Monday, March 25, 2013

Cramming

I had a rather drastic haircut on Saturday as well as a new colour (I was starting to look like Cruella de Vil or a skunk or both)  I decided to go all trendy at the suggestion of my 21 year old hairdresser and had an asymmetrical bob done which means one side of my hair is noticeably longer than the other.  I'm not sure yet whether I look hip and trendy or whether it looks like I did my own haircut with a knife and fork. 

As usual the weekend seemed to be over far too quickly. Often Sunday night appears and I think "What? almost Monday already?" like it's somehow a shock that Monday follows Sunday and that I didn't get half the things done that I'd planned. But this weekend was packed full of sewing and a couple of almost finishes in the quilting department. That's what I call a good weekend!

I put on my big girl panties and finished the quilting on Superheroes 1. I still don't think it's one of my best quilting efforts in terms of execution but the silver lining here is that it helped me decide what not to do for Superheroes 2. I'm pretty sure this is what a real spider web would look like if the spider had just dropped acid. 




I was doing the happy dance at the idea of being that close to a finish though and maybe if I wash the crap out of it all those cruddy bits I don't like will dissolve in the wash?

I'm half way through making the back for Superheroes 2 and having learned my lesson I'm keeping it simple. 


Little Miss Sunshine gave me the heads up a while back about a different method to basting a quilt and I gave that a crack this weekend. Instead of basting all three layers at once, I spray basted the front to the batting first and then spray basted the top two layers to the backing. Mind you I still pinned it to within an inch of it's life. Just to be sure.  I got great results using this method with my backing looking almost perfect when I pulled it off my basting table.


Some simple in the ditch stitching in the main body of the quilt 


And I did such an awesome job of matching the backing thread that you cant see I  did a single argyle pattern in the borders. I was originally going to use red top thread on the front in the borders but chickened out at the last minute. I'm kicking myself now because that would have looked fabulous. And I'm seriously happy with the quilting on this one. Now I just have to make the binding for both of these and spend some time hand sewing. I can sniff an imminent finish or two! It's about bloody time . I think I'm the only person in the entire quilting fraternity that hasn't had a 2013 finish!

And finally I've been the lucky recipient of some beautiful goodies the last week or so that I want to show off and say a big thank you for. 

At our sewing day last weekend Quiltygal gifted me these gorgeous babushka fabrics. Sewing friends are the best friends ever! Thank you Claire. 


And recently I've won not one , but two blog giveaways!

First up from the beautiful Elizabeth at Such a Sew and Sew I got this parcel of yumminess. I'll be sticking babushka stickers on everything I own from here on in. Too cute ! 


And from Terri at QuiltNcards  I got these awesome fabrics, some licorice (I've heard about Good and Plenty but never had any)  and since Terri is the official Queen of Paper Piecing she sent me this lovely example of her work. I was truly spoiled. 


Thank you so much ladies. Your generosity has brightened my days. 

It's off to work for me , although I'd much rather be tackling those binding jobs! 



27 comments:

  1. I think we would all like to see the haircut! I have finished 3 small quilts for birthday presents but they were single pieces of fabric for both front and back, machine quilted row-style and had binding done on the machine!! What a revelation! I think I'll struggle to make myself bind by hand again :) the quilts were simply width of fabric by 2 metres and then I folded up the bottom 40 or so cms and stitched at the sides to make a pocket to tuck your feet into. Perfect for sitting on the couch in winter :)
    Always love reading your blogs because it never fails to make me laugh.
    Cheers
    Anne

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  2. Yay for prizes and finishing quilts and all, but we want to see the new do! You can't leave us hanging like that...

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  3. We are our own worst critics. I think that the spiderweb quilting is genius! It looks amazing! Your briar rose quilt is beautiful too! And I'm so glad you finally got your goodies. I'm pretty sure they went slow boat.

    xo -E

    P.S. Remember to link up after you've finishes those lovely quilts ;)!

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  4. Oh look at you! Finishing and winning all in the same post! I may have to go eat a bag of Oreo's to get over my depression at being behind. :)

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  5. Very unfair to tell us about your trendy new do without sharing some visual proof! You're nearly there with those finishes, they look great! Not far to go now!

