WIP Wednesday No. 15

Finishes this week
Mum's quilt is all finished. See more details here.

Progress this week
So far, so good when it comes to sticking to the list. I've chosen to finish the Pear Tree Quilt next because I really want to get it sent over to New York to help out somebody in need.

I cut out all the fabrics on Sunday:

Then I played around with the squares to get a good balance on Monday night:

I started piecing on Tuesday but then had to rip it all out because nothing was lining up. When I tried again this evening I had the same problem and after a quick tantrum discovered that all my squares are 8 3/8" instead of 8 1/2"!

No idea how that happened but after a bit of bodging I managed to get 2 rows pieced together:

I think it will be really cute when it's done.

Still to go

1. Strawberry patch
2. Wedding ring
3. Echino baby quilt
4. Vintage quilt
5. Block of the month
6. Hex-a-long
7. Bear Paw

Why not pop over to Freshly pieced to see what everyone else is up to this Wednesday. 

WIP Wednesday No. 14

Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the number of unfinished projects lying around the house? It's hard to write a blog when you feel like you're making absolutely no progress.

I had limited myself by saying that I'm not allowed to start a new project until I've finished all the ones in progress but there are so many there that I'm still making very little inroads. The new vow is that I will pick one project and work on it until it is complete. No mixing it up, no taking a break and doing something else, just a concerted effort to finish up this pile of WIPs.

I'm going to bring the projects out of the closet so I can see exactly what there is to do:


Mum's Sofa Quilt

This quilt has been finished, quilted on the Gammill, trimmed and waiting to be bound for weeks. Time to pull my finger out and get it done!


Strawberry Patch Quilt

I started quilting this quilt in August! August! It won't take much to get it finished and I can't wait to see it done. Hopefully it will be done before next summer!


Pear Tree Quilt

My Pear Tree fabrics by Thomas Knauer arrived and they are absolutely gorgeous! Although this isn't, technically, a WIP because it isn't yet started, it is high on the list of priorities. To enter the competition you had to promise to make a quilt for the charity Bumble Beans Basics.

I quickly drew up this design with a woven foreground. I didn't want to distract from the fabrics and some of them are quite large prints so I thought this would showcase them well. I'd like to get it done by the end of March so it's high on the list.


Block of the Month

The only odd-one-out on the list is my Block of the Month project. I won't be doing all of these at once but I will make sure to get them done at the beginning of every month.


Wedding Ring Quilt

Another quilt with a deadline. I received my save the date card (well, it was actually a save the date Facebook message - they're on a budget) so it needs to be done by August. At the moment I have 8 curves pieced. That's not good progress.

Hex-a-long Quilt

Eeek. I'm not sure my willpower will last out this long. If I get all the other projects done I might allow myself to do this in tandem with other things. I may get sewing machine withdrawal symptoms if I can only hand piece for months on end.


Vinatge Quilt Restoration

This is a silk heirloom quilt handed over by a friend of my mum's. There are patches where her naughty husband left a biro with the lid off. When the ink was cleaned off, the colour came out the silk so I've been commissioned to appliqué something on the top to hide the bleached patches.


And finally....

Here's the pile of pre-cuts I have to make pretty things out of. I'm not allowed to touch them until everything above is done. If that isn't motivation, I don't know what is!


Phew! That's a long list and it doesn't even include all the many knitted items I've started since I started at Woolaballoo. At least I can work on those at work. Hopefully I can post soon with some real progress.

WIP Wednesday No. 13

Mum's Quilt Top - Complete
It feels good to get something finished, even if it is just the top.

The plan for this week is to get this quilted and bound. I can't decide whether to take it in to work and long-arm it or just do some straight line quilting at home. I'm still too scared to free-motion on my machine at home.

Hexalong

I picked another odd colour combination to tackle this week. Kaffe Fassett is known as the master of colour... Sienna and magenta? Really Kaffe?

A touch of violet seemed to work well. It's never going to be my favourite block but it looks nice with the others. I don't know whether I'm doing something wrong, it takes me all evening to do one block. I'm sure it should be quicker than that.

I now have 7 star blocks;

two striped blocks;

and a lonely mini hexagon block

At this rate it's going to take me years to finish this up. This week I'm going to concentrate on striped blocks because I can do those much quicker. Hopefully I can get at least two made up this week.

No progress projects

• Strawberry Patch
• Neutral jelly roll bear paws
• Shabby Wedding Rings

Why not pop over to Freshly pieced to see what everyone else is up to this Wednesday. 

