again) or whether they're closing for good. I'm very much hoping it's the former and not the latter.

Frustrated!

So, the one week turnaround on sewing machine maintenance? Is now going to be a minimum of three weeks. So instead of getting caught up on my 9-patch block-a-day quilt-along, and perhaps finishing a flimsy this weekend, I will be handpiecing, and cutting stash. Because it will be NEXT Thursday at the earliest before I get my machine.

Seriously? Any longer and I'll be looking to purchase a new machine, and keep the old Singer for backup. I'm going through horrible withdrawal. Also, yes, I have looked into sewing machine rental, and there isn't anyplace nearby that does rentals. The good news is that I found out that one of the quilt shops that was near where I work, and had been flooded out in the Nor'Easter of 2007, re-opened about 6 months ago in a new location, under a new name. How cool! Now I actually can do a bit of fabric-shopping in person without having to drive through 2 counties to get there!

Which, of course, is neither here nor there if I have no machine. *headdesk*

It's raining, it's pouring...AGAIN

Well, the rain is back, after a single spectacular day of sun yesterday. And it is TEEMING! I can sit in my office and listen to it pound on the roof, two stories up. Yes, I work in a library, and yes, it's fairly quiet today (no story-times--woo!), but still.

I realize I talk a lot about quilting, and not so much about the library thing so far. Part of that is, when I'm frustrated with my job, I have a different outlet for that. But part of it is, well, sometimes the job is just kind of dull. Common misconceptions? That it's really quiet, that I shush people, that all I do all day is read.

Yes, it can be really quiet, like right now. But the design of the building is quite open, with the exception of the children's wing, so ringing phones, beeping of barcode scanners, and conversation noise all carries. Most days, we get about a thousand people through our doors, especially busy are weekends and just after people get out of work/school in the afternoons. So it is NOT your ideal space for silent study. Sorry!

I am not a shusher. As a matter of fact, neither are my coworkers. If you're having a loud conversation in the middle of our balcony, so that it echoes all over the main building, we will come up and quietly ask you to take your conversation (and/or your cell phone--that's a nono in here) to the lobby. Beyond that? We don't. We don't yell at kids, either. Do you remember being scared of the librarian when you were little? I do. A lot of people carry that into adulthood. We like to be kinder, gentler librarians than the stereotype.

And finally, if I got paid to read all day, I would be among the happiest people alive. I love books, and I love to read. But my job as a department supervisor means that I count fine monies, do statistical reports, organize the service desk schedules for 5 desks in our 2 buildings (and deal with all of the vacation/time-off requests), work at the service desk, supervise my department staff including our teen shelvers, and order books for our fiction and young adult collections. And I'm always on-call in case of a cranky patron. I DO read on my lunch hour, but alas, that is an unpaid break. I'm currently finishing the new Laurell K. Hamilton, listening to Jen Lancaster's new book "Pretty in Plaid" in the car, and will shortly be starting "Three Cups of Tea" for next month's book club.

Sadly, my little shopping transgression yesterday has snowballed a bit, and I signed up for *gulps* a "Strip of the Month" club. I have become so enamored of strip quilts lately, that the opportunity was too good to pass up--a jelly-roll and a new pattern every month? From what I see, a lot of them look like quickies, too, so they'd be nice breaks from the bigger projects, like the star sampler and the endless pinwheels I'm currently working on. I figure I now KNOW I have something new coming every month, so perhaps that will curtail some of the additional spending? Yes, I know, I'm delusional. But it sounds good, yes?

(And omg, fabric. I have been particularly "want-y" lately, and this has totally hit the spot, at least for now. I am in a dither of wanting to see all the new stuff, and impatiently trying to wait for it. *makes grabby hands* When I'm like this, I honestly don't trust myself in a fabric store, for fear of caving in to the desire to roll around on bolts of fabric like a puppy in the grass. I would be very sad if my behavior meant they would ask me not to come back. :P)

As far as WIPs, I am piecing HSTs in the evenings. Still. It is the life of a handpiecer. I admit to a twinge or two of envy when I see machine piecers and quilters whipping through projects at a rate of 1-2 a week. But I know that I cannot tie myself to another machine in the evenings, and I don't really want to. I find handpiecing quite soothing. I'm not saying that I won't break out the machine at some point in the future. I'm just saying that for right now, I'm happy with what I'm doing. :)

Until next time,

--Meg