This is Not Fun

My friend, the seam ripper

When I bought the kit for the Latte Log Cabin, there was no warning on it. There should have been. It was so beautiful hanging there on the quilt shop wall - innocent little latte and cream squares in an intricately shaded pattern. Looked pretty easy. What could possibly be hard about sewing rectangles of fabric together and making 48 squares? Maybe the fact that if you are one fiber off on any of the 4 corners, it throws the whole square off. Seems impossible, but it's true. I was so proud of myself for sewing those first 2 pieces together yesterday and was ready to start on the 3rd strip. I confidently laid the third strip on, even marked a 1/4-inch seam in pencil because I don't feel like I can trust my quarter-inch seam foot on the sewing machine. I know I said I liked to do them by hand, but I also like having more of a life than sitting there sewing rectangles together. So I sewed my first strip and went to measure. First side, perfect 2 inches. Second side perfect. Third side just a teeny bit off. Fourth side. Rip it out. I never got one to turn out perfect the first time - or sometimes the second or third times. I got so weary of sewing 2 inches, trotting to the ironing board, pressing it opening, measuring it, finding the seam ripper, taking out the stitching, frowning, measuring again, going back to the machine. There are 48 squares, 17 rectangles in each square. I need to learn to do this right the first time.

The battle scene. All the little strips perfectly cut and ready to be sewn. Rulers, pencils, scissors, pins, even a glue stick (that didn't work either). But notice in the midst of the chaos,1 perfect square - so far - 7 more strips to go on that one. And it only took me 2 hours.
That's about all I did today other than being irritable about it being so cold again. Washed clothes, worked, and took Darby to Bruno's to get Mama's Birmingham News. Lots of excitement for the little black dog. She kept looking at me as if to say, "Can you BELIEVE THIS? I'm riding in a car. I'm looking out the window. I see people. I see birds. Fun, fun, fun."
I'm up too late.