Lets Finish This

I have numerous WIPs (works in progress) I would like to finish before I start on something new. So what better way to get me to actually deal with them than the Finish-A-Long organised by Leanne from “She Can Quilt“? Most of them were on my list of UFOs and WIPs last year and although I finished a couple the others are still there in bits and pieces.

So what am I going to put in this first Quarter’s Finish-A-Long?

she can quilt

 

1. My Flying Geese Cushion. This was started at the Fat Quarterly Retreat 2012. I finished one quarter of it but the rest is still in pieces. I enjoyed the paper piecing although I at times felt like my head was going to explode from all the concentrating. I love the colours, the geese are all from Kate Spain’s line Good Fortune, the green is a solid I got from a friend.

Double Flying Geese

2. Little Miss Bossy-Boots’ Log Cabin Quilt. She loves the flannel quilt I gave her for Christmas and it’s in use every day but she really wants a pink one and the log cabins have quite a bit of pink in them. They are quite fun to make although I do feel at times that they were a bit too busy. I might combine them with some big solid squares to calm the whole quilt down.

Pink Log Cabins

3. The Heart Hexagon Cushion. This was started as a fundraiser for our local cancer treatment centre and I feel really bad that I haven’t finished it. They don’t know I’m making it so it’s not like I have any pressure from them but I still would like to get it done so that I can start selling raffle tickets. Due to my guilty conscience I think I might make something else in addition but that won’t be on this list as I haven’t started it yet!

Heart Hexagon

You might have noticed that I started quilting around the heart. Sadly, I didn’t like it and unpicked it again. I’m still wondering how to quilt it which is a real shame as I know that I could finish this cushion very quickly if only I got a move on.

4. A Sewing Kit for my sister. I can’t show you any pictures as she reads this blog and I want it to be a surprise. It’s been sitting on my sewing table for a while now. I’ve cut out the pieces but just need some uninterrupted sewing time to finish it. Now that school has started again I’m hoping to get exactly that.

5. Turn this trial block into something. Another cushion? How many cushions do I need? Any suggestions? Or even any takers?

Spin me round

There we go. That’s quite a lot to get on with and I’m not sure if I can do it but I’ll try my hardest to get all of the above projects finished before the end of Q1.

Fat Quarterly Retreat 2012 – Part 2

Hello again! I meant to write this post earlier but Little Miss Bossy-Boots was very unwell an didn’t want to leave me for even one second. Poor Little Miss has tonsillitis. She’s getting better but refuses to take the antibiotics the doctor prescribed.

Anyway, back to the fantastic adventure the Fat Quarterly Retreat was. Saturday morning I got up and had a lovely breakfast with Amy who I met perchance in the breakfast room. Getting back to my room I was so excited that I went through all my stuff again just to make sure I had everything I needed before making my way to the Baden-Powell House. The Fat Quarterly team were sitting there, greeting us and giving us goodie bags.

Now, I don’t know if you have noticed that I made a name tag for Annabella for the name tag swap but never showed you the one I received? That’s because I didn’t get mine till Saturday morning and my swap partner was  the uber-talented Tacha! Can you imagine how excited I was? Luckily for everyone at the Baden-Powell House I had lost my voice that morning so nobody heard the deafening squeal that was (not) coming out of my mouth.

I also got a sticker with my name on and a Bingo card with six names of attendees which I had to find and get to sign my card. Great little ice-breaker. I have to admit that I haven’t looked at that many female chests ever before. I found my six girls in the end but chatted with at least another 5o in the process and got to meet some really lovely people.

After a nice cup of tea and some biscuits I went to my first class which was frame purses with Katy. The sewing bit went really quickly, Katy explained everything beautifully, and I was very pleased with the look. However we didn’t have time to finish off our frame purses as it was time for lunch. Katy told us to grab her after our next class and she would show us how to glue the frame onto the purse. We did and it was really quick and easy although I managed to get mine a bit wonky. No reflection on Katy’s teaching skills but rather on my non-existent multitasking skills as I was trying to glue my frame and sew for the ironman challenge at the same time.

After lunch, where I got a platter of food especially prepared for me as I’m garlic and olive oil intolerant (I know, I know. Very sad), I headed upstairs  for the sample swap. I had seen so many gorgeous things on Flickr and was a bit nervous that my pouches wouldn’t be good enough. I think they were well received by my swap partners Teresa, Nicky, Emily and Di.

I absolutely adore the gifts I received. When I was taking the pictures Charlie insisted on being in it as well. I’m a softie so I let him sit on my sewing table and stay in the picture..

After the swap I grabbed my sewing machine to take Lynne’s class on paper-pieced pillows. I’m a complete beginner and in my ignorance chose the double circle of flying geese which is not a beginner’s piece. With Lynne’s encouragement I went ahead anyway and managed to almost finish one quarter of it. Sorry about the wrinkles; I took the pictures while unpacking.

Paper-piecing seems to be like marmite, you either hate it or love it. I loved it although the concentration I had to put in meant I stopped breathing for the entire class.

Afterwards I met up with the others from my Ironman group, Amy, Lucy, Muriel, Ruth and Tammy (have I forgotten someone? If I have please forgive me). We got some Savannah Bop by Thomas Knauer to play with. As a novice in quilting I didn’t really say much during the design stage but once the sewing started I did my bit. We didn’t manage to finish that night so when I came back Sunday morning I continued sewing on the sashing. I’ll show you the finished quilt top in the next post.

Although there was more fun to be had with a pub quiz I had to give up and go to bed.