WIP Wednesday No. 12

I'm having a re-jig of my WIPs because I realised that I've been scaring myself by listing projects that I haven't even started. They non-starters are going in their own separate section so hopefully I will be less overwhelmed and more able to get something done.

Quilt for mum
A brand new range of fabrics, Melrose by Red Rooster Fabrics, came into the shop where I work and they would look just perfect in our living room. I quickly snapped some up with the aim of making a throw sized quilt for one of the sofas.

Our living room was predominately beige and mum decided to inject some colour into it by buying a dark plum sofa. Needless to say it now sticks out like a sore thumb so I'm hoping to calm it down a bit with a throw.

I decided on the Hidden Wells pattern I used with Rouenneries fabric previously. Its quick, effective and makes use of the contrasting fabrics quite well. I've sliced and sewed and sliced again and it's well on its way.

This picture shows the balance of fabrics in the top, although these blocks have been re-sliced now. Fingers crossed mum will be coming out of the hospital next week and I'm determined to have this quilt done by then.

Hexalong

I didn't complete any hexagons this week but I slowly basted all my spotty fabrics, a couple at a time in front of the TV.

I can now see which odd colour combinations I'm going to deal with first. I think the brown and magenta at the bottom and the maroon and green at the top right are top of the list to match up with solids.

Other projects

• Strawberry Patch - Echo quilted 3 blocks, not much but at least it's progress
• Neutral jelly roll bear paws - Still waiting to be quilted
• Shabby Wedding Rings - No progress

Plan for the week

• Finish off mum's Melrose quilt
• Piece 8 wedding ring curvy bits
• Complete at least one hexagon

I think that should be manageable - baby steps. Check in next week to see if I made it.

Why not pop over to Freshly pieced to see what everyone else is up to this Wednesday. 

WIP Wednesday No. 11

My mum was hospitalised on Friday so, between work and running backwards and forwards to the hospital, I haven't had much time for sewing. I was determined to make some progress this week so here's the little I managed to do.

Hexalong
So far, I have been picking out my favourite spots and favourite solids to make the hexagons but I started to worry that I would be left with the yucky colours and no way to brighten them up. The new plan is to take the spots I'm not keen on and find some way to make me fall in love with them.

This was the first challenge. I really didn't like the diarrhoea coloured mustardy brown spots with the violet but, when paired with a brighter yellow, the whole thing looks a lot more palatable to me.

Double Wedding Ring
I pieced another couple of curves which makes enough curves to piece my first full ring. I also traced out the templates for the "melon" (the tutorials term, not mine - I've never seen a melon that shape!) and the centres using template plastic. Using my new templates I cut 4 melons and 1 centre.

That's when the panic set in. Should I piece them together or should I make all the curves and play around with them first. I have a fear of getting the balance of colours wrong. A paralysing fear.

I'm learning that my brain does not do scrappy, it craves order and symmetry. It's an engineering brain and scrappy is hurting it. I will not be defeated! I will, however, chicken out of sewing them together until I have them all pieced and can spend hours and hours rearranging them.

New projects

They're running a competition over at Missouri Star Quilt Company called the iron quilter. Take up to three charm packs and create anything you want. The finished quilts will be judged in January and the winner gets $150 to spend in the shop.

Can I resist the chance to win $150 of fabric loveliness? - nope. Do I have time to design a quilt, make a quilt and post it to America by December 31st? - Do I ****!

I guess I'll have to make time because I've ordered the charm packs so now it would be rude not to.

No progress projects

• Strawberry Patch 
• Neutral jelly roll bear paws
• It's a hoot 
• Antique quilt repair

Finishes

• None :(

Why not pop over to Freshly pieced to see what everyone else is up to this Wednesday. It's the one year anniversary of Lee's Linky party and to celebrate she's featuring the original linkers and a giveaway.

WIP Wednesday No. 10

Shabby Wedding Rings
I have pieced 6 of the curved sections for my double wedding ring quilt.

The pattern I am using is made up of 4 rings by 4 rings but I think I'm going to expand it so it's more bed sized. In total I need to piece 60 curves so I'm 10% there. That doesn't seem so bad.

Hexalong

I've made one more hexagon, using fussy cut flowers from a Faffe Fassett fabric.

