WIP Whoopsday -

I'm running late again with my WIP post but its still Wednesday somewhere in the world.

Having been away for part of the week and travelling for 2 full days I haven't accomplished as much sewing this week as I would have liked. I did take my smaller sewing machine with me to Brisbane (and have left it there to use when I am down in a couple of weeks time). I had planned to do the March clue in Charlotte Hawks mystery quilt which had been due to be released the day before we left. However due to severe storms taking out power and cable services in the area she lives in she was late in getting it posted. It was released the day we left to come home.

I did work on the backing for the A to Z quilt, getting the 3 blocks (2 remade and the Z block) pieced together with left over fabric from the second border and lots of letter/school/writing related fabric from my stash.

I bought some word fabric to complete the backing 

and have realised that I didn't get enough so more fiddling about to get it big enough

I made 3 items for the Comic Con stall - 2 Easy Cosmetic Bags and a boxy zipper bag. The boxy bag looked so bad it didn't rate a photo.

Once home I was able to get the March Clue completed in Charlotte's Mystery quilt. All the units are now assembled and next month we are to be told how to assemble the units into blocks. They are looking really great and I am looking forward to seeing the completed blocks and quilt.

Its midway through the month so its time to review the monthly goals I set myself.

  1 Complete my secret project I've made good progress on this
  2  Make 20 items for Comic Con Stall I've made good progress here too. The 8 teeny tiny pouches, one ear bud pouch, a large messenger bag and 2 easy cosmetic purses. So I've made 12 items - over half way. I am now awaiting delivery of more of the lobster swivel clips and zippers so the small pouches are on hold but I can get on with more messenger bags cause the magnetic clips are here.

 

3 Complete March clue of Charlotte's mystery Quilt.I got this done over the last 2 days Yay

                     

4 A to Z Challenge quilt I've started work on it (as detailed above) The top is completed and I'm working on the back. 

5 Work on En Provence. I have organised to quilt this on Friday using our club long arm. Lorraine is going to help me load it on the frame and then I am going to try to do a pantogram for the first time 

So - I'm making good progress with all 5 of my goals 

Linking up with 

Sunday Stash Report - a couple of finishes!

Its been a fabulous week for finishes. I managed to get the 2 quilts I had pinned quilted over a couple of days.

Sparkle Baby quilt, based on the Sparkle design from Missouri Star I did a swirl and loop pattern on all over. It has become my go to design these days. Its not all the same as I change direction periodically and its not all even. The loops change size but whatever - I like doing it and it worked.

For the backing I used a really big bright and cheerful jungle print with some strips down the side to make it bigger. As is my want it wasn't centred in the end but whatever. Its cool

The baby quilt is destined for either a niece having a baby soon or a friend. Not sure who will get this one and then who will get the next one I make.  3.27m


The second one I finished off I have finally named Chillingworth Mystery since it was the club mystery quilt from last year and the fat quarter pack that made up most of the fabric in it was Chillingworth Bicycle (or something like that) 

The backing for this one was pieced. First of all I used up the excess blocks I had made that didn't fit with the pattern on the front, plus some of the leftover fabrics from the fat quarter bundle and then lots of other strips from my scrap stash that kind of toned in with the front... sort of.

When I was putting on the binding I found I was about 18" short. I had used up all the orange tones in my scrap stash so I used a strip from the batik jelly roll I had busted open to use in it. The piece I chose was the orangiest I had but it was a bit pinky... you can see it at the bottom of the picture. But I don't sweat the small stuff and it doesn't really worry me. It might annoy you from now on looking at the photo but you get that. 4.01m

There were 4 smaller finishes earlier in the week - 4 zipper pouches in pop culture fabric, items for the Comic Con stall I am having later in the year. These ones were in TARDIS, My Little Pony and Ninja Turtle fabric. I have more cut out ready to go but am awaiting either zippers or stiffening fabric. .61m

No fabric purchases this week... so its all straight profit.

