I Am a Negligent Blogger

I have been sewing this summer - just not blogging very much. I actually got into instagram and like it a lot - you can follow me as @howmytimeflies if you're interested.

I went on a quilting retreat last week to QMBH and it was awesome. The facilities are great and I had fun. I worked only on Dear Jane and took a chunk out of what I have left to do. Here's my progress:

I don't know the reference numbers for all of them - some of them had over 45 pieces. I have about 20 to do to get the 169 squares done. There is a big reveal the end of Sept for everyone who started the class. I at least want the centre squares finished for then.

I've also made a bunch of baby shoes for assorted people:

These 5 pair are all size 0-3 months.

And I made a boxy pouch to store my knitting in. It's Riley Blake "Apple of my Eye" - the first fat quarter bundle I ever bought.

I started with this...

And finished with this

It's about 9" long and 4" tall and wide. If I make another one I'll for sure put zipper pull tabs on both ends of the zipper. I'm happy with it and it's the perfect size for knitting projects.

And my friends and I made our own swoon along quilt project for the summer and we're all finished ours. Mine is for the daughter of my cousin. The light isn't great here - it's actually quite purple - and huge so I don't have a floor space big enough that is lit very well to show the true colours.

Soon it's back to school time and there will be a significant decrease in the amount of spare time I have to sew. I'm  going to try to get as much done as possible before then and I'll keep you posted.

Design Wall (and Floor) Monday

Here's an update on what I'm working (and not working) on.

These pieces make up three
more swoon blocks. My friends and I are doing a swoon-along this summer and all our fabric choices are different. Mine is a gift for my cousin's daughter. All my blocks will be the same. After I made the first three one at a time, I decided I'd had enough of that and was going to start chain piecing to go faster. It sort of defeats the purpose of a swoon-along, but then I decided I really needed to finish something this summer so went ahead. Also, my sewing friends might just be competitive enough that it will motivate them to keep going.

Here are the three blocks I have finished. They are huge - 24" finished - and they only place there is room to lay them out - barely - is on the floor.

On my actual design wall is my Dear Jane. These are rows D and E. I an woefully behind where I should be according to the schedule set by the teacher. This is definitely my next project.

I'm linking up to Patchworktimes - go over to see what everyone else is up to.

Back to the Sewing Machine

It's been a busy few weeks at school so I haven't had much time to sew. I've been looking forward to this weekend so I could have a break from work and do some sewing.

I got three Dear Jane blocks completed:

L8

M4 - with 49 pieces!

M6

I have one more triangle piece then my homework is finished for this month.

Here's my design wall tonight

It's going to be a quilty week for me this week. Today I went to a quilt show in Ailsa Craig, where every year they host an international quilt show. This year it's quilts of Great Britain, and this blogger, who I read, had some quilts in the show and I wanted to see them. I took a bunch of pictures - unfortunately they have a strict copyright rule, so I can take for myself but I'm not allowed to share.

Tomorrow C and I are going to hear Zen Chic give a trunk show at a local quilt shop. That should be awesome. Then Thurs is guild night. Not much time in there for sewing though.

What do you have on this week?

Back at the needle

I've been away from the sewing machine for a bit - my paying job was making some serious demands on my time. I had a bit of a respite this weekend, so jumped at the chance to do some sewing.

On Friday, C and I had a sewing retreat at her house. I got two Dear Jane blocks finished there:

L5

BR 5

It was a productive day.

Saturday I did a little shopping with my sister - hit a quilt shop but didn't take any photos. I also did another Dear Jane triangle. Here is BR 6:

BR 6

I got back to my sewing machine tonight and fixed up this block:

K5

I had the bottom right hand corner mixed up - it wasn't mirroring the top left corner and it was bugging me.

Here's what my design wall looked like when my Dear Jane homework was finished:

I'm linking up to Patchworktimes Design Wall Monday.

This is really bugging me

I thought it would go away - that feeling - when something is just not right.

See this

It's a Dear Jane block. I made it last weekend - took about 45 minutes and I did paper piecing. When I was finished and pressing it, I noticed it - the problem that's bugging me. See the upper left and bottom right corners - notice anything?

They are supposed to match - they don't. Immediately I thought - just leave it, there's no Dear Jane police. It'll be fine.

It's been on the design wall all week and every time I walk by it I cringe a little.

I'll have to do some un-sewing. Sigh.

Dear Jane...

...sometimes I wonder what you really did. Did you have a house servant to do all the work around the house so all you could do was sit and sew all day? How many people, if any, helped you with this quilt? Did you ever swear in frustration? Miscalculate measurements? Wonder what the heck you were thinking to start this project?

J7

K3

What I've Been Up To

I've been busy - it feels that way anyway.

I quilted the top I pieced last weekend. For a while it was called "the quilt of obligation" - now I really like it and I enjoyed making it. The baby shower is this weekend and I hope the parents love it.  I'll get some better shots over the weekend - if I lay it out to get good shots now my cat will roll all over it and I just washed it.

I finished these fingerless mittlets over the weekend. They are cashmere and yummy.  They are light pink - I'll get a better shot of those too - they look orange in this picture.

Finally here is my Dear Jane progress for this month.

All in all, I think I'm doing nicely.

Design Wall Monday

I don't have much to say today - here's what's on the wall.

Snow Day X2

The weather has been frigidly cold in my area lately and this weekend was no exception - except that we also had snow that blew around quite a bit.

Saturday I was supposed to have my Dear Jane class, but it got cancelled due to the weather. I was going to visit my friend L and her new baby, but woke up with a stuffy head (that later went away) so I opted to reschedule. It was a snow day.

