Time to Sew!

Well, hello there! It’s been almost three months since my last post and I do apologise for my rather long absence.

After a busy Christmas period filled with many family and friends visiting from interstate, I’ve taken a bit of a side step into other non-sewing pursuits. I’ve been enjoying the Tasmanian summer sunshine by working outside in the garden (something I’ve avoided for a few years!) and I’ve also been trying new recipes in the kitchen. My recent culinary successes include slow-cooker massaman beef curry, salted chocolate & peanut cookies and caramelised red onion chutney. Yum!

However, the main focus for me this year has been our three children. They are all growing up way too fast and are now 11, 9 and 8 years old. (How time flies!) I’ve been making an effort to spend more “Mum” time with them by playing board games and doing jigsaw puzzles. As a family, we have also been doing quite a bit of camping and hiking including a recent steep and strenuous 880m ascent to Cathedral Rock.

School and work resumed three weeks ago and my weekly routine has settled down somewhat. So I figure it’s time to set my own short term sewing goals. I’m hoping that this may give me the push I need to get back my sewing mojo!

The projects at the top of my list are as follows:

1. Disco by JayBird Quilts – bought as a kit a few years ago. I have cut the pieces and they just need to be sewn together.
2. Spinning Quilt by Beth @ Cooking Up Quilts – pattern purchased last year, fabrics chosen…it’s time to sew!
3. Spin Cycle by Cluck Cluck Sew – I’ve always adored April Rhodes fabrics and Arizona is one of my favourite collections.
4. Twisted Flying Geese Pillow
5. Pillow/Mini Quilt using Carrie Bloomston’s Story fabric
6. Aragon Bag by Sew Sweetness – my recently won pattern for Quarter 4 of the 2016 Finish Along. Thanks so much Sara (and to all of the hosts and sponsors!)

As a final note, I have one small finish (my ONLY finish this year!) to share with you.

This pillow is a pattern from Issue 23 of Love Patchwork & Quilting magazine. The gingham result is achieved through clever strip piecing. I used some colourful Prints Charming fabric from my stash for the back of the pillow and quilted it with simple straight lines.

Here’s hoping that this is the first of many finishes for 2017 🙂

Linking up to Main Crush Monday @ Cooking Up Quilts

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2016 Finish Along Q4 Goals

I was reasonably happy to have achieved five of my Quarter 3 goals for the 2016 Finish Along:

Simply Colorful II Quilt August 2016

Off Kilter Quilt September 2016

With my recent and shocking realisation that there are only 11 weeks until Christmas (!!), I have set myself a much shorter list for Quarter 4. Again, in my usual fashion, I have shaken it up a bit and added a few new projects to alleviate any potential attention/boredom problems 😉

1. Plus Plus Quilt (#1 from Q3 list) – finish quilting and bind
2. A new table runner – Modern Geometrics Pattern (#12 from Q3 list)
3. Stargazing Paper Pieced Cushion (#18 from Q3 list)
4. NEW Cotton & Steel Quilt (#20 FROM Q3 list) – 13 out of 39 blocks complete
5. Scrappers Delight Quilt (#5 from Q3) – 17 out of 36 blocks complete (Note: 8 more than Q2). For this project, I intend to try QAYG (quilt-as-you-go) for the first time.
6. Quilt and bind my newly finished and very-spur-of-the-moment Country Cabin Quilt Top
7. Spinning Quilt – pattern by Beth @ Cooking Up Quilts

Good luck with your final quarter goals if you are linking up!

Deb 🙂

2016 Finish Along Q3 Goals

I can’t say that I failed completely but I did only finish one of my set goals – my Colour Happy Quilt – for Quarter 2 of the 2016 Finish Along. This is not my best effort to date but also not surprising due to the crazy busyness of the first half of this year.

I haven’t had much luck with monthly goals either, having failed to finish my Mystery Quilt in June for OMG…

However, I have decided to put this all behind me and move forward. I will have one entire day (during school hours at least) next term which I can devote entirely to sewing!