Week 8
Fabric used          9.34
Fabric added        0.00
Net usage            9.34m

Year to Date     
Fabric used       45.99
Fabric Added     11.74
Net Usage        34.25m

linking up with Patchwork Times

WIP Wednesday

Another busy week in which I got one of my WIPs finished off and made substantial progress on some others.

Stringen' Em Along. 
I got this quilt finished off in time to count it in my Stash report for the week Yay.

En Provence (Bonnie Hunter Mystery quilt)
I worked steadily on this for several days and finally got the top together last night. Now to make a back for it! I ended up with heaps of the white/neutral 4 patches left over. I must have seriously miscounted. I will probably work on incorporating them into the backing.

It was only after I was showing a friend this photo I realised that I had put the top border on upside down. Oops

Surrounded by Scraps 
This Charlotte Hawks latest mystery quilt. Clue 2 was released on Feb 8th (here) in the US which was Thursday in Australia. I worked on it straight away and was pleased to get it finished Friday. Now to wait till March for the next clue to come out :)

Hexagon Quilt
Today at Patchwork a couple of friends helped me load the Hexagon quilt onto the quilting frame at our Club rooms. The idea was that I would get it set up to quilt tomorrow but I got started on it and since the others didn't mind me doing it whilst they were there I kept right on and got it finished. We had a few issues with the quilt backing - getting it to load properly - I had appliqued a strip of hexagons to the back and it meant it didn't stretch as much as the rest of it. We managed to get it relatively straight and it just meant that I had to carefully monitor it as I fed it through to make sure it was all sitting straight. I still have to trim off the excess and get the quilt squared up. The binding is all ready made and ready to go. I plan to machine it on so it won't take too long to getting it finished (hopefully by this Sunday)


I've been working away on some messenger bags for the Comic Con stall. I got 4 made yesterday and now I am out of magnetic clips so can't make any more till the ones I order arrive.

Hope you all make good progress on your WIPs this week.

Linking up with 

Mid month Goal Review

There is one goal that I should have put up this month. Its one I have been working towards. I really really want to get back into the black as far as my stash report numbers go. 

Back at the beginning of the month a trip to Make In Sew in Brisbane at which I purchased lots of fabrics in the pop culture line saw me well and truly into the red. I bought the fabric in order to sew things for the stall Handmade With Love will have at the Brisbane Comic Convention in September. It was under 9 metres so not a huge amount (although it cost enough believe me) 

However that bigger purchase combined with my mystery lethargy/fatigue has seen me not completing any major projects. I started the year working on a few small UFOs and also participating in a couple of mystery quilts so finishes have been small. As I write this I am still in the red by 1.57m - I am so close to the black I can smell it.

Then last week the fatigue started to lift and I was able to get back into the big sewing. I worked on a number of projects (see this week's WIP post here) as well as a few more smaller projects - items for the stall. 

That was working towards one of my goals as well - Make 10 items for Comic Con Stall. I am up to 5 items made (1 zipper pouch and 4 messenger bags)

One of the WIPs that I made progress on accomplished another of my goals. Complete backing for Stringen' 'Em Along. I have not only completed the backing but now have it pinned and ready to quilt. I have already made the binding as well.

Another of the WIPs I worked on was the Handwork Heritage and in doing so completed another goal. Attach the borders to Handwork Heritage. I attached the borders, made the backing and made the binding. I am hoping to quilt it on the long arm next week.

I have also worked a little on En Provence and plan thus completed the goal Work on En Provence. I have cut the 3.5" squares that were needed to complete the blocks. I have laid a couple of the blocks out to see how they look. 

I have yet to start sewing them together. Perhaps next week.

That leaves 3 goals that I haven't made any progress on (but it is only the end of week one so I can be forgiven)

Charlotte's February clue is not yet released  so  I can't yet Complete February clue on Charlotte's mystery. 

I will be quilting on the long arm next week and hope to get 2 done (that will make up for the one I didn't do last month) Quilt one quilt on long arm.

