Goodbye February

It's the last day of February , and the last day of the Australian summer, and I know you're all DYING to know how Fabulous February  went. I'm going to give you a re-cap  since  I feel like I should be accountable because  I made such a big deal out of it and not because it's wildly interesting.

Drought like sewing conditions were experienced during all of  February , aside from the ottoman cover and 5 blocks I did for “A quilt for Illene”. I didn’t even come close to finishing anything from my WIP's. I did however have time to plan another project. Several actually.  I'm learning imagination and quilting vision are terrible things when you have two or three UFO's staring you in the face. I want to start something new but my conscience won't let me. On the up side, at least I have a conscience.

From planters , to garden cleanups, a re-purposed coffee table which metamorphisised ( is that actually a word?)   into an ottoman , and the start of our laundry renovation I feel like we made a dent in some of the projects that have been  germinating ideas for a long time.  So I'm doing a happy dance about having finished some of those things.The desk I'm going to re-finish is still sitting on the patio taunting  me. It's cool isn't it, that inanimate objects speak to me? Please tell me that's normal.

Those poor dead people are just going to have to wait a bit longer to be found. I started out with the best of intentions and did a bit of  genealogy but sputtered early in the month. It’s not like a 200 year old dead guy is going anywhere –he’ll still be right where he is in March. Deceased ancestors are reliable that way.

Damn you McDonald’s for building within easy walking distance from my office – I can practically see the Golden Arches from my desk. I’ve done multiple Macca’s runs for work lunches and have become increasingly  friendly with other junk food retailers in my local area. (Hello Vietnamese Takeaway , Local Cafe/Sandwich Shop, the place that sells those mini sache tortes, and the local Bakery  - you should probably be sponsoring my blog  )  I gotta confess I 'aint feeling very foxy. Ronald and Hamburgler are gonna have to find some new playpals in March.  I need to make water,  fruits and vegetables my alternative friends.

On the frugal front if you don’t count my slip with the fabric from last week (which I forgot to mention to Mr. Pyjamas) we've done pretty well. Grocery savings this month amounted to a couple of hundred dollars which went towards the new computer.  I know we could still do it better, so I'm particpating in a grocery game/challenge at 1 Crazy Journey in March. Flamingo Mama is posting the rules Thursday so come check it out - it looks like fun.

I’ve been a social butterfly this month. Fringe is on here  and we've been to two events so far, as well as doing something else every weekend.   All this socialising has been very challenging for me but I’ve survived. Watch me play hermit for the next month.

And dammit - I am going to finish something quilty before March 31st. I promise.

How was I supposed to know what kind of wood it was?

Scenario: You buy a coffee table on EBay that the seller swears is solid wood and is in fabulous condition. When you get it home your husband informs you it’s veneer. (I'm not a forest ranger - how do I know what kind of wood it is?) You throw it out the back in disgust because you just paid 20 bucks for a  piece of crap you can’t use.

Confession relevant to this post: With our current computer desk, I sit in the reclining swivel chair, lean back and have my feet on the desk. All. The.Time. I'm doing it now. It’s comfy. It’s an old desk. I’m a slob. Take your pick.

We're planning  to renovate the computer room this year.  Our current desk is 18 years old, and we inherited it from my parents when they upgraded about 5 years ago. My Dad made it out of packing crates. It’s lovely, and  it’s quirky and  I’m sentimental but it’s time for change. I have a vision. The vision does not include me having my feet on the desk in future or the packing crate desk. What to do? Inspiration! We need an ottoman.

The ugly veneer coffee table might just have a second life after all.

                 

Armed with only with an ugly coffee table,  black spray paint, freecycle foam, a voracious command of swear words and 3/4 of a metre of material, I create. Stand back...this could get messy folks. My vision is sometimes less than visionary.

Voila- the finished result

I'm on a roll peeps...projects are working out almost like I planned left, right and centre. And I got to use my staple gun. Lots! There's 862 staples in the bottom of this baby. This ottoman weighs 400 pounds.  Now I just gotta keep the mojo going for the desk re-do.

It appears Miss Pyjamas is sentimental too. She has announced her intention of taking the packing crate desk when she gets her own place in the next few months, so my Dad’s desk will get a third owner and live to be a desk another day. Sentimental me is happy.

This post is also linked up to Lit and Laundry  Finished for Friday

Project Tease

This is part of my latest project...

I'm in love with those circles.

Not very practical but sometimes you just have to follow your heart.

