Brrrrr!

 We're having a bit of a cold snap here, and my energy levels have plummeted. I'm spending a lot of time wrapped in multiple layers of wool clothing, resting on the  couch. My hands are so cold that I can't hold a needle, so no hand sewing. The bed of the machine is so cold I have to wear fingerless gloves to sew. 

 I have picked up a sock I was knitting a couple of years ago, and that is progressing slowly.

The obvious solution is to hibernate in the shed, which has heating, but no cooking facilities; I prefer not to get warm, then cold, then warm again as I emerge for meals, so I'm holding off as long as I can. I don't mind the cold, but this year my hands are really feeling it. I must make some more rice bags to warm up in the microwave; if I have one in each pocket of my coat that will help keep my hands warm.

I did achieve a bit of cleaning up of the cutting table, and got several projects organised so I know where I'm going with them. I cut enough repro triangles for 2 sides of the Dear Jane, and picked out a heap of scraps to cut the rest. The top needs to come off the design wall so I can work on a machine pieced project.

I did do a bit of mindless sewing, putting together a whole heap of Spinning Rectangle blocks. 

To save myself the agonies of decision making I've paired up the pieces for each one, so all I have to do is send them through the machine. I've cut up a pile of 1.5" strips, and a few 2.5" strips, in an attempt to weed the unlovely pieces out of the strip drawers. 

I'm still having trouble letting go of the lovely repro strips though. I keep saying they are too good for this project, so they sit there untouched. I must change my attitude.

I'm having trouble choosing what the repro project should be. It's tempting to start something new, but I can't choose. I should be sewing on a current UFO while I puzzle over what to start.  I also want to tackle the mountain of modern fabric that I seem to have accumulated in recent sales; I'm such a pack rat, I can't pass up a good deal, and now I have to face the consequences. 

Half metre cuts. In my defense I thought I was getting FQs. I'm pleased that I was wrong!

Can one ever have too many neutrals?

I really need to stop buying on Facebook groups, sigh.

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I know Bitcoin wasn't designed to have a border, and I've loved everybody elses, but mine just looked unfinished to me.

Now it looks finished. I took a victory lap around the edges, stay stitching them so those seams didn't pop apart, and then got it up on the design wall for a photo. I'm happy with it (and happy that I can cross it off the list).

Then it was on to those pesky green borders.

It's been waiting patiently for me to get to them, but I've been involved in something else all week. Finally I got to sit down and stitch this one to a finish.

I love these blocks, I used some of my favourite fabrics, ones that are perilously close to being entirely used up, and it's wonderful to see them preserved in this quilt.

May was a busy month! And that's not all of the finishes, just what was down the shop.

I pulled out some bolts of fabric to see if I could decided on backings. There are more to consider. Fabrics that I once had grand plans for are now possibilities for the backs of precious tops, because I'm adjusting my expectations. If I have a wonderful fabric I'd rather see it on the back of a wonderful top, than have it sit in my stash for another decade. It's quite freeing in a way, because I won't have to chop up some stunning fabric for patchwork, and I can make both sides of a quilt beautiful.

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Still Working On May Goals

I did some sterling work on my UFOs last month, and I'd like to start something new and fun, but I just need to draw a line under some of the Almost Finished things.

Bitcoin wasn't officially on my list, but I pulled it out to work on anyway.

The piano key borders on that roll were enough to do the 2 long sides, and my box of 3.5 x 1.5" pieces provided enough for the top and bottom border. It's pouring rain right now, but I'll take a proper photo once I get down to the shop.

I gritted my teeth and attached a 1.25" border to the Dear Jane top. I was a bit disgusted with myself for not doing that when I completed the block assembly, because there was a lot of fraying and stretching, but at least it's stabilised now. What's left to do is cut the border triangles needed and hand sew them. 

I have enough faith in myself to know that I will buckle down and get that done, because I really, really want this top crossed of the list. I'm even thinking I might put it on the Statler and quilt all the construction lines, and then quilt each block in the hoop. I miss hand quilting, especially in winter.

I did manage some mindless sewing:

Another 12 Spinning Rectangle blocks. They're very soothing to make, no stressing about points not matching etc. 

Before I do anything else in the sewing room I need to tidy up. My cutting table is a total rubbish tip. 

I've been so focussed on finding the right material to finish tops that I haven't put anything away, or put scrap trimmings in the bin. I can work in a mess, but this is total chaos. But it's a good chore for a rainy day.

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Finished!

I can't quite believe it's finally finished. It's been hanging around in various project boxes for more than 15 years, inspiring guilt in me, and now it's done. 

I'm thinking I might ditch stitch all the blocks on the Statler, and then hand quilt the rest. It would be nice and relaxing to quilt, with those big shapes to outline. I've pulled out a few bolts of fabric to audition for backings, but I haven't made my choice yet.

I've been eyeing the Dear Jane all day, trying to decide where to start. Finally I opened up my drafting software, drew up an outline of the quilt and experimented with various sizes for the triangle and the coping border.

The original had an 8" border, making the top 85" square. No way I was making it that big. I kept trying different things and finally chose a 4.5" high triangle, which is a similar shape to the original. 

I even made a template and cut out a few pieces so I could hand stitch them together. When I was putting the Periwinkle together it occurred to me how easy it was to ease the hand-piecing into the required length, easy to stretch or to compress. So I will be hand stitching this border too.

That way it won't tie up any of my machines, it will be more enjoyable at a leisurely pace, and I can make decisions as I go along.  I need 17 triangles for each side, which is not a lot, and I'll be able to work at them tucked up on the couch keeping warm under my granny Afghan. 

