Bits and Bobs

The NZ National Quilt Symposium exhibition deadline is looming.  I'm sewing in threads and sewing down facings and hanging sleeves and I'm confident I'll finish up the quilts I'm working on in time.  But that work is all hand sewing and I'm keeping it for evenings on the boat with my family, or for snatches of time in between dinner cooking and homework.

So in the studio this past weekend (it was Queen's Birthday weekend here in NZ so we got Monday off too) I've been doing little catchup jobs.  Bits and bobs.

I put together two bassinet quilt tops and spray basted them.  A friend is running a free-motion quilting class soon and instead of practice quilt sandwiches, she suggests we use bassinet quilts made from orphan blocks.  They are a good size to practice, the orphan blocks give the feeling of working on actual blocks, and they can be donated to the maternity unit after we are done to brighten up the postnatal ward.

I really like the one above.  Very modern.  Made from half-rectangle units that I was practicing technique with (and I've put fun crocodile fabric on the back!).

I have a bit of a pink overload in my stash and some of them are really old-fashioned.  But they look sweet in a simple little quilt like this.  Must make more and use them up!

Then I used my new big pressing surface to fuse down this dragon that has been waiting in the wings.    I sell the appliqué pattern for this panel on Etsy (both PDF downloads and paper copies), but I've been wanting to update my samples for a while.  This is the second dragon I'm doing.

Here's the first updated one I did.  I can't remember whether I showed you or not, so I'll show it again just in case.  She's made from my hand-dyed fabrics and I love how she glows!

Then I found some positive/negative blocks that I had put together as samples for my Aotearoa Tote bag class but never finished into the final bag, so I finished up the free-motion quilting on them and I've sewed them together ready for straps and binding.

I chose a random wood grain pattern to quilt them with.  It's a very 'zen' pattern to quilt.  And one you can do with your walking foot too.

It's very satisfying to make progress on a whole pile of jobs.  I'm not one of those quilters who work exclusively on one or two projects until they are completely finished, but lately, with the symposium deadline coming up fast, that's what I've been doing.  It feels restricting in a way, so to rebel and take steps on a stack of different projects has soothed my spirit a bit.

In fact, I've made such good progress on all my symposium entries that I've decided to make a stab at my unrealistic symposium project.  Do you do that?  A few weeks out, decide on a project that you know will be perfect and start work on it even though you also know it will be totally unrealistic to get it finished?

Here's an Instagram pic of that project I posted a couple of days ago.  It's a little further on than that now, but still in the piecing stage.  Do you think I can do it?!  The race is on!

Podcast Episode 8 - Know when to pull the plug

Nope, not pulling the plug on podcasting, but pulling the plug on a project when it's just not working.

Today I give a (not so brief) life update, including a rundown on the boat renovations.  I then talk about what's going on in my quilting world, including how I had to admit defeat and decide not to push through and try and meet my latest quilting deadline.  I also talk about my SAQA donation quilt, my summer postcard swap and other quilty bits and pieces.

Here's a photo of my SAQA donation quilt:

And a photo of the postcard I sent off to Kim for the Summer Postcard Swap:

Last, but not least, is a process pic of part of my Growth Challenge quilt, the one that's been giving me gip and is not going to get finished for it's deadline:

And I'm feeling clever!  I think I figured out how to embed my podcast.  But just in case I'm not as clever as I think, here's the link to go listen at Podbean:  http://theslightlymadquiltlady.podbean.com/e/episode-8-know-when-to-pull-the-plug/

Fug.

Fug.  That's what I'm feeling.

I think I'm coming down from the creative high that I had going when I was concentrating on finishing my entry for the Living Colour exhibition.  The deadline is tonight but I got mine in yesterday and now I'm just ...... blah.

I'm not allowed to show the whole quilt until it either gets rejected, or, if it gets accepted (here's hoping), until after the opening exhibition in April (I think).  But I can show you a snippet.

The yellow fabric pile in my stash is the smallest one.  But this quilt is SO darn yellow.  Maybe I'm feeling the fug as a comedown from all that bright!

