Keeping It Real

In the interest of honesty in blogging, I decided that today I'd share some of my craft room photos with you.
I have been feeling very unproductive lately - though that's not really true, as I've nearly finished quilting another quilt and I have started a sweet little English paper piecing project after many years of thinking about doing some EPP.

But in the last few days I've been really tired and somewhat overwhelmed, and I suspect it has a little something to do with this hot mess....

Seiously, is it any wonder I couldn't get my head around any thing? There is everything under the sun in here, from a school bag to about leftovers from the last three projects... and all beautifully organised on the floor. Aaargh!

So even though there is plenty I need to be doing, I decided to spend this evening tidying up. And now it looks like this...

Thank God, Is all I can say. I feel better already, and I am about to write a little to do list for the week (which will include getting my act together on the blogging front).

The desk is still a little insane, but that is a task for another day.

Please reassure me that I'm not the only one who feels like a bomb has sometimes gone off in their creative space! Can you work when it reaches a certain level of crazy, or does your productivity slide too?

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Friday Finish

I'm struggling big time with the whole "February is Over" concept... seriously, where did it go? My February's are always manic, between back to school, back to work and all my kids having birthdays this time of year. I am quite glad to be seeing the back end of this month, to be honest.

I have one measly finish for the month, which I finished a few weeks ago, then never got as far as taking photos of (did I mention February is also a rainy month here?). This is a long standing UFO that I never really felt the love on. I am not really a shabby chic person AT ALL but I got what I suspect is part of a layer cake in a scrap pack and decided to put them together into a lap quilt. I paired them with cream for a very simple block. I quilted in a simple stipple that took only about an hour from start to finish.... gotta love that!

I do really like the finished product, it's turned into a sweet little lap quilt.

Because I am trying very hard to not buy fabric I decided to back it in the cream homespun as well. And I had *just* enough of this dusty pink solid to make the binding so that was meant to be.

This little quilt will be gifted a bit later in the year. Considering I started it with no intentions, I am pleased to have found a good home for it.

I have been working hard at my low volume rainbow quilt for ALYOF, but I'm just not going to get there in February, sadly. I have almost all the quilting done but I have had a headache and been very under the weather this week so I didn't quite get it finished. But I am pleased with the progress I've made and hope to get it wrapped up very soon. I am loving how ALYOF is keeping me focused on finishing particular projects, it really is what I need!

Excitedly, I am starting to feel a bit more like a finisher. As I am getting through the piecing side of things I am making a concerted effort to baste and quilt straight away. In the past I've very often put finished tops aside for a while, and we all know how that turns out... (a bit like the nap I took yesterday afternoon after work lasted until 7pm).

Linking up with TGIFF over at Mila and Cuatro, Finish It Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts and Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation.

Hope you all have a productive, fabric filled weekend.

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WIP Wednesday - Low in the Rainbow

Once upon a time, about a year ago, before I'd even heard the term 'low volume', I hit upon the idea of using up lots of bright scraps and lots of that pesky-multicoloured-fabric-with-white-backgrounds-that-is-pretty-hard-to-use (yes, that is the technical term) to make another rainbow quilt.

I worked at it for a while, then in typical fashion, shoved it aside, all but done, rendering a whole stack of fabric out of action for any other project and adding to my WIP list. My goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes in February is to get this top, which I absolutely love love love, finished and quilted. I have plans for the quilting, once I get over the hurdle of how to back it.

I love that this is low volume, but kinda not... a bit low vol at the carnival, perhaps. But overall, it reads as low volume. And since I reorganised my stash (more on that another day), I am itching to play with my low volumes a bit more.

I love the whole hot mess that is the improv piecing process too... perfect for this time of year when I am super tired from having lots of newbies at work (oh, the crying!) and just want some mindless sewing at the end of the day.

Linking up to WIP Wednesday, Sew Cute Tuesday and A Lovely Year of Finishes too!

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ALYOF - January Update

January has been a productive month for me, creativity wise. Conclusion: if I didn't have a day job the rest of the year, I could be super productive. Sadly, I do, so I expect productivity to drop somewhat from now on.

I'm linking up (by the skin of my teeth!) to the A Lovely Year of Finishes linky party. My January goal was to bind the four quilts I had sitting round that only needed binding.

I did finish three of them, and balked at the fourth. But I did also baste three more quilt tops, and finished quilting and binding one of them. So I finished four quilts! I'm calling that a successful stitching month.

And I also made three paper piecing blocks for cushions, and made serious progress on a secret quilt project.

