Retreat show and tell

I've so much to share with you as post-retreat show and tell.

Yes, I slept very well, ate very well and visited the beach!! (What's the point of going to Phillip Island if you don't visit the beach?).I worked on these star pieces in the car on the way...

The baby shower quilt is actually the last thing I worked on - this is why it's not finished. I have chain pieced lots of the quilt. It won't take long to finish the quilt top now!

Lucky really, as it needs to be finished for this weekend now. Eep!!

I couldn't go any further on the flower of the month stitcheries. I changed my mind, and decided to completely frame the blocks in green, rather than use sashing. I ran out of the red, I do have more, I didn't have it with me though. Drats!

Don't they look good with those colours framing them?

This little golly quilt top was sitting around for about 5 years. I quilted it, then hand-stitched the binding on in the car on the way home (I didn't drive, it's okay). VBG.

I found lots of half metre pieces of fabric in my stash during the clean-up. They were all nice fabrics, but not something that would slot easily into a quilt without designing the quilt around the fabric. Know what I mean?

These fabrics were perfect for accessories - just like these bags!

The first bag took me 2 hours to make, by the time I made the last one I had it down to 45 minutes.

My first real go at zippers.... I used the walking foot - much easier than the zipper foot.

When I made the first one, the bag instructions said to sew the second side on with the zip half closed.

I found this difficult, so I sewed it with the zip completely closed on the second bag. Whoops. The zipper tab (what DO you call that bit on a zip that goes up and down) was on the leftover bit of zip on the inside of the bag. I had to unpick and put the zip on the outside of the bag.

The third bag, I sewed the side seams with the zip closed and couldn't turn the bag right side out. Whoops again! I had to unpick a seam to slide the zipper tab (or whatever it's called) along, then re-sew the seam... then I could open the zip to turn the bag right way out.

Lots of learning, lots of show and tell. No, I didn't finish everything... Never mind.

I found a UFO...

I found this UFO in a box in the shed. Don't worry, the box is plastic and therefore waterproof, dustproof and rodent proof (well to a point, obviously if they decide to chew the box I am in trouble).
This is from a Lil' Blokes pattern "Red Shoes and Twirly Skirts". I think I made this quilt top in about 2004. LOL!! Now, why did I find it? I was looking for the hexagon quilt my Mum started in the 1970s - I finished the top in the 90s. Why was this quilt top in the same box?

I will give Mum the hexagon quilt top to quilt at some stage.... but she's got plenty to do at the moment!!!

Lost and Found and Found and Found...

Well, I didn't stick a stitch in yesterday. I sorted all day. I now have about 50 magazines to sell and about 30 to give away.


How is my space looking?

some more fittings to come e.g. the trays will become drawers

I kept finding stuff.

5 UFOs: SCQuilters sig swaps from 2003 retreat, smoking jacket, papercut windows, snowflake quilt blocks, 295 quilt. The snowflakes, sig swaps and papercut windows can make nice flip-sides for other quilts.

6 PIGS to add to the list: Easter bunnies, Aussie fabrics, monkey socks, Dargate violet and chocolate pack (no, not actual chocolate, that would have been eaten - it's purple and brown fabric), hexagon box, an armchair pincushion partly prepared (this was a gift at a retreat) and a dress with a pattern.

Where do I fit it all? here.

None of it is left on the floor!

This is the armchair kit:




LOST: one box of novelty fabrics.... (maybe I divided them all up into PIGs???) I can't remember!!

One reason or another

I was in a panic when I made that UFO list... but now I have listed 8 finished items for 2008 (with more already finished items to add), I can see a pattern emerging.

Six of my eight finished items were started and finished this year. Why haven't I finished the old ones?

I lost momentum for one reason or another... I tried not to go onto another new project until I finished one - that has really helped me not to add to the list. It gives me incentives to finish something so that I can start my hot new project.

It is important for me to discuss what the "reasons or another" are that have built up my UFO list - I hope that you will modify your behaviour if you recognise these "symptoms"....

• Run out of or can't find fabric for the task (hell-ooo! that happened with the 2007 mystery quilt! I needed fabric for 2 leaves and couldn't find it anywhere despite asking all over the internet. Five months later I found my piece... where it wasn't supposed to be!
  
• Start stitchery block per month and get sidetracked when waiting for blocks (if I had them all it would only have taken me about 2 months to do them all) - know what I mean?
  
• Need to buy fabrics to suit e.g. initial swap blocks, 1930s baskets, wedding blocks from friends - while trying not to purchase fabrics.. therefore, need to get into a lot of temptation by taking blocks along to match for sashings (going on a hunt for fabric allows too many opportunities to regress into fabric collecting)... it's so scary!


• Had to stop the quilt while collecting co-ordinating fabrics - mind you, that was a long time ago. I do not need to collect fabrics anymore, I am trying to use them up. But, when I started the Jane Stickle quilt in 2001 I had to stop several times to collect more black reproduction fabric, then more brown, more purple etc.


• Won blocks in lucky block draw and therefore did not fit into the urgent, mad rush that comes with deciding on a new project (Christmas redwork, old chooks blocks).


• I stuffed up and it needs unpicking and a clear head to suss out what I did wrong.
  
• I don't like it anymore - either the fabric choices, or my skills have improved so much over the last 7 years that I can't bear to look at that atrocity let alone finish it! But, I can't throw it out either (I have given one UFO away to a good cause).


• Another deadline took over - e.g. a wedding quilt had to be finished so I put that one away for a little while.


• It's a project to pick up when I am between projects (e.g. civil war hexagons)
  

I would love to hear your excuses... or is it "recognised reasons" for building up a list of UFOs. Please post a comment.
I must add one more thing before I add a picture - I make quilts because I find it relaxing and soothing. Why should I work on something if I don't feel like it? This is why I have limited myself to working on four at the moment...

Maybe civil war hexagons will be removed from my list of four before it's finished because I will tire of it, but that is my perogative.

The big list appears

I finished my mystery quilt top. I need to piece the backing and hand over to Mum for quilting on the longarm. It's such a big quilt that I couldn't photograph it properly. It covers the top of our King size bed.

This is the final picture of the mystery quilt designed by Cathy Stevenson.

Here is part of my final quilt - the colours are very different! Mine are all repro fabrics, but they are vivid and bright. Not one bit of brown.

But I must go ACK! again!! I found 3 UFOs today that I had completely forgotten about... so I bit the bullet and made the big list. It's on the right column down the bottom. There to haunt me until the numbers go down somewhat. *sigh*. I am not panicking. Not yet.

I won the 6 redwork squares Christmas 2006 or 2007 at our end of year do... still to make them into something.

These baskets are made from 1930s feedsacks. I have made 42. I have fabric for 2 more baskets I think - but that's an odd number. I must check my design plan.

Also found the eau de nil or 1930s green fabric I bought to go with it. Was it for sashing or binding??? We are talking about 2 years ago. Sandra, Rosie, Andrea and I all started working on our feed sack quilts together.

Finally, I found a stack of 1930s squares cut out to make a baby quilt Irish chain.