Tuesday 18 January 2011

A little progress

 I mentionned here that I need a little focus so once a month or so I am going to post my works in progress to see how I've done that month and motivate me to keep working on them.  Here are Januarys:

1. Baby Girl Coin Quilt - needs ironing (a lot),  backing, basting, quilting, binding, someone to have a baby girl to motivate me to finish it.



2. Sampler Quilt - currently being quilting.  I am taking this one slowly a block at a time, outlining each block and then outlining various parts of the design in each block.



3. Wild Oddyysea - this one is all cut out and I am starting to piece the blocks. 



4. Red & Aqua Little Windows

 
5. Nine Patch - gradually progressing with 6 new ones added this month



6. Tilda Hexagons - which I will be working on until I am at least 83 80 and a half! (but I have started the next colour with 2 new ones added)





7. Tilda Red Quilt - lots of squares cut and waiting to be paired with squares of Kona Bone which are yet to be cut.




Well 4, 5 & 6 are ongoing projects but I am determined to finish one of the others before starting another new quilt so all efforts are going into number 2 at the moment (because its the closest to being finished which means closer to starting something new!!!

Sunday 16 January 2011

Sunday Stash


Wonderland - how I love you!


When I first started quilting I fell in love with Moda's Momo Wonderland but it was already a year old and difficult to get hold of.  I bought what yardage was left in my local quilt shop and other UK online shops before snapping up a great bundle of 8 FQs and a couple of yards at the Festival of Quilts in August last year.  I had most of the red and brown prints but was missing almost all the green and pink (or pistachio and  jam) ones.  Prices on Etsy seemed extreme until just before Christmas I found this gorgeous set of 40 Fat Quarters from this fantastic Etsy shop.  I think almost all the lines are included and I have more than enough variety to make a Wonky Log Cabin Quilt.  It arrived just after Christmas and wasn't stopped by customs so even including postage these worked out at £7 a yard.



This will be the last new fabric for a bit for me.  There's a lot of talk of Fabric Diets in blogland and I am doing my own version.  For every lb of weight I lose I get a certain amount of money to spend on fabric.  No other fabric buys allowed (except fabric for my Granny and Dad's quilts).  Week 1 I lost 3.5 lbs so it looking good so far.

Thursday 6 January 2011

2011

Almost a week into 2011 I have been thinking about what I want to achieve this year.  I don't make resolutions but I do think in terms of aims for the year.  I am a very goal oriented person and work best that way.  So each year I make some fairly general aims.  I have learnt not to beat myself up about not achieving everything and at the end of the year I keep a note of that year's successes (which can include getting part way to a goal or staring to work towards one) and tear up the old list of aims and make a new one.

I am a big fan of Jennifer's Quilting without Obligation posts and I don't want to be overly prescriptive or goal oriented about what I do or don't quilt.  However I do want to push myself a little in my quilting this year and there are some quilts I really want to make so without further ado here are this year's:

Quilting Aims

1. Quilt because it makes me smile not because it is one more thing on my to do list!



2. Try free motion quilting on a quilt.

3. Join a new Bee when the 2 I am in finish towards the end of the year

4. Make some things from my lovely stack of sewing/craft books



5. Attend Festival of Quilts in Birmingham (and hopefully meet up with some blog friends)

6. Keep blogging but take better photos!

Quilts I would like to make this year

As I mentionned here there are ideas for 324 quilts running around my head.  I am trying to start noting down my ideas and will be adding a page in the header above.  I am also going to visit my Works in Progress page once a month to keep me on track.

1. Quilt for my Granny 's 80th  birthday - at the moment I am thinking of using Tanya Whelan's Delilah but haven't got an idea of what pattern yet.

2. My Tanya Whelan Dolce Pinwheel Quilt made with blocks from all the fabulous girls at Fresh Modern Bee 2.

3. Quilt for my Dad's 60th birthday  - no ideas at all yet!

4. A quilt for our bed - each time I start something my husband asks if it is for our bed and each time I answer no.  But this year will be different and I am going to use some of my precious precious Momo Wonderland for this and am thinking about Wonky Log Cabins.