Still not much sewing, but I have been doing lots of other things. I have been trying to go for some walks and doing some online courses in writing to try and get myself enthused about actually finishing something I have started writing.
There is some progress though. I have assembled all the blocks for my disappearing hourglass.
Not entirely happy with the points on some blocks but think they will be close enough when pressed.
Feels like the year is really flying by, I am about to go on a decent break from work in September and hope it doesn’t fly by equally as fast.
I finally got some sewing time in and finished a quilt, which I will show in a separate post, but finishing the quilt got me the machine back to work on my free-motion quilt as you go blocks. I started this project because I have always wanted to be better at free-motion quilting but I look at a finished quilt top and can’t bring myself to ruin it by free-motion quilting it in what I know will be a sub-standard way. So I decided to do 12 practices blocks that could be put together quilt as you go style if I decided I was happy with them. Why 12? Because it also met my quilt groups numbers challenge.
The last couple of days I pulled them out and finished them off. I had already done 5 and the others quilted up pretty fast.
The method I used was drawing the design on press and seal and then sticking to my block. You then quilt over the drawn lines and pull the press and seal off when done. You do need really tight stitches so they don’t pull out when you take the press and seal off. This worked well on small blocks, not sure I would like to do an entire quilt this way given that the press and seal is only 12 inches wide. It would be a lot of press and seal. It would also work better if you were spray basting rather than pinning as I found I had to pin after I had attached the press and seal not before. Again, that would be a pain if you were pinning a big quilt.
I will admit I am better at free motion quilting than when I started, but still need loads more practice before I would feel confident quilting a quilt I wanted to give as a gift. There’s still a noticeable difference in the stitch length depending on the direction I am going in and my lines could be smoother. Don’t get me started on the bits where I tried to echo quilt round the design.
Here are some of my blocks.
The last one still has the press and seal attached.
Not sure these will ever get finished into a quilt but they have been good practice.
One of my least favourite bits of making a quilt – squaring up the blocks before I join them together. Still, it’s quite a small quilt so only 64 blocks to trim.
I know, I’m not sure how it happened but it is almost February already. February is only 28 days and then its March and I turn 45. Which is crazy, it feels like 25 was only yesterday and I blinked and wound up here and sometime in that blink I was supposed to get my life sorted out and didn’t quite manage it.
Not that I have a lot to complain about, all things considered I’m doing alright. I have a nice home, a decent paying job and while I could lose some weight and occasionally get crazy hormones I am, aside from that, as healthy as a horse. It’s more that I always assumed there was things that I would do, that would happen, like meeting a partner, that never did. Though I think that latter one might be on me, due to my penchant for never leaving the house.
Recently I have been struggling with the notion of how many of my hobbies do I really enjoy and how many am I just using to fill time and to avoid working on the stuff that would genuinely improve both my life and the world around me. It’s trickier than it sounds because there are somethings that I would say I don’t really enjoy, like knitting in front of the tv, that leave me feeling really rested and rested is a good thing. There are other things, like talking to people and exercise, that I might enjoy more if I was fitter or more confident. If fitness and confidence only comes with practice then there is a sense in which you need to work through the discomfort to get to the joy.
It’s a public holiday here today and it’s been a struggle to get motivated for a day off on Tuesday rather than a long weekend. I did some drawing, which does bring me joy even though I suspect I’m not very good at it. I read some of a book for work, which is definitely in the not enjoy box but until I have enough to retire is a necessary evil. I have also been making a scrappy quilt which I am going to back with fleece for my nephew. That’s a joyful thing, more than I imagined it would be given the simplicity of the pattern but its the bringing of the colours together that seems to be the fun bit.
The other thing I have on the go, probably falls into the restful category. I’m not sure how long I have had this cross stitch cushion in my cupboard, it has to be at least 5 years. I’m not sure I love it anymore, but finally managed to get it half finished. It is symmetrical, so in another 5 years I might finish the other half.
Right now I am off to work through some discomfort and prep some healthy meals and snacks for the rest of the week.
On impulse, at the start of lockdown I bought a bundle of fat quarters online. They have been sitting on my table staring me down for months, as I had no idea what I wanted to do with them and I didn’t really have anything to go with them.
I cracked them open this week and started making 16 inch star blocks, which for some reason seem to be taking forever. So despite a week of cutting and sewing I have sixteen half done stars about which I have really mixed feelings. Which might be why its taking so long. When I started I was worried that there wasn’t enough contrast between the fabrics and the whole thing would end up looking like a busy mess.
I think they are starting to grow on me though.
The other thing I have been working on is trying to translate the instructions for a kit for a pencil case I bought in Japan. I don’t speak (or read) a word of Japanese, but it’s amazing what you can achieve with a translation app on your phone. At least I’ve gone from completely baffled to, maybe I get this.
I have actually finished something. I’m not sure what it is, possibly a table runner. It doesn’t really matter, what matters is that it actually has some binding on.
