FAL Quarter 2- Results !

We're at the end of the second quarter of the Finish Along hosted by Katy at The Littlest Thistle and it's time to 'fess up about whether or not I bit off more than I could chew again...

Having learnt my lesson last quarter, I made my goals a tad more realistic this time around and chucked in the possibility of a nudie run down the main street of Adelaide to motivate me to a finish on at least one of those projects. Adelaide breathed a collective sigh of relief when the last stitch was sunk into the Dresden quilt binding because it meant people didn't have to disinfect their eyeballs or seek therapy after having seen me running naked down Rundle Mall wearing only a feather boa. You can see the original post for my goals and threat here.

So without further ado or waffle here's the skinny on what went down at Maison Pyjamas in April, May and June. 

Project 1 - Dresden Quilt -DONE

Project 2 - Hexie Flower Garden Quilt -DONE

Project 3 - Stupid Triangles ! (now renamed The Craptastic Quilt) -DONE

I'm never touching triangles again .... 

Project 4 - Seville Quilt -FAIL

So close and nearly done but Katy informs me that nearly doesn't count unless I'm planning to use it unquilted with the basting pins still in it. (I once used a quilt for 18 months without any binding on it - so dont tempt me)  I was planning to take the easy road with this quilt and I started some echo quilting around the peels last week. But something somewhere in the back of my head told me I could do better than slightly curved lines for this quilt so I unpicked , and unpicked and then unpicked some more. Come back later this week to see what I'm planning for this quilt ...I'm equal parts elated and terrified and it could make for some very interesting reading. 

So Im sitting at 75 % success for the quarter, but Im happy those WIP's are disappearing off my sidebar list. Since the start of the year I've knocked 7 off there and only have two to go. One more finish and I swear I'm starting something new..or several somethings. 

Finish Along-Quarter 2 List

Dear Blog Buddies, 

I apologise in advance for assaulting your eyeballs with the same unfinished quilts that you've already seen approximately a million times before and further inane chatter about how I really WILL finish them this quarter. 

If I had been more organised in the first quarter of this little linky party you may have had the pleasure of seeing at least one or two projects that hadn't been the subject of umpteen million previous blog posts. I started the year with the best of intentions to finish a goodly chunk of the projects on my WIP list before I started anything new, and while I've resisted the urge to start any aforementioned new projects it appears my will to finish the remaining WIPS has fled along with just a teeny bit more of my sanity. 

When I wrote my list for the first Quarter of 2014 , I was clearly delirious because I put 7 projects on it. I'm going to get a bit more sensible for Quarter 2 and make a list that is rooted in some form of reality. Football season has recommenced Down Under so I am officially a sport widow until Grand Final Day (late September in case you were wanting to book tickets- my team won't be there based on what I've seen so far this season)and since I find no pleasure in watching 8 matches of football over the weekend(and listening to Mr. P's armchair umpiring antics) this is the start of prime quilting season for yours truly. 

So here is my list for the second quarter....

Project 1 - Dresden Quilt.  If this isn't finished by the end of the quarter I'll strip naked and walk down Rundle Mall wearing only a feather boa. 

Project 2 -Hexie Flower Garden. I'm not making any promises about getting naked if this isn't finished because its being quilted by a friend who would hold up the process just to make me follow through ... 

Project 3- Stupid Triangles. Our wonderful hostess Katy has suggested I give this away to some other poor unsuspecting sucker.  My return suggestion was that I use it as a firestarter for a bonfire in the back yard. Mmmmmmmmmm...better not. I'm going to finish this one if it kills me because I don't intend to ever make a triangle quilt again. 

Project 4 - Seville Quilt. 31 peels left to go ...then I have to sew it together, baste it, quilt it and put the binding on. What could possibly go wrong?  

Stick around for tears, tantrums and lots of whining ! 

Not Quite Sure Where That Week Went....

It looks like I've turned into a once a week poster.  Lately I haven't been doing much that's particularly blog worthy or exciting and I'm sure you don't want shots of me making the bed, doing laundry or playing on my iPad.

Work continues on the guest room makeover. Mr. P is a crazy anal good painter and has insisted on doing 5 coats on the dressing table to get it to his satisfaction so I'm still waiting for that to go in the room. I have house guests next week so he's been told he is on an actual time frame and cant fluff about taking his sweet time like he usually does. 