So here is my proposed list of finishes for Quarter 3. It is rather long but as I have a tendency to get easily distracted, I figure I may do better with more choice.

1. Quilt my finished Plus Plus Quilt Top. I am itching to start this one but embarrassingly, I have so many quilts basted for quilting that I have run out of pins!
2. from Q2 Finish quilting my Mystery Quilt. I’m really struggling to find motivation for this project but with the new Mystery Quilt-a-long about to start, I really need to get this quilt finished.
3. from Q2 Complete the remaining few blocks for my Interlock Quilt Top, Quilt and Bind. I have been rather inspired by seeing a recently finished and beautiful Interlock quilt here.
4. from Q2 Finish my Off Kilter Quilt. This quilt has been basted and I’ve already done some straight line quilting. Now I want to pluck up the courage to try a bit of fmq on it – gulp!
5. from Q2 Twenty-seven more blocks for my Scrappers Delight Quilt.
6. (Not an eligible-for-prize goal but one I need to achieve) Piece together a backing for my Aviatrix Quilt Top. This quilt is a monstrous 80 inches square and although I’m not sure how I’ll manage it on my little Janome, I want to try quilting it myself – hopefully a Quarter 4 goal.Other projects on my immediate radar include:
7. Hexie Framed Quilt – using a Road 15 by Sweetwater jelly roll
8. Modern Sorbet Quilted Pillow
9. Table Runner or small quilt using Ocean Breeze block pattern and Simply Colorful II charm squares
10. Another Pattern Play Quilt – my own block pattern – this time with a scrappy look
11. Drawstring bags for Christmas gifts – using the tutorial at S.O.T.A.K Handmade
12. Modern Geometrics Table Runner
13. Bag #1 using The Snazzy Slouch Handbag Sewing Pattern
14. Bag #2 Trail Tote using this free pattern by Anna Graham @ Noodlehead
15. Interwoven Quilt using Paradiso charm squares
16. On the Fence Quilted Pillow (pattern from Quilt Now Issue 21)
17. Colour Blocks Quilted Cushion ( pattern from Quilt Now Issue 14)
18. Stargazing Paper Pieced Cushion (pattern from Quilt Now Issue 14)
19. TMQG Embroidery Challenge (due 1st August – eek!)
20. Cotton and Steel Quilt #3 – pattern chosen, fabrics ready…

This is my longest list EVER but rather than feeling faint, I feel super motivated!

Good luck with your Quarter 3 goals if you are linking up.

Deb 🙂

OMG July Goal

Unfortunately, I failed to achieve my June goal for OMG. I had hoped to finish quilting my Midnight Mystery Quilt but I’ve really struggled to find motivation with this particular project. (I guess that’s why I have so many projects on the go at any one time – my interest in them can fluctuate on a daily basis.)

I’ve been toying with several possibilities for my July Goal – including not making a goal this month at all – but have decided to try and finish a long overdue WIP.

Midway through last year, I purchased my first ever Moda jelly roll – one by Zen Chic called Reel Time. (For my non-quilting family and friends, a jelly roll is a roll of forty 2 1/2 x 42 inch strips.) 

I searched online for quite a while to find a quilt pattern that I felt suited this fabric collection. Eventually, I settled on and purchased the Interlock pattern, a fabulous quilt pattern by the very talented Amy Friend @ During Quiet Time.

I tossed up briefly between using an off-white or black solid for the background fabric. Of course, black won – I do like my bold, dramatic quilts!

I managed to make some fairly decent progress last year and even had this project listed as one of my goals for Quarter 4 of the 2015 Finish Along. But then I abandoned this project in favour of some new ones…

I’m about three quarters of the way through finishing my blocks for this project and just need a bit of encouragement to get to the finish line. I’ve recently seen a beautiful finished Interlock Quilt here and have gained some much needed enthusiasm for this project once again 🙂

So my July Goal for OMG  is to finish the flimsy of my Reel Time Quilt.

Let’s hope I do better this month!

Linking up to OMG @ Red Letter Quilts