WIP Wednesday: the one with Christmas gift plans

One more scrappy quilt top down! How many dozen to go???

This is definitely going to be the year of the Growth Group Quilts. I've known the people in my growth group(s) at church for 3-4 years now (7-8 in my original group), and they should have quilts. I'm tempted to just make a bunch, bring a pile to a group gathering, and get to pick the one they like the most....

In the meantime...need moar backings! I'm going to start sewing together chunks of collections that I have which aren't really useful anymore. Also, cotton homespun interspersed with patterned stuff. It's not great, but it's solid.

I sent four quilts off to be longarmed with a local quilter, and will hopefully manage a couple more in the next weeks.

I'd like to make a stuffed pouffle - possibly for giving away? I have some denim, and I think I'm going to use that. 

Need to make 'handles' for a laundry bag (or a better laundry bag); actually, we need several more 'bra bags' that we can toss in the wash.

have backings for four more quilts (green spares, two quilts for Lin nephlets, one quilt for Kinsley)

make 3 more old maid's puzzle quilt blocks to add to the 3x3 one - using 'older style' fabrics

Christmas party plans?
- 1 slip dress in a beige colour, suitable for going underneath overlay dresses?
- something for a "hoedown"

WIP Wednesday: the one with Things To Do

Works In Progress
- postage stamp
- plaidish
- cousin quilt

Daily: Sew one block of something (postage stamp, if nothing else), sew 1 seam of paper-piecing

Weekend (Saturday and/or Sunday): sew four blocks together
- make a backing for a quilt top

Weekly: WIP Wednesday post from now until Christmas

Thinking Forward: design for Quilt Show 2023
I'm absolutely blank on this one right now. They want the quilt finished by entry time - but for the binding. I don't know if it's trying to kick incidental/casual quilters out of the show, or to prioritise/preference non-modern stuff (because modern designs and patterns are more likely to be utilised by younger women who are short on time), or if they really have that many dropouts each year.

I have dropped out of the Quilt Show once. And that was the year I tore a calf ligament two weeks before and my cunning plan to self-quilt Swarm ended up on the couch along with me.

Actually, that's an idea - Swarm II, seeing as I gave away Swarm to a couple who I'm not sure are talking to me anymore after 2016, 2020, and now the 2022 mid-terms.

Quilting ladies don't like to get political for the most part - the thing about being Largely White Ladies means you can ignore politics for the most part, or trust that the White Men will protect you (so long as you fit into their norm of what White Ladies Should Be Like). Being able to ignore politics is something that many others can't do, because the shift and sway of politics affects them, even when the actual policies don't.

For instance, you might have denigrated "the Chinese (government)" for COVID-19. After all, China is a long way off, and 'the Chinese' are a big body of people that you don't usually see or having to interact with, and even so it's mostly people like myself who are culturally integrated.

Unfortunately for people like me, we might very well be culturally integrated, but the way certain people will treat us face to face is as though we're not. And it's no good to say, "well, they're just bad people" because 'they're just bad people' does not eliminate the bruises, the physical injuries, the trembling shock of being openly abused on the street, or the feeling that you'll never be safe again among white people whose smiles disguise their dislike.

By the way, black and brown quilters - whatever their background - have had to live with this treatment for, oh, as long as White America has been ignoring that their society was not only built on the back of black slavery, and by the enforced efforts of black slaves, but that it created a socially stratified (as well as segregated) society.

I digress, but I feel like it's needed. Sure, there aren't too many people reading this, and after 2016 and 2020, I'm fairly sure y'all know where I land on the political spectrum, and most of you haven't gone running away yet...

Anyway. Swarm II. That's the plan. It's going to be messy AF, though. So many small pieces. But maybe it's also time to work up a pattern...

WIP Wednesday: the race to the end of the year

So many things to do.

I'll likely be losing the space in my workroom for a month over summer - January or February - since we're replacing all the windows in the house, and that's going to be something of a mess for a while.

At this point, I need to make some decisions about what I'm going to do in the coming months.
- finish all the quilts that I've already done
- get all the quilt tops/backings that I've completed actually quilted
- finish the clothing that I've started

Somewhere in there, I need to complete a frocktails outfit by the 12th November. Or just wear something I've already made.

