more shooting stars

I'll admit, all this cozy-making might seem a tad on the obsessive-compulsive side. In my spare time yesterday and this morning I turned out 2 more, almost identical shooting star cozies. On a positive note, I think I've cut the time on making these down to about an hour. Which might still seem long for something so small. But in crafting terms, very doable. I've promised to start working on the tetris quilt I talked about so much last year once school is out (3 more days!). That will be a slightly more time-consuming project.

"feeling too busy to get everything done? then why not start a complex craft project!"

The above seems to be the logic my brain follows. June: had a lot of free time, but spent most of it on Facebook. July: busy with summer school and lots tutoring, and I'm suddenly sitting at the drawring board, planning my next craft project.

But as far as craft projects go, this one's an exciting one. Below is a picture of the "pattern" for the tetris quilt I've been talking about making for so many months now. Still not sure about the fabrics that I'll use, but I feel like I've made the first step, and am looking forward to doing more!

I'm almost embarrassed to admit how much fun I had working on this design. The process sort of burst my maybe-I'm-not-really-an-anal-retentive-nerd bubble... in an effort to illustrate what I mean by that, let me share with you a few of the "rules" that I set for myself while drawing up the pattern:

1. pieces of the same type (and color) should not touch each other. (Explanation: I don't want pieces to blend into each other on the actual quilt.)

2. each row should have 1 empty space, to increase the authenticity of the tetris scenario. (Explanation: if there were no spaces, the line would disappear.)

3. pieces of the same type should be spread out, and pieces of the 5 different types should be used an equal (or close to equal) number of times. (Explanation: purely aesthetic.)

The last rule proved difficult, especially when I got to the top (I started from the bottom, of course!) and was trying to finish the design without using partial pieces, but still following rules 1 and 2.

In spite of all my efforts, the design does have a couple points which are inconsistent with the game of tetris. Can you spot them?

1. Not positive, but I think the width should be 10 squares, not 12.

2. There are actually 7 different types of tetris pieces, not 5. I did not use different colors to distinguish between pieces that are mirror-images.

I actually did consider the above two points before starting on the design, but decided that the quilt would probably look a little better with more squares and fewer colors/fabrics. So, in the end, after all of my obsessing, I guess I did choose aesthetics over tetrical (adj?) accuracy.

If you're wondering about the triangular graph-paper underneath, my next project is going to be something involving equilateral triangle patchwork...!!!

finished!, fishballs, and fabric

I turned in my last paper today, and am thus officially finished with my PGDE work! Hooray!

Here are a few highlights from my day:

While trying to write my paper, I noticed this funny tag on my folder. Definitely a good reminder...
I've been really looking forward to finishing up my work so that I can get started on some sewing projects I've had my eye on (read TETRIS QUILT!!). So after turning in my paper, I wasted no time and headed straight over to Sham Shui Po, to my favorite fabric market.

Here's a place that I stopped at for a snack. The name is interesting... they decided to translate half of it into English, and leave the other half in Cantonese.

My favorite processed-fish-snack-on-a-stick: fishballs!!

Here's the fabric that I bought. Some of it is a little loud, but I like the variety. You never know what you'll find in Sham Shui Po...

And here's some of the fabric that I rediscovered in my home fabric stash. I'm not sure which ones I'll use yet... I think I need some time to ruminate on this one. Suggestions are welcome!

tetris quilt

Wow, I want to make one of these! Link The only thing is, most of the "tetris" pieces in this quilt are made up of five blocks, not four.
If I make one, I think I'll go for something more authentic...

By the way, this is my 100th post! Woohoo! :)