Weekend ADD

Sometimes I swear I have undiagnosed ADD. This was in definitely in evidence this weekend where I found it almost impossible to stick to one task for longer than 15 minutes with the exception of gossiping on the phone with a friend. I can do that for hours.  On the positive side being easily distracted  meant I actually made progress on a few things that have been lurking round here making me feel guilty.

I made my first log cabin block ever for Kat's cheeky quilt. If I can find a moment to scratch myself this week to get to the post office this will be winging it's way across the country to become part of a much larger quilt.

I lashed out and made butterfly cakes. They flew straight into my mouth. Bastards.

Flurry saw the light of day for the first time in weeks. (Insert resounding clap here ) I've cut and sewn the border strips. Maybe this week they'll actually get attached. Everyone else is working on their backing so I have some catching up to do.

Tis The Season got a look in as well. These blocks are finished. I'll have a global mexican wave for that achievement thank you.

And these are part way done. Remain seated.

Little P's quilt finally got a label sewn on it.  I was only prompted by the fact he puked on it and it needed washing. That helped me recall I had been avoiding the label sewing for three months. 

I'm baby sitting Little P for a few days this week while Miss P works at the Royal Show so I went shopping and bought a few clothes for him to wear when he visits. I went overboard. I'm going to have to change him three times a day to ensure everything gets worn. I am also insanely contemplating toilet training him while he's here. 

Then I realised I didn't have any bibs to keep those pristine designer clothes clean so I whipped up a few. Last time I did bibs I made 25 at once and got all bibbed out. These came together so quickly I'm re-considering a career in bib making instead of my regular job. I'd only have to make 7587 bibs a year to break even.

It's going to be kid central here this week so if I'm not around much babysitting either killed me or I'm in a corner sobbing uncontrollably because there's pee and poop all over my house.  

Tomorrow is Monday

No house renovation, furniture stripping or painting occurred this weekend. I really needed the weekend away from all of that stuff because essentially if I looked at another paint brush or piece of furniture that needed stripping  I was going to shoot someone.   And that would probably have  been Mr. P - and for the time being I need him alive. So he can finish the painting. Ironic huh?

In breaking news, I think a demented burglar with a craft /sewing fetish broke into our house overnight , used every single thing in my sewing room, threw half of the Moda factory around the room  and snuck out again  because there is no way I left my sewing room looking like this...

You'd think I'd been too embarrassed to show you that room wouldn't you?  I have no shame people. Don't you know that by now? 

Needless to say I spent most of the morning cleaning up the vandalism. I found stuff even I didn't know I had and then had to find places to hide it all so I can get excited again next time it surfaces and I've forgotten I had it.  And I've come to the conclusion  I need a bigger house. Or a less observant husband... 

If you promise not to tell him I'll show you what else I bought this week...

Promise? Pinkie promise?

And I got 12 of them...imagine the trouble I can get up to with that lot.

I've been  feeling decidedly un-quilty this week and I have the attention span of a goldfish so I've been concentrating on smaller more easily finished projects to get my crafting fix.

I made a pencil and a crayon roll for a friend's little girl. You can too . The tutorial is here .

I made a journal cover for myself. These are ridiculously easy. I even followed the pattern after I read it 33 times, and then did my own thing which meant some unsewing, but I'm used to sewing most things twice. (Case in point I've sewn  the same piece of binding three times this week and unpicked it twice. The third time  I cut the binding off and started again. if patience is a virtue I guess I'm not virtuous.  I got so mad at one point I think I invented some new swear words. (Email me if you'd like to extend your personal repertoire- I'm a sharing kind of gal)  

I wandered around looking at all the gorgeous creativity at the Bloggers Quilt Festival. There are some seriously talented quilty people out there folks. Go have a peek at some of the fabulous-ness and prepare to be amazed.

So I pottered, I meandered, and I waffled round not doing much for most of the weekend. I feel  relaxed for the first time since about 2003.  So far today I haven't even got out of my pyjamas and it's after tea time. And I had chocolate pudding for lunch. That's one of the perks of being a grown up. And I didn't brush my hair today either.

I did other crafty things this weekend  but you'll have to wait for Tuesday's post at Thrifty Christmas Challenge for the big reveal,  assuming I don't need to cut the binding off again. (At the rate I'm going this project is going to end up the size of a postage stamp!) Until then, have a great week. And thank you for your lovely comments on my blogiversary post. They made me feel very special.