At this point, it's look like "wear something I've already made."

WIP Wednesday: the one with bitsy

Going away next week until the end of October.

Got my show quilt done and handed in. It's pretty ordinary, but mine always are.

Just doing more blocks of penny patch before I fly away:

The odd trapezoidal fabric on the wall is planning to be a light top with a tie around the neck and the back, mostly for the next stage of my tattooing.

 

I also sewed another Sicily Slip Dress in a dark fabric for taking to Europe:

Screwed up the french seams - I can't seem to make the french seams without either making the garment too small or else sewing the seam out of the garment so it's visible on the outside! ARGH!

Anyway, it needs hemming at the least.

To do: more stars for doing while travelling (specifically while waiting for things). Not sure I can take scissors in carry-on luggage though. Might have to get one of those cunning cutter things. (Do you think they'd let a baby roller cutter blade pass? It doesn't look very knifelike.)

WIP Wednesday: the one with quilts I should be finishing

Specifically that Sydney Quilt Show quilt, Universe Of Wonk, which is due next Tuesday! And which I haven't even quilted!

I do have a day free tomorrow - the National Day Of Mourning for Queen Liz II - so I'll probably spend the day quilting it, although I do have to work out a design. Any ideas?

WIP Wednesday: one-hour dress

I was going to make a one-hour dress for the 1920s party for hockey Preso Night on Saturday, but it turned out to be too cold to go with what I'd planned. Maybe for summer instead?

The 1-hour 1920s dress at The Closet Historian. Probably the most simple but also helpful of the sites I tried to look at regarding a dress design.

I realised that I'd need an underslip, so I spent time drafting that one (rather roughly) from the Sicily slip dress.

It needed to be made of a more drapey material than I had. This was trouser lining, and a little stiff. Should have saved it for trouser lining.

I made a draft dress...out of poly-cotton. It did not go well.

The actual material I planned for the dress is a lot lighter and more fluid...

And in the end, I just wore a shop-made dress that I've had for some, oh, twenty years and which still fit me, with a draping overlay from another dress that needs some serious work to be wearable... *sigh*

Other Projects Sydney Quilt Show Entry: needs backing, needs quilting, needs binding Penny Patches: 1x binding 2x quilting & binding C3 Quilt: M's quilt: no progress

Finish Friday: Cousin M's c4 quilt

Finished the top at least. Quilting for later.

Hopefully M likes it: simple and earthy.

WIP Wednesday: the one with drafting

Trying to draft a slip undergarment using the Sicily Slip Dress pattern. It's not going quite as well as I'd hoped. Also, things are little crazy this week so I'm not doing great.

It's an undergarment, so I could probably fill in the gappy back bits just by sewing extra pieces on. It just means cutting them and adding stuff and...yeah. *sigh*

Cousin Quilts: the c3quilts - Cousin M Five

Finished Quilt One of the C4 quilts. It's not quite the planned colourway but close enough. I'll post it as a 'Finished Friday'.

I might have started on the next quilt in line - the one for Cousin P (Number 7 Cousin), but due to a trip I'm planning to make to Europe, I was thinking I'd make (and hopefully finish) the quilt for Cousin M (Number 5 cousin). They're the C3 quilts, and I've decided on the quilt pattern: The Bird's Hill Quilt by Stacy at The Blanket Statement. Modern style but will look good with some solids and some patterns, too.

Cousin M (Number Five) is getting married next year, I'm not sure whether we'll be invited to the wedding. He's been overseas for at least 5 years now, and we've drifted apart since then. Fond memories, but no guarantee we'll be invited to his wedding anymore. Anyway, I'm going to be in the UK in October and might try to see if I can meet up with him (and his fiancee). Hopefully with a quilt!

This is his colourway:

The problem with this colourway with the Birds Hill Quilt is that a background colour is needed. I don't have enough of the brown, and I think the blue is the best choice, given the background of the image above - the other colours are accents, which should probably be used quite sparingly.

