Wednesday, January 11, 2012

15 Minutes with Kate

There hasn't been a huge amount of sewing going on round here since I'm currently playing "Let's do the annual Pyjamas house cleanout". That involves going through every single room in the house and taking everything out of cupboards, drawers and wardrobes and freecycling or chucking out things we don't need. I get to ask myself burning questions such as "Why am I keeping plumbing hoses for a washing machine I haven't had since 2001?" and "Holy Cow how can one person have so much underwear?".

But occasionally a gal needs to take a break from organising and when that urge hits I head for the sewing room. I spent some of Sunday cleaning out my scrap bins. There was some real crap in there. I got really serious and went through every single scrap and "retired" a lot of stuff I am never going to use. Ugly stuff. And now I have about half the scraps I used to have but it's all use-able.


Playing with my scraps inspired me . There has been a lot of scrappy talk in the Blogishphere lately and so I jumped on the bandwagon and started making blocks for a quilt. Because goodness knows I dont have enough unfinished quilts lurking round here that I could be working on. I need another project. 


 I made a couple of cards from scraps while I was at it. 


Remember the zebra cushion that pissed me off beyond belief a week ago? I dragged that out of the rubbish bin and finished it. My first finish for 2012 ! Now it needs a mate because it looks lonely. 


 I made some more selvage blocks . 


And since I've been fairly slow in the sewing department lately I should probably make some goals for this week so I'm aiming to :

Work on the binding for the Merry Go Round Quilt 
Finish Christmas Bunting 
Finish another Zebra Cushion 
Make another 20 selvage blocks 

I'm linking up to Kate's 15 minutes challenge this week. Pop on over and have a look at what other participants have been up to. Thanks for hosting Kate!

May the Craft be with you. 

25 comments:

Kris said...

Love this post. Every thing is so pretty and colourful. And you're right. Just came from reading two other scrap posts. Is this a manifestation of hard economic times? Or just people having a clear-out? Whatever it is, it is lovely to look at!

Char said...

Loo lots of scrappy goodness just what I like! The pillow looks great. Good thing you rescued it.
I don't even like to through away the ugly fabric, 'cause in a scrap quilt even ugly works.

Shevvy said...

You know how much I love scraps anyway so glad you are getting the bug. Love those colour blocks.

Deb said...

Shay how about coming over here hun and cleaning out for me too??? Are you still on holiday? Make the most of it whilst you can. Love the progress you are making with your sewing, well done you.

(Did you get the email I sent you saying HUGMUNGOS thanks, I hope you did?

Kristie said...

Loving your scrap blocks. Good job starting on "the list".... In my 2 weeks off I checked zero off of mine! Now back to work!

Kirsten's Cooking said...

You're so clever....usually I don't keep cards, but I still have yours from last year!:)
Pretty amazing what you came up with using scraps!
I love, love, love purging things. Don't tell anyone, but I tell my kids, "if you throw it away, you don't have to put it away".
Good luck with your sewing and cleaning this week!

Cindy said...

Oh look at you!! Those pillows are the Cat's Meowwwwwwwww....quite yummy I must say! And your scraps, cards, blocks....I've been lucky to change my underwear this week and look at all you're doing. Work it girfriend! Work it! :o)

Sarcastic Quilter said...

I'm impressed you cleaned out your scraps, I've tried but all I managed to do was set them back in the box than they originally were. One day, I'm going to have fantastic scrap quilts but frankly I usually only like the modern scrap quilts and never feel my scraps will qualify. Ugh, I should just purge. Maybe one day.

thea said...

Love the rainbow quilt .. the cushions are really nice. I love the selvage blocks. can't wait to see what comes of those. How's the cleaning?

Michelle said...

Love those rainbow blocks! And your selvage blocks are coming along quite nicely. And you have the gall to tell me you're doing this in between the annual cleaning???? Way to go Shay! :-)

Helsie said...

What a great idea for the scrappy blocks. This is going to turn out soooo good.
Cleaning here too!!
Cheers

Rachaeldaisy said...

Shay, I LOVE your rainbow scrappy blocks!!! Chucking things out and organizing things is so good for the soul ! So is sewing!! Sounds like your having fun!

seabreezequilts said...

I need to get in a use up some of my stash... even if it is just to make more room for more stash this year. The blocks look pretty awesome though.

Michelle Ridgway said...

Love all your scrappy blocks....still haven't got to the sewing room. It is still tooooo scary.

Canadian Abroad said...

You are on holiday and all you've done is take care of Little P (a pleasure I know, albeit exhausting) and clean. What happened to sitting and enjoying life?!

Love the scrappy blocks, and the selvedge blocks though. You are going to have more gorgeous quilts!

Kate said...

Love your scrap blocks, very pretty and bright. Congrats on beating, I mean finishing the zebra pillow. It looks lovely with the other 2 you have.

Isn't it amazing what you find when you clean out cubboards? We did the office over our break and found the receipt for our wedding rings.

TheLab said...

GOOD JOB! You accomplished a TON so far in the first week and a half of the year! Wowzers!

I never thought about all of the cool things you can do with the scraps. The cards are awesome.

Those are good goals. Don't goals just make us feel great? (Well, AFTER we hit them...)

Good luck!

Paulette said...

Blocks and cards and pillows, oh my! Oh my, how cute they all are!

When you get done organizing things at House of Pyjamas, can you come here and do my house? You may need your entire holiday next year to get it done though. Just fair warning.

Alisa said...

Wow, you were busy in those 15 minutes! I love those cards, what a great idea.

libbyquilter said...

koalas are bad tempered~!?~ i didn't know.

i'm just joining up with the 15 minute challenge and am in the process of visiting the other players to see how it's all done on report card tuesday. i'll be reporting myself next tuesday.

love the looks of your selvedge edge project~! will be anticipating seeing that come along.

:-)
libbyQ

Terri said...

Love your weeks work. I especially like the monochromatic squares of differing patterns. Vry cheering.
Gotta do something sane between bouts of cleaning!!!!
Hugs!

Leanne said...

Ha ha - "Why am I keeping plumbing hoses for a washing machine I haven't had since 2001?" that is soooooo me. I did start a clean but only made it 1/2 way so will do the other half next year.

Mistea said...

Those bright scrap squares are looking amazing - one more quilt in progress wont be noticeable surely.
Nice selvedge blocks - if you are still looking for selvedges I could make a small contribution.

Enjoy your sewing, even the little bits.

Elizabeth said...

Love, love, love those scrappy blocks. And your strings are awesome!

xo -E

Vesuviusmama said...

Lots of great color in this post!