Magnolia Mystery – 2

I am not getting much done on the quilting front…. Reached a slump I guess but I am still sorting out my new storage space and have opened up and got rid of temporary plastic storage drawers.  I’ve tried a technique when I overheard 2 embroiderers discussing their way of doing free motion quilting (actually they embroider motifs on a quilt) but it failed miserably when trying this on a domestic sewing machine.  So 4 solid days of unpicking was part cause of my quilt time wasted.

Let me move on to better news.  The second sewing clue for this mystery quilt arrived on time, in fact, earlier than I expected.  Being South African my clues seem to arrive long after the rest of the world receives theirs.

So this was what my sewing table looked like one Friday afternoon after work.

And once sewn together I had only these two stacks.  Now I have to wait yet another month for the next clue.

Birthday fabric One Block Wonder – 5 -Final

Started off very enthusiastically trying to quilt with metallic thread but after 6 thread breakages in the span of 14 inches I gave up.  Some wars are simply best left alone, so I did what I said I’ll do in the previous post and opted for a bright yellow.

I tried to use my “non-hopping” ruler foot for all-over quilting and this worked like a breeze and in future I might only use this instead of switching feet when not doing ruler work (not as if I have used rulers before).

So with the last sentence in mind I tried my hand a ruler work and I guess for a first try I should have gone with a thread colour less contrasting to the fabric as this combination showed up every little flaw.

Fortunately unpicking the contrasting thread was not that hard and after all the trials and errors I opted to make it easier on myself and chose a large scale all-over meandering covering the 3 borders.

Another one bites the dust!

Packing Space

On one of hubby’s frequent business trips, going through a quaint little town, known for selling antiques, he noticed something on the pavement in front of a pawn shop.  Aware of my quilt addiction and my need for plenty of storage space but not necessarily deep drawers, rather flatter but MORE space in one cupboard/storage area he stopped and made a purchase.

Previously this little green plastic rack used to be my paper sorter/container…. Fugly to say the least and now I could replace it with this wooden one. I turned the wooden one to face my computer, so people entering the room would not be able to see the mess inside but just see a wooden frame.  So much neater!

The second purchase was this divine little cupboard with flatter but more (30 in total) storage spaces.  It was just what I needed for all my accessories and tools.  I have heaps of these scattered in several drawers or spaces inside cupboards and always wished for one central area to store all of these. Hubby just added the little doors for me.  Neat or what?  I can hardly wait to start packing and sorting.

Birthday fabric One Block Wonder – 4

Before going to bed on Sunday eve, I had my top assembled thus achieving my goal for the weekend. And if you are looking for the mistake I mentioned in my previous post….. I fixed it (irrespective of what I may look like from behind, my conscience is still bigger than my butt)!

Monday was a little rougher in that after work, I had to clean the birds’ room (another one of hubby’s chores that I had to take over, this week) and run some errands for the office before I could even think of quilting but I still managed to add two borders to my quilt top.

Tuesday I had to wash carpets.  Having 3 huge dogs, each having a couple of favourite spots on which to chew their juiciest bone, our carpets never stay clean for long.  I however noticed we tend to make a cleaning job a much bigger issue than it really is.  Got home, spot sprayed two rooms and let the cleaning agent sit.  Went to my sewing room, started doing either cutting, pinning, single seam stitching or whatever was next on the agenda and then returned to room 1 to wash the carpet, break to quilt, spray room 3 and this went on and before long I not only had a house with clean carpets but the third and final border sewn onto my quilt.

Wednesday off to my favourite Pfaff dealer to get backing and backing and then I sat behind my Pfaff Grand Quilter to practise my overall free-motion pattern…… wait for it….. with metallic thread.  Lots of prayers need to be sent my way, please.

Then it was time to go outside to my newly discovered (but actually old) quilt basting table and before any cat could become annoying on this blanket mom put outside, I had the basting done.

Now I am disappearing from the blogging world for a while as I have to focus on SLOW and painfully patient quilting hoping to become good friends with the metallic thread…. Otherwise I’ll just quilt the thing in yellow thread and pretend it is gold. Oh and I am trying out my new ruler foot without the hopping motion.  I just figured I paid a fortune for it, if I can only use one foot instead of changing all the time, I might as well do it, so wish me luck.

Birthday fabric One Block Wonder – 3

With hubby away on a golf break for a week, I’ve set way too many quilting goals for myself.  With all I planned, a day should have twice as many hours and I forgot that I still had to go to the office daily (couldn’t also take off), has to take over all hubby’s chores, so walking the dogs twice a day and checking on the garden too has to fit into a single day.

I however set this weekend out to make good progress on my Birthday OBW which I did.  Started joining the half hexes in strips and all went just fine, then started joining strips in pairs when I saw THIS BIG BOOBOO!

The worst part is that I already saw this as I put the half hexes up on the design wall and eliminated this hexagon seeing that I had 3 that wouldn’t be put to use.  Somehow, somewhere it must have crept back into the final layout.  Bummer!  Not a good mood-setter for the rest of the week.  I am still contemplating whether to unpick and fix or just let it be.