A side benefit of tidying up.

In my last post I talked about how I was using a paper planner to help me stay organised.  One of my sections in my planner is a quilts section and in it, I've listed my works in progress and some of the steps I need to move forward on them.

To list my WIPs, I had to know what WIPs I had, which meant laying hands on each one and tidying the pile.  I kept seeing references to Marie Kondo everywhere, so yes, I went and checked her out and, like many, I've developed an uneasy fascination with the tiny, bouncy, eternally optomistic woman.  I have not KonMari'd my whole house, but I did assess each WIP as to whether it 'sparked joy' in me.

For those of you who have ignored the Marie Kondo fad and don't know what the heck I'm talking about, basically I looked at each WIP while I was tidying and asked myself if I still liked it.  Did I want to carry this into the future with me?  Did I want to spend time finishing it?  If the answer was no, I then dealt with it, either binning it, putting it in the op shop pile, or if it was still in pieces, putting the fabric back in my stash.

I didn't let myself get caught up in any guilt.  Why should I finish something just because I 'should'?  My time is precious.  I'd rather spend it on something I'm excited about!

Working through my WIPs put me back in touch with my projects, a side benefit to tidying up.  I have a presentation that I do about how a little procrastination is good for us.  I believe that putting something away for a while lets the project 'ferment' in my mind, especially if I'm struggling with a problem.  Often, I'll pull out the project again and the solution will present itself.  But that method requires that I keep in touch with my WIPs, or the fermenting process bubbles out and I just forget about it entirely!

So I tidied up, got back in touch, and now I have a pile of things that I want to work on.

Of course I still want to start new things too....

'Heron Maiden' had been having a holiday in my WIP pile.  It was nice to see her again and realise that I wanted to finish her for the GNZQS.  So what was holding me back about finishing her?  I figured out that I didn't know how to quilt the big background hill and if I cracked that nut, I'd be away again.  So I printed out a colour photo and auditioned some quilting lines.  They looked good and I was inspired to continue.

You can see my quilting line design taped to the wall prior to starting to quilt.

So my long and rambling point is: don't get caught up in guilt about WIPs.  Go through your pile, keep in touch with your projects.  Look at WIPs with new eyes.  Is there something else you could turn it into that you would be excited about?  Is there a technique that was holding you back that you now have the skills to deal with?  Can you solve a quilting dilemma now that you couldn't before?

But if you pick up a WIP and truly wonder why you ever thought it would be a good idea, then just get rid of it!  You'll feel so much better.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts about your WIP pile!

Are you sick of UFO's yet?

I had this silk organza piece hanging around in my UFO pile.  I liked it but I wasn't sure how to continue (imagine it without the flax stalks and the Tui).  The reason was, I had pinned all the organza strips down and started to sew them down, but it was a royal PITA with all those loose edges!

So my solution was to fuse two fabric flax stalks over it and slide a few more bits of fusible web under the loose side edges.  That got rid of the pins and made it much easier to handle.  Then I took a bit of silk organza and ironed a freezer paper mask to it.  You can see that above, on the bench.

I then painted the silk organza with watered down fabric paints and heat set it once it was dry.  I was vaguely trying to follow the colours of the background, but if you look closely you can see that I flipped it eventually - one of the clever things about using organza.

This time the freezer paper is used as a stencil - see I get to use both the positive and negative cuts of the freezer paper - frugal, no?!

I stamped on the background using fabric paint and one of my own hand carved stamps.

Later I decided to stencil another Tui onto the foreground organza.  You can see the two separate layers in the picture and then...

This is how they looks once they are layered.  Still needs a bit of cropping.  I moved the appliqué Tui to the foreground as I decided I didn't like it behind the organza.  When I quilt it, I plan to quilt the outline of another flax stalk and another Tui as I like odd numbers of things.  

So big progress on that UFO!  I'm thinking I can now change it back to being a WIP...?

I've chucked another couple of oddities in the bin (like my unspeakable attempt at trapunto, ugh) and I've another few things on my radar - including the Oscar* quilt.  

*Oscar is what I'm calling Suz's UFO that she tried to chuck away and I rescued it from the rubbish bin - I'll show it soon, promise!!

And here is one for the finished pile.  A friend's elderly grandmother can no longer see well enough to stitch and all this project needed was a binding.  I sewed it on for her along with some hanging corners and now she can enjoy it on her wall.

'Summer Dragonfly' accepted to Living Colour!

