Quilt-Fest 2010

As you know, Quilt-Fest 2010 officially  started at Maison Pyjamas last Sunday. The idea was to get heaps of sewing done and knock off some of the WIP's that were weighing heavily on my conscience.  Honestly though , the week  was less a festival of quilting and more of a dream-a-thon of future projects and bellybutton gazing.  I swear I have the attention span of a goldfish.

One of my goals for the week  was to finish all the  snowball blocks for the Snowball Quiltalong  and to trim up anything that didn't look square. Which turned out to be every single block I made.  I accepted my unsquare lot in life and did some canoodling with Mr. Rotary Cutter.  By the end of the week I had a box of blocks. One goal achieved. But one seems to be missing and I need it. If you have a 5 inch square of hushabye lurking round could you please send it to me or my quilt will have to be 12 x 13 squares instead of 12 x 14 squares which is probably bad luck or something.

I made a fabric choice for my Christmas coin quilt. As much as I love the ho ho ho fabric , (mainly because it sounds a little like a swear word  every time I say it)  I decided this quilt  really deserves red to make the other colours sparkle. At Spotlight,  Polka Dots  screamed "Take Me Home". So I did. I never ignore fabric when it speaks to me. 

I'm 5 String blocks closer to finishing Indy and Lola's quilt.

I got sidetracked by the thought of Christmas  and started some ornaments this week . Yep that was as far as I got. There's plenty of time until the Large Red Dude arrives.

And I made 3 sets of  pot holders, inspired by P over at The Way I Sew It. Finishing those potholders was my major achievement for the week. These were made with the flip and turn method because binding is not really my buddy.  I had visions of opening a  pot holder shop and becoming internationally famous while I sewed these.

So while I didn't set the world on fire this week, I did manage to get enough done that I didn't feel like my WIP's are taking over my life.

P.S. I taught myself this week how to make a blog button. It took hours. I didn't use one swear word. I wasn't driven to drink during the process, although I did eat some BBQ chips.   I did most of  it on my own (with finishing touches from Elizabeth because  I failed html at school  -Thanks E! ) and  I feel so techno-geeky! Check it out in my sidebar. Steal it if you want. It's not really stealing because I said you could....

This is Not a Kitchen Post

Wow I've missed you guys. I'm studiously avoiding a kitchen renovation post. I'm bored with it , so I imagine you are too. For those of you that are hanging out wondering if I've totally lost my marbles there will be a post sometime this week because tomorrow is D-Day. If anyone is taking bets on whether I'm going to completely drop my bundle before this is done let me know. I'll take that bet.

There hasn't been a lot of sewing going on round here lately because I haven't been able to move in my sewing room  the last two weeks. It's hard to feel creatively inspired when your space is filled with kitchen boxes and crap on every available surface. However, all work and no sewing makes Mrs. P a cranky pants, so this weekend I was determined to sew something, even if I did have to fit myself into a tiny space to do it-I think the yoga class I went to once in 1989 really helped me to contort myself into the 18 x 18 square inches of  available space in my sewing room.

As much as I wanted to start something new, I have WIP's coming out my  wazoo  so it was time to get cracking on existing projects that are sitting here mocking me. It really upsets my Virgo  to have multiple unfinished things laying round.  At last count I had 8 quilting WIP's on the go, including the HST quilt I started in January !  I appear to have a bad case of start-itis.

I did some more snowball blocks for my quiltalong. I'm hoping to get all those blocks finished  off this week (12 blocks  to go...whooooooooo hoooooo)  I worked out I've cut 672 of those little 2 inch blocks and that this quilt has something like 840 individual pieces. I've enjoyed the process...so much so that I'm contemplating doing  a Christmas quilt in snowball blocks once I've cleared some of the other UFO's  hanging round. 

I basted and quilted my Spread the Cheer Quilt. I discovered the new tile floors rock for basting. Then I made binding and stitched that on. I know I mention this every single time I finish a quilt - but I really hate binding. One quilting WIP done- 7 to go.

I did some string blocks for a quilt I'm making for Indy and Lola.  10 blocks down, 62 to go. I really like projects that you can do a little bit at a time like this one when you have 30 minutes to spare, and these go together relatively quickly and use scraps.

And I auditioned sashing choices for my Christmas coin quilt. One of these or something in red?

I have this week off from work, and I'm going to be stuck at home with contractors, installers and delivery people so I have a plan to make this week Quilt-fest 2010! Stay tuned. Maybe I'll even get a couple more WIP's knocked off.

P.S. I found my camera in my undie drawer. Nothing is where it should be at the moment. And I found a knife and some cake on my computer desk this morning. Yay! I got to have cake for breakfast. I think that's what the cake fairies had in mind.