Progress was made on the Seville Quilt this week. These orange peels are haunting me in my sleep. I counted them up and I still have 33 to do.....this quilt is starting to feel like I've been making it forever and 33 isn't all that close to a finish. But I will soldier on and I will prevail! (Yes it really is starting to feel like this is war) 

I've just come from Katy's blog where she talks about a photography course she's been doing , which just reinforces how crappy my own photos are!

My Not The Farmer's Wife sewing group met this weekend. There was a lot of laughter and some hot topics of conversation (missing planes, changing careers to become a phone sex worker, and ladies hoo ha's- don't ask!) No shots of the lovely ladies but I did get shots of some fabulous finishes.

Claire's orange peel quilt. She is now jiggying me along to finish mine, seemingly without the realisation that my peels are 10 times the size of hers... 

Val's Star Wars quilt. I think the force was with her on this one. It is fabulous. 

And Lorraine's scrappy stars quilts (she has recently discovered the joy of rotary cutting and is churning quilts out like nobodies business) 

I dragged out my poor neglected triangle quilt this weekend and added a few rows to the total. This picture was an "in progress" shot...Somehow I don't think this is going to make the finished list as I had originally planned for this quarter.

Some Saturday Stash enhancement for the yet to be started Lucy Boston quilt...not my usual colours and it was quite challenging stepping out of my comfort zone and purchasing these.

And lastly from the quilty front I'm currently working on a restoration project for a friend. This well loved quilt is about 15 years old and has been adored by three kids and really needed some TLC. It had no binding left so I've started with replacing that and I'll see what else I can do as I go along. 

I also worked on hemming curtains this weekend..but since that still isn't finished the results will have to wait for the next post and I have a feeling I'm going to be doing some weeping and wailing about them being different sizes. That'll be a fun post! 

Finish Along -First Quarter 2014

Katy over at The Littlest Thistle is hosting the FAL for 2014 and since I have WIP's coming out my wazoo I figured I'd better come up with a plan for finishing stuff. There is nothing like publicly committing to finishing things to get you off your arse and moving. Plus I can procrastinate for ages with this FAL because we only have to 'fess up 3 monthly.

So here, in no particular order, are the projects I'm vowing to finish in either January, February or March. Goals and I tend not to be friends but I'm determined to get rid of some of this stuff - sorry, finish these works of art -so I can start other cool stuff .

Dresden quilt 

If you started following my blog after October 2011 you wont have seen this one. It's been a completed top for so long now it's pretty much an antique. Unfortunately I only have pictures of the blocks so you'll have to imagine this with pink sashing. This one needs to be quilted ( And I've sent this out to the quilter - sue me if you think that's cheating) and when it gets back I have to put the binding put on.

Hexagon Flower Garden Quilt

I started this quilt in October 2011 but didn't finish the top until last October...This one is going off to the quilter too ...so for me the only thing that has to be done is put the binding on...I reckon I can blitz these two projects. 

Triangle Quilt

Started this one in February last year - quickly got sick of it because it had bias edges and when I put the first 5 rows together it resembled a Mexican wave...I unpicked the lot and have so far managed to sew two whole rows back together. This is going to require a bit of patience. Don't expect the points to meet up!

Tshirt Quilt

Poor Mr. P's Tshirt quilt - started with such enthusiasm, and then chucked in a corner when it was less than half quilted. There is probably a few hours quilting left on this and then it'll be close to done. 

Postage Stamp Quilt

Started as a way to use up my scraps which appeared to be breeding in their plastic tubs. I did three trial blocks  and then ignored for about four months until January 1st. This has been getting a lot of attention since new year so I'm quietly confident this may be my first quilt finish for 2014.

Pom Pom De Paris Dog Blanket

Once upon a time (last November) I decided on the spur of the moment to make Indy and Lola a new dog blanket because two of their other ones were so putrid I had to throw them out. I got to the "finished a flimsy" stage on the same day and then and totally piked. Indy and Lola don't care about fancy quilting so in theory this one should be a snap to finish!

Chenille Baby Blanket

I have so much chenille lurking around Maison Pyjamas I'm drowning in the stuff. I've just pulled the fabrics for a baby blanket for one of the girls at work who is having a baby in a couple of months. Lets see if I can get this to the mother to be before the baby starts school.

My list looks pretty full but with three weeks holidays stretching in front of me I feel like I can achieve  at least some of this...and there's still plenty of time to link up if you want to play along.

