What the hell was I thinking?

I was digging through old emails and I found my original "please make me a square" request for the quilt. This was back in the before time, when I knew absolutely nothing about quilting.

Wasn't I adorable? This all seemed so easy before I'd ever tried piecing anything together, ever. Somehow sewing over the giant clump of fabric in the center of each design never entered my mind.

I also didn't realize how restrictive this was! I must have been huffing some serious glue to think that I could get so many unique snowflakes roller derby skaters to be content following such a specific, limiting pattern. I would have been lucky to receive anything other than a few cookie-cutter squares and a TON of others that didn't adhere to the rules.

Live and learn, I guess. I can definitely say I've learned a lot during this process. I'm still new to quilting, and I have a long way to go before I can ever hope to claim to know what I'm doing. However, looking at this, I can see how far I've come in my understanding and respect for this medium.

Cat over, dog under.

A lesson on working with the fauna in the quilting studio (AKA my living room):

I've accepted that they will be one of the major forces that determine when I work and when I do other non-working things, like sleeping, eating, and showering.

My cat's preferred method of stopping all progress on the quilt is to sit on top of a section and refuse to move. This is usually my signal to go get some chips, or surf teh intarnets. I know that many of you are wondering why I don't just shoo him away. Clearly his cat mind control can't be adequately captured through the lens of a camera.

Seriously. This cat could end world hunger, cure disease, and force us all to get along if he cared enough to direct his cat hypnosis on more altruistic things. Instead, he chooses to find a comfortable place to sit. Go figure.

The dog has a method all her own. Not to be outdone, she digs her way underneath the quilt. Tonight, this even included some tunneling around under the layers so she could more easily see the world around her, look adorable, and wag her tail.

Unlike the cat, who simply sits down in his chosen spot and commands everyone to leave him be, the dog uses her magic powers to make bystanders participate. Yes, she makes us wrap her in the quilt, much like she makes us talk for her using the high-pitched, Monty-Python-woman voice we've all come to use in her presence.

No, really, they're making me do it. Look into those cute, fuzzy faces and ask yourself if you have it in you to actually say "sorry chief, I need to baste that section now."

I didn't think so.

Fresh Eddie Fresh version 2.0

Ladies and gentlemen, we have our first "quilt square do-over." Yes, even those of you who have made contributions in the past are always welcome to revise, edit, change, and otherwise re-submit your squares.To illustrate the point, one of my earliest contributors has shown that it it's possible to make a second square that is as keen as the first. 

It's been a while since I've gotten quilty goodness in the mail, so I sent out more inquiries to a long list of total strangers, distant acquaintances, and dear friends. It seems appropriate that the next phase of quilt packages and envelopes would come from one of the first quilt to donate: Fresh Eddie Fresh, New England ref and skater for Pioneer Valley Roller Derby's Dirty Dozen.

I probably should have known who this was before even reading the envelope. I mean, seriously, who else would send me something with this on the back? Opening it up also resulted in some fun goodies. In addition to his square, he also added some stickers that have already found their way onto my quilt storage boxes. Keep sending stickers, people. I love them as much as I did when I was nine.

So I don't leave out the dog...

Goblin has accepted the quilt into our living room life. In fact, she seems to rather enjoy it.