Sunday, September 18, 2011

Going For Broke

Friday I had a craft groove going like nobody's business.  I sewed pretty much ALL day. Crown me Princess Craft. I worked on my "Tis the Season" Quilt like a demon. I made binding , pieced the quilt back, finished the borders, cobbled together some batting and had it basted by midday. 

I gave myself a mental high five, told myself how awesome I was and went and celebrated by eating 6 Tim Tams and a half pack of raspberry bullets for lunch. One of the best things about having no kids in this house is not having to set a positive example. 

Fuelled by sugar and temporary insanity I did one border on the Flurry quilt and then realised I had made a huge and very noticeable error.  Since I was too lazy to unpick said error I tossed it in the corner and decided to ignore it. If ignoring Flurry was a recognised sport I'd be in line to win the grand final. I know some of you are wondering whether it'll ever get finished.


Little Miss Sunshine and I played Skype Sewing Friday afternoon/evening. TTS got quilted and I spent the rest of Friday night attaching the binding. By 10.45 pm it was done. I went to bed patting myself on the back and telling myself (and Little Miss Sunshine ) how fabulously talented I was. 


Saturday morning I got up bright and early vowing to kick Flurry's blocks. (You all thought I was going to write arse didn't you?  ) Something happened between coffee number 2 and 3 and commenting on blog posts and I decided it would be a shit hot idea to short list all the quilts I still want to make in 2011. For your information there are 105 days left of this year and apparently I've decided I can finish 6 quilts in this time , three of which weren't even started when I woke up yesterday morning. 

Notice I said "weren't " which implies that at least some of those quilts are started now. After all my holier than thou crap lately about finishing a couple of things before I started anything new I'm publicly admitting I am officially a bullshit artist. I can't help myself. I had to start something new. I have zero willpower. 

Since then I have sewed together 78 strips of the Tonga Hard Candy Batiks for the Merry Go Round Quilt. How cute do these look? I figure since they aren't actual blocks yet I can call it "fabric prep" which means I didn't really start a new quilt.


It wasn't all about ignoring WIP's this weekend.  I made the backing for the blue and brown quilt and started auditioning quilting patterns. 


Thea posted about a quilt she is doing at the moment and gave the pattern link. You know how sometimes you see an idea and think "I have the perfect fabric for that quilt in my stash". That's what happened to me when I saw this. So I emailed Thea to make sure she was OK with me shamelessly copying her brilliant idea and then I made a test block.


When it came together with no swearing whatsoever  I convinced myself that the quilting gods wanted me to proceed and I washed, dried and ironed my fabric in preparation for the right time to start some blocks. 


Which apparently was 47 seconds after I finished ironing . 


You're all wondering how long Flurry is going to sit in the naughty corner aren't you? 


I finished the top this afternoon. 

So basically this weekend I finished a wall hanging and a quilt top , convinced myself I was really ahead of the game and started another two new quilts that I have vowed to finish before December 31st. Madness . Shoot me now.

32 comments:

Marg said...

You are not Princess Craft you are Queen Craft. I have no idea how you were able to do all that in a 3 day weekend. Sugar must be the secret ingredient, you were like the Energiser Bunny!!!!!! I couldn't keep up with you and had to go and have a lie down!
Love those bright prints, now I want to make something nice and bright too.
The Riley Blake fabric looks absolutely gorgeous in those blocks, yay to Thea for posting about them.
Flurry looks like it was dragged out of the naughty corner, despite being very crumpled it looks fab and I love what you did with the top border, a great finish!!!
You can be shot after your holiday, not before.

Baa-Me Kniits said...

OK, OK, You are a superstar ;-)

Larri said...

You are a Craft Goddess! Really. I feel like puking, cause you put the rest of us to utter shame. It's gotta be the Tim-Tams that propel you to this kind of greatness. ☺

Love the Flurry top. That's it. I'm locking myself in the sewing room today.

Happy Sunday night! ☺

Anonymous said...

oh man that is a lot to have achieved. Go you!
And sugar is my secret ingredient to productivity too. If only my hips, thighs & tummy thought it was as great. Meh - who cares... life is short. Luckily my husband loves me love handles and all LOL...

And I'm officially inspired. I was going to stay in bed for the evening (where I've been catching up on my reading) but I think you've not just kicked my butt into action and I'll go make my last mugrug.

PS congrats on your new 4 day weeks. That's so awesome!!
PPS also - skype sewing sounds like fun. What a great idea!
PPPS I saw you mention on Susan's blog a few weeks ago that someone should start a scrap swap. Well I just thought I'd let you know that I'm going to start one so watch this space..
PPPPS That is all lol...

xx

Sue said...

I'm going to try a diet of raspberry bullets and Tim Tams. Love your projects and love the post....It made me laugh.

AMW said...

I had to go take a nap after reading this post! WOWIE! I'm exhausted... Don't know how you do it. Oh yeah, the sugar. Everything looks amazing and can't wait to see the finished projects. All gazillion of them. Ok, going to eat some sugar and see what happens!

Jennifer said...

Wow, you have been a busy little vegemite, haven't you! Or should that be a busy little tim tam......whatever, I am very impressed.

Bonnie said...

I definitely need to buy some Tim Tams, they are available in Canada. Your weekend was so productive. I have 2 bindings to make and apply to finish 2 projects and haven't started yet.
Love the fabrics in your new quilt, looks so fresh.

Vesuviusmama said...

I say, when you are moved bynthe spirit, you gotta go with it. It sounds to me like you were moved by the spirit, so I say, Rock On, Sister!

Kirsten said...