So the good news is I can't show you my quilt that I submitted to Living Colour!  It's good news because it was accepted along with 31 others and will be travelling internationally for at least the next year.  Pretty exciting!!  These are the confirmed venues taken from the Living Colour website:

The exhibition will premiere at the Australasian Quilt Convention 10-13 April 2014 and will tour in 2014 and 2015. The following venues have been confirmed:

• Australasian Quilt Convention, Melbourne: 10-13 April 2014
• Creative Textile Show, Canberra: 2-4 May 2014
• QuiltWest, Craft & Quilt Fair,Perth: 21-25 May 2014
• Sydney Quilt Show, Craft & Quilt Fair: 9-13 July 2014
• Quilt Symposium Manawatu, Palmerston North, New Zealand: 15-21 January 2015
• Gosford Regional Gallery, Gosford: 21 March-22 April 2015

Apparently there were 177 entries so I'm feeling a little bit humbled.

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Today is Waitangi Day in New Zealand.  It's a public holiday and as we live pretty close to Waitangi itself, we usually go along.  But not today, it's rainy and windy and generally yucky.  We also planned to paint some more window sills but that ain't happening either.  So what's a girl to do?  More shelf cleaning of course!

I made this wallhanging for the NZ Hoffman Challenge quite a few years ago.  Then I folded it up and put it in the cupboard and it's been taking up space ever since.  I don't like it enough to hang it on the wall, but I can't quite bring myself to chuck it either.

Well, a few slices with the rotary cutter later, a bit of zig-zag along the edge,  a couple of buttons and I have a scissor or rotary cutter pouch and a pocket for my mini cutting board and a small ruler.   Perfect for a sewing date at a friends.

And then I found this little UFO.  It's silk roving type stuff (I don't know what you call it when it's silk) free-motion stitched down onto hand woven wool and I've begun hand stitching here and there.  But what on earth do I do with it?  It's too fragile to become a pouch or anything useful.  Any suggestions?

I think the next UFO I'm going to show you is the hated one that Suz mentioned in a comment on my blog yesterday....so come back again tomorrow!

UFO stocktake

Today (Wednesday) was the first day this week that I had to myself at home.  The kids are back in school after the Summer holidays and I wasn't working.  So I got stuck in to one of my quilting monkeys.  I braced myself and began sorting through my UFO's.

These were just (some of) the ones that had been piled on my sewing table and then shifted from there to become a pile on my laundry bench and were threatening to topple!

This is a block from a class called Serendipity Stars by Barbara Bilyard.  She was a very well known NZ quilter who, sadly, has passed away now.  I completed one block - and hated every second of it!  So I've pressed under the edges a quarter inch and am thinking of turning into a cushion.  What do you think of the ombre background?  Yes or no?  I stuck all the fabric I had in the bag back into my stash 'cause there is no way I'm making more of those blocks to make into a quilt!

Singing Tui.  He's all basted (with fusible) and just needs quilting - and binding and labelling and hanging sleeve....why do those bits always take longest?

Three little samples from my Gwen Marston class.  Pondering what to do with these......suggestions welcome.

Sample from Susan Carlson class.  Love her quilts, not so much her technique.  I won't get this finished and I'll never make a quilt like this so I binned it (gasp!), but everything is glued down so can't be rescued, and you know what?  It felt good!

Oooo!  Here's one of those garments I told you about.  Although technically it's not a UFO because I haven't done anything except pick fabric.  Still feel the love for this one.

This is just a fabric pick too.  A cute little wallet.  Gonna put the fabric back in the stash and put the pattern in a separate pile of 'patterns to make'.

Sooooo many 1 1/2 inch strips left over from my Dad's log cabin quilt.  I sat down and I've now sorted these into similar lengths.  I'm going to sew about four or five similar lengths together then sub cuts them into squares and make some sort of rail fence type quilt.  Sounds like a good idea for a leader and ender project.

I also found an orphan paper pieced block.  What to do with that?  Well I used it to cover a notebook but, duh, forgot to take a photo.

And to top it off, I worked on the lego storm in the lounge, vacuumed, did laundry and took a moment or too to polish my halo...!

Another UFO bites the dust

Sorry for the radio silence lately - my internet has been down - peaceful at first and then frustrating!

I've been thinking about my pile of UFO's or WIP's - yeah, I know, nothing new about that!  But I do want to whittle them down.  I was taking stock today and I saw this piece in the stack.

It's been taking up valuable real estate in my cupboard for several years.  I don't even know what it was intended to be.  Some sort of fractured/stained glass thingy that I had fused and then appliquéd random patterns, not even around each edge so not very stable!

So I shoved it under my needle and quilted it in black thread around each piece of coloured fabric.  It gave it a sketchy look I liked and would help hold the fused bits of fabric down.

