Wednesday, December 18, 2013

WIP Wednesday: the one with presents!


This WIP is mostly about presents. Other people's presents, unfortunately! But still presents.

Finished!

Aunty's Harvest Quilt

Got the binding done on my Aunt's Quilt on Saturday afternoon, an hour before we had our 'family Christmas dinner'.

aunty quilt bein bound

She liked it a lot!

aunty quilt

That quilt's been about 9 months in the making, and has been in the planning stages for over a year - since Father's Day last year (which, in Australia, is in September). Previous post on The Making Of is here. There's Bad Math! Getting Rid Of Fabrics I Didn't Know What To Do With! And The True Meaning Of Patchwork!

But YESSSS! It's done!

Bee Block Quilt 2011 - Grandmother's Puzzle

I joined a bee block challenge in 2011, and asked for the traditional 'grandmother's puzzle' block, with a white/cream background, and medium-dark bow-ties and arrows in different colours.

I think some people's ideas of "white/cream background" differs from mine.

The fabrics are supposed to be all cotton, but seeing the way some of them react to my iron...hm, yeah, I don't think so!

grandmother's puzzle

At least the damage isn't too noticeable...I think.

Oh, and at least one person's idea of a 12" block is 3" too short of standard... Oops!

But, yeah, it's a small quilt - at ~36" square, really just a wall quilt - I thought about making more blocks and adding to it so it's at least a lap quilt, but I find I'm not so hugely fond of this quilt that I'm going to put any more effort in than absolutely necessary to get it finished.

I have several piles of other blocks from two other bee block exchanges and both of those are much nicer! Although I will need to do some extra blocks for the first, and some sashing-and-posting in the second... Ugh. Sashing and posting! Lots of little fiddly bits!

French Memo Boards

I've had this in planning for a while now - ones for my stepbrother and his wife, ones for my sisters. I really have to make another move on the sisters' ones - maybe I can give them for Christmas?

Christmas present

I think it needs a button or two at the ribbon intersections to hold everything together. Oops. Maybe I can go visit them and surreptitiously sew some buttons on?

Anyway, both of them:

Christmas present

Nice and easy gifts!

WIPs

Penny Patch

Two months late to this QAL with Rachel of Stitched In Color: my initial Penny Patch colour selection!

penny patch

Maybe cut down a little on the range of colours - skip the blues and the pinks, and take out the complicated multi-colour floral (although it does work beautifully with the palette - something to consider in future). I'll have to think about it. Not too hard, though!

I just need time to do some cutting and sewing. Things are rapidly becoming a mad whirlygig of social life. It's exhausting!

Precuts Projects:

Sunkissed Town Squares

Finished sewing the blocks together, but haven't pressed them.

Sunkissed Town Square

Haven't gone any further on the two layer cake precuts, although that's going to change shortly...just as soon as my Christmas holidays start on Monday!

Otherwise...

I have a baby shower on the 4th Jan, so I gotta get something together for that. I was thinking the crib-size version of the Penny Patch, although I'll probably have to drop the pinks. People tend to get iffy about pink for boys, as though the merest hint of the colour might result in homosexuality.

I have the week of Christmas off, and then I'll be working from home the week of New Year, which should mean I can take sewing breaks at lunch! Just a bit of chain-piecing! :)

Since I doubt there'll be a WIP Wednesday next week, I wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas (or equivalent holiday greeting according to your preferences) and a Wonderful New Year!

Sel.

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

WIP Wednesday: the one with marginal progress


Have I done anything this week? Not really. Marginal progress on most projects.

WIPs

Precuts Projects:

Sunkissed Town Squares

Sewing, sewing, sewing...

Slowly, slowly getting there! Need to think of a name for this...

The blocks are done (picture notwithstanding), now to iron them, trim them, and sew them together! Still trying to decide if it should be square or on point.

I started cutting two other layer cake precuts on Saturday. They're bagged and tagged and ready to rumble just as soon as I have a backing fabric. I'm probably going to need lots more white solids.

Otherwise...

Sunday morning endeavors: Bachelor's Jam

I made bachelor's jam! (Summer fruits in sugar syrup and raspberry vodka.) Should be just about ready in time for New Year!

It's going to be quiet in the lead-up to Christmas: I have all kind of things due before Christmas, the week of Christmas off, and then I'm working the week of New Year. However, I'm hoping to get at least two, maybe three quilt tops done before the end of the year.

Basically, I have stash: I need to use it up. This means quilt tops.

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What have you been up to this week? Have you linked up to Freshly Pieced's linky party?

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

WIP: the one with finished mermaids!


Finished!

The Seaweed Is Always Greener In Somebody Else's Lake (Mendocino Mermaids)

So I gave it a name. Which is ridiculously long. And always makes me want to break into song. And is possibly ironic since there is no actual green in this quilt, so, yes, of course the seaweed is going to be greener in anyone else's lake!

The Seaweed Is Always Greener (Mendocino Mermaids)

However...it's DONE!

(duh!)

The Seaweed Is Always Greener (Mendocino Mermaids)

I did a lot of careful calculations of brown kelp yardage and decided I had enough to make a thin border around the blocks, so they 'float' properly. I think it makes it look just a wee smidge better with more border. Some similar calculations allowed me to safely say that I had enough of the dark brown seahorses to bind it.

Untitled

With a double stripe of gold-seahorses in the binding to give it a nice accent!

It's pretty large - about 85" x 85" at present. I don't think I want any more borders, although it's an option since I have some yardage of various prints left over.

The Seaweed Is Always Greener (Mendocino Mermaids)

Now to do the backing and quilt it and bind it. Easy peasy!

WIPs

Precuts Project: Sunkissed

Still going on this! I'm a bit busy with other projects right now, and I'm not feeling the fabric, so it's not moving very fast. I'll see if I can't get it done this week.


Otherwise...

The beautiful quilt 'The Rainbow Connection' got raffled off on Saturday 23rd Nov at Kim Bradley Creations, and was won by a work colleague of the Sydney Modern Quilt Guild secretary - so it'll be staying in Sydney!

For those of you with quilt envy, but who despair of ever making the entire quilt...let's just say that you should stay tuned to the SMQG news around here in the coming months!

The grand opening of Kim Bradley Creations' new shop out in Castle Hill was an amazing day! So many people! Such lovely fabric!

I womanfully resisted the mirrorball dots!

mirrorball dots!

But gave in to the siren song of Tula Pink's Acacia.

acacia

Ah well...

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What have you been up to this week? Have you linked up to Freshly Pieced's linky party?