Ok..I planned to read your post, comment and go down and sew..but after reading how much you achieved in one single weekend I decided to stay in my living room, keep on bumming around not doing anything and wonder about how you manage to do that!!!!??? You truelyy must be wonder woman - I knew it all along...or did you steel that time warper from Hermine Granger???

Love your quilts - you are great!!

Pokey said...

Bow to the Princess! Hey, what is it about starts and not finishes? I think sometimes we have worked w-a-a-y longer on one than we thought we would have to, and then there goes the "what made me ever think this was a good idea?" emotions. Good for you for being the little engine that could, I hope you reach the goal, big as it is, by December!!! Who knows how many new you can start by then....
:-}pokey

Jackie's Stitches said...

I have no doubt that you'll be able to finish what you plan to finish! And if not, that's ok - no quilt police here!

Nicky said...

Do I need to get some Tim Tams so then I can be a quilting superhero - have recently done nothing but start new things and I'm supposed to be finishing UFOs this year - 10 more to go!

Well done you though!

Ann Marie @ 16 Muddy Feet said...

LOL! HAHAHAHAHA! I had a good laugh over this post. As many times as you have told me, you need to pass on a new quilt a long I posted because you couldn't start anything new at the moment.......Glad to see I am not the only looney one in blogger land, that continues to start new ones all the time, even though the WIP pile is growing! You did a wonderful job on the finishing side, and I know you will continue on the path to happiness of accomplishments.
Wondering what you will do next?? I will be watching.

Paulette said...

Fantastic finishes and sweet starts! I am totally admiring everything you're doing. That new quilt with the spool shapes, that's been on my bucket list too. I love how yours is coming together. I hope you're wearing your crown today because you've certainly earned it!

Kristie said...

You go Girl! You are bang on, you ARE brilliant and talented! I, too, have WAY too many things on my Christmas to-do list, but am still in the land of denial that it will be done. In fact, I have a plan to finish 3 quilts in time for Sewing Summit (as I plan to deliver them to be longarmed), which is in...let's see, under 3 weeks, and I have not finished the tops on any, not even started one of them, nor have I done any of the backs yet. I am certifiably looney, so take comfort in that company.

Barb H said...

Good on you, Shay. I love Thea's blocks--great colors. And the Flurry quilt looks great too. Now, get some rest after that whirlwind of craftiness. :)

thea said...

Wow! You are the craft queen, not princess .. or perhaps goddess. My excuse for not being productive is that I don't even know what Tim Tams or raspberry bullets are --

I love the bright colors for the Merry Go Round quilt. They are beautiful!

The double hourglass blocks are amazing. I can only hope mine look as good.

AnnieO said...

Thanks for the offer to do violence to you with a weapon, but how about just a smack upside the head? No, really, I think you can do whatever you want, especially when you are fueled with caffeine and sugar :)

Good job on finishes and starts! Love the new blocks, they are fab.

(word verification today: dingl. Hmm).

Mistea said...

You sure got that sewing machine smokin'. Your projects look fantastic especially that new one with all the pretty bright colours.
Wishing you many more sewing hours in the next 105 days - you can do it!
Enjoy Ms Craft Princess.

Unknown said...

Well what a Machine You Are..Your TTS Quilt is so Pretty Well Done on All your Finishes & Starts...Great Post.
Have a Good Week..
cheers

Mindy said...

I need a lunch like you had because my brand of sugar is not producing that kind of mega results! I love the new quilt blocks! Now your highness, will you kindly pass the finishing whim to me? I certainly need it!

Cory Blystone said...

I was all congratulating myself for finishing a quilt block this weekend. Thanks for making me feel impotent.

(In all honesty, I just wish I had your stamina!)

Kris said...

Starting is just so lovely! Glad you got over that ridiculous finishing fettish and started something else! Everything in this post looks very, very good! I am waiting with baited breath for next Friday. Go you sewing machine! (On Saturday after I had finished on the interweb I wandered off to somewhere I had never been before with Bradley and had lunch at a cafe. Yep. That was THE most productive thing I did all day. It was a lot of fun though!!!)

Razzle Dazzle Quilter said...

There will be NO shooting. Please keep on entertaining us! Tried to find info on Thea's blog about your new groovy blocks - but call me a technodolt if you like I couldn't find it!
Never mind - do I need more temptation? I think not!
Cheers
Linda

Canadian Abroad said...

I'm not going to shoot you now because they I would miss your hysterically funny posts. Great output though. You should reward yourself with some more TimTams I think!

Helsie said...

Brilliant, that's what you are... or just one hyperactive chic on a sugar fueled trip !!
Anyway you leave most of us for dead in the energy stakes. The Flurry quilt is lovely, despite the cruel way you treat it.
Cheers
Helen

Michelle said...

WOW! WOW! WOW! The quilting goddesses were definitely in your corner ~ either that or you've become a minor quilting deity yourself. Way to go! Such beautiful projects.

Hey, I've seen several of you working on the Christmas boxes aka McFlurry. Where did you get the pattern?

Brenda said...

Wow! I don't know if I am worthy to view your amazing craftiness/blog! You are amazing! Congrats on getting out of the crafting/quilting funk and blazing onward and upward!

Rachaeldaisy said...

I'm dizzy from all your amazing works!! I love that you had a sewing skype date with Marg! That is so cool!!

Char said...

So now you'll be crazy like the rest of us trying to get quilts finished by the end of the year. Glad to know I'm in your company.
I have that Denyse Schmidt dot fabric in both colors, I love it!

Kate said...

Wow! Your amazing crafiness has left me speechless.