Logged Off

Four of five years ago, I bought three or four white sweatshirts so I could make new Christmas sweaters to wear to work. At the time, at least one was going to be a new Christmas tree shirt. I'd grown bored with the old ones, one of which is more than 20 years old, and many of the charm ornaments have fallen apart or simply come off the second one.

My granddaughter had fallen in love with the purple one (her favorite color) the first time she saw it, and she asked if I would make one for her. I did. That's when I bought the sweatshirts. I decided it was time to make a new one for me, and maybe I could even sell a couple.

I'm glad I never got them done because not only has my taste changed, but I got a new wild idea when my internet and my computer recently decided they wanted long-term vacations. To say I was frustrated doesn't really cover it.

Sometimes I just like to play with leftover jelly roll strips, with nothing planned. Just sew and see what happens.

I pulled out my scrap boxes (one for each color group, two full of blue) and threw together the ocean-themed log cabin at the top of this post, just to keep my fingers busy while I waited for my slow computer to upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 10 (THREE TIMES!!!). The last thing I need is another WIP, but the stitching was fun and relaxing, and it really did take my mind off technology for a short while. I'm sure I have enough scraps in the other boxes to make at least five more log cabins each in a single color, and maybe I could use the assembled blocks as backing for an existing WIP. I tried not to feel guilty for starting something new.

The all-blue log cabin gave me a great idea. It ties in perfectly with unexpectedly having to have my house rewired for wireless and then losing access to programs such as Photoshop (the most important program on my computer) because my computer is so old. I decided to dig out one of those old but new sweatshirts and quilt-as-I-go a snowflake log cabin onto the front, then figure out a way to incorporate text on one of the sleeves. I'm going to write, either with more blue snowflake scraps or with fabric markers (already in my stash, so no new purchases required!!!), "Logged Out." Because I am!!! I am so done with computer problems!!!

So, not entirely done yet, and not straight, but then again, I was feeling off-kilter for the last couple of technology nightmare weeks, and maybe being crooked better reflects the way I felt when I put the front of this shirt together. I eyeballed the placement after realizing for the first time the old new sweatshirts did not have side seams, which I had planned to rip out and then redo after quilting my designs onto the flattened shirt. The sleeves DO have seams, so I haven't decided yet whether I should cut them open to make log cabin alphabet quilting easier or to just freehand draw log-shaped letters with my markers. It would be fun to use up more scraps, but that also might take me longer than the 46 or so days remaining until Christmas, and I do want to wear this sweatshirt this Christmas season. I may be practicing my extremely rusty calligraphy skills in the next couple of days! And perhaps I will have yet another WIP finish for Devoted Quilter's 100-day WIP challenge.

Linking up with Alycia Quilts and Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

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