Still here, still crazy.

I have been, and still am to a degree, in the trenches. One of my littles is going through a tough time, and meeting his needs has been pretty all-consuming, so when I turned on my sewing machine this afternoon, it was for the first time in over a month. And that's okay, because my family will always take priority, and I never want to feel stressed out about sewing or blogging, as these are things that I want to do for fun (and to relieve stress!). So it is in that spirit that I'm linking up with the lovely Catherine at Knotted Cotton, to celebrate being a slow blogger. Like a suuuper slow blogger.

I do have some sewing things to share, whenever my next free moment comes up, but here's a tiny peek of what I'm working on right now -

Yep, that's right, I'm just started my Madrona Road challenge today. And yes, it's supposed to be done by Monday. Thank goodness I wasn't planning to make a whole quilt!

Wish me luck!

As always, thanks for visiting :)

 

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Under a pile

This is what my sewing space/life looks like this week ... a bit of a mess. My littlest has been sick since saturday, so not much sleep happening around here. The table is piled with Madrona Road fabrics for MQG challenge, pattern pieces for the dining chair slipcovers still being drafted (does it seem like the simplest things take the longest??), and my ever-growing boxes of EPP for T-Hex (last seen here). Recently the thought of a velveteen backing for this crossed my mind, and spurred me on! I still don't think I have enough hexies basted to finish it, but I definitely have enough to make lots of progress.

As far as the FAL list goes, why is it that the "official" items suddenly become less interesting than the unofficial ones as soon as I make a list?!

Official list:
1. Pirate quilt - no progress
2. Madrona Road - pattern drawn (a foundation pattern based on the Single Girl, a la Red Poppy Quilts), now I'm having second thoughts
3. Princess and the Pea mini quilt - no progress
4. Japanese X and Plus blocks -  no progress

Unofficial list:
1. Dining chair slip covers - still drawing pattern
2. VMQG nametag - finished! (pic to come), but my husband had to work late so I didn't get to go the meeting :(
3. Baby quilt for upcoming niece/nephew - no progress
4. Appliqued baby onesies - no progress. Okay, these have been sitting on my desk for ages, and could it be any easier to sew a tiny applique on?

Not a very productive week, but I have been getting to spend lots of quality time with my baby girl <3

Linking up with WIP Wednesday.

Thanks for visiting!

Little finishes...

Just to prove that I have done a little sewing...

A, well, bagload of bags ... these are project bags from Jeni's Drawstring Bag pattern. I had plans to make some of these for Christmas present wrapping, but that didn't happen. I'm still hoping to get that done before next Christmas! I did however get these knitting project bags made for a group of friends who are all knitters. They were belated Xmas gifts that I gave when we all met up last week, fortunately they were all appreciated!

I also made a medium sized Open Wide pouch for a friend's birthday last week. She had admired the viewfinder bag that I made for a school auction a couple of years ago, but lost out on the bidding. I still have a fair bit of this fabric left, and thought she would appreciate it.

Did I touch any of my FAL projects this week? Nope. I did make a little progress on a couple of non-official projects (of course).

Linking up with Plum & June's Let's Get Acquainted link up, being hosted this week by Heidi at Fabric Mutt. If you don't know Heidi or her blog, you're missing out. She has the loveliest projects, and is one of the sweetest people on the internet. Seriously!

Thanks for visiting, as always :)

You might want to sit down...

Now, I don't want anyone to get over-excited, my WIP this week is ... Chair covers!

(This is the old cover. Ikea doesn't sell this fabric anymore - sad face!)

Ok, you are forgiven for scrolling quickly through this post and on to more thrilling material.

(Tracing.)

I deconstructed one of my old slip covers to trace a new pattern, making adjustments for the new chairs. I hope to get one put together today, and make any necessary changes to the pattern, then pound the others out this week.

(New Ikea fabric.)

I also came up with a plan for my VMQG name tag, but haven't actually started it, so I will have to share it later.

{I promise, I did do some real sewing this week, and have a few finishes to share later this week!}

Linking up with WIP Wednesday, and if you head over there you might see some non-chair related sewing!

Thanks for visiting!

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A List

Arggh, matey! I've got a quilt to finish, and need a little prod with the old peg leg, a little parrot voice on my shoulder to egg me on.

I need to finish my boy's pirate quilt, so I'm joining up with the Leanne's Finish-along at She Can Quilt.

Here's my official list for Q1:

1. Pirate Quilt. I need to put all these pieces together in a cohesive way!

2. Madrona Road Quilt Guild Challenge

I am making a paper piecing template for this today (a copy of an existing quilt pattern, but I don't think I have the patience to make the pattern as originally designed) - it will be a cushion cover, not a quilt -- hey, I know my limitations!