The mending and Girl Guide badges are patiently waiting for their time in the sun . I did what I had to on the school uniforms, but that was it for now.

First up was my Mary Engelbreit picnic quilt, which I finished piecing about 18 months ago, finished quilting about three months ago and bound this month. This used my serious stash of Mary Engelbreit fabrics that I started collecting years ago. To be honest, my heart wasn't really in this project, I'm pretty over these fabrics. 

My mum came to visit and oohed and aahed over how wonderful the quilt was and how it was far too good for a picnic quilt. You know what comes next... it went home with her. I am thrilled it has gone to a good home where it will be loved. 

Mary Engelbreit quilt front

Mary Engelbreit quilt back

My second finish was my Kaleidoscope Under the Sea quilt. I made this quilt to play around with the stack and whack technique. I love the hexagons, I love the variegated thread I used to quilt it (but my machine hated it!), but I am not happy with how it won't really sit flat. Which is probably why it took me two years to bind it...

Kaleidoscope Under the Sea

Kaleidoscope Under the Sea detail

This is my favourite finish - I finally, finally got the binding on my Polaroid Rainbows quilt. I adore this quilt and I'm so glad it's finally done. I did have a few tension issues with the FMQ but that's all on the back, which is now against a wall in my daughter's bedroom, so no peeking, okay?

Polaroid Rainbows

Polaroid Rainbows FMQ detail

The last quilt I finished basting, quilting and binding is still in secret squirrel mode, so I can't share pics just yet. But I can say it was made from my bee blocks from 2012 so I'm glad to get a long standing WIP out of the way!

I am planning for February already, but before then, I'm linking up to A Lovely Year of Finishes, TGIFF and Finish It Up Friday. Yay for finishes!!

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Sunday Stash - January 2014

Because I am on a fabric and craft supply buying freeze, along with lots of other members of Fabricholics Anonymous, it seems a little weird to be writing a Sunday Stash post.

But I have decided that as part of my fabric fasting accountability, and as a personal record of how much I spend on craft supplies (even when I'm not meant to be spending on craft supplies), that I will be writing a monthly Sunday Stash update. Plus, if I'm very lucky, sometimes gifty bits of crafty goodness might come my way.

As far as my fabric fasting with the Fabriholics Anonymous girls, it's early days but it's going pretty good. I even survived the Great Aussie Destash on Instagram! I have realised that some of my craft buying is automatic, which is disturbing. I picked up some awesome pens I didn't need at Office Works and then had to remind myself I wasn't buying! I survived a trip to Spotlight, coming out empty handed, but I know I need to avoid places like that!

I am focusing on finishing things and on using my stash so the temptation to buy isn't strong yet.

Here's my legal craft spending for January:

This month, I started by spending on photos. This is completely within the boundaries of the fast, as I have said I will be printing monthly to keep up to date. Because I was catching up on the end of last year I printed quite a few photos, so this cost $25 this month. Interested Australians, I print my photos at OfficeWorks for 9c a print, because I like their quality, price and convenience. It's so easy to pop in with a USB once in a while.

A friend bought me a pack of adhesives on clearance at Spotlight for $5 - absolute bargain! They are on my allowed list but I'm not going to need anything for a while.

I purchased essential sewing supplies - two packs of needles and four reels of cotton. I have discovered that Isacord thread agrees with my sewing machine when FMQing and makes for a much more pleasant sewing experience. It is also readily available at my local sewing shop for only $6.95 a reel in a range of colours. This makes me a happy quilter. These reels are for quilting a number of upcoming quilts and I will be adding to my Isocord collection as I go. Total spend: $41. I did come home and found I had more needles than I thought, but at least I'm good for a while.

I have also decided that adding the occasional book to my craft library is also acceptable spending. After contemplating Mimi Dietrich's Craftsy class, Finishing School, a number of times, I decided to purchase the book the class is based on instead. For around $A10 for the Kindle version, this is a worthwhile investment that will hopefully push me to finish my quilts in more interesting ways.

I have also been super spoilt with crafty gifts this month.

A friend was getting rid of this quilter's carry all - I am not sure if I'll make use of it yet, but if I don't, I'll pass it on.

My mum came to visit and brought with her some Christmas scrapbooking paper she got on clearance after Christmas (I'm passing half on to a friend), and also some beautiful cotton teatowels she bought me in Ireland with a view to making something from them. I'm sure they'll be great for a home decor item.

