Only four more rockets...

... and then this baby will be ready to sew together.

This one turned out a little more funky than I imagined.  The print is a bit large for all those little pieces that make up the face... but there is no way I'm making another one!

And I included a somewhat pinkish star even though the quilt is more of a boyish design... hopefully not too much?

Isn't this one pretty?

And just to show that you can make an ugly wonky star.  There's only a few letters difference between wonky and wrong

My evening hand sewing is still struggling along, even though I had a wonderful project chosen to work on.

3 1/2 pieces sewn down

Which helps to fill up this lower section!  Only about 30 more pieces to go.  I get the feeling this is going to be very colourful, if nothing else :0)

I did focus a bit more on my little Tillies Lane blocks (which are perfect leader/ender sewing), and completed the desired 6 this week.  Next week I have more binding to sew down... as my secret project gets that much closer to completion.  Whew!

How did we get to Tuesday already?

Somehow managed to miss my somewhat regular Sunday roundup.  So what's been happening in the sewing shed?  How am I getting on with my Fabric Diet and am I still resisting the urge to start new projects?

I'm being good :0)   Existing WIP projects only.

Robot Quilt.  We have robot number three!

Star Number One!

Rocket Number One!  And then the beginnings of the layout... woot!

It wasn't long before there was star number two... and I finally realised that the layout is a basic nine patch.  Duh!  Five robots, and four units made up of two rockets and two stars.  I have altered the original pattern slightly, making wonky star blocks instead of regular ones... I just like the twinkly effect you get from those uneven points.

On the fabric buying front... my package ordered from BD (before diet) finally arrived (two months later) with the two backing fabrics  destined (hopefully) for the two raffle quilts that are in the pipeline.  This star fabric will be a perfect backing for this robot quilt.

The other fabric I chose is a cute little woodland scene (well, we'll call it woodland due to the raccoon and owls... but it is a bit of a stretch), and I've still got my fingers crossed that it somewhat goes with the Japanese Ladies, in colour if not theme. 

No other new fabric has passed these hands.  Honest.

I've also been slowly plodding through piecing up the individual rows for the Nordic Star quilt - still a few long sashing strips to add before I make decisions about the size and design of the additional rows.

My hand stitching goal of finishing the hand stitching on The Giant Chevron's binding got finished on Saturday... just in time to be gifted to my expectant sister in law on Sunday.  Yay!

No new photo - you'll have to believe me

Last week I vowed that I was going to choose something more exciting in the hand work department... and have pulled out my needleturn applique Kim McLean project from Taupo Symposium.

Was it worth the wait?

Linking up with Jess and Rebecca from Fabriholics anonymous linkup and maybe Lee at Freshly Pieced if I remember.

The Return of Routine

My routines disappear completely during the school holidays.  The return to school and work means that my teeth return to getting flossed regularly, I drink more water, and my sewing time condenses to an hour each afternoon during the week.  We are all still getting used to the return of routine!

Yesterday was one of those parenting days better forgotten.  After screaming, swearing and the slamming of doors (that was just me), and retreating to my sewing cave, I discovered that my larger sewing machine had lost its tension.  New needle, new thread, new bobbin, a bit of a clean, a bit better of a clean, another rethread... still no joy.  So much for those plans to start some blanket stitch on those My Tweet blocks. 

Instead I pulled out another WIP project, and did a bit of figuring.  As I was still a bit wild around the edges, a calculator, pen and paper seemed the way to go.

Recap, I had five dresden fan blocks and seventeen Modern Cross blocks.  The layout worked best if I made another three MC blocks - which gave me space to fit in the frame and sashing around the dresdens.  First up I sewed the last grey centre down on the dresden fans (again, that hand sewing gets put aside every time).

The Inspiration... Nordic Star from the Fat Quarterly Shape Book for Quilters.  This quilt is organised as rows of blocks with a variety of piecing, sashing and negative space.  You will have noticed that my blocks are different... of course, they started as completely different projects and are different sizes to the original.  I'm sure I'm not the only person who starts projects in this way??  I call it the Evolution Method of Design :0)  I have great faith.

By close of day today, there was some progress, the frame and sashing for the dresden fan row almost complete... well, four done.

I'm working with Essex Linen in Flax as the background fabric.  I wouldn't want to do complicated piecing with it... but so far so good.

And the extra Modern Cross blocks...

I've sort of been putting this one off - you know how you do - resisting sewing those extra blocks, and then imagining the quilt maths much worse than it really was.  A bit of a picture... some simple addition and subtraction, (some deep breathing) and I was away.  Funny how that works out isn't it?

I also did a bit more work on my Tillies Lane blocks, these are so cute finishing at 3"

This is what I've finished so far.  The background dot is just there for effect... as I haven't decided how to approach that area yet.  The coloured bits are 100% random scraps... with the inner triangles all the same cream solid.

Yip, I see that one pointing the wrong way :0)

Reading through the BOM instructions, I should be doing 24 blocks per month.  So far I've done 11 over the last three or so months.  Whoops.  This is where the being organised bit would be good.  If I have any chance of getting this finished this century... I should try and do six blocks per week.  We'll see how that works.

My hand work schedule has been another routine that has gone by the by over the holidays.  On the agenda this week is finishing up the Giant Chevron baby quilt hand stitching on the binding.  Then next week I'm going to do something exciting.  Promise.  I am so sick of sewing binding down :0)