Beware of Disgruntled Quilter

You've no doubt seen Beware of Dog signs and Beware of Falling Rocks signs.  You may have even seen humourous Beware of Dieter signs in a friend's kitchen.  I just thought I should warn y'all, I'm feeling very grouchy and disgruntled.  Maybe you should go to bed, my Mom would say, ever practical.  And maybe I will... I am feeling that grouchy.

Bonnie Hunter's Orca Bay Mystery begins today.  It requires the black fabric that I bought online, that hasn't arrived yet.  Now it seems to me with post offices on both sides of the border complaining about volume of mail going down dramatically with everyone using email and smart phones, that they could get my 2 measly yards of Kansas Troubles black tonal fabric through in half the time.  I even held my breath in excitement as not one but two postal trucks pulled up and double parked in front of my apartment building at various times this morning.  But no, neither postie had my fabric.  Contributing to my misery is the first frigid day of winter (-27 with the wind chill), stepping on a stray straight pin my vacuum cleaner didn't pick up, and jabbing my right index finger on the discarded sewing machine needle when pushing down on the garbage so I wouldn't have to brave the cold to dispose of it.  Life as we know it has certainly taken a turn for the worst.

So, I returned to working on my Great HST Caper, proceeded with considerably disgruntled mien to unenthusiastically count out 160 scrappy 2.5" wide bricks from my scrap box and trimmed them all to a uniform 4.5" long.  Even the thought of using up more of the old fabric stash didn't raise my spirits or fill me with a heart-warming glee.

Then I cut some 2.5" light squares and started drawing lines down the backs, muttering something rather harsh about my not being able to point and sew with any reasonable accuracy.

And drawing the second line 3/8" from the first for oversewing to create a bonus half-square triangle.

And then I questioned what I was doing.  Didn't I want to start by making just a few zigs and zags, to audition the look?  If that was the case, why had I just cut so many bricks and squares?  And the bonus HST sewing line?  Really?  It's going to end up being 1.75" or smaller after trimming.  I lined up my diagonal line of the bonus pencil line to check... probably 1.5".  Do I really want to bother with something that small?  made with these fabrics?  The fabrics I've been trying to use up to get rid of?

And the 1.5" x 2.5" bits I trimmed off the bricks?  Crumb bin? garbage? back in the scrap box for yet another project?  At what point do I get to throw out the left-overs?

Even my face hurts from grimacing all day.  Poor Lucas has been in hiding since I yelled at him this morning.  Maybe a nap is a really good idea right about now.