My lovely adhesive-buying friend also bought me some scrapbooking paper and a paper pad. Lucky me.

And when you'r fabric fasting, the best kind of friend to have is the one who brings you scraps in one of the fabric lines you covet the most. It's like the friend who gives you chocolate when you're PMSing. Lovely Kristy dropped in yesterday and brought me some scraps of Alison Glass. Be still my heart.... Bike Path is one of my most favouritest prints ever.

I was also gifted a lovely bag of selvedges from a lady on the QCA group. Anyone who know me knows that my feelings for my selvedge collection is a little like Gollum's feelings for the Ring so I was very excited to receive this bag of goodness. It's all been sorted into my selvedge collection - doing something with these is high on my priority list this year!

So even while on a fabric and craft supply buying freeze, I still spent about $80 on crafty things... but I don't anticipate I'll spend anything like that most months.

I'm linking up with Molli Sparkles' Sunday Stash over at Sarah Quilts, and updating on Fabriholics Anonymous too.

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Paper Piecing: Marvel Superheroes

I have this brother Stuart, he is tall and very geeky. He really likes Superheroes. Like, way more than a 30 something man should. (Like my Charlie and Lola reference there?)

Stu is the only person I know with a collection of Iron Man bobbleheads and he's raising two adorable little superhero loving boys who share their dad's passion. Either that or they just love being loud and smashing things. Could go either way.

He recently brought his family up to visit us and I was introduced to the world of Marvel Superheroes on PlayStation. The cries of 'Olverine (the W is silent, you know), and Hulk Smash! all week brought back vague memories of a conversation I had with the lovely Kristy of Quiet Play about designing Lego Marvel Superhero paper piecing blocks when she was done with Lego Star Wars.

So I asked her if she'd think about drawing up some blocks that I could test for her. I had visions of making cushions for the twins' birthday in May, then decided daddy shouldn't miss out either, since he had a birthday coming up too. Before I knew it, patterns for Wolverine, Hulk and Iron Man were waiting in my inbox, and I didn't even have to threaten to sic Thor on her (though I suspect she'd take that as a gift). Fabric was pulled and the fun began....

These are the Amish (faceless versions):

As usual, Kristy's patterns were awesome to put together. Some of the angles are a little tricky, but I got there. Aside from a moment of using completely the wrong fabric because I was too tired, I had no problems with these.

I mainly used solids, with the exception of a bit of yellow sketch for Iron Man's mouth and two mottled greens for Hulk (I figure his complexion isn't the smoothest.

Here they are with their faces on:

I used a Sharpie Stained marker and white fabric paint to draw their faces. Honestly, I don't know how painters do it - the angst I felt as I was permanently marking their faces was extreme. At least I usually have a seam ripper to back me up if I stuff up. But I think I did an okay job, and their intended audience will approve.

Now I just need to turn them into cushions.

Kristy is going to have these patterns available in her Craftsy shop as a freebie very soon.

Today I'm linking this up to Kristy's paper piecing linky party.

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Scrapbooking Update, January

While I tend to share more of my sewing antics around here, my other passion is scrapbooking. This tends to be a more personal endeavor as it's very much something I do for my family, but I thought I'd share a little of what I've been up to.

My work space is a large table that is used for either scrapping or sewing. Meaning I have to pack everything away from one craft before I start on the other. Therefore, I tend to either be 100% into the scrapbooking or 100% into the quilting, which happens to suit my Crafty ADHD perfectly. Plus I suspect it's more psychological than just the physical space issue, I'm mentally incapable of shifting from one craft to another. Does anyone else find that?

The first couple of weeks were spent on some heavy duty scrapbooking. I am pleased that I completed 30 layouts, some of them multiple pages. I am well aware that my style is very quick and simple and I'm not obsessed with the latest products (mostly), and this suits me fine. Quick means more happens.

I spent a lot of time getting the last of my photos from 2013 sorted and printed, and I spent hours going through my albums and making sure that my lists of what's in each album is actually there (yes, I'm THAT anal). I have started to scan my albums to pdf, my husband has an A3 scanner at his office and it's easy peasy. I should have done it years ago.

Last year was a very good scrapbooking year for me, with over 200 layouts completed. I got the kids albums mostly up to date and made progress on the family albums. This year I'm on track to make more progress with the family albums - this month I finished 2007 and most of 2008 (yes, I am aware it's 2014, at least I'm getting somewhere).

I'm really happy with the progress I've made so far, even though I have shifted to quilting in the second half of the month.

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