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  6. Well you certainly have had a busy time. I'm very impressed with all your sewing and all those near finishes mean complete finishes very soon. I think the spider web quilting looks GREAT !
    On another tack.... you seem to be collecting a lot of babushkas. What are you going to do with them?

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  7. Yep. I want to see the haircut too. I love spray basting. I do pin still, but just around the edges which works a treat!

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  8. Wow, looks like you kept the sewing machine working this weekend! Love your quilts.
    How nice to receive all these lovely goodies from sewing friends.
    Enjoy your week.

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  9. So...the new 'do? Let's see, please! I only spray baste now because I am way too lazy to pin and then unpin every couple of minutes as I quilt. In 7 years I have only had one pucker. (Of course now that I have said that everything I quilt in the next 7 years will be puckered!!)

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  10. Yup, I'm demanding a photo too please. Great work on the sewing front. You'll be producing all sorts of finishes suddenly.

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  11. Don't knock that quilting, I think it looks fantastic and so right for the quilt.

    .......and I'm joining the requests for a pic of the new hairdo.

    Cheers


    Linda

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  12. The spiderweb for the Hero I quilt is a fabulous idea. It looks pretty good from the picture. I'm sure it's new owner will love it absolutely.

    You had a great weekend. Looking forward to seeing your two finishes in the near future.

    Congrats on all the goodies, the babushka fabric is really fun. Looking forward to seeing what you do with it.

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  13. Lucky wins! Good friends! FABULOUS quilts!! I love them..webs look GREAT!

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  14. I don't see anything wrong with your webs... such a good idea. I once got waves in a quilt by pulling too hard while using the reverse to quilt... it washed out. Guess the washing relaxed the stitches.
    Love your other quilts too.
    What's with the babushkas?
    Hugs

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  15. Lots of sewing done at your place by the looks. Our weekend dragged both kids sick and they had Monday off as well, am glad to be back at work today lol. I'm a convert to that spray baste method and haven't had a wrinkle in the backing (I don't worry about pinning though) since Just don't over spray it makes your needle clog up.

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  16. What! No picture of the hair??? I got a hair cut today too, but went with the same old, same old. Your quilting looks great, I am still amazed at your energy!

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  17. Yay for new hair--I had my skunk stripe removed before my big job interview. Sure is nice to have a hairdresser for a daughter. Congrats on your progress and near finishes. Knowing what you won't do on the next project is nearly as helpful, isn't it?

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  18. From where I'm sitting, your quilting looks fabulous. Seriously!
    And I'm dying to see your new haircut, wish I could be so brave. I bet it looks wonderful.
    Chatter soon
    *hugs*
    Taz
    :-)

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  19. You are such a tease, of course we want to see the new do! You must have had Inspector gadget hands all weekend or worked at lightening pace to get all that work done, very impressive! Only spray basted little stuff so far, but tempted to do bigger projects, cos pinning on the floor sucks! By the way did you see the Wooolies junk mail last week...had a recipe for Oreo cheesecake...just saying!

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  20. I am not loving bloglovin. It's almost Friday here and I'm just looking at your Monday post (couldn't possibly be that I've played too much bejeweled blitz...). The super heroes quilt looks great -- I'm sorry it didn't turn out the way you wanted, but I think it looks great. You won some pretty cool stuff too! that paper pieced lily is amazing.

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  21. Oops sorry I disappeared for awhile. So pleased you finished quilting Super Heroes 1, even if you, not the spider were on some crazy substance, it still was an awesome attempt.
    See, sometimes I come up with a good suggestion. I'm very pleased the basting worked for you. It's so much easier to get it flatter, and virtually no wrinkles, doing it that way.

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  22. Wahoo!!!!! You DID IT! You tackled the monster head on and won....OK so by now this is old news but I'm behind the 8 ball, hell I'm behind the whole darn pool/snooker table (I'm not sure which game is which and which has the 8 ball) not just the 8 ball...I'm still impressed at the concept of the spider web quilting and it looks fine and dandy and I'm sure it will be lurved by the recipient...
    Briar Rose is gorgeous...

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