It took me a couple of evenings but I'm very proud of it. So proud, I think I'm going to order some fat quarters of the floral in a couple of different colourways so I can do some more. I think these three would give a good balance:

No progress projects

• Strawberry Patch 
• Neutral jelly roll bear paws
• It's a hoot 
• Antique quilt repair

Finishes

• None :(

Why not pop over to Freshly pieced to see what everyone else is up to this Wednesday.

WIP Wednesday No. 9

Shabby Wedding Rings
Is there anything more satisfying than neat piles of freshly cut fabric?

These are the former Frosted Window Pane fabrics which are now going to be made into a Double Wedding Ring quilt. I adore these fabrics and can't wait to see what they look like. 

I am a little extremely scared about actually starting to piece this top. Scrappy is a step out of my comfort zone and curves make me shake in my shoes.

Hexalong

I don't think I've touched my hexagons in over a month but Tonya over at Hillbilly Handiworks has started a new hexagon project and it's spurred me into action.

So I've cut a pile of new diamond papers and cracked open the handy-hexagon box. Time to tack some new fabrics.

Other Projects

• Strawberry Patch - No progress. The lesson here is that if you tidy something away, you will forget about it all together. It's now back on my desk and making me feel guilty.
• Neutral jelly roll bear paws - waiting to be Long-arm quilted at work. 
• It's a hoot and Antique quilt - No progress. 

Why not pop over to Freshly pieced to see what everyone else is up to this Wednesday.

WIP Wednesday No. 8

Just a quick post while I babysit for my sister. Brother-in-law has just had an accident on his bike so sister has had to rush him to the A&E, not sure of the details but I hope he's OK. I keep telling them exercise is bad for you but they never listen!

Block Swap
I'm very tight on time. I have a couple of days to turn these three piles..

...into 25 of these...

It's a race against time!

I'm working so much at the moment that there isn't much other sewing going on (or, at least, no sewing I'm allowed to keep). Most of my WIPs look like this

So pretty but it doesn't belong to me - boo!

Why not pop over to Freshly pieced to see what everyone else is up to this Wednesday.

WIP Wednesday No. 7

I'm having a very productive week so far. Tiring but productive. By the end of the week I need to have made 3 stuffed toys, a tea cosy and finished up my block swap blocks. I've given myself a strict timetable and, so far, I've managed to stick to it.

This evening's progress

One completed goose

and

a redesigned heffalump

Block swap
It didn't occur to me that 25 blocks is actually equivalent to making a whole quilt. I'm slowly getting through the piecing in between other jobs. So far I have 108 pointy house shaped things, 108 HSTs and 108 plain 2.5" squares. I just need to dog ear 108 rectangles then I'm ready to put them together.

The blocks are supposed to be in the mail by 20th October but I want to get them posted ASAP because they always take so long to get to the US.

Time to sleep, work in the morning (I still like the sound of that, I wonder when that will wear off.



Why not pop over to Freshly pieced to see what everyone else is up to this Wednesday.

WIP Wednesday No. 6

Here's a quick update before I hop into bed for a good night's sleep because it's my first day at Woolaballoo tomorrow!

Completed projects
I made these sweet little draw-string bags for my three nieces. They each have a little animal on the front that match the stuffed toys I made them along with their initials. They also have gorgeous floral linings but I forgot to photograph those - sorry!

Heffalump is all done and gorgeously, huggably cute. I think he's got a really smiley face.

I found some cotton yarn that was exactly the same colour as his ears. A quick plait and he has a beautiful tail.

Hexalong
Only a single lonely block this week but I think it's my favourite so far.

Something about that lime green and aqua together really makes me smile. It kind of reminds me of a sunny holiday somewhere.

Block swap
I went to my LQS this today for an afternoon of sewing with my mum. I did promise myself to stick to the sale rack but these Whimsy prints were calling out to me.

I decided on the Weathervane block (see yesterday's post for the other options) and set about making a test block.

Amazingly my maths was right first time so, when I came home, I had a marathon slicing session. I have all the pieces ready to go for the other blocks. Next step: draw diagonal lines on 168 squares - definitely a sitting in front of the telly job!

Other Projects

• Strawberry Patch - Quilted around a couple more blocks. I've set myself the target of finishing all the echo quilting by the weekend so I can concentrate on the motifs.
• Neutral jelly roll bear paws, It's a hoot, Frosted window panes and Antique quilt - No progress. 

Why not pop over to Freshly pieced to see what everyone else is up to this Wednesday.