Where has the time gone?

Well, June disappeared and July is already underway.  I have struggled to work out what I have achieved the last couple of weeks since the last post.  Usually I take photos to remind myself... but as I started to think a new post was well overdue, well... it appeared there were no photos on the camera!

So... what exactly have I been up to?

Firstly, I did some redecorating in our bathroom.  Our family/only bathroom is pretty small.  Consisting width wise of a bath, basin and shower unit (the room is as long as the bath - 1.5m)... it's never really had any decorative elements.  That changed when I bought some storage boxes which my handy hubby attached to the wall, and a new toothbrush holder and soap dispenser.

I really like how it turned out, and we can now keep the window sill and basin top clear of all the crap that used to cover it.

I have been asked to run a FMQ class... so I requested that participants create a small quilt top (18 x 24" roughly) which could be donated to the local maternity unit as bassinet quilts once they are finished.  Being the tutor means that I will have to demonstrate too... so had to look through my bits and pieces to find something to put together.  I just happened to have a selection of rainbow squares cut... goodness knows why, and I realised they looked great with a strip of leftover backing from my Tokyo Subway quilt, and some odd pieces of white on white.  This is what I came up with.  It is insanely cute.

And talking about FMQ... I finally started quilting my Stack, Slash and Slide quilt top...

After much thought, I decided to stick with a simple interlocking boxes design all over... so far - I've got the first 1/4 finished.  Unfortunately I managed to strain a muscle in my side, which led to a twinge in my neck from overcompensating (like you do), and it took a few days to come back to normal.  Moral of the story... stick to small, regular sessions instead of marathon ones.

 Finishing all my mindless piecing jobs early in the month (RSC blocks and Tillies Lane hourglass blocks) meant that I needed something small and easy to just whizz through the machine as a leader/ender.  Tillies Lane for July is Month 8... and there is only Month 9 left after that.  Which is mostly putting the quilt together!  A little bit of preplanning means that I'm creating little four patches with my hour glass blocks.  Here's one I prepared earlier!

And although the pile is still pretty small... it is growing!

The project needing the leader/ender, is operation "My Tweets block framing".  I've got the left hand side blocks added now.  I can almost see the end of this one now.  Almost.  I've chosen the framing fabrics for the right hand side and started the top right hand block.

When I was sorting through my sewing shed a few weeks back, I found this orphan block.  Luckily it is the perfect match for a new commission - a single bed sized quilt for a little girl - purple being the chosen colourway.  I haven't quite decided how one block is going to turn into a full sized quilt, but with it up on the design wall it's just a matter of time before those creative juices start flowing.

I spent the last Saturday of June sewing at my favourite fabric shop (The Country Yard)... and just happened to buy the following fat quarters.  From a Sweetwater range... of course, none of these fabrics have labeling on their selvedge.  Gorgeous.  I am in love.

And these totally random fabric purchases arrived in my post box also... maybe some of these purples could end up in the kids quilt.

Thoughts about goals for July.

Well, I still have this quilt all over my floor.

The RSC colour for July is BLUE.  So really, I need to lay out the blocks so far, to do some planning before I can choose a new block to sew.

I'd like to sew another dress, so I really need to lay that out to be able to cut it out.

I'd like to lay out Tillies Lane because, well, it's almost finished people!!!

I can just see the My Tweets top falling off the design wall completely as it gets bigger and heavier.  If that happens... well, I'll need to lay it out on the floor.

Also on the horizon is Charlotte's mystery quilt - which already has month threes instructions up on Carol's Quilts blog.  Not sure if I really need to lay this out yet - but you never know.

So to do any of these things... I really need to get these VQR blocks sashed and sewn together.  I feel a bit weird because it's working backwards order-wise to how I've been doing things most of the year.  Today I sewed together my first row.  OK, I can do this.


Right, I think I'm all caught up... hopefully you are still awake.