Then I found Catherine Parkinson's tutorial on making little pouches/purses out of practice quilts and followed the instructions.  Catherine is a New Zealand blogger who quilts and photographs and sketches and is well worth checking out.

There were a couple of things I did differently.  In step 8, you need to put your pieces right sides together - but you'd have figured the out anyway.

When you are stitching two layers together around the edges to then turn right sides out and you have to leave a gap to turn them through, I always mark when I have to stop stitching with a double pin.  It must be the way my brain works, but too many times I've kept on going right the way round the whole edge - doh!

I used a popper, or dome fastener instead of stitching on velcro - but that's personal choice.  They are easy to put in, you just need a cheap tool that you buy at the same time as the domes, a hammer, some brute force and a little bit of patience to line them up.

I ended up with two cute little purses.  The back one has been claimed for my rotary cutter and the front one will go in the 'to be gifts one day' stash.

Yay!  One UFO finished, one cute pouch for me, one gift for my gift stash and one happy quilter! (and one gap in my cupboard - does this mean I can start another project?)

I'll leave you with an image of what's happening outside my back door.  Tui feeding on flax flowers - so lovely to watch.

My Oldest Work-In-Progress

I think this is my oldest WIP, but I'm not about to scrummage around in my cupboards to prove it one way or another.  I know it is at least four and a half years old because I have pictures of it laid out on the floor of my old house...so perhaps five or six years?  Ok, I just went and checked the date on those photos.....2003.  Hmmm, needs to get finished.

It's big.  So the design floor was brought into use.  There is actually not much to do.  I have to finish buttonhole stitching (machine) some of those leaves in the border, then attach the border to finish the little bits of bell flower applique in the corners.

And I want to rework the bird's wing.  This central design is from one of Material Obsession's books.  I can't remember which one - it was from the library.  But my husband said it looks like a chicken drumstick, and now that's ALL I see!  Blast him!

So I wonder how old those little yellow bits of post-it note are?  I've had to safety pin them on because they've lost their sticky, but they've marked the corners well, I would have been in a pickle with which corner was which if I didn't have them.  

My goal is to have this top finished by the end of the week.  Then it can move into the waiting-to-be-quilted pile.  Shall we look at what's in that pile?  No, that could be overwhelming....!

And thank you for your thoughts on my last post.  I think I just need more doing and less thinking ;)

Turquoise and Brown

My plan of working through my UFO or WIP pile is moving forward.  Today my hubby took the kids with him and left me gloriously alone.  And this is the result:  (plus three loads of washing, a little bit of weed pulling, house tidying and some dog walking)

It began life as a project done with the guild.  Suz, from All the good ones are taken, organised it.  Participants gathered eight co-ordinated fat quarters, cut them into different sized shapes and then each month put together blocks from those shapes.  Then came the choice of how to put them all together.

I joined my all together without sashing or background - the result is the centre square bordered by the thin turquoise strip.  It wasn't really big enough to do anything with so it's languished for a couple of years (!) until recently when I put the next borders on.  Today it's a finished flimsy, big enough for a single bed topper or a lap quilt.

The thrill of starting a new project...

So a while back I said I had to finish two projects before I could start another.  It was an attempt to whittle my WIP pile down a little (so it fitted on shelves at the least!).

Well, I finished my tree of life quilt (now called Life Encircling) and my Tui at Dawn quilt, both for entry into the Taupo Symposium so I can't show them here.  So I did a little happy dance and started pulling fabric.  I think mucking round with fabric combos is better than eating chocolate...

It's going to be a log cabin quilt for a very special someone.  I don't think that someone reads my blog very often, and I'm extra sure they won't know what a barn raising setting, log cabin means so I think I'm safe showing a few snippets.

Meanwhile I tackled another project in my WIP pile.  I think I've made the world's ugliest grocery tote!  But it was sitting in my WIP pile and it was a quick project to finish up and hey, the vegetables and packets of pasta ain't gonna care what their bag looks like.  (Sometimes I think I almost like the fabric combination, then other times I catch a glimpse and have to shield my eyes.)

Then I proceeded to break my own rule and started another four projects - that is, another four tote bags (seeing as they are all tote bags, can I pretend it's just one project?).  I rationalised it because production line assembly is the fastest way to get stuff done and I'd already started one bag, right?  Plus I need to make a couple of belated birthday pressies.

Ah well, I could keep trying to convince myself  or I could go finish them up.....Happy Saturday!

What's on the design wall (floor)?

