Four day quilt bliss ... day 2

I hate to admit this, but against my better judgement (what’s that to a quilter I ask myself) I started another project before I’ve even begun the flower pots.

This brings my current projects up to five.  I say current, as there are a few UFOs in boxes that are haunting me.  I’ll need to get to them some time I suppose, as I hate waste, but sometimes it’s hard to bring the original enthusiasm back to the job!

So, staying focussed on the current projects, I notice that in addition to never having had that many going at the one time before, three of the projects are hand-sewing.

This tells me that I just don’t have enough time to get to the machine during the day.  I’ll have to figure out a way to adjust that. I’m not sure how other quilters manage it. Maybe they are just more dedicated or more ruthless about getting distracted?

The good news is that Winter is on the way, and that does give me more time in the house.

Giant hexagon 

What did I start, against my better judgement?

The colours look a bit washed out here - that's my camera skills I'm afraid. The pyramids sew up quickly!

I came across a hexagon (sigh) pattern in an old Australian Patchwork and Quilting magazine back in January.  I don’t like the fabrics in the original quilt, but I’m intrigued by the concept of making one large hexagon as the centrepiece, and then, using hand-pieced pyramids, creating one giant patchworked hexagon for the six sides of the centrepiece.  The borders will be machine-pieced.

The original quilt uses 5-inch charm squares to cut the pyramids from.  I don’t have any of those and am busy working my way through scraps.  My only rule is to use flowered fabrics in the pyramids, so I may have to purchase some fabrics some time down the line.

Scrap  vortex

Today I finished the first ‘panel’ (which can be any size) of my scrap vortex quilt.  Any size scrap can be used, and some of mine are only 1.5 inches,  while others are much larger.  I’ve also sewn a couple of orphan blocks into this one which were left overs, or ‘failures’, from other projects.

There are all sorts here - Kaffe Fasset, animal prints, novelty prints, florals, polka dots, geometric patterns, and some vintage fabrics whose origins are a mystery.  Some fabrics bring fond memories of other quilts.  Some fabrics will be finding a new home after this as I am heartily tired of them!

The idea behind this quilt is to just get to the sewing machine when I can, and sew scraps together, a la Crazy Mom, until I have enough panels to sew together into a lap or throw that can just be tossed around the house or beach without being too precious about who’s using it – i.e. husband, dogs, visiting friend’s grandchildren, etc.

Now that I’m creating Indigenous fabric scraps as well as more modern scraps from the sort-of-modern quilt, I need to make sure that I mix them up otherwise I will end up with obvious panels of fabric sewn together.  I’m sewing the scraps together fairly mindlessly as I don’t want to end up dithering over fabric too much. 

Sometimes I think things can be overthunk! 

I hope that statement doesn't come back to haunt me at the end of this project.

The  sort-of-modern quilt 

The sort-of-modern quilt is already haunting me.  I’m not nearly as motivated as I was when I first started this, and I don’t understand why.  

Four blocks of each fabric, interspersed with a connecting background fabric, make up the quilt. 

Why has the excitement dwindled? Is it because I’m questioning my choice for the background fabric? That aqua polka dot was expensive, and I’ve already used it in the blocks.  Maybe I should think about making the connecting blocks in a solid aqua?

These blocks are the reverse of the ones above.  I've done 64 blocks and I need 17 more.  Each fabric is different.

Hhhhmmm.  Something to mull over.  It’s far too early to relegate this quilt to one of the UFO boxes on the basis that it is not worth the effort to complete just because I can’t quite capture my original excitement for it.

Get yourself in hand girl!

oooOOOooo 

Dave, the handyman, stopped by.  He reckons he can fix the kitchenette cupboard for a couple of hundred dollars, as he will need to remove the bench top, pull it out, make sure there is no mould behind the cupboard, and then put in a new backboard before putting it all together again.  I'm waiting for the paper quote with fingers crossed.

And I'll take the opportunity to paint the cupboard doors while the cupboard is in pieces - another project waiting in the wings.

oooOOOooo

The dogs, missing my husband, are on super-alert at the moment. They are being driven mad by the possums that are chowing down on the Feijoa which is now fruiting just outside the pergola.  I tried a couple of the fruits myself today.  They have a sort of strawberry taste, quite delicious.  My tree is small and I'm not sure what variety it is.  I guess the possums will have most of them.

The Lilly Pilly hedge will soon have ripe berries.  I've decided to try and make Lilly Pilly gin this year!

Hubblebird