And this is the fabric pull:

The browns are not quite as red as they're depicted, and the blue is more aqua than royal/ocean/pacific. I'm trying to decide if it's an okay choice for a forty-ish guy with a fairly bubbly personality.

Frocktober: the wardrobe switchover

Every year I think I'm going to do one of those 'Frocktober' or 'Sewvemmber' things, but I'm never in time - like decently in time with enough space to make plans and be involved in any meaningful way. And then this year, I remember, but I plan to be away for most of October!

Hm. Maybe I should plan my travel wardrobe for October. I guess it's a bit like a capsule wardrobe? Certain pieces set up to mix and match, based on personal style and activities.

So my style is casual comfortable, with the ability to dress it up and look nice - neat casual, I guess. I'm not stylish and wouldn't need much by way of 'stylish' I think.

Most of the travel is going to be touristing, walking in autumn weather in Europe and North America but not expecting any big hiking. (Note: locations will be Turkey, Scotland/Wales, and the north-eastern US/south-eastern Canada, and in mid-to-late October, these are likely to get coolish - possibly cooler than I'm accustomed to for the autumn period, so long sleeves, jackets, and warm socks for sure.)

How To Pack A Carry-On Luggage. Also checking out Autumn Carry On Capsule for Europe

The 4 by 4 Wardrobe:
Core 1: 2-3 tops, 1-2 bottoms, all in neutral (probably black)
black swing wrap, black slim jacket, black pants, black slinky
Core 2: 2-3 tops, 1-2 bottoms, all in a different neutral
denim jeans, black longsleeve, navy padded jacket, blue shortsleeve
Core 3: 2-3 tops, 1-2 bottoms, in third neutral or filling up from previous neutrals
white shirt, white shorts/capris/wraparound, black leggings, black shortsleeve
Core 4: 4 tops, accent & variety
red slinky, blue shortsleeve, sleeveless pink top, sicily top
also: Swimsuit, PJs, trench/rain jacket, desigual travel jacket, sicily dress (in a dark), black skirt, 2 scarves (red/orange or purple/blue, and the butterfly scarf)

From this, I'm thinking I could do with sewing:
-one sicily slip dress in dark print suitable for day/night wear
-one culottes/trousers/capris in white linen
-one sicily slip top in blue/patterns suitable for day/night wear

Although really the only thing that I really need would be the Sicily slip dress.

Maybe this is all more for summer than autumn? Hm. Need to think about this, my tolerance for cold is rather less than your average European or even North American.

WIP Wednesday: the one with a non-working sewing machine

My JUKI DX7 needs a service. It's decided to no longer work.

Which means I'm going back to the JUKI TL-90P, straight-stitch. Nothing wrong with that, I just haven't used it for...a while. Quite a long while, actually. Possibly years. Which is about as long as since I had the DX7 serviced, come to think on it.

I cleaned out the bobbin and the surrounding space, pulled off the bottom of the machine, and everything but I guess I knocked something out of alignment because it's no longer working.

Clunky noises. Won't even sew a straight stitch anymore. Underside looping. ARGH.

Luckily I think the pickup point for the machine is pretty much next suburb over...

Anyway: state of the C4quilt:

frocktails and clothing

Gotta work out a dress for frocktails. Either that, or lose weight to fit into my silvery party dress. (There's a lot of trousers I don't comfortably fit into right now, tbh.)

I started getting a tattoo yesterday. It's a Chinese-style dragon on my back, and yes, cue all the jokes about "girl with the dragon tattoo". I've wanted this tattoo for the last twenty years, which rather predates the book. I just never found a tattooing style I particularly liked.

What this means, though, is that backless dresses are going to be a thing going forward. Which could be a problem for my breasts, since I am easily a size C/D cup.

Anyway, the Portia Party Dress by Rebecca Page looks promising, although I don't know what fabric I'd use for it. Not that I have a shortage of fabrics available...

Alternatively: YT vid for cowl neck halter dress - straps around the back.

Another YT vid for cowl neck halter dress with zipper

...or I could just go the Sicily slip pattern. Which worked really well, actually.

