The Storm before the Calm

Not much crafting going on in the All The Good Ones household.  But there has been quite a bit of tidying and reorganising going on.  Must be autumn.  With growing kids, it is inevitable that as the seasons change, their clothes need to be weeded out, and too small items removed to be passed on.  Check out the pile on the right!  No wonder they couldn't fit all their clothes in their drawers anymore.

I've also attacked our wardrobe, which explains the pile on the left, as well as this pile... hmm, what to do with all those quilts?

One of the joys of living in a very small house, is that storage is at a premium, and whenever you tidy one area, another area will become untidy as it absorbs the overflow.

Some of the positives.
* I love my open plan kitchen, dining & lounge.
* I accept that it is not a showhome and that we live in this room 24/7 - it's comfy, cosy and practical.
* Bonus, we have finally got the lighting adequately sorted that I can stitch at night and actually see!

It looks especially lovely when it is tidy and relatively clutter free.  But there is still a pile of books under the table...

And the cupboard above the TV has become a knick-knack dumping zone...

 The start of winter means the fireplace gets cleared off and assorted plants positioned as far away from the heat as possible.  But I do miss dumping my handbag on top of it!  And we've still got the puzzles out from the holidays...

OK, now for the wardrobe... as the top shelf is out of my reaching comfort zone, I take no responsibility for it's state.  But other than that, I'm pretty happy with how it is looking...

And I've even got space inside to store my upright vacuum... which has sat in various locations throughout the house for the last three years... usually in the middle of a room.

Now this has been todays project - a new cubby storage shelf, in the entranceway/laundry (and if I could change one thing about my house it would be that visitors didn't enter through the laundry... although to be honest, we don't have all that many visitors - maybe that's why??)... to store all my lovely books, including the pile that was under the coffee table, and highlights some of my lovely decorative pieces - reducing the clutter on the entertainment unit.  And yip, even space for the handbag and library books at the bottom... and look, room for even more books.  Woot!

I have been doing "things" in my sewing cave too, but it's still in the "looks worse before it looks better" stage.

Arriving in my letter box lately have been some pattern purchases... even the envelope looked suitably chic...

And the pattern I need for one of the classes I'm taking at Taupo Symposium.

All this tidying might mean that some real sewing could occur during the weekend... wouldn't that be nice???

Tokyo Subway - May

Before we actually get to the end of the month, I should advise that the colour of the month is Purple/Violet.  I have cut the strips... and laid out Block 4, with the second block being Block 18.

The remaining colours to be cut are Pink, Dark Green and Blue/Green - so we are definitely making progress.

But I've been busy hand quilting today... no rest for the wicked.

ALYoF - May Goal

It's taken me a while to decide what to put down for this months goal, as I haven't really been sure what I could potentially finish.  With the deadline rapidly approaching - I had to make a choice.

One of my dream goals for the school holidays was to finished hand quilting my Hometown Wagon Wheels quilt - progress of which was sort of glossed over in the holiday roundup posts... but it has been happening, and I would like to get it finished - as in QUILTED and BOUND (but maybe the handstitching of the binding still to finish) by the end of MAY.  Now, is that specific enough for everyone?

Catching up with the small stuff

Back in March I signed up for an actual real BOM - not just a big project that I've randomly decided to tackle on a month-by-month basis.  This is a mystery stitchery BOM being run by The Country Yard.  Due to a number of other events, I didn't get to pick up my month one or two packages until last week - and the third month has just been released.  So a bit of catching up to do...

So far, Block One

Looks like fun doesn't it?

Also under the microscope is another old old project, that coincidentally was in the same box as the orphan blocks from previous posts.  A cute wee teddy in a teacup - a pattern from an old Australian Patchwork and Quilting (or Stitching) magazine.

Last week (while running a temperature and figuring that operating the rotary cutter was probably unwise), I very slowly straight stitched around the shapes.

And added in the little bit of backstitch...

Today I've backed it onto batting and added a pieced frame - roughly 18 x 19 1/2" - but now I'm stumped.  Would you turn it into a bag or a cushion?

No rest for the wicked

Today has been a successful day.  Four loads of washing and one bag - FINISHED.

Add the 241 Tote by Noodlehead pattern download, one fat quarter of penguin fabric, 1/2 yard/metre each of green and navy solid, magnetic closure and you have tote bag bliss.  This pattern has an internal patch pocket, and incase you can't tell, the green bits on the sides are the external pockets.  Went together like a dream...

Front:

Back:

Pocket lining:

Action shot (photo courtesy of Little Miss Nadia, aged 7):

Holiday to do list

With a few more days left these holidays, it seems I have accomplished all I wanted to do over this period, according to my to do list.

The last project to receive attention... the jelly roll sampler...

And total progress so far.  The quilt layout is 25 blocks laid out 5x5 so I'm roughly half way.  These blocks are so addictive...

Where Plan C became Plan D

Plan B had the most obvious problem of not having enough fabric.  Thanks for pointing that out Rona!  I looked at plenty of other options, including adding a contrast border to the bottom but in the end didn't want to stray too far from my original idea - so decided (after receiving much needed support from Monika) to try attaching my 1/4yard length of the same fabric to the bottom.  Yes, pattern matching!  I used the technique Elizabeth Hartman describes in her Modern Pieced Backs Craftsy Class, and am happy to report it worked like a treat. The join almost lines up with the LH corner of the bottom block.

As you can see, a length of grey got added, and the green split between both sides.  I like the balance - the mix of hectic and plain, and the strength the green gives to both sides.  I've got the blocks pinned on, and will handstitch them down once I've finished some of my other hand work.

I'm also thinking about possible backing fabric... the brown??

 
Or the blue??

Plus the eternal question of how to quilt it.

Talking about hand jobs (boom boom) - the hand quilting is roaring along progressing quietly...

From the back...

And the front...

I love the texture.  I've got 3.5 circles which need to be echo quilted.  Then 5 circles need to have the internal petals done.  Two lengths of sashing need to be outlined, then last up, circles done around the cornerstones.  But good progress.

And the last news for today is these three orphan blocks finally have a home, or at least a quilt to call their own.

From Material Obsessions Book One... a little lady:

A wonky-ish house:

And another wonky-ish house.

I started these blocks using leftovers mostly from Nadia's bed quilt made when she was about two.  After making these few blocks, I realised that my idea of scraps was quite different from the books idea of scraps - and that I really didn't have enough pieces big enough.  So they have sat for the last five years doing nothing, occasionally being looked at, and put away again.  It does feel good to get these to a useable state.

Don't you love this birdie print?

 And look, some quilting from the back... those squares again...

FMQ straight lines with curly-wigs in the middle...

A feather up one side...

From the front...

And a still to be stitched on binding... what a busy day it has been!

More things crossed off my to do list.