I should have marked exams - didn't. I knitted and sat in front of the fire instead. I finished one of the mittlets I bought the pattern for last Saturday. It's cashmere and yummy - and the photo won't come through on email so I'll post them when they are finished.

I worked on some Dear Jane last night and tonight - the good thing about class being cancelled is that I didn't have my homework finished and I got a chance to catch up. Today turned into a snow day too - book club rescheduled due to blowing snow.

K9 - it might look familiar because it was also homework in June 2012 so now I have a double

LS10

M7

BR2

And I've met my goal for Dear Jane for this month.
Now, I've got to start sewing my drapes - it's cold in the family room and they are one of my projects to complete before the end of January.

Design Wall Monday

I got some sewing finished after our shopping trip. And I'm tired, and it's past my bed time, so this will be short and sweet.

Here's the Design Wall tonight:

I've added some Dear Jane border pieces:

BR 1

LS 9

And I made some baby shoes:

I'm linking up to Patchworktimes.
And now I'm going to bed cause it's past my bedtime.

A Successful Shopping Day

Last Saturday I went fabric shopping and it was a bust. Bought nothing - for a variety of reasons.

Today I went shopping with C and it was a huge success.  Normally C, L, and I go out together - L is out for a bit because she has a newborn.

We started in a local quilt shop that had a 30% off pre-inventory sale - off everything, notions included (with a .5m minimum cut on bolts). They were shut down for about 3 weeks with the ice storm we had in December - usually this sale is between Christmas and New Year's - this year it's later and longer.  I also registered for the last leg of my Dear Jane class.

I shopped away and picked up this bundle

The colour is off in this picture - it's various shades of cream with a purple blender type fabric. It will be a low volume quilt for someone I work with. I'll take more pictures of the progress in daylight so the colours should show up better.

I also picked up this pattern:

I've seen it made - someone at guild made one - it's stunning. I owe a cousin a wedding quilt - she's been married about 5 years now so it's time I got going on it. In my defence, for my late start, she can't decide what she wants or a colour scheme so I've decided for her.

Then we hit a yarn shop. C would like to learn to knit so we decided to stop there to see what they had.
There I got:

It's a pattern for fingerless and mostly thumbless mitts. The yarn is cashmere and feels delightful. The colours aren't great here either - the top is a pink/red/tomato colour for me and the bottom a purple for C.

Then a quick stop for lunch.

The we headed into Toronto to Sew Sisters. I've never been there. It's a great shop and I'd definitely go again.
There I picked up:

This pattern book - I like the one on the front cover.

And this fabric for crib shoes:

It's a lot of sports fabric - which would suit some boys.

Overall, I outspent C by quite a bit. This is highly unusual. Usually C and L bully each other into spending and I'm a tight wad. Today I spent. It is good.

On the way home, we were busy chatting and took a detour through the airport because of a turn we made. I'd just like to say that I wasn't driving.

Tonight I finished this Dear Jane block:

TR1

And I did some marking too and my pile finally looks like it might be shrinking.

How did you spend your Saturday?

2 of 48 Completed

I've gotten a little sewing finished this week. I've been working on my Dear Jane blocks. I have 48 square blocks to finish in 2014 - now 46 since I've finished two this week.

F9

 F9 is a lovely little block. I took a few pictures of my mistakes - where I thought I was smarter than the blogger who has made several Dear Janes and had a great blog about it. Turns out I'm never as smart as I think I might be. Then I pushed the wrong button on the computer and the photos deleted. What I thought I could do was take the outer white portion and applique it on in one giant piece, rather than four.  A great idea till I got to the point where the curves reach a point and I realized there was then no seam to turn under. Ah well, the block is finished. I may or may not rip out one of the petals - top row, left side - because it will fall into the seam allowance and cut the end off. I may or may not care about that.

L3

A paper pieced block. I didn't read any online instructions, but thought I'd be smart and just trace out the whole block - maybe it's just tiredness. Then I realized that the outer borders have to be separate pieces because of that darn corner that sticks out from the inner squares. It turned out fine anyway.

2014 Here I Come

My friend L has already reviewed her quilts of 2013 and set her goals for 2014 and she's 8 1/2 months pregnant. She's amazing and my hero!

I am not by nature super organized and I'm okay with that (if I got super organized I'd never have anything to set as a theme for the year). Here's my review of 2013 and goals for 2014 all in one big post.

2013 Review:
Dear Jane - I seem to sew and sew and sew and it never feels like I get much done. Two women in the class are actually finished all 169 square blocks. I'm not there - yet.
I finished 33 blocks this year (doesn't sound too great), which equals 743 pieces (sounds better).


I made some really cute baby shoes - some for gifts and some I sold.

I finished this quilt top for my niece

2014 Goals:

Dear Jane
I have 48 square blocks and 44 triangles left to go - that equals 7.6 blocks per month in 2014. So, I'll aim for 8 blocks per month.

Quilt my niece's quilt - before the end of Feb so I can show it at the guild meeting on Feb 27th.

Make the drapes for my family room before the end of January. I've figured out the math I think

Make a baby quilt for someone at work - before  March 2nd cause that's the baby shower date. I'm thinking low volume and have a simple pattern picked out.

Make a crosses quilt for a 1 year old - during March break.

Be more chatty on my blog. I'm not chatty by nature and I think I'm too vague on my blog and that my personality doesn't come through as much as I'd like it to.

Finish a red and white hunter's star - by June 15th - in case the recipient comes home for a family gathering.

Those are all the sewing goals I'm setting for this year. Life will create more as I go through the year. Everything else that gets finished beyond this will be a bonus.

My personal theme for the year is health and wellness and meeting those goals will also take some time.

Wish me luck!