P.S. Has anyone used those printable fabric sheets? What are they like? What brand do you recommend? Thoughts ?

I'm praying for Sunshine (and less boogies)

It has been a very unfunny week  here at Insanity Central. Winter is cold. Not Northern Hemisphere cold- but cold all the same. At least if it snowed here I could have fun making snow angels or snowmen or snow cones.   We just get freezing with none of the associated awesome-ness.

This week  the Pyjamas household experienced something like bubonic plague  because everyone besides Mr. P got  sick, including me. Gordon Gekko said "Green is Good"...but green is not good,  especially when it's coming out of your nose. Constantly. I'm putting the Kleenex heirs through an Ivy league College with my tissue consumption this week. What? Gordon Gekko said "Greed is Good" ? But that quote doesn't work for my post....

I practiced free motion quilting this week and am considering taking up a new hobby like scrap booking  or drinking. Or both. Simultaneously. I really am fated to forever quilt in variations of straight lines.  The sane rational part of me knows that I am not the only quilter in the known universe who is yet to master the  skill of free motion quilting ,  but the sane rational part of me went into hiding on about Tuesday of last week. So I learned that new skills take time to develop and I should stop arse kicking myself because I can't do this yet.

I realised this week,  I will still be sanding the kitchen chairs when I move into a nursing home, if I live that long. I'm not sure what possessed me to think stripping furniture was a good idea. Perhaps I smoke crack without my knowledge and that's when I had the original "wouldn't it be cool to take some old furniture and give it a new life" epiphany. But I'm not a quitter so I'm going to keep going and just keep reminding myself of how gorgeous it will all look when I'm finished. While I look at Early Settler catalogues for french provincial buffets and dining settings. What? I'm just looking. I'm allowed to look. 

This is as far as I've got with sanding the Blackwood Chair,  so I'm making a vow to get this chair finished this week. Then we'll talk turkey on the time frames for the million other things I need to get done for this kitchen renovation. I'm totally in a place where I need to break tasks down into small bits at the moment. If I think about the big picture I am likely to completely lose my sanity.

This weekend I tried spray basting  a quilt for the first time.  Let me just say that's two hours of my life I'm never getting back and spray basting is utter garbage. The quilt, backing and batting stuck everywhere except to each other.  I am  now missing a cat. I heard plaintive meowing coming from the pile of backing that glued to itself and my sewing room skirting boards ,  so I'll try to find  Mordecai later.  And, I'll be on my hands and knees at some point  taping the backing to the floor and pinning the quilt as usual.  Lesson Learned. Now I can check "Try Spray Basting " off my list of things to try before I die.

The postman adored me this week. My shutter arrived and is positively gorgeous in person. I bought my final Hushabye charm pack and it arrived via post in under 48 hours. And Hancocks of Paducah sent me part of an order I did a few weeks ago of Christmas fabrics because people it's June and I have to start thinking about Christmas quilts. Look at this luscious gorgeousness just waiting to be joined by a matching jelly roll and fat quarter pack and some inspiration.

 

It hasn't been a totally sewing free zone around here this week. I did cut some more fabric for my snowballs. More about that tomorrow. And, I started a special project using these fabrics  that I'll talk about when it's a little further on.

Hear me everyone. This week is going to be sunshiney and happy , and I'm going to achieve some amazing things.


P.S. By the way, my gorgeous sister will be here in three sleeps....and I don't smoke crack.

Weekend Misadventures of Q.I.M.P

Ha! Tricked you! The weekend sailed along smoothly. Relaxingly. (Blogger says that's an actual word). Stuff got done. Nothing broke.No disasters. There was no blood and I didnt set fire to anything.

I have realised  I don't have original meal ideas anymore-  I'm copying everyone else's meals. If you post a recipe I'm probably going to make it. Aside from Marg's Cannelloni I made  Elizabeth's Grandmother's meatloaf for dinner on Saturday and it was the best meatloaf I have ever tasted. Another keeper. Mr. P practically inhaled it ,  so sorry,   no pictures. I have a spare in the freezer, along with two curries, and 2 chicken cacciatores I also made this weekend.   I feel like I'm turning into the savoury version of Bakerella.

I picked up an antique blackwood chair on Saturday to strip and re-paint for the corner of the dining room. Isn't she beautiful? It probably won't look much different by the time I'm finished since I'm planning on refinishing her in antique white again. Can't you just see this in a corner with a quilt draped over it, just inviting you to take a load off?