You win some - You lose some...

It was my brother in law's 40th birthday on Friday so I guess the question on everybody's lips is whether he liked the quilt I made for him.

You know- the one I've been blathering on about since about February? The one I vowed to finish in time for his birthday in July. The one I've been endlessly showing as I theoretically progress through to completion?  Yeah -ummm...that's still in bits. We copped out and gave him money in a card instead because apparently I cant finish anything when working to a deadline. Gotta say - Im not really arse kicking myself over it- I have come to dislike the putting together of that quilt intensely. Maybe it'll get finished and maybe not. I've never not finished a quilt before but the jury is still out on this one.

It hasn't all been doom and gloom and ignoring stuff on the quilting front . My Irish Chain quilt top is finished and I love how it looks. I have some cream embossed damask for the back that will pull everything together to give this an antique feel and best of all I'm sending it out to be quilted so in my head that means this one is almost done. I've even made the binding for it. My job is pretty much done! 

I waged an inner war with myself on Saturday over whether to unpick the 5 rows of the triangle quilt I'd already sewn because I wasn't really happy with the way they were sewing up into a top. I've learned that triangles cut on the bias stretch out of shape and by the time you sew stretched triangles into row you can end up with some very interesting results. (Curved quilt top anyone?) My inner perfectionist spoke louder than my slack arse personality and I spent Saturday unsewing and re-sewing and first time sewing and squaring all my triangles post sewing into little rows . (Does anyone else think this talk of squaring triangles sounds odd or am I just having a moment of silliness?) 

I got two rows sewn back together over the weekend and this is where I left the rest of it. I must confess looking at that pile waiting to be sewn into a recognisable quilt top makes me feel like I'm going to be mindlessly sewing triangles just about forever...

And to prove there's more than one way to skin a cat (ugh -I don't know why anyone would want to do that ) I finished this too. I saw this idea on Pinterest where someone had embroidered directly onto a paper map. I decided to go one better and print the map onto fabric and then embroider -but my hand stitches looked funky so I unpicked it and went the slacker way and used my machine. At this point I don't care that I sort of cheated ...its a finish. 

And in other creative type news ...I have 1 and a half of these left to do before I can start making them into a quilt top ...hallelujah!

Couldn't resist the lure of a new project ...started cutting scraps but since I haven't start actually sewing them it doesn't really count. This could be the one that finally tips me over the edge. 

Liar Liar ...Pants on Fire

Once  upon a time some smart arse geeks with nothing better to do invented the internet. Their ultimate purpose was to turn us all into zombies who sat on our butts surfing Pinterest , and randomly updating our Facebook statuses every 10 minutes because people who feel they are engaged in meaningful activity are less likely to engage in anarchy or crimes against the state.

I'm completely in love with the internet and my various electronic doodads so for me to announce that I was having a media free weekend was about as wild and crazy as I ever get. But we all know addicts are generally not all that truthful either and sadly it didn't take too long before I snuck into Hay Day and had a look at what was happening with my farm. Cow udders have nasty habit of exploding if you don't milk your cows when they need it. And I didn't want my crops to wither and die. I don't want to be accused of carrot cruelty.

I outed myself when I started pinning ...every man and his dog knew the jig was up when they saw my Pinterest activity popping up in my Facebook feed. For anyone who thinks we aren't being tracked and watched every time we go on the internet  - think again. And I wouldn't have needed to go on Facebook if everyone else lived boring lives and didn't post what they were doing - so really its all your fault. Whale Watching Nat? Really? Why can't you just be like the rest of us lazy slobs and spend the weekend in your pyjamas?

So how long did my computer free weekend really last? About 5 lousy hours.  I was like some sad addict who couldn't think of anything else but my next fix the internet. I'd kind of furtively dart in (like a Ninja) harvest my crops, check Facebook, pin a couple of things on Pinterest and get out again because if you're in and out silently it's like you were never really there. I'm so good at looking furtive I'm sure the CIA are going to be knocking on my door to recruit me any moment. 

Because I felt essentially pathetic, weak  and guilty  I did put in a decent effort over the weekend to move my UFO's along. As if somehow working hard on those projects would atone for my sin of being pathologically incapable of ignoring the internet. 

I appliqued some hexies (I'm getting so close to a finish there that I feel compelled to keep pushing on) and I worked on my very big pinwheel quilt which is also not on my list for a finish this month but I was busy avoiding doing the things that were.  