Laundry-less

Mr. Pyjamas is in the laundry.

Well, it used to be my laundry. Right now it is a room with nothing in it. Not even a ceiling. Heads Up: There is gross stuff inside a roof that hasn't seen the light of day for 30 years.

Today is going to be a fun day. A third of one wall  lost it's plaster in the process of bringing down the ceiling  ... and I have yelled out "Are you alright?" at least five times already as a result of banging,crashing and sounds of things falling. (One of those falling things was probably  Mr. Pyjamas)

And given that anything that we think will take two days usually takes three weeks I imagine the local laundrymat and I are going to become very intimate over the coming weeks.

It's All Go Here

So it turned out to be a productive day.

Aside from the usual Saturday stuff , watering pot plants, washing and the like, we painted the old filing cabinets in preparation for their new life as garden planters.  I had fun spray painting an old table with black gloss paint to turn it into an ottoman, (I  now have fingernails that make me look goth and we're going out to dinner tonight) I popped out to buy new sunglasses and came home with two pairs for the price of one and I got some blocks completed for Bluebird Quilts 9 patch quilt for Illene. I'm pretty sure my 1/4 inch foot isn't exactly 1/4 of an inch.

Needless to say I didn't touch my HST quilt. There's always tomorrow before the Rob Thomas concert.

I'm off to put on black eye liner, black lipstick and heavy eye shadow to make it look like my black fingernails are a fashion mistake and not a painting mistake.

Yay ! First completed project for 2010

2 new pairs of pyjama pants from old sheets. I'm on a creative roll.

The Week Ahead

Mr. Pyjamas goes back to work tomorrow. I have another week off work, and I'm going to try to use it creatively. I'm doing a happy dance here at the thought of another week off.

I'm hoping to finish the Gobble Gobble stacked coin quilt this week, (I still have to find the perfect backing) have lunch with a friend, and start another DIY project for the house from an idea I got in July of last year that involves broken mirrors but hopefully no bad luck.   I want to make some beaded tie backs for our bedroom curtains and have to start hunting down some old filing cabinets for another makeover project.

I've given up on one of my quilts from 2009. It's currently in my WIP's list on my sidebar. It's time to be realistic and take it off. I hate the vintage sheet quilt top as it is and to continue quilting it is a waste of time, creative energy , batting and backing. So it's off to find a seam ripper and recycle the batting.  Maybe I'll use pieces of the quilt to practice free motion quilting or use some of the squares in a scrap quilt later. I am "emotional quilter. " I have to love what I'm doing and believe in the project for it to work. Am I crazy or what?

The doomed vintage sheet quilt top

I'm a third of the way through sewing half square triangles for my next quilt, using oh-so -cute Moda Kashmir IV fabric. I love the paisleys in this line and this is the first time I've worked with triangles. Let's hope all my points line up when I'm done!

I was over at Teaginny Designs  yesterday where she was showcasing her stacked coin quilt. How sweet is this mini quilt! I really have to start making some mini quilts for my sewing room wall. Darn you internet quilters for being so inspiring!

I'm going to try and squeeze in some genealogy this week.My great great grandfather, the elusive William Wates is driving me nuts and I have to do something about him. And I keep having this insane thought about making some pyjamas from my sheet stash so I'll see if that happens this week....

Have a sensational Sunday!

Finished Quilt and a Tip

I've finished Sandra's String quilt.  Whoooooooooo hooooooooo

My number one tip for future projects and quilters everywhere is don't use wool batting made from a 100% wool vintage blanket. This quilt is sooooooooooo heavy. It's likely to suffocate the users like a boa constrictor. It'll certainly give  the quilter shoulder and back ache trying to manouver it round the machine.

Last night I vowed I was never going to attempt to quilt anything ever again and that hereforth all tops were going to the Longarm Lady for quilting. Today I'm little Miss Sunshine again and realised it's my batting that's the problem. Due to the weight in this quilt I couldn't face quilting it in squares so Sandra has a quilt with only vertical quilting lines down the back. Slack but .....meh .....

This quilt is a reasonably large one measuring about 80 by 100 inches. I wont be doing another string quilt for a while and I wont be using wool blanket  batting for  a large quilt again in the future.

As usual I can see all the mistakes and I'm stessing about how well this will hold up with actual use but I'm sure she'll love it and it'll be fine. On to the next project. Another stacked coin quilt using Gobble Gobble by Moda (and lightweight batting)