This morning I picked up my "new" dining  chairs that have been partially  stripped and with a little more work will be ready for painting. These chairs are over 100 years old. As I'm getting older I really see the sense in re-using and repurposing beautiful old furniture. All of this means the kitchen renovation has officially commenced. Bring it on.  If I stop posting you'll know it's because I had a nervous breakdown or drowned in a vat of paint stripper.

And yes, that's another set of dining chairs in the background. At last count we had 16 dining chairs...what can I say? ...I collect them.

I transformed  a box of 324 quilt bits

into a basket of 81 quilt bits. (Slowly getting there )

I think this little lady brought me sewing luck because I didn't swear once...

I made these this afternoon. Jam Donuts. Mmmmmmm. Totally delicious.  Too bad none of you live close by or I would have shared.   We had them for lunch. Healthy....Damn you Masterchef!

 And, from the random department I would also like to announce I am  still eating Easter Chocolate here. That either means I'm rationing it out well, and have amazing self discipline  or I got so much in the first place that I am  truly piggy.

Have a wonderful rest of your weekend doing something you love.

Hello Autumn and Gobble Gobble...

The weather is taking the change of seasons literally . March 1st was the start of autumn, and we have had plenty of rainy cold, and windy weather this past  weekend.  The leaves on our trees have started to change and Indy is back to his usual March to June behaviour of  waiting for a leaf to fall from a tree, chasing it and trying to get it before it hits the ground,  then going back to his standing spot and waiting for the next leaf to fall.   Eventually there will be no more falling leaves and he’ll have to stop. I console myself with this thought for every leaf he chases.

This is the view of our sky today. Grey and overcast.

My chenille quilt has made a re-appearance on the bed. Mmmmm Warm and toasty. Last night I wore flannel pyjamas!

This is the stacked coin quilt I started making prior to Christmas. Originally when I opened the scrap bag and saw these colours I wasn’t all that jazzed, but they’ve really grown on me , and now I love them. This is Gobble Gobble fabric by Sandy Gervais for Moda. I wanted something simple for the quilting because I'm still learning and experimenting and don't have the confidence to try free motion on an actual quilt yet . I'm thinking about taking a class in May. I can't quilt in weird line variations  forever.

The top is heavy weight calico and the contents of one Moda Scrap bag. The finished quilt will measure 65 x 65 inches or thereabouts All my quilts are measured in “thereabouts”. That's a recognised measurement isn't it?   If you aren't a total slacker like me , you could put this together in a long weekend. As another useless piece of information about this quilt - I didnt use my regular batting, Warm and Natural. I used Fairfield Cotton which I got on sale. It feels a lot "rougher"  before it's quilted up. I dont mind the way it quilts though. The proof will be in the washing. I usually pre-wash my warm and natural and it's not recommended  with the Fairfield batting.

I took  pictures of the quilt almost finished  rather than in 2  hours when I do finish the quilting because the light will be too bad to take pics later   and I want to prove I’ve done something with my ultra long weekend besides sit on the computer looking at quilting blogs and eating Dixie drumsticks...and shortbread creams.... and chocolate layer cake.

I'm going to be sewing machine-less from tomorrow for a week  or possibly longer because my baby is going in for a service. So  until the machine comes back, I'm hoping to bind the gobble gobble quilt, (ugh hand sewing) and start cutting pieces for my new project. I'm a bit over the half square triangle quilt and have put that away to finish some other time. I'll just keep it on my WIP's in my sidebar to mock me.

In other news despite Mr. Pyjamas valiant efforts I am still laundry-less and it looks like I'll be that way for another few weeks. It's a good thing I'm the queen of undies.

Good Vibrations

After last week, where the universe appeared to be kicking me in the pants... a lot.... as hard as it could.... I've decided that if the universe pulls that stunt again, I'm going to punch it in the face.

I had a lovely weekend away, I have the rest of this week off,  and  I avoided Meatless Monday because my Mum doesn't do Meatless Mondays and so the "good week" gods appear to be smiling on me once again. Meatless Monday will be back next week unless I can arrange to be 250 kilometres away at my Mum's again, which is unlikely.  It's almost worth the drive to avoid it in my opinion.

I am getting an ever increasing list of quilts I want to try.  I feel like I’m on inspiration overload. Everywhere I look something else by someone clever catches my eye.