The last goal for February was A to Z Challenge quilt - Assemble. I can't assemble it yet as I need to buy some fabric for the sashing. I don't really have anything suitable in my stash and I want something that will tie all the different blocks together. And I don't want to buy more fabric till I am back in the black again as far as my stash report is. One of my little conceits

WIP Wednesday... lots of progress

Despite still not being 100% energy wise (but maybe that's age and heat related too) I have accomplished "Great Things" this week! I am so pleased. I haven't finished any of the WIPs but have advanced a lot.

Hexagon Quilt.

I have had the backing made for this for ages and even the batting cut but when I went to load it onto the quilting frame at Patchwork I found I had cut it too small. I finally cut it again and HOPEFULLY its the right size this time. I also made the binding for it. I blogged here about how I didn't really like it any more. I am still a bit unsure of it but its such a massive undertaking I will certainly finish it. I've arranged with my friend Lyndi to quilt this next Thursday. Woot.

Handwork Heritage

I attached the piano key borders. The centre is made from doilies that I inherited from various family members. I only cut up the ones that were stained or had holes in them, or were shop bought. These were sashed in various 1" finished pink scraps. The borders were made from the scraps left over from the centre blocks and more pink scraps. I had kept on making the piano key borders till I ran out of doily scraps. When I went to put them on I had enough to go around 1.75 times almost. Oops. They went into the backing. The leftovers I put into the backing interspersing them between strips made from vintage sheets. Having finished the backing I also made the binding (pink checked) and cut the batting.

If I get time next Thursday after I have quilted the hexagon quilt I may try to get this one loaded and quilted too.

Sparkle Sparkle

My latest baby quilt finish! There are 2 babies due this half of the year to whom I will gift a quilt. This is another adapted from Jenny Doen's Sparkle quilt pattern. I am not sure which of the bub's it will go to. The top for this one has been finished for a while. This week I made the backing, a simple affair this time. I added 2 strips to a wildly colourful width of fabric animal print to make it wide enough. I made the binding too. Today at Patchwork I got it pinned ready for me to quilt it on my domestic machine. (One of the 3 I got pinned today)

Stringen' 'Em Along.

This quilt made to Bonnie Hunter's String X pattern is for our Japanese Granddaughter (daughter of our Japanese host son) She will be just over one when we get to see her in July this year. I finished the top last year and wasn't sure who was going to get it - I made the pattern cause I fell in love with it. I hadn't gotten around to making the backing. When I decided that I loved it so much it had to go to someone special, our grand daughter was the obvious choice. 

Because the front wasn't very baby orientated I wanted the backing to have more pictures and fun stuff, and also reflect the Australian side of things. I fussy cut out heaps of Australian Animals from various fabrics I had on hand, framed the pictures with various 1" finished strips and then made them up to 10" size with an assortment of fabric including plains and Australian fabrics. A couple I framed with some Japanese fabric I had used on the year quilt I had made the year Sho was with us.

I pinned it ready for quilting today at Patchwork. It was one of 3 I pinned up there today.

Club Mystery Quilt

Last year our club ran a mystery quilt. Each month we were given instructions for a particular unit for 6 months. It was fat quarter friendly - in fact we were told to choose 6 coordinating fat quarters for it. In the end we were given a design we could use but were also invited to make up our own design which is what I did. Mine had ended up being very dark so I added some extra orange to lift it a bit. 

I had put the centre together last year but was yet to finish it off. Looking at it this past week I decided it needed more orange so put in a final border. Monday I worked on the backing for it. I wanted to use up the left over scraps of fabric and left over blocks too so I made them into strips. Then I raided my scrap drawers and pulled out all the 5" strips that were in the colour scheme of the front.

The result isn't all that striking or wonderful but I am happy with it. It took the best part of the day to put together but you get that. Now the batting for it is cut too and the binding (more orange) made. And at Patchwork today I also got it pinned. 

That makes a total of 5 quilts ready to be quilted.

En Provence

I finally got around to assembling a couple of the blocks on the design wall. I have cut all the yellow squares needed to complete them. I have yet to sew any together but at least I know what I am aiming for now

I've also worked on a few things for the Comic Con stall I will be having in September. I've now made one zipper bag and 3 satchels/messenger bags featuring Star Trek, Star Wars and skeleton cat fabric. 

