Last night was Friday Night Sew In hosted by Heidi and Bobbi. Thanks for hosting ladies. This is my third official sew in and I love the concept for the sheer motivation factor.
Mr. P was instructed that between 7 pm and 11 pm, I was absolutely positively not to be disturbed unless the house was on fire. Not even if he had an arterial bleed. Sometimes those chats work and sometimes they don't. Last night was a winner. He helped by doing a run to the shop for snacks to keep me motivated. Mmmmmmmm Tim Tams and Salt and Vinegar Chips. How I love you so.
Between 7 and 9 pm, I squared all the blocks, laid them all out and had a look at whether I liked it or not. I didn't stress too much about layout because random is good and I'm lazy. Then I sewed all the blocks into vertical rows.
Then I had to stop for a break to eat an entire bag of chips...because it's important to keep your strength up. And I fluffed around on the internet for an hour because I am very easily distracted and have the attention span of a goldfish.
Finally I remembered I was supposed to be sewing and broke out the iron to press seams, which is a job I hate. When I get rich and famous I'm going to hire someone to be my personal seam presser.
My iron is a piece of crap (that's not a swear word in Australia ) even though it cost about the same as the national debt of Guatemala. A good iron is hard to find and usually breaks one day after the warranty expires. The iron I had before this one was completely rockin', aside from the little matter of it trying to electrocute me when it finally died in some bizarre murder/suicide bid.
Then all the vertical rows got pinned together
I pushed through the "I'm-really-tired-and-want-to-eat-all-the-Tim-Tams-and- play-on-the-internet-again" phase and by about 11.00pm the quilt top looked like this.
I gotta say I'm not feeling the love with this quilt top because it's not really my usual colour palette (which also explains why it's been a WIP/UFO since about March ) but that's OK because this isn't for me it's for someone else who will like muted. Now I have to fix the 1,321 mistakes I noticed while I was pressing it and add a couple of borders and piece the back. Or I could shove it in a box and ignore it until the next Sew In....
Hope your FNSI was productive and fun! I can't wait to see what other crafty people managed to get done. No sewing for me today. Those igloo blocks need some attention.
Shay, I really like what you did with the Kashmir. All I've done is make a bunch of hexies with mine. I don't have a clue what I will do with them!
ReplyDeleteWhen I get rich, I will wear new socks every day and have a person to do my prewashing for me.
ReplyDeleteEven though I don't like having to press the seams, my iron is excellent, except that the power cable is a bit too short and even though I could buy an extension cable, I forget every time I'm in town, and go to Spotlight and buy more fabric instead.
Wow you achieved so much, salt and vinegar chips and Tim Tams must be power food! It looks great, I can't see any mistakes from here!
ReplyDeleteI bought a really cheap iron to do my seams and it's been great. I do use my fabuloso iron if I'm doing heavy duty stuff though.
I'll do your seams, if you baste my quilts, lol!
I missed last night and I am going to have to organise my time to make sure I am at home for future FNSI's.
well I think it looks fabulous... you got lots accomplished ... food helps .. let me know when you figure out the iron issue ... i can't seem make one last more than a few months...
ReplyDeleteThe quilt top looks absolutely fab, ironing is a pain in the ass, i hate it too, and rarely even look at the thing, so it lasts forever due to lack of use! Chips are yum one bag is never enough! Thanks for your lovely comment, the boy has grown so fast, its hard to believe he has finished school!
ReplyDeleteIt looks wonderful - I need to do a "Friday Night Sew-in" but on another day of the week. P.S. You are so funny.
ReplyDeleteWhen I am rich I will have someone to quilt for me.....I will just make tops. Muted might not be your thing - it's not 100% mine either - but your muted top would be truly loved by a mute.
ReplyDeleteI find it hard to work in soft colours too - but this is looking amazing.
ReplyDeleteYou did wonderful - gotta love power food like chips to keep you going.
When I am rich I will hire a driver so that I don't waste all that valuable sewing time in the drivers seat!
Well I really like this one a lot. Whoever gets it will be very lucky. You probably worked off all those chip and Tim Tam calories with all that sewing.
ReplyDeleteCheers
Helen
Well, I love the delicate color palette, so if your friend doesn't want it, feel free to mail it to me in its current form and I'll finish it.
