On progress and on lack of progress

Three quarters finished on the binding... and then it will be all over.  Hand sewing binding always puts a blister right on the end of my forefinger that holds the needle and a sore patch on my middle finger that assists with pushing it through (tried a thimble and it was just a hot sticky mess).  Hence short and irregular bursts of sewing.  I am such a wuss.

I am a firm believer in the saying "it's not over until the fat lady sings"... although in quilting terms, it relates to not making judgement until the quilting and binding are complete.  Even hubby has changed his opinion and quite likes it - with all it's restrained design aesthetic.

With spirals on the green, interlocking boxes on the blue, and an echo around the zigzag, the quilting helped to pull it all together.

Shows up nicely on the back.

This design has come about in such a round about sort of way - logic and necessity more than anything. You'll remember the initial drawing, which meant poor utilization of fabric, so I changed the zigzag to run horizontally as opposed to vertically, meaning that the other sections could be cut in one piece... across width of fabric since the quilt is 40" wide.  That design had the zigzag towards the bottom, with the large plain section at the top.  But as the only fabrics I could buy to match the charm square prints weren't the best matches... and I didn't want that much of the green, I switched the design to the zigzag at the top and a small section of green, with the heavier and bigger blue section at the bottom.  I had also intended to use the green as the binding... which would have looked amazing around the dark blue section.  But I didn't like it so much with the backing fabric I had bought, so stuck with the dark blue for the binding.  So all up... I'm happy with how it has turned out, regardless of how or why it all came about.  And I think it's a perfect design for someone who couldn't give a rats arse about quilting.

In other quilting news, once this baby quilt is finished up, I can return to the girl quilt under construction... now that I have another pack of charm squares to continue.  Quilting on Imogen's quilt has stalled as I consider what quilting designs to use to fill the balance of the space.  As often happens, indecision leads to no progress... but it's hard to do something when you don't know what to do.  I have one more week before heading back to work - so should really pull finger.

In other non-quilting news, uniform has been bought for Dylan's new school this year, and we had a dress rehearsal to check out how flash he looked - complete with new hair do.  Not that he was overly impressed - with either the uniform, hairdo or dress rehearsal.  They have a bottle green jumper/sweatshirt as well, but it was just too hot to force that on him too.

And a bit of holiday fun... a ginormous water slide set up at the town basin in Whangarei.  They had heaps of fun on this one!

Holiday Mode... Stories and Spirals

I thought that this week might be the one.  The one where I returned to myself. But in fact, I've found myself disappearing once again into the fantasy world of fiction.  I have achieved some of my holiday goals... a trip to the doctors for a decent checkup has resulted in a follow up for blood tests and x-rays next week.  We've also visited skate parks, the nearest indoor pools (which has a story all into itself) and had a wee fabric and thread shopping expedition.  So I think I am slowly returning.  Just not quite yet.

The thread purchases meant that I had no reason to get my teeth into quilting the boy quilt.  So after sandwiching it all this morning, I've started with green spirals.  No pebbles this time... just spirals.

I've come to the conclusion that success with spirals depend on two things - starting your spiral with a curve from the beginning... not a straight line with a bend on it.  The second being that every spiral should start with the same amount of curliness.  This is my standard... a curve with a bend.

Once you've followed that curve and bend back to the starting place, you will have already created quite a significant spiral shape.  See, you didn't need to go around, and around, and around.

This design, which is one of Angela Walters go to designs... next travels along the edge that the stitching butts up to (whether it's the edge of the quilt, another spiral or another design element), and creates an echo of the outer spiral.

Then it's time to start a new spiral, travel a little way along the previous spiral (you can also travel along the edge) and start a new spiral, again starting with a curve from the beginning and making the same amount of curliness as you started off with.

Echo back to the beginning, travel then create an outer echo...

Travel to start a new spiral.  Keep going until your space is all filled up.

Ideally all the spirals would be identical sizes, with identical echoing etc etc.  But we're not robots here are we??  Even drawing it has it's draw backs, as you can see.  Sometimes you have a bit more space, and other times not so much.  It does actually look better to have a bit of variety in the spirals - but too much variety and it starts to look messy.  Sticking with the two rules above will help to keep your spirals in order.  Also resist the temptation to do an extra echo - even when you really want to get onto the other side of the design.  Don't do it.  It just looks messy. 

So what have I been reading this time?  Well, finished the KGI series by Maya Banks.  Enjoyed every one of the books, except the one about Donovan which was just corny.  Read Shadow Woman by Linda Howard.  Which reminded me of another one of her books I've read in the past, so decided to revisit Death Angel by her also.  Still like it.  Next up is Whiskey Beach by Nora Roberts.  Loved it.  Got full on goosebumps right at the end - when the significance of the last few lines registered in my brain.  Excellent.

Right, more sewing and reading to do...

Breaking Radio Silence

After two busy weeks having everyone at home, hubby has gone back to work, and it's just me and the kids home during the day until almost the end of January.  Second day in... seems do-able :o)

I have a few Xmas photos to share:

Nadia looking glamorous...

Dylan looking goonie...

The little things that touch your heart...

 The mess when it's all over :o)

This year I went for the gift that keeps on giving... magazine subscriptions for everyone!  With the first editions wrapped up - there was plenty to keep everyone occupied as the weather turned not so flash.

I haven't done much sewing over the last couple of weeks.  Although I have finished quilting all the applique blocks on Imogen's quilt.  You can really see the quilting from this angle from the back.

I've also quickly put together the boy version cot quilt top... although no photo to show, and made good progress on the magazine submission quilt.  Although it has all been very relaxed and cruisy.

The kids have enjoyed the time with their dad home from work, and have spent a lot of time at the beach and playing with their scooters at various skate parks.  I've spent an enormous amount of time reading and have recently got hooked on the KGI series of books by Maya Banks.  These books are available to purchase on PlayBooks and I also discovered a few free versions on line.  Maya Banks writes covering a wide genre... a bit of shapeshifting, paranormal stuff, there is often a maiden in distress and a big guy (or guys) who come to her rescue, but there is also some seriously sexually explicit stuff (just warning you) if you were to randomly choose one of her other books or series - the KGI series is pretty tame in comparison, based around a big family in business together, love stories with big hulking gorgeous men with muscles of steel and hearts of gold, who meet and fall for the love of their lives.  Of course we all know that love never runs smoothly... and each book covers a different couple and their own struggles.  I'm whizzing through the series and dread when I get to the end... I just want it to keep on going... sign of a good book.

OK, well, I'm off to the Woman Cave to get some sewing done... no sign for me this Xmas... maybe next year.