It’s like a sickness.  I have a gazillion other things I could or ought to be doing, but I keep getting pulled back in to work on those feathered star centers.

What I was mostly objecting to with regards to the options I was trying for the centers was how STARK they were.  I wasn’t sure the centers looked like they belonged — yes, the fabrics/colors matched, but they just seemed to scream HERE I AM.

After a few of you commented that the 2nd option didn’t actually look as bad as I thougt it did, I decided to reconsider.  And run with it.

The bottom star centers are just pinned in place on the design wall so you can see the overall effect.  The top two are actually sewn in place.  As in:  I set those circles in!  Woohoo!  Yea me!  (For my non-quilting readers, trust me, setting in a circle is a big deal for me, it’s way harder than just sewing a straight line.  Although, some days I have troubles with straight lines, too…)

Now that I can see it as a whole piece, I like it.  I’m also very proud of myself for:  drafting the centers, piecing them such that they are actually done well and fit where they are supposed to go, and setting in those 2 circles.  (The black centers are appliquéd on top).

So, now to finish sewing those bottom beauties together, and then…what?  I’ve been focused on figuring out how to get past the star centers, now it’s time to decide what to do beyond this.  I’m not sure if I’m going to try to set in trapezoids on those sides, or if I’m going to wimp out and square off the center.  And then what?  How big to make this?  What to add to it?  A great deal of contemplation and book/photo studying is ahead of me.

In other news:  the boys just finished their first week of football practice.  Last night was the first night of full equipment.  They actually worked on tackling some.  Apparently Will took some pretty hard hits, but he’s all strong about it and insists that he is NOT sore, thank you very much.

I guess Joe has found his calling:  he’s very good at tackling.  Mark said that he had that LOOK in his eyes — that LOOK of pure joy.

They’ve learned quite a bit this week.  last night they were trying to tell me about some of the plays they have started to learn.   Stuff like “Wingback 28 Reverse.”  They’ve decided that football players really have to be pretty smart to remember everything they have to remember.  Apparently Mom has a lot to learn, too.

Plus, exercising makes you smarter.  Joe informed me that if they were having trouble with homework, they were going to get up and run around a bit in order to get their brain working.

Speaking of working, I’d better wrap this up and get something else done.

Have a great weekend!