To do clothing-wise before summer:
- Tea House dress
- finish hemming Sicily slip
- make the garden party dress from Pretty Woman

Clothing Posts (tag)

Cousin Quilts: C3quilts - slowly making my way through!

Colour thoughts for cousin quilts:

N4: Number Three
M7: Number Four
A8: Number Five

It's a bit confusing: I've numbered the cousins by the birth order of the entire lot of cousins (with my sister and I being 3,5, and 6) but named them by the order of cousin they are in relation to me (so, N is 4th in the cousin scale, but Cousin Number Three to make a quilt for, by birth order).

Number Three is the closest in age to me. A friend of mine once met him and said "I think he has a lot of respect for you and your opinions" and I guess I feel the same. He and his wife live in a lovely house, both homey and welcoming as well as stylish and elegant. So something with a stylish-yet-neutral feel about it, I think.

I'd use the cream/beige solid for the base and add other designs

Cousin Number Four was always a little hampered by being the second son in his family to Cousin Number Three. Let's just say that I feel like Cousin Number Three outdid me in many respectable respects, and I didn't have to live with Number Three in the same family. Cousin Four is getting married next year, though, and I'd like to make a quilt for him. (And his fiancee, but really, it's his since I haven't met her.)

I think of Cousin Number Four as exuberant and personable, less constrained by virtue of not being the oldest son. A dash of mischief and independence, a deliberate choosing of the 'wild side'. Something with a spot of serious jazz to it.

I could use the Buttercup/Daffodil solid as a base, then add the other colours in from my stash.

Cousin Number Five is what I think of as the 'youngest' of the older cohort, with the next set of cousins (the C4) being all grouped together and a few years younger than Number Five. She's a little sharp and sarcastic, but also has been seriously hurt by stuff going on in her life. So classy colours, cool and sober, but with a pop of colour.

I have a large volume of dark blue (I think) that I could use as the base solid.

Now I have to decide on the design. That's still up in the air...

I do like Half square triangle quilt: sew a bunch of HST from squares, then sew them together to make a rectangle. Do so with patterns and solids all together, and differing values of the same hue. Maybe. Possibly. Hopefully? IDK. I think this one might work better scrappy and for children/young teens.

Back to the pinterest board...

EDIT: this pattern?
The Monument Quilt Block? (a lot of paper piecing)

FINAL THOUGHT: The Birds Hill Quilt (#birdshillquilt) by Stacy Kenny

WIP Wednesday: the one with cousin quilts

Current state of the C4 Quilt: Number Six - laid out and being sewn together.

I pulled out a lot of Tula Pink, because that actually had some lighter greens I could use with the Lizzy House. Still not perfectly shaded for each other but not terrible either.

I do feel like it needs a 'pop', but the quilt isn't for me, and I suspect Cousin Number Six doesn't need a pop. He's stable and steady and cool-headed, a bit like his dad.

Anyway, I could do five blocks a day + sew a row; I'm sure I could...

Speaking of Cousin Quilts: I may want to do Cousin Four ASAP since I'm hoping to make it to the UK in October and would make the effort to see him and his fiancee and maybe give them the quilt ahead of their marriage next year. I had a Boxes Of Colour design planned, but now I'm not so sure.

Complicated Half-Square Triangles?

Avant Garden: Turning Squares?

Split Squares?

IDK. Trying to decide is tricky. Although I do rather like the possibilities of the Complicated Half-Square Triangles, I'm going to need to make three of these kinds of quilts and so I don't want them to be too much work!

C4 Quilts: Number Six

Cousin Number 6's quilt is in progress! I finally decided to just bite the bullet and start.

Here's the colourway:

Here's the pattern so far - from this pattern by Mommy by day; Crafter by Night.

In black and white to get the values (have since shifted a few pieces around)

The many and complicated shades of green:

It's going quite a bit faster than I expected. If I did one row a day, I could finish the top by the end of the week...

"If? If is good...

His siblings will get the same pattern in a colourway appropriate to their personality. That's the idea anyway.

WIP Wednesday: the one with not much

Not much progress to report:

Sewed together the pieces of a basic cloth shopping bag, and pinned up the current column of The Restless Hands Of Sel which is moving verrrrrrry slowly.