I've dug out quite a lot of fabric scraps. Using a smaller triangle means I can use smaller scraps too

I need to do some mindless sewing after all the decision making, so I'm looking for something to just push through the machine. I might even get out my Bitcoin top and see what that needs for borders. 

I have heaps of strips already pieced as piano key borders, maybe I can extend those to be big enough? That should be fairly easy.

That's a 4" border. I can live with that.

The length doesn't need adding to, I might do a 3" strip top and bottom.  No matter what I decide, I need to cut some more 1.5" strips for my mindless sewing.

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A Busy Week

At the start of the week I quilted a baby quilt for a friend (and talked Mereth into binding it for her). It was pieced with minky in several spots, so I wasn't sure how it would turn out, but it behaved itself and looked really nice.

Then I trimmed the four heart quilts I quilted for another friend and got them ready to pick up.

While the machine was stitching on the baby quilt I cut borders for the Periwinkle top. This is the first border finished, the others were waiting their turn. I'll have a decent photo to post tomorrow.

We went to the closing-down craft shop twice, and raided the shelves for anything useful or irresistible.  Not a lot appealed, but at least we can be assured that we went through all of it and picked out the good stuff.

On Wednesday night we were going to dinner at a friends house, and I cooked two Chinese dishes that afternoon.  I think I used every dish and frypan and spatula I owned. But it was all very good, and everyone else contributed a couple of dishes so we had a proper banquet. It took a while to clean up afterwards tho.

What next? Remember this from maybe 2013?

It's been in a box ever since I finished the blocks, and I need to see it with some progress.  I need to work out the size of the little coping border that will help the border triangles fit perfectly. It will mean a bit of calculation, but it's not impossible. I just need to apply myself to the problem.

I'm going through the blocks and trying to remember if I have any of those fabrics still in the stash. That will keep me quiet for a few nights, as I go through every scrapbag and box. But it should be fun to revisit all the fabrics I used.

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Projects Definitely Advanced

The Fox And Geese blocks are now a finished top. I took the photo late in the afternoon, and the lighting was really bad. The border is not dark at all;

it's a lovely light background, but the camera couldn't capture that. I'm so glad it's finished though, it's been on the UFO list for more than a decade.

We have lots of this wideback, who knows where it will turn up next. I fussy cut the border strips, so I have leftovers to incorporate into my piecing.

Another long term project is nearing completion. The Periwinkle blocks were started probably in 2010, I'm not sure of the exact date.

I've done some more work on it, I only have about 6 long seams to finish and it will be all joined into one piece. I'm still debating borders, but I think that stripe on the right hand corner is winning at the moment. I still can't quite believe that I have moved this so far along!

I've been sewing lots of the tiny triangles needed for the Fancy 4Patch, and cutting more pieces and generally getting in a muddle.

Tonight I'll sit down and sort it all out and give it a single project box. At the moment I have no idea where I am as far as block numbers and pieces needed.

It's making my head hurt just looking at all the bits and pieces. I'll write a card to put in the box and make notes about what else is needed. I have definitely advanced this project, which was my aim.

These little cross blocks have grown in number, from 50 at the start of  the month to 82 now. Later this week I'll do some planning as to how I'll use them, so I have more of an idea of how many more I should make.

I don't seem to have a photo of the Spinning Rectangles, but I had 55 at the start of the month, and I'm up to 95 now. I'm very pleased with that progress.

My night time belongs to spinning at the moment, I'm really enjoying getting back into the habit. I didn't spin at all last year, so I was a bit worried that I'd forgotten how to, but it's all coming back to me.

This is part of a washed fleece that was close at hand, so I filled a bobbin with it and I'll make a 3ply yarn from it. Once I've done that I'll investigate all my tubs of fleece and decide what will be next. It's such a peaceful, reflective hobby, I love it.

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Variety

 It occurred to me yesterday that my frantic attempts to move all my projects further along might be linked to the urge to do some serious spinning now that the weather is cooling down. I went through all my spinning gear and fleeces and now I'm really wanting to spin at night instead of sew. And I need to knit up some of the skeins of yarn I've produced. I have too many crafts that I'm passionate about, so I'm going to have to ration the sewing so I can indulge in some kitting, crochet and spinning.

I'm also aware that my hands aren't up to all the spinning and fleece prep that I would like to do, so I need to be sensible about it and start off slow. I've been spinning for an hour each evening, and sewing whatever is ready to sew, and cutting kits for a change of pace. So far, so good; no major hand problems and I'm making progress on a lot of things.

I got all the Cat's Claw blocks set together. 

Now it's down the shop waiting for it's borders.

I laid out the Periwinkle blocks and cut all the sashing for it. I'll sew this in strips over a few days; it's such an old project that there really is no hurry to finish it.

I'm sewing on the Fancy 4Patch blocks. I was a bit bored with how they were looking, and went on Instagram again to have a look at the original quilt. I was intrigued to see that the tiny HSTs were made with different backgrounds; that was interesting.

I immediately sewed up a heap of HSTs with different shirtings, and wow, what a difference. I'm keen to cut and kit more blocks, and instead of complaining about the blocks now I'm loving the change the extra fabric makes. I guess I was just sick of all that boring cream background.

I admit I'm feeling a bit tired of patchwork I have to concentrate on, so I'll probably make 50 or so of the Spinning Rectangles as a treat.  They require no brainpower at all.

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