I started work on another project today. Its going to be a secret project so I won't be posting any photos - but I did start work on it today.

And finally I did a bit of a clean up of my sewing area on the weekend. I spent Saturday morning cleaning up the cutting table and sewing table and then sorting through all my notions and redistributing stuff to places where they will be most useful. Its been great to be able to put my hand on various things as I have needed them as soon as I have wanted them. 4 days later and I have managed to mislay my fabric marking pen and one of my quick unpicks (seam ripper)

How have you gone with your WIPs this week?

Linking up with 

WIP Wednesday

I have been plagued all week with a mystery fatigue producing "something" that has had me dragging myself about the place, doing a lot of sleeping, sitting and not a lot else. My usual eagerness to sew at every opportunity has diminished somewhat but I have achieved a good bit despite this. (I have done very little else though)

En Provence has languished. I promised myself I would have a bit of a look at it this week but nadah.

I did finish of the 9 Patches and 4 Patches which were the first clue in the Charlotte Hawks mystery. There were 80 of each... that's a lot of 1.5" squares. 

I have also made a little progress in the backing for "Stringen' 'Em Along". Its to be a gift for our Japanese Grand daughter (daughter of our host son from 2004) so I am making the backing from various Australian fabrics. I am piecing 10" blocks out of various picture fabrics sashed with 1.5" strips

 and then made up to 10.5" with Australian prints. 

Its rather time consuming and fiddley but I am enjoying it. 

I've also had 2 finishes today - my first 2 items for the Handmade With Love stall at Comic Con. I made a zipper purse (which I forgot to photograph) and a small satchel. I used the Kid-Sized Messenger Bag pattern by Merriment Design and to be found here. I hope to get lots more done this month. So long as I keep well I should be able to do it.

I have had to come back and update this blog post as I forgot to add the link to the pattern I used for the satchel AND I forgot the main sewing activity I had this week.

I have been working on my A to Z Blogging Challenge project. I had intended to just get 8 blocks done this month but I got on a roll and now all the blocks for the month are done and hopefully this month I will get the quilt together. Don't know how I forgot this since it is the only thing I got out of bed for for much of the week. Well not true but I could work on it and not fall asleep which I would do the rest of the time.

How are your WIPs going this week?

Linking up with 

January Goal wrap up and Setting my Goals for Feb (including OMG)

Its the end of the month and time to go through my goals. I have done pretty well.

• Work on one project from my UFO list. I smashed this one! I finished off my Norwegian table runner plus 3 batik wall hangings. Go me

• Tidy the craft cupboard. I tidied 3 cupboards and my scrap drawers. There is one cupboard that I haven't touched but did pretty well
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• Quilt one quilt on the long arm. Didn't get to this one. 
• Complete 8 blocks for the A to Z challenge. I got all 26 blocks done (no pictures cause I'm saving them for the blogging challenge)

• Set up Excel spreadsheet for fabric tracking 2017. Done - up and running. Unfortunately I am still in the red with more fabric purchased than used but hopefully as soon as I get a couple of quilts onto the long arm that will change.
• Work on En Provence clues. All the units are now done. Now to start to put them together!

Now for February Goals.

So many things that I could work on. So many WIPs to complete. I could list them all here and see how I go... or not.

I really need to get started making things for the comic con stall that I am going to have in September. With our trip to Europe in August I need to get myself prepared by mid July. So - time to get started. Make 10 items for the stall.

Continue working on the A to Z quilt - put the blocks together.

Quilt one patchwork quilt on the long arm

Work on En Provence

Complete 2nd clue in Charlotte Hawk's Mystery Quilt 

Attach borders to Handwork Heritage

Make backing for Stringen Em Along This is going to be my OMG (One Monthly Goal). I need to get it done as it is a gift for a baby who is going to be one in a few months time... 

If you are interested in participating in the OMG then follow the link here and it will take you to the page which tells you all about it.