Still musing on whether or not to enter the Sydney Quilt Show.

a finish! On WIP Wednesday!

Build Me Up, Buttercup was started, oh, a good 10 years ago!

Its first appearance on the blog back in June 2012. Ten years!

Honestly, a lot of it was spent dithering over whether I should put borders on it or not. It's not a very large quilt, and at the time I was making large quilts.

It finally got quilted and bound for my hockey trivia/quiz night. It went in the silent auction, and a friend ended up having the highest bid on it. Somewhat ironically, I've been thinking I should give her a quilt for some time (we've known each other for twenty-five years, and played hockey for the same clubs for about 2/3rds of that), and so even though the bid she put in didn't even pay for the fabric...I'm okay with that because she had it.

The fabric line is Sanae! Oh my! and came out back around 2011. I bought a layer cake of it and used it in this with Kona Daffodil. However, one of the alternatives was Kona Buttercup, and so it got the name.

I'm glad to have it done and off my plate! And that it's gone to someone I know.

Sydney Quilt Show 2022

I have 6 weeks to have a top ready for the 2022 Sydney Quilt Show (if I want to enter).

Do I have anything to enter? I do not.

Should I push to get something in? Hm... That's the tricky question. This year, the quilts have to be completed to the top. I think they were somewhat discomposed by my sending in a pile of fabric and a design! Next year, they have to be completed to the binding!

What pattern would I do if I did? New York Beauty? One of the lattice quilts for the cousins? Something that's half-finished and which I could whip together in six weeks?

WIP week - 10th May

Trying to do a little something every day, even if it's only a couple of seams. Too much is being left undone for want of actually doing anything, and it doesn't have to be a LOT that gets done, just a little. Just a little...

Monday: nothing

Tuesday: 1 seam restless hands of sel
3 seams rainbow curves block assembly

Wednesday4 seams - restless hands of sel

Thursday1 seam - restless hands of sel

Fridayabout 5 seams - rainbow curves

not quite done yet, getting there. Illusion doesn't quite seem to work. Need to swap the blocks. Two quilt tops from this.

Saturday

Sunday

WIP Wednesday: the one with more than a bit of lateness!

Been a couple of weeks.

Did absolutely nothing on the rainbow curves quilt for all of February. Oh, maybe sewed a few strips together, but otherwise... Uninspired. *sigh*

Have just bought a couple of books with New York Beauty patterns. Maybe I'll feel a little more inspired then? Or maybe not. Right now, I'm struggling with inspiration or desire to quilt: I have too many things already going on in my life, and quilting has taken the back seat and dropped off the radar. UGH.

American Patchwork Quilting Group has a UFO program through the year. You make a list of your UFOs, number them, then resolve to finish whichever number is named as the 'UFO of the month' when the start of the month rolls around.

January was #12, which was the Rainbow Curves I've been working on. Feb was #7, which I have labelled as 'Break Free or Build Upon' quilting, which...is not going to happen until I have a bit more space in the workroom. And March is #3 which is 2 Scrappy Postage Stamp quilts. Luckily for those ones, I have the strips already cut and sewn, and now it's just a matter of sewing them into blocks and putting the blocks together.

I can get something done! I swear!

Really, I just need to clear out the study a bit!

WIP Wednesday - the one with rainbow batik curves

Dad's bargello 'illusion' quilt (maybe I should call it Rainbows Are Visions But Only Illusions?) is starting, with the strips being sewn together.

It's taken a lot more effort to get this started than I thought it would, but once I'm started, I'm started. That's a good thing.

Last night and this morning.

I mean there's a fair bit to go yet, oh, and I've suddenly realised where I may have ended up going very wrong. DRAT.

Rethinking quickly, however, I could do something slightly different and that might help the overall colour...or it might make it even more of a mess...Who knows??? ARGH.

If instead of doing all the innermost row as reds, I did the next one with an innermost row as orange, and then maybe spread and 'cycle' it out through the rainbow, I shouldn't end up too short of any one colour...

I don't know if anyone's still doing WIP Wednesdays anymore, or if everyone just shuffled over to insta. Which I am over at insta, but my life is pretty busy over on insta with everything else, not just quilting. This is my 'Just Quilting' space.

