This week I am on a mission to make as many Lady of the Lake blocks as I can. I want this quilt made asap. I am so enjoying trying various colourways together and the blocks are coming out beautifully. I have lots of UFO's ( like everyone else ) but I am determined that this will not be one. As this is going to be a BIG quilt I will not be able to machine quilt it so I plan to hand quilt it - I think. I would love to have the top made and basted soon so I can quilt it through the winter. I have hand-quilted one other king-size quilt ( my very first one ) and it didn't take as long as I thought it was going to.
I have worked out I need to make 77 blocks and so far have made 46. This is where the dripping tap thing comes in. I am working on these blocks little and often. Instead of having a huge chunk of time to sit down and power sew I am chipping away and am surprised by how many I've done. Sometimes if I have a few free hours I think I will just park my bum on the sewing chair and go !! BUT it doesn't work for me - I start getting fidgety and thinking about what else I should or could be doing. So this last week I have been just doing a bit here and there. Chain sewing some HST's together whilst waiting for the washing machine to finish - pressing a few open whilst waiting for the vegetables to cook - trimming some down to size while waiting for the kettle to boil for a cup of tea. All these minutes add up. I am making sure I always have something ready to do in these odd minutes.
At the moment I have a fruit cake in the oven ( I am craving one really bad. ) so while waiting for it to cook and after finishing on here I am going to cut out some more triangles as I am getting low. Here's what my ironing board looked like after the first cutting spree.
.jpg)
.jpg)
I have decided not to post a picture yet of the blocks I have done but will wait to lay them out so you get a better idea. I am toying with the idea of using just one fabric for the setting triangles -as the blocks are on point. In the pattern they are all scrappy and it looks great so I am a bit undecided yet. I have also been thinking - could be dangerous - of a border idea. I love pieced borders and these books I just bought have given me food for thought.
So - I'm curious - are you a dripping tap or a waterfall ??
( or have I completely lost it as my dd will say when she sees this latest heading - lol ! )
One last thing - we have a postal strike in UK at moment so to everyone I have promised patterns and PIF's I am waiting til it has ended before posting stuff out. Thanks.
27 comments:
I am definitely a waterfall because my sewing studio is in a different building and I have to walk, sometimes through several feet of snow and below zero temps. When I go out there I make it worth my while!
I can be a waterfall, but usually I'm a dripping tap. LOL It is surprising how much the work adds from those ten minutes here and half an hour there.
Looking forward to seeing all of your blocks!
I love that pieced border book! I'm a bit of both I"m afraid!
Thanks for a fun post, Andrea :o) I think I'm a little bit of both - mostly a waterfall, but I have a bit of the dripping tap in me :o) Have fun with your blocks! This will make a great quilt! And I love pieced borders, so I look forward to see what you come up with!
It's amazing just how those 'stolen moments' add up - I think most of us are both dripping taps and waterfalls depending on how much time is at our disposal - but you can get a lot done in little snippets of time here and there in and amongst
Great use of those spare minutes! I use that technique too and am pleased with what I can get done.
looking forward to seeing the blocks........sometimes I am a waterfall and nothing gets fed and nothing gets done in the house and other times I am a dripping tap........when life is tooo busy....just read joyce's comment and I would be a waterfall if i had to walk thru snow to get to the sewing room to.........hope she has a big heater there....love the blocks in the previous post......
I am a bit of both! If I lived alone, I would be a waterfall full time.
Have you visited Judy Laquidara's blog?
http://judylaquidara.blogspot.com/
She gives us wonderful patterns & tips. I see you have her book. I would love to have it.
Definitely a dripping tap - two small kids means I use whatever time I can get LOL
I think I am probably a dripping tap, at least most of the time.
You have quite a load of triangles to keep you busy for awhile. That is a lot of cutting!
Definately I'm a dripping tap! Short attention span I guess! I like to do several different things, but in smaller time chunks...I don't like to make HST's for hours on end. I think your approach will prevent this quilt from becoming a UFO.
I tend to be a waterfall. Even when I plan to do a little bit, I ever do nothing or a lot. My sewing space is in the basement, so its hard to do a bit while cooking upstairs, I would burn everything.
I think I am most often a dripping tap.Definitely break down the tasks into manageable small time chunks.I find myself doing most things in half hour or less.Can't wait to see this quilt. Love the pattern. Colleen
I WANT to be a waterfall, but I can't even be a dripping tap, since a dripping tap drips at consistent intervals. My season of life, I guess -- little ones still at home. I have to be a waterfall on the Halloween costumes, tho'--that is coming right up!
I have just discovered your blog and I can see I will have to visit often...lol. I am definately a dripping tap. Once upon a time I was a waterfall - but now too many things distract me (along with the children and garden) and I find a bit at a time gets more done than me sitting there for ages trying to sew - but coming up with all sorts of ideas for using whatever stash I can see...vbg.
Catherine
http://calidore.wordpress.com
I'm looking forward to see your blocks! Am I a waterfall or a dripping tap? It all depends. If there is a deadline, even if it is self-imposed I am a waterfall. If here isn't a deadline I can be a dripping tap.
I am a drip. And I am not very persistent LOL
But I want to hear about your fruitcake please!
Is there something in between...a babbling brook maybe...one that rises and falls with the rainfall. I have small projects around the house for those "stolen moments" but occasionally can get myself focused and am amazed how much gets done in a marathon session...
I am a dripping tap! Just not enough time and I am like you I get fidgety. That's why I have so many UFO's. I start a new project when I get fidgety.
I'd be a jibbering wreck if that ws my ironing board! LOL
I am definitely both. I love to sit down and just get absorbed in a project so that hours fly past, but if I don't have the chunks of time I do bits here and there. I suppose that's why I feel so weird now; I've been helping set Keryn's place up so much there isn't even time for the 'dripping tap' style of sewing. Back into it soon though, and if Keryn and I were closer we could quilt your top on the Statler when it gets here!
I used to make a gorgeous Currant and Cherry fruitcake, it weighed as much as a cement block but was divine nibbling for weeks!
wish I was a waterfall! But I'm definitely a dripping tap! Looking forward to seeing your blocks!
I am a waterfall but I think it would work great to be a dripping tap, as you say all those minutes add up, I have never thought about it!!!
Definitely a waterfall!! Once u get me in the studio, just try and get me out!!! lol but there r days when the waterfall dries up (not even a drip)....but it usually returns with a gusto!!!
Triangles, triangles everwhere!! I tend to be a waterfall, because once I get going I find it hard to stop. But, sometimes I can be a dripping tap and space something monotonous (?sp) inbetween other projects I'm working on :)
I'm both. When I'm watching a program on TV and a commercial comes on, I skip to my studio and do something and then when the program comes back on, I leave. It's amazing what can get done during those wasted minutes in an hour.
BTW, I just made another bucket bag and have posted a photo.
Just now having a chance to catch up LOL . . .
I'm definitely a waterfall - really obsessive when I start a project. So why do I have so many UFO's? I guess the waterfall can be diverted LOL!
This is going to be a spectacular quilt - it is one pattern I've always wanted to make.
Post a Comment