I worked on the Triangle quilt. So far 1/4 done. There is some very dodgy matching up of triangles in this top I can assure you but I'm going for overall effect here not perfection and so far I'm liking the result. 

The recycled shirt quilt top is coming along nicely. OK- perhaps nicely is stretching the truth a bit- there are a couple of huge stuff ups that I'm ignoring since it has to be finished in a mere 10 days. Mental note to self - when you work with recycled shirt fabric not all of it will be 100% cotton and there will be stretching along the way. This will require skill and patience to overcome. 

And the Irish chain quilt went from 3 finished blocks to all the blocks done and I've started to sew that together into an actual honest to goodness quilt top. 

So I suck at ignoring the internet but got an A+ for sewing effort. The big question is - will anything actually get finished in the next 15 days? 

I'm Following the Leader

I've been watching a lot of you posting about cleaning through your sewing spaces lately. Tidying and re-configuring seems to have swept blogland like some kind of sewing room plague. Kudos to you all.  I did that last year and I'm pretty happy with the way everything is laid out. It's functional, everything is easy to get to and I know where everything is. That is...I thought it was functional, and easy to move around in and that I knew where everything was until I went looking for something on Saturday.

Not being able to find the repro triangles I cut on Thursday or the yellow sashing for Little P's Superhero blocks drove me over the edge. (I eventually found the yellow sashing stuffed in the scissor drawer) I also had no idea where the hexie flowers that had the paper so painstakingly removed were or where any of the blocks I'd completed for the recycled shirt quilt had got to. Let's not even talk about opening the wardrobe because that presented the very real risk of being crushed to death by falling debris. 

I showed Little Miss Sunshine the mess via Facetime and even she was shocked, gleefully informing me that my mess was far worse than hers. When you get to that point the only thing to do is catch a big old dose of the same illness everyone else has and get infected by the tidying bug.

So on Saturday night Mr. P whacked Pearl Harbor into the DVD and I set about re-organising all my fabric back into their respective boxes while watching Kate Beckinsale wait for missing Ben Affleck for three whole months before she decided his best mate was a better deal because at least he was alive before Josh Hartnett gets heroically killed and she goes back to Ben Affleck even though Josh Hartnett is her baby daddy. I figure everyone has seen Pearl Harbor by now so I hope that didn't spoil the movie for anyone who was possibly planning to catch up on movies they've never seen in the imminent future. If so, that's one you won't have to watch now. 

Cleaning up for some reason always seems to result in a whole load more mess being made. In fact I'm still cleaning up in there, but I'm happy to report that most of my fabric has been re-folded and stored back in it's respective hidey holes. And that as the result of all this activity all of my current projects have their own boxes instead of being left to live where I last got sick of them until I decide I want to work on them again. Hopefully  that will help me avoid another "I can't find a f****** thing " scenario like I had on Saturday. 

I've made a rule that I can only open and work on one project box at a time but we all know that wont last, and that within a fortnight my sewing room will probably look just as dire as it did before I did this monumental clean up. And I still haven't worked up the guts to open the wardrobe door yet.

In amongst all of this I managed to do bits and pieces on some of my projects as I was going along because it's apparently impossible for me to pick one task and not get distracted. 

All the triangles are cut out for my new quilting project. The big question is whether I can resist sewing them together until I've finished the quilting on Superheroes 1....

I cut up the rest of the old shirts I had laying around (literally-on the floor) ready to make the final hexie blocks and the backing for the quilt. Look ! Don't they look organised in their little box? 

I finished all the yellow blocks for Little P's superheroes quilt top and started the red ones. Yes I'm aware I haven't pressed them yet just as I'm well aware of the vow I made that I was going to finish the entire quilt top this month. There are still two days left - so I might do it , although that's looking very unlikely. 

And I fixed a 3 inch popped seam in the crutch of Mr. P's favourite shorts. He's been wearing them like that for weeks until I finally refused to be seen in public with him wearing them like that. You could see his undies when his shirt rode up. Try not to think about what it would look like if he didn't wear undies because that visual will give you nightmares. And he's actually incredibly lucky I didn't sew them directly to his crutch since he came to me as he was putting them on and asked if I could do them right that minute-right that minute being 10 minutes before we were due out the door for dinner at Sister Of Pyjamas house.  No pictures - be thankful I spared you that!