Mostly, I think I need a new project. Sorting out photos and writing a business plan are just not very exciting. I have to keep reminding myself that at times making 1000 quilt blocks didn’t feel exciting either but it was good when it was done. I’m sure the business plan and sorted photos will be the same.
I am making great progress in making tops from all my 1000 blocks. Mostly due to the fact that last weekend we had our first 35 degree day. In a fit of pique I moved my sewing stuff into the lounge room where the air conditioner is. This means I am constantly confronted by all my sewing stuff every evening, so I usually get some sewing done, even if it is only a little bit. Later in the year, I am going to have to have a mammoth quilting session to deal with all the tops I am makling.
My other goals, I am still struggling with. However, I am getting little bits done. Not as much as I would like, as fast as I would like, but I guess I just have to accept that any kind of progress is good.
Anyway, here are some pictures of what I have been up to, sewing wise.
I have arrived home from my travels safe and sound. Before I got back I had the best of intentions. I was going to be driven, organised and efficient. I was going to waste no time and get stuck right into finishing off the remainder of my goals. However, after four days back at work with little sleep because I am still adjusting to a new time zone I have to confess that I have accomplished nothing. Well, other than what I did at work and a little bit of gardening I did this morning.
I have lost pretty much all my enthusiasm at this point and am having a serious rethink about my goals. One in particular, the aim of turning all my 1000 quilt blocks into something by the end of the year. Firstly, I am starting to doubt that it is possible given the amount of time I have left. More importantly, I am starting to question why I am even doing it at all.
All the other goals I have set myself I can see the point of. There are of course moments when I hate the goal and I really don’t want to be working on it, but I can still see the point. Lets face it, losing weight isn’t fun. I don’t particularly enjoy having to watch what I eat. If I could eat chocolate all day instead I would. But I can see the point of it. I can see that there is a benefit of a healthier me at the end of it.
Similarly with my other goals (making 1000 quilt blocks, writing a novel, going 100 places I’ve never been before). While sometimes I have to force myself to work on them I can see that I am learning about myself and the world because I do them. In these cases a time limit is important too, because without a deadline procrastination is always possible.
Making these blocks into things is bugging me though. While there is a bit of a challenge in trying to make the blocks fit together, I usually don’t like the finished quilt. They are okay, but I don’t love them. Do I really want to spend the rest of the year making quilts I don’t love? I think the reason why I decided that making the blocks into things should be a goal was because I thought it would be an emotional drain having these blocks sitting here not being used. I thought I wouldn’t be able to move onto other things until they were gone. I am not entirely sure I was right about that, even if they were an emotional drain there are a number of other ways I could deal with them.
But it could just be that I am going through a phase and what I really need to do is rummage through the pile of blocks again, find something simple to get started on, and just start working.
Everything just feels a little bit blah, at the moment. Not sure why. Possibly stress at work, not helped by the rumours circulating about job losses. Getting sacked doesn’t really bother me – except for the worry about how I would pay my mortgage – but not knowing does. If you know you can make a plan, and get on with things. Not knowing leaves you in limbo. I don’t know, it could just be because I am so close to going on holidays, but not so close enough that I need to pack, and I can really feel excited about it.
Things are plodding along nicely here. Except for my slight hiccup with Telstra. In their infinite wisdom they have decided that, despite having let me do it the last five times, I am not allowed to recharge my mobile broadband with my credit card online. Though I will give them credit, the nice man on the phone did give me 250MB of credit to tide me over until I can either get to a shop to buy a voucher, or the case manager calls me back to reactivate credit card payment.
I am making good progress on the quilt to take with me to the UK. I already have 1 border quilted – only three more to go, and then the binding and I will have something finished. I am still not really happy with the back, which has gone a bit pinched, but as my Dad said, who’s going to look at the back. Well, other than me, that is. It’s really not that bad, and I am probably over reacting. There have been worse quilted quilts in history anyway.
I did receive a bit of new stash in the mail. I know – I have to stop spending so much money. However, I like to think about it as an investment in achieving my goals. How am I going to finish making something from all 1000 blocks if I don’t have any fabric for backing and sashing?
New stash
Not sure why. I am going to blame it on the rain. Yes, it is raining again here. It seems like it’s always raining of late, but I think after 10 years of drought I’ve just forgotten what a sub-tropical summer is all about.
I thinking I am starting to go a little stir crazy from too much time inside. I am trying to stay away from the shops so I don’t spend any money, and it is too rainy to do all the free outdoor stuff I had planned.
Though I did finally finish the quilt top I’ve been working on. I was struggling with it. Not just because it was so big but also because I wasn’t sure it was working. I’m still not sure that it does. I think that the background fabric might be a bit too busy for the blocks. Anyway, I forced myself to finish it this morning. Told myself once it was done I could spend the rest of the day on the couch reading. So, that’s pretty much what I’ve been doing, except for about an hour between rain storms when I went outside and dug in my garden. At least all the rain is making the ground soft.
Pictures of the quilt are below. It was really hard to get a decent shot of it because of the size. It took up nearly the entire floor of my sewing room.
Being, Nothingness and 1000 quilt blocks 