We have had a shed load of snow which has been and gone. Not before I got stuck in my car up a hill and fell over - lol !! It was simply safer to stay in.
Anyway because of all the snow our postal service went haywire. I had ordered stuff on Dec 29th and yesterday (19th Jan ) it had still not arrived. So I went to the sorting office and asked if I could collect it. I was told there was a backlog of over 600 parcels and lord only knows when they would be sorted out. The lady behind could see I was not delighted at this news and asked me rather sarcastically " would you like me to go and look through 600 parcels ? " I felt like saying " Hello - I am waiting for fabric - of course I do !! " - lol...
Anyway I used a bit of persuasion and she trundled off to one of the big warehouses to have a look. As well as stuff for Jasons work she managed to find my bundle and here's my belated Christmas present to myself.
Not sure what's going to happen with it yet.
Anyway I was in need of wadding/batting and because I couldn't get to anywhere that sold any and the Post Men were being naughty I improvised and for my rail fence quilt I sandwiched it with a piece of a funny sort of stretchy fleece that I had bought years ago to make dressing gowns I think. Wasn't sure how it would turn out but am really pleased with it. Once it had backing fabric on it was fine. By the way is there anything more frustrating than spending an hour pinning 3 layers of a quilt together only to turn it over and see the backing fabric creased to blazes - aarrgghh. The trouble was I don't have loads of free floor space for doing this. In disgust I removed all the pins and tried again next day. This time I moved all the furniture around to make more space and pinned the backing to the floor. The result was a crease-free quilt and a good hoover/vacuum under all the stuff that never sees the light of day.
Here is the quilt - simply quilted with straight lines in keeping with the blocks.
This is an OLD ufo - from about 4 years ago I think. I didn't have my own blog then - just read other peoples. I saw this on a blog and set about something similar. I am pretty sure it was on Keryn's blog. I am always really inspired by hers and her sisters Mereth's blog. They always do such gorgeous quilts - we have very similar tastes. I remember having terrific fun slicing up a load of my favourite fat quarters and sewing them together in pairs. I love the colours in this quilt and it is great to have it done. Because of my make-do wadding it weighs a ton - just right for keeping me warm when I end up on the settee when Jason's snoring reaches high levels - lol !!!
For once I am showing you the back as I like how this looks. My little brain ached a bit working out these measurements - I like symmetry. It is quite a big quilt and it was so much easier quilting in on my new machine with the longer arm.
I have been counting and have got up to 20 ufo's - well 19 now. May not seem a lot to some quilters but it is annoying me. I have my next one picked out ready to work on. I will be hand-quilting this one though so will not be finished for a while. I also have a set of abandoned blocks that need working on pulled out of the depths and may get cracking on them.
One last thing - are you still awake ? Because of my quilting slump I have been doing other things like cross stitch and crochet and here is a little blanket I made for a neighbour's daughter who has just had a baby boy.
I have a few things to get out to people so if you're waiting for something from me - I haven't forgotten - it's on the list.
Take care xx
18 comments:
It sounds to me like you're not really in a slump at all. You're getting lots done!
Hurray! You finally got your fabric. I'm so glad the mail lady actually went and looked for it in the back! A month is such a long time to wait for anything to arrive by mail... especially fabric!
I'm always interested in seeing how other people quilt their quilts. Making that decision is SO hard and I usually end up stippling. I have resolved now that my next quilt will be quilted using straight lines of some kind!
I always had trouble basting until I tried Sharon Schamber's method using two boards. She has lots of free videos on her website and basting a quilt for machine quilting as well as one on basting for hand quilting, plus many more. Look under the free area on her website Sharon Schamber Network for the videos.
http://www.sharonschambernetwork.com/
Lynn
Wow, you call what you've been up to a slump? Looks like you're in high gear. Everything looks wonderful....I love the fence rail.
Lovely quilt! Isn't this the second one you've finished for sleeping on the sofa due to snoring? (VBS) You should keep very warm. I like the baby blanket as well, very pretty. Stay warm and safe. Blessed be.
I found a list of UFO to be depressing, so I don't write it down. Looks like you are