Cousin Quilts - the 2022 version

These have been on the to-do list for an AGE and a half. Four years, to be exact.

Time to get 'em done!

Quilts for cousins: masterplan post from 2018 (can be adjusted as needful)

Plan:

1. work with colourways for each cousin/group of cousins.
2. go with a simple quilt design, the same for each 'family' of cousins

I've incorporated the Cousin Quilts into my 2022 APQ WIP challenge.

Whether they get done? IDK. But I have a concrete colourway and plan for each of them, and we'll work it from there.

One unfortunate thing: the old colour scheme post for the C4 cousins no longer has the colour cards. So I've gone through the new cards and actually downloaded a bunch of them. However, they're all of a 'type' and while it kind of suits? I really wanted the more vivid colour combos. That said, a quick Flickr search of 'design seeds' shows promise.

Aha! Found some old design seeds and have begun curating my own collection!

M: climber, earth tones

P: gamer, bright vivids

C: photogapher, classy

P: lifestyle, bubbly

WIP Wednesday: the one where I begin as I mean to go on

2022. Could be good. Might be awful. But there's still quilting to be done!

Last year (I think) my dad asked if I could make a bargello-type quilt in rainbow colours. Actually, I already had that on my 'to do' list as a quilt. So looks like it has a recipient now!

Pattern is 'placid curves' from Amy Ellis' book Modern Neutrals and I'd already started cutting up the pieces. So that's that much less that needs to be done.

Although working out the colour plan has the potential to be tricksy. Ah well, we'll see.

The Restless Hands Of Sel

Obviously my hands have not been restless enough this last year. I've made hardly any progress on the quilt in the last couple of years. The goal this year is to get it at least 80% done. JUST DO IT!

Doesn't help that the stars are awfully samey. Not quite what I wanted when I started putting the quilt together. A more definite 'colourwash' would have had more visual impact. Ah well, I'll work on it for the rest of the quilt.

The newest addition to the 'flock'.

And in context:

WIPs B Gone!

WIPs B Gone got at least two things off the list:

1. Mum's handbag (for Christmas)

2. Stepbro's wedding quilt (only the binding needed)

I made some progress on the Laid-back Plaidish, but everything else on the list was a bust!

One thing I did manage to do was to split my quilt 'Break Free Or Build Upon' into half, providing two smaller quilts instead of one massive one.

But seriously, I have boxes of jelly rolls strips, a drawer of the slice-and-diced strips ready to be made into blocks, and I just have to put the time in one evening. Or else start sewing log cabin blocks. I've never managed to work out the order that log cabin blocks should go in, though...

Finish-Along 2021 (yes, 2021)

Finally finished a couple of my Q1 2021 projects:

My mother's tote/handbag, which she finally received for Christmas!

Pattern from a YouTube video: DIY PRETTY TOTE BAG.

However, I made Mum's version with a leather base, and little metal feet for it to sit on. Also, obviously the Alison Glass Art Theory panel was fussy-cut.

A Sicily slip dress:

I feel like I need better curves to display this dress to maximum effect. It looks okay on me, but it'd look really good on anyone with a larger hip-to-waist ratio.

In a terrible irony, I have had nowhere to wear this dress. Christmas-New Year has been heavily constrained by the Omicron variant of COVID running loose through NSW (The 'Domicron' variant is my nickname for it, based on the politician who's been "letting it rip" through the community.) and so I haven't been going out. We didn't have Christmas Day because the host discovered he was a close-contact on Christmas Eve, and we didn't have Boxing Day because my stepbrother and stepSIL ended up having their baby on Christmas Day and so weren't able to make Boxing Day lunch (although they did manage briefly on the 27th, and we spent a little time with them).

Then, NYE was utterly quiet (I was supposed to go visit some friends on a farm, but decided to take the time to hunker down and recover from the year instead.) So the dress is made, and yet unworn...

In other Finish-Along plans, this year I'm going to whittle down my stash, making 6 scrap quilts (that will likely go to friends at church), and 6 'cousin' quilts.