The latest piece of eye candy to float my boat is this Roundabout Quilt made by Amy at “A Commonplace Life”. I think this has to be one of the cutest and most striking quilts I’ve ever seen.  Mr. Pyjamas took one look at the photo and said “Let me know when you’re going to do that one so I can move out for a couple of months”….so even he knows it requires a degree of skill (and patience!) to finish.

Break out the streamers and lets party! I found backing for the Gobble Gobble Quilt- and ordered it online from the US, because we didnt have ANYTHING I liked in the whole of Australia (well at least the places I looked, which was about half a dozen stores) I’m hoping to have that quilt finished soon after the fabric arrives at my house.   I don't know about you but I feel discombobulated when the only thing stopping me from finishing a project is not being able to find the exact right fabric.

                          

Gobble Gobble Dots in Squash

I had a productive quilting weekend amongst the relaxing  – I have managed to get 202 of the 256 Half Square Triangles for my latest quilt finished. Not having worked with triangles before, I’m flying by the seat of my pants here and I’m hoping random luck will bring it all together. I bought an extra fat quarter bundle of this fabric collection online on the weekend and saved almost 40% off. That’s a Crazy Bargain! I’ll have enough left over to make another quilt down the track. How could I resist this luscious gorgeousness…Again, I’ll get to a certain point with this quilt and have to stop and wait for the rest of the fabric to arrive. Paisley and pastels are  not usually my thing but this just spoke to me somehow.

Just in case I get to the point where I’m waiting for fabric to arrive and have no quilting on the go, I have the next project all sorted out in my mind.  Yes,  I'm well aware I have some kind of crafting disease...I don't think it's catching.

I’m in love with the Hungry Caterpillar Fat Quarter Bundle at the moment and just need one teensy weensy bit of justification for buying it. I’m also  dreaming about California Dreamin’ Fabric by Jeanean Morrison (still!) and the Oz by Sanae collection for Moda.

With my two half finished quilts, another one in the planning stages, and Ethan's UFO, I figure I'm pretty much committed until about April....and somewhere in there my boss expects me to show up to work regularly.  

Lazy Sunday (not)

I spent today quilting the vintage sheet quilt. It's done! Now that it's quilted I'm far happier than I was yesterday. It's actually quite sweet.  I just have the binding to do and it's finished . Once it's  done, I'll post some pics. I'm planning to hand stitch this binding on just for the experience, so give me a week or so.

I was  bitten by a baking bug the last 24 hours. I made gingerbread cupcakes, chocolate crackles, a chocolate slice, roast beef for dinner tonight and I roasted capiscum, onion, potato , zucchini, pumpkin and parsnip for tomorrow nights Meatless Monday dish.

It's 9.15 pm and I'm still in my pyjamas...at least I won't have to change to go to bed. I'm looking forward to collapsing into bed in an hour or so and reading a book.

A Busy Weekend

We have  a busy weekend planned.

Tonight we are babysitting our 4 month old grandson overnight for the first time without other responsible adults present!  Sure...he lives with us, but so far we haven't had him overnight without his Mum here. Hopefully he will sleep through the night. I wonder if I can get some housework done tonight ( see how exciting life gets in your 40's...instead of going out raging you do housework on Friday nights)

Tomorrow...

Busy. Have to clean the house, iron, wash and do all those other end of week things.  Have to go to the hardware store for supplies, do the grocery shop , come home , do lunch with our daughter and her boyfriend, and then clean up the patio ,  and back and front yards.

Out tomorrow night for my husband's uncle's 60th birthday.

Sunday, my parents will arrive early. Mr. Fairy Bread has had  a social club 20th anniversary outing thingy arranged for the last 6 months , so he's off to that . (And will no doubt arrive home late Sunday much the worse for wear ) Dad wants to go to the hardware stores. Mum wants to go to all the quilting shops because they live in the Boonies and don't get to the big smoke all that often. Then we're having a family dinner here that night.

Somewhere in there I want to get some quilting done.

Sir Edmund Hilary called and asked if he could come over and scale my ironing pile because it's almost as challenging as Mt. Everest.

Wish me luck.

Great Expectations

With the weather so hot here, I'm planning an entire blissful weekend of quilting. Inside. Out of the Sun. With the airconditioner going. Full Blast.

I have one quilt well under way and have just started another one that I would love to finish before Christmas, so I'm going to be one very busy chickadee. Naturally I have to go out in the morning to make sure I have plenty of supplies to get me through the weekend.

I'll do a post and let you know whether I get much done or just turn into a total slacker!