I've been busy with lots of work lately, as evidenced by my lack of blog posts. 

 I think the end is in sight, and I will have some spare time again.  There has been some sewing, but on a commissioned project so I can't share. 

 And the Lady of the Lake blocks continue to multiply, thanks to the ease of sewing up a kitted block in 5 minutes.  Not that there's been many spare minutes lately.

I'm tidying this morning, and I've finally removed the heaping piles of Stuff that were covering my cutting table, and I can see the mat and tabletop at last.  Even Mereth, who loves to Tidy, couldn't face the mess that my sewing room had  become.  It's so easy for it to become a dumping ground, when other rooms need to be cleared in a hurry, and events just keep happening without any pause for a clean up.  Thankfully I've made real progress today.

There have been consequenses of my being preoccupied with business matters; while I have been sifting through papers, and working long computer hours, Dolly has mostly kept me company, sitting under the desk and appearing every now and then to ask "You finished yet?  Can we go for a walk?" When the answer is no, she goes off to investigate the food situation, or see what the weather is like,  or put her nose to the space beneath the front door and smell who's walking by.

But she has also been doing this;

and this;

and this.

I had stern words to her.  I'm sure it had an effect.  She looked sorry, and wagged her tail a lot, very quickly.  I'm sure that means, 'I won't do it again Mum, honest'

On the other hand, it may also mean "You finished yet?  Can we go for a walk?"

I haven't sewn anything all week!  What a drastic state of affairs, I can't let it go on.  The last day of this busy week is going to be super busy, but I'm going to sit at my machine and sew for 15 minutes before I do a single bit of work.  At least I will start the day rested and cheerful, because I finally got to send a few patches through the machine.  Thank heavens for my prepared kits is all I can say.

We had optometrist appointments on Wednesday, and as luck would have it, he's right next door to the quilt shop.  Of course we had to visit, just to be social, and it seemed churlish not to buy something while we were there.  (Do you think I'm trying to rationalise/justify the buying?) So this little lot will have to go in the spreadsheet.  The pinks and browns are just because I love them and always need more variety.

 The jellyroll is a joint buy with Mereth and, to make sure we use it, we unrolled it straight away.  That way it can't achieve 'precious' status, and thus never be touched. 

 Next time we have a quiltathon we'll cut a quilt out of this and both use it as leaders-enders, so it will get done quick.  The fabrics are Whimsy, such pretty colours, not our normal choice, but that's why we just had to have them.

That spreadsheet is certainly affecting the amount of material I add to the stash, I'm very careful now.  You all have permission to laugh when I fall off this particular wagon and land in a pile of new fabric.  


At the start of each day Mereth and I get a cup of coffee and sit in the workroom to plan our day.  Dolly usually lays on her bed under the table, but frequently wants to sit on my lap first for a cuddle.  And this is what happens.

This is such a Cat thing, choosing to lie on whatever I'm working on.  She tries to crawl up on the table, but I'm not having that.  I always loved really big cats; looks like we've got us a 20 kilo one now...

Our patchwork group held an exhibition of our quilts last weekend, and it was a bit hectic there for a while.  Luckily there are plenty of volunteers to share the work, but it still sort of took over the whole weekend.  We hung the show on Thursday, in the Institute building, and had three days of visitors.  I think the most frequent comment was "I wouldn't have the patience to do something like that."  Not all quilters are patient people, believe me!  I think we finish so many things because we're impatient to get  onto the next project.

 Everyone gets a kick out of seeing their quilts displayed like the works of art they are, and we have fun bringing in our treasures to set the scene.

 Lots of these quilts were made as gifts, which just goes to show what a wonderful bunch quilters are.

I was surprised that there weren't more bright quilts,  there were probably only 2 or 3.  I think maybe the quilts were made in quieter, decorator colours to match the rooms they were meant for.

There were lots of lovely applique quilts, they always look lovely.

 And at the end of the weekend, we all felt a bit like this....

My stash report this week is looking good, nothing bought and lots used.

Week 14
Fabric Used this week; 9.6m
Fabric Used Year-to-date;  124.6
Fabric Bought this week; 0.0
Fabric bought Total; 27.0
Net  Used for 2010; 97.6

I cut out the Stask & Whack last week, but didn't include the fabric in last week's totals, so it's included in this lot.  I also kitted up nearly all the blocks needed for my Lady of the Lake, and the Chimney Sweep quilt, which accounted for the rest of the 9.6 metres.

Cutting kits is a hard way to get the totals up, it's much easier to make a backing or two.  However I have lots of blocks prepared ready for easy, mindless sewing, which is a comforting thought.  I've cleared away the towering stacks of fabric that were on every surface of the sewing room, and I have a much nicer workspace now.  I hope to be able to spend lots of time in there this week, making another fine mess.