WIP Wednesday

Very excited to announce that Vanishing Hours is finished. Yes! I worked on getting the binding on yesterday. It didn't take me very long at all. All that procrastinating. I had some binding that I had made for another quilt which I forgot I had made and made different stuff. I wasn't sure that it would work on this quilt and I knew I would have enough. I found a piece of the same scrap basket that had come off the backing which the long armer had trimmed off and sent back to me. There was just enough to make the binding... so I made some more binding and got it sewn on. I machined it front and back for a couple of reasons. The most pressing one was that whilst it was piled up on the sofa waiting for me to bind it the cats had peed on it. I debated washing it first but decided I didn't want to risk washing it before I had bound it so I put my big girl pants on, held my nose and got the binding on as quickly as I could and then washed my hands well afterwards. The other reason I bound it by machine front and back is that this is going to be on our bed and this is not the first time (or second or even third) time one of the cats has piddled on a quilt that is either on the bed or on the floor. So it is going to be washed regularly and machine binding is more secure.

So I got it bound and into the washing machine and out on the line in quick succession (for my American readers - whilst most Australian homes do own a dryer we don't use them routinely. They are usually used for emergencies or in wet weather. We all have lines in our backyards. In general our dryers wouldn't be as large as yours either since they aren't used regularly for the family wash) We no longer have a rotary hoist - an Australian invention, found in most backyards in Australia and New Zealand since the 1940s see here for its history because it broke just last year. We have a line on our patio that I use. It is under shelter so protected from the weather - sun and rain - but has a good through breeze so things dry quickly. I have however lost my mainstay for displaying and photographing my quilts. I could wind it up high and get the full drop of my quilts, even the huge ones. I did snap a few photos of it on the line yesterday but its in the shade and folded over so no where near as picturesque. I worked today so didn't get a chance to photograph it once it was dry. Tomorrow hopefully... you can come back for a peek at it in its full glory.(Ed I then took a photo of it on the bed... that worked. Still need to take one of the back of the quilt)

This week I have also completed clue 2 of the Scrapitude 2015- Scrap in a Box Mystery quilt.

I completed Week 6 in the POD challenge. I also started to stitch titles on the books in the blocks. I have completed 3 of the 6 blocks I have already made. I took them with me when we went to Brisbane for the weekend. They were my hand project. Unfortunately I was rushing to get the names of the books written on the books and didn't take as much care as I should have so not really happy with how some of them have turned out BUT not going to let it worry me.

I also did two blocks from Elephant Parade sew along. The new block will be released today as will the next block in the POD Challenge.

  

I thought I had finished all the applique blocks in The Tea Shop Quilt so started to sew them together. I have found one block I hadn't finished and another I haven't started. I also have to do a bit of extra work on the milk jugs and sugar bowls. Because the background is creamy white the sugar and milk which are also white aren't really showing up. I am going to stitch around them in the colour I used on the rest of the bowl or jug to give it some definition.

  

It will look like the other side of the bowl or jug. I have done it to one and it worked out well so will do it on the rest. Meantime I have sewn a lot of the blocks together - chunking them into sections. One strip is complete. This is going to make the remaining embroidery a bit harder to do but I will cope. I've rearranged yet again. I keep tweaking the layout. Untill its all sewn down nothing is decided.

Linking up with WIP Wednesday, WIPS on Wednesday and Lets Bee Social