Progress of the Quilty Kind

This weekend has been all about R & R, after a pretty big week. I pottered and slept and sewed and haven't cooked a single meal. Mr. P has taken charge of the washing so we don't have to go to work naked this week, and it's been pretty much a case of every (wo)man for him/herself with everything else. 

I've been valiantly trying to make some sort of discernible progress on my unfinished projects the last couple of weeks. With 53 days until the end of the year I'm going to have to pull several rabbits out of hats to finish the three quilts that I set myself as goals for this quarter. That's a finish every 17 days...which makes me want to involuntarily pee in my own pants every time I think about that kind of pressure. So you know what? I'm not going to think about it. I'm going to just plod along and hope that yields results. 

I finished my Sampler blocks for October/November in Amanda's Sampler Along so Im feeling pretty chuffed about that. Yes- I made rather obvious errors putting them together and didn't notice until after I had IG'ed them. I don't care - they're staying that way. This is an exercise in technique and colour for me. It doesn't have to be perfect. 

I made a fair bit of progress since I last showed off my Miss Elizabeth project which included sewing lots of hexies together and basting some for the next few of rows. Maybe this won't take me years to finish after all? 

I started my Charming Stars Quilt and got 6 out of the 16 blocks that I need finished. I had a last minute change of heart about the fabric for this quilt. I was originally going to use my Bliss Stash but went with Curio instead and now I'm wondering if those colours will really work for this layout. No matter - if I don't love it I think I know someone who will, so it won't go to waste and I can always make the Bliss one up another time for myself. Speaking of which, I have already started my tentative quilt list for 2015. It's looking quite full already. 

Marrakesh is all basted and now I have to make some sort of decision about the quilting...and translate that into action. It would be nice to do something other than meandering. 

This week is all about putting one foot in front of the other and moving forward. Hope your week treats you well. 

Cant Complain

The last couple of weeks has been full of activity, social and otherwise. Three family birthdays in under 10 days has meant a lot of running round and family time. Happy Birthday to PattyPie, Sister of Pyjamas and G. May this next year bring you all you hope and wish for. 

While I may have been absent from posting , I've been busy doing stuff ,patting myself on the back and feeling very virtuous about my crafty achievements.  I love that feeling you get when you’re motivated, and it seems like the ability to create might never end. We all know it does but I'm happy to take the feeling for as long as it deigns to stick around. 

First up, my September sampler blocks for Amanda's chocolate marshmallow sampler have been finished. I'm just using fabrics that appeal to me as these blocks are rolling out - so I'm hoping it'll all come together at the end. Looking at these fabrics, I suspect I might end up with something very different to anything I've ever made before. 

Last weekend the family got together to celebrate my Mum's birthday with a BBQ (and plenty of resultant silliness) I took my hand sewing planning to make a small hexie project which has now morphed into my Miss Elizabeth quilt. Slow but steady progress has been made this past week and I've sewn enough hexies to make one and a bit rows of of the inner guts of the quilt.

 I had a sewing day with PattyPie on Friday - No 2 nephew asked me to make a baby quilt for one of his friends so I got a start on that and continued with the quilting on Saturday- it's now awaiting some decorative stitching on the bunting flags and then I can whack the binding on and call it done. 

Marrakesh is a finished quilt top....which needs a decent press before I start basting it - This thing is huge and its really hard to get a picture of the whole quilt. Needless to say I love it. Those fabrics and layout make my heart sing. 

And lastly I'm going to leave you with a project my Mother In Law has been working on - her first ever hand sewing project. It's at the basting to the backing stage and I think she's done an amazing job! 

Frenzy

My days off this past week have been filled with pleasant stuff, faffing about and doing pretty much exactly what I felt like. That included a lot of sewing, minor amounts of housework, limited cooking and a fair bit of sleeping. I had one day in my pyjamas and forced myself to get dressed in actual clothes the rest of the time. I swear if I didn't ever have to go to work, pyjamas would be my uniform. 

During my week off, my grand sewing plans mostly came to fruition, and I even managed to squish in a shopping trip for fabric, dragging Patty Pie (Mother of Pyjamas) along for the ride.  It took 3 shops to get everything I needed, but I'm all set for another three quilts to be started (and finished-fingers crossed). I've left out the boring white fabric I bought and well as a ton of batting, which is currently residing on the sewing room floor being used by Lola as an impromptu dog bed. Miss Lola is such an opportunist.

My rather eclectic and out of character purchases 

I started and finished a simple baby blanket/play mat /change mat on Monday. I think I've nailed this FM meandering gig and need to move on to something else. One side is for a girl and one side is for a boy because I don't know what kind of baby its going to be, as the parents have chosen to be surprised. I'm assuming they have had an ultrasound and already know they aren't having twins because that'd be one heck of a surprise and I've only made one quilt.

My second Irish Chain quilt is done and ready to be donated to the Mary Potter Foundation. Quilted in a simple diagonal serpentine stitch in wonderful 50 weight Aurifil thread. I've started using Aurifil for piecing as well not just quilting because yes - it just rocks that much.  As an aside , having now made two Irish Chain quilts in a row , I am so over them that I'm ready to move onto something completely different. I see curves in my future. And swearing and tantrums due to the curves. 

I've made progress on a third donation quilt as well. The postage stamp sized bits were driving me slightly batty but I finally have enough cut and sewed to the point where I can sew them into 16 patches. Once this quilt is finished I'm going to give donation quilting a rest for a bit and concentrate on some of the projects on my FAL list for the last quarter (my efforts on that list for this quarter have been seriously abysmal)

Lucy Boston has been stuffed in a bag and I'm now working on Miss Elizabeth instead from a pattern by Cherry Pie Designs that I saw at the Quilt Show in Melbourne in April and immediately fell in love with. Progress has been made cutting a bajillion hexies and honeycombs. Mental note to self: When glue basting these suckers don't forget all the rude things everyone said last time they had to help you unpick the paper bits from the hexies.You probably don't need to glue everything to within an inch of its life. I'm feeling more optimistic about this project, although I'm sure it wont be finished until sometime in 2016. That's OK -hand sewing is all about slow going in my book. Its the journey - not the destination. 

And this morning I sucked it up and cut out all the bits for the Moroccan tile quilt that is meant to be finished by the end of September and I'm delusional optimistic enough to still think I can pull that off. 

This is where I left things before calling it a day. 

I'll leave you with some gratuitous food shots...I made up for my lack of cooking this week by pulling my finger out and hand making pot stickers from scratch for dinner tonight with a honey ginger sauce. My confidence took a battering the first time I made these which was some time last year I think. The hot sauce was so f****** hot even Mr. P had tears streaming down his face. His power of speech was affected for about two hours after dinner, or perhaps that's because he couldn't think of anything nice to say about them?  I gave up and ate a sandwich and have been too chicken to make them again up until now. New recipe- much better result! 

And for dessert we had chocolate cupcakes with mint cream cheese frosting dipped in chocolate. You can never have enough chocolate.....

And while I'm on a sugar theme- this should send you into overload. I received a care parcel this week from Little Miss Sunshine which contained all the Halloween Candy I never had as a child in one box. For my Northern Hemisphere friends- don't bother looking for any Halloween Candy in your neck of the woods- I have the worlds supply at my house. I'm kind of hoping we get some Trick or Treaters this year because I will have the best supply of candy in Australia to give them. I'm pretty sure it will make me a neighbourhood legend. 

I'm back at work tomorrow but I'm determined to finish that Moroccan tile quilt under my self imposed deadline so it looks like its going to be a busy week. Enjoys yours. May it bring sunshine and good things.