3. Princess and the Pea mini-quilt 

I have got as far as sewing one panel onto this (mostly because the panel I received from Spoonflower had almost no seam allowance at the bottom of the panel, and I was worried it would fray if I didn't put something there right away! This will have a little patchwork frame, with some embroidery at the bottom.

4. Japanese x and + blocks.

Hopefully these will be turned into a table runner, or pot holders, or, well, something!

Of course there are quite a few unofficial projects that I want to be working on (but haven't started yet), such as:

1. Dining chair slip covers. I bought some new (to me) chairs that match my old chairs, except the backs are about 1 1/2" inches taller. I made slip covers for my old chairs, but will have to draft a new pattern for the new ones, and since I can't get anymore of the fabric I used for my old chairs, I will probably replace those covers too. Hoping to get these done before my in-laws arrive on Feb 8. Hah!

2. VMQG name tag challenge. Have to get this done this week!

3. Baby quilt for an impending niece/nephew.

4. Applique onesies for said baby.

Okay, this could go on for a while, but I'll leave it at that, before it becomes embarrassing.

There's still a few hours left to link up with the Q1 Finish-along, if you feel so inclined!

I'll also link up with Plum and June's Monday Let's Get Acquainted link-up tomorrow.

Thanks for visiting!

Happy New Year!

Yes, yes, I'm still alive ;) We had (what seemed like) a long break from school, and are just getting back into the swing of things this week. There was a tree put up and taken down, scores of mincemeat tarts baked and devoured, a trip to Seattle, and, to be honest, pretty much no relaxing, or sewing! I am {slightly} glad that school is back in session. And I have a few finishes and a never ending WIP to share with you.

Spotted in Seattle:

Gorgeous sewing machines! I saw a similar display in Oxford Circus in London last summer, but didn't manage to snap a picture.

Back at home, I carved out a little time to knock out a few quick finishes.

He is too cute!

A simple card wallet to house all those loyalty/membership cards that were taking over my purse.

A remote control basket.

With a little Architextures.

One of these awesome pincushions that I have wanted forever! You can see it has already been put to use, it is a perfect tool for hand sewing hexagons on the couch.

I discovered that I have a surprising amount of sewing related fabric! I actually made one of these pincushions for the VMQG scrap swap last month, but forgot to take a picture before giving it to its recipient.

This is my latest addition to my son's pirate quilt (last seen here).It was his request, so pretty hard to say no, although I worry with all the paper piecing in this quilt it is going to end up being less of a cozy bed quilt, and more of a wall hanging quilt, which is not what I was going for! I am hoping that as long as it's not too heavily quilted it will still be soft and comfortable.

My favourite part of this block is the 3D bandana knot. This is from the Something Wicked blog hop. I am planning to add a couple more swords at the bottom of the ship, then an inner border, a middle border of pinwheels, and an outer border to bring it up to size, and then a little a little appliqué and it will be done. I reserve my right to completely change that plan at any time, of course!

I am still nowhere near caught up on my reader, but I have been awed by all the creativity and inspiration I have seen in blogland over the holidays. I'm linking up to WiP Wednesday at Lee's, and will be looking forward to catching up with you all!

Thanks for visiting!

 

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T-minus 6

Since Wednesdays seem to catch me by surprise every week or so, you can probably imagine how it happened that I woke up yesterday morning and realized that Christmas -- along with all the necessary planning of gifts, mailing cards and presents to far-away relatives, not to mention planning all the activities needed to keep young boys on school holidays out of trouble -- was only seven days away! And in the afternoon, I suddenly recalled that one of my boys' teachers was finishing her term today. I had plans of gift cards, with simple little gift card wallets for all the children's teachers. So I whipped one up - I just enough time from the moment of realization, to the moment of school pickup! Did I take a picture of it? Nope. But here are two other wallets, yet to be sewn together.

In other, more photogenic, news, I finished the tree skirt!

I did the star quilting with silver thread. It was definitely the easiest and most satisfying part of the quilting.

I added some swirls in the middle, mostly just to try them out, because they will never be seen under the tree. They were fun, and I love the look of them, but quite time-consuming. I filled in the outer edge of the skirt with loopy free motion lines.

The original pattern from Fat Quarterly included only houses and trees, but I wanted to throw in a few other whimsical little buildings -- castles and onion domes...

Chapels and Dutch roofs...

Here is my inspiration - these little papier mâché ornaments that my partner and I made for one of our first Christmases together.

I'm linking up with WIP Wednesday, so come on over and check out all the awesomeness!

Merry Christmas to those of you who celebrate it, happy holidays to those of other persuasions, and I hope you all have a great Mayan apocalypse!

Thanks for visiting!

 

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