The kids are almost back at school.  Just this weekend to go.  I'm feeling the need for headspace and routine again.  And I'd really like for the housework to stay done for more than five minutes.

Instead of trying to do anything in my studio today I caught up on some blogs, read lots, listened to lots of podcasts (does anyone know of any NZ quilty podcasts?), the kids and I did some inkblot painting - you know where you blob on paint and fold the paper in half?  And generally mooched around.  But in a way, mooching makes me feel worse because I finish the day with nothing to show for it!

Listen to me - what a moaning minnie!

I suppose while mooching I have been thinking lots about what I want 2014 to bring for me.  Especially after reading everyone else's plans in the comments on my giveaway.  So now I'm going to bed early, I'm going to wake up refreshed and revitalised and I'm going to write a more positive post tomorrow about all my hopes and dreams!

The final tweet

Quick update:  The tweety quilt I've been making for a friend is finished.  I won't show the whole thing until it reaches it's destination, but I think this bird is my favourite!

I've been and come back from the Quilt and Craft Fair in Hamilton.  Saw my quilts hanging in the Aotearoa Quilter's annual exhibition - no prizes for me but I sold another of my RED challenge quilts.

I'm now organising to head off to Australia in about a week.  My Dad turns 70 and the family is gathering.  And before I go I have one more quilt to finish.  The top is done, the back is not, wish me luck for a finish!

This is on my mind...

The final layout of my Father in Law's quilt.  I get to stage sometimes where I can't see the wood for the trees, I've looked at a quilt so long that I can't see what I'm seeing anymore and one layout looks the same as another, nothing stands out as wrong or everything stands out as wrong.  Occasionally it makes me want to put the whole thing in a box and start over.  (I must have done that a few times, that's where WIP's come from!)

So which one do I choose?  And I must make up my mind soon because I've imposed a deadline on myself by deciding that this is going to be a Christmas present.

Do I choose this one?  Or this one?  What about this one?  Can anyone see the differences?

You can find out what's on other peoples minds over at Rhonda's blog, Down to Earth.

Now, I think there is an apostrophe missing in that sentence above - where are your high school english teachers when you need them?

Deadline Met. Happy Boy.

 I am the mother of a six year old.  Crazy!  It makes me feel just a little bit old.  (I'm going to feel positively ancient by the time he's ten).  The people that love my son know him quite well - he got two of these tee-shirts.  He was very excited about that - one to wear when the other one is in the wash!

I managed to finish the Dragon quilt, although there is a very ugly seam that needs unpicking and sowing by hand (I'll sneak it off his bed one night for that).  I ignored all housework while I was frantically stitching - and you can get a bit of an idea from the photo above what an absolute bombsite the house is.

So I was very, very grateful to the weather gods who kept it fine so that we could proceed with the outdoor beach birthday party.  It was a huge success.  By that I mean we didn't drown or lose any children.  Phew. 

And my son made my life extra easy by wanting a "fancy chocolate cake like the supermarket ones".  It took me about a third of the time it normally takes me to decorate a birthday cake and it was THAT good that when I'm not drooping with exhaustion like I am now, I will post the recipe.

Goodnight.

Deadlines

I'm tired of deadlines.  I'm probably just saying that because I'm working frantically to get this dragon quilt finished before Saturday.  But I've decided that after Christmas, I'm not going to make quilts and things 'for' people for a while. 

I say Christmas because I do want to make one more quilt this year for my Father-in-Law.

But after Christmas I want to use my quilting time to play and experiment and develop my 'art' quilting skills a bit more.  One of the ladies at the retreat I went to over the weekend does an A4 sized quilt every month.  She tries out new techniques and tools, she documents her inspiration and she notes what she would do differently.  And when she showed us her little portfolio, you can really see her progress.  This is the type of thing I would like to do more of.

Like the quiltlet above.  I did this one at least a couple of years ago and had so much fun and was very pleased with the outcome.  I'm itching to do more of this type of stuff.