I'm determined to write a blog post tonight.  It's been awhile.  No excuses.  I got immersed in some novels, which takes my attention away from anything else until they're read (The Green Rider series by Kristin Britain if you're curious).  And I've been doing a locum stint for the past two weeks for a local self-employed midwife (glad it's over and I didn't even have to catch any babies, 24/7 on-call is a major stress).  I've also been working away on my two Taupo Symposium exhibition entries.  They're done and sent off and I know they've received them because my credit card bill shows the entry fee already!  Last, but not least, I was printing up fabric for my handprinted fabric swap: III - all sent off by the deadline and I've received one fat quarter in the mail already - thanks Holly!

Then we've had Easter weekend.  The kids get Good Friday off, right through to the Tuesday (tomorrow).  We've had a visit from the three little girl cousins and there were only a few meltdowns, mostly they are old enough for harmonious interaction.

So this morning I was left at a loose end.  No major projects with deadlines, my two kids and one cousin playing happily.  I rummaged around and came up with my Creme Brulee quilt, and when I laid it out on my design wall floor, I realised I'd forgotten I had all the rows together and I just needed to work on the sashing.  Yay!  

Wild Puss thought he'd add his influence to decision on the final layout.  Why do cats always want to sit on whatever it is you're working on?  And they don't listen to you when you tell them to get off either.  

And then the little *^&%# came charging out from under the table, pounced on the middle of the blocks and skidded them into a mess!

I have the evidence, Cat!  You can't pull that innocent, I-didn't-do-it expression on me!

I thought I'd have the whole top put together today, but unfortunately the little darlings (humans, not cats) demanded some attention and entertainment.  And being their Mother I gave in.

So Happy Easter to you all.  

Work in Progress Round Up

I thought I'd do a little round up of all the projects I'm working on at the moment.  Mainly so that in a year's time I can look back and gasp at how much I achieved is still a work in progress! ;)

My current project that I'm working on almost exclusively.  It's called "I don't feel lonely" and is an entry for the Beneath the Southern Skies exhibition.  Must be finished by the 25th of January.  No pressure or anything!

My 'night shift' quilt.  This is slowly turning into something that I really like.  And the vast majority of it has been done in the quiet bits of night duty.  All the rows except one (the one with little bits of paper pinned to it) are sewn together.  Now I just need to work on setting triangles.

A couple of bassinet quilts for the maternity unit.  A friend made the tops and gave them to me to baste (check), quilt (check) and bind (yet to finish). 

This sucker is just so big, it takes up my whole kitchen floor.

My big blue and white quilt.  No hurrying on this one.  It sat for a couple of years without even being touched.  Then I did a little flurry on it last year.  A few more flurries and the applique on the sides might get done.  Then it will be a marathon of flurries to quilt it - it's huge.

This is my hand-piecing.  I last showed this to you in a completely different layout.  I decided I didn't like it that way, took out all the squares that were part of the design and turned the diamonds into doves (or turtles as most people think they are).  Recently I've decided that I liked it better with the squares but I refuse to unpick all that hand stitching so one day I might cut a whole heap more diamonds and do another of the original layout.....one day.

I need to add another round on both these medallion quilts for a round robin sort of thingee I'm doing with my sister.  No hurry on this one, it's taken us a few years to get to this point!

I have a project that I'm enthused about that is still in the design stages and will use lots of my native bird and plant applique designs I've drawn previously.  I also want to make a quilt using some beautiful Japanese fabrics that my sister in law brought back from Japan with her.

There are other WIPs I have floating around, but writing this down has made me realise that I'm never going to finish those ones so they may as well get donated/chopped up/re-purposed.  It sounds like it's time for a UFO purge!

What have you got hiding away in your cupboards?

Where I confess I am a dork.

So last post, I talked about how I was frustrated because I wanted to work on my big blue and white WIP (work in progress) but couldn't find a few pieces.  See the missing sets above? 

To make a nice square quilt I was missing two sets of three blocks.  My good friend Sue suggested that maybe I had never actually sewn those sets and would have to sew some more.  But I knew I had finished every block for the quilt!  So I searched my WIP pile.  Then I searched my boxes of miscellaneous fabrics.  Then I searched my scrap box.  I was even contemplating searching my fabric stash.  Grrrr.  Then I looked through my old pictures to find one of my layout to convince Sue (and myself by this stage) that I had actually finished all the blocks.

Oops.  It's not a square quilt.  It's a rectangle and I had all the pieces in my hot little hand, I just couldn't see how to lay them out.  Doh.  Sorry Sue!

I'm off today to find some white on white print fabric to match for setting triangles. 

And this pic is for Cathy from Cabbage Quilts who is also doing a paper pieced quilt with diamonds and squares, but a different layout.  She wanted to see my layout and a picture says it better than words.  Cathy's is a beautiful Kaffe Fasset pattern and she has the most delicious sense of colour.  Go check her out.