ReplyDeleteMmmmm...tim tams...wish I had some right now...
Wow that was good progress I made 1 complete and 2/3 of 3 other bags. Might head out again tonight and finish them off. Just got an iphone today and have been playing pretty much all of today.
ReplyDeleteNoice! I like it. Looks like you were busy!
ReplyDeleteI love that your irons die the day after the warranty runs out. Considerate irons I say. My one before this one (stop laughing! It's how I describe them, ok?) was dropped THE day I bought it. It was never the same again. Eventually I replaced it with the current iron which has not broken/been dropped at all. This is because I do not like it and wish I had never bought it. (Of course) It will probably last indefinitely. Up to this point I had averaged an iron a year. Not this sucker!!! It will probably give cockroaches a run for their money in the holocaust! Oh. I guess you are wondering why I don't like it? It switches itself off automatically if you haven't moved it for 8 minutes. Sooooo annoying! I guess if I was able to piece very quickly, it would be ok. But I can't. Anyhoo. Back to your regularly scheduled comments.
All I can say is, it looks beautiful.
ReplyDeleteFor Mother's Day, "Himself" bought me an incredible iron at our local quilt shop. The national debt would have been reduced somewhat if he had chosen to donate the money. The iron does not have to be rested on it's heel. When I leave it flat, 3 teeny feet pop up and raise it about 5/8 of an inch off the ironing board. It works very well and looks lovely BUT yes, you guessed it, I prefer to use the iron that I purchased at a discount store for $13.95. I'm just a simple Canadian gal who doesn't need luxuries although I do enjoy the occasional diamond. Love your posting!
ReplyDeleteHelen (aka Nanci's private teacher)
The quilt top looks beautiful. I've just got a cheap and cheerful iron and it does the job for me... also use a little travel iron on smaller projects when I can't be bothered to get the big board out.
ReplyDeleteSnacks, sewing and surfing - sounds like a great night to me :0)
Maybe I need to get me some australian snacks next time to get me going - seems to be power food. I really like the quilt although I think I would add a bright border...but who am I to talk...I don't even get to the cutting part.
ReplyDeleteWow! you better hand over the chips. And Tim Tams?. You sure got a lot done, and I certainly could use your motivation.....Looks good!
ReplyDeleteI understand about it not being your color scheme (nor is it mine), but it really is a pretty quilt. Good for you to keep pushing on it.
ReplyDeleteMrs. P, you are absolutely amazing. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it! Also, I hear you about the iron. The one I had before the new one that broke was fabulous. I miss it terribly. When you get rich and famous, I will come be your personal seam presser, because I like to do that. I find that steam and a little bit of spray starch works wonders.
ReplyDeleteAgain, amazing job with the quilt top. I can't believe you got it together in three hours. Holy smokes, I must be the slowest quilter, ever.
xo -El
I went to Aldi yesterday (I NEVER EVER EVER GO there) but I found LEMON & Salt chippies.. Oh I remember Lemon & Vinegar chips from about 22 years ago and I LOVED them...
ReplyDeleteGlad you had a productive Friday.. I sat on the lounge and promptly fell asleep!
Lissa
PS I LOVE Janet Evanovich too.. they are the BEST.. her old romance novels are pretty funny too.. I love Sue Grafton and wish she'd hurry up with a new book! (reading Kathy Reichs and just finished *Yawn* the new Patricia Cornwell book probably the most boring book I have ever read... ever)I see you have pretty much the same author list as me, Evanovich, Connelly (just read his new one about a month ago), Grafton, Patterson...
The quilt is beautiful. The person receiving it is very lucky.
ReplyDeleteYou got so much done. Love your post!
ReplyDeleteThis quilt top is beautiful! It is harder to work on colors that we do not favor. Looks like you had a very productive evening...and how sweet that your husband went on a snack run for you:)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful quilt. I think you can safely apply the "If you don't see the mistakes when riding by on a horse, they don't need to be fixed". There sure don't look like any errors on my computer screen.
ReplyDeleteMy good iron gave up the ghost by trying to burn down the house! I have an OK one now, but I sure miss my old one.
Maybe one Friday, I'll be able to do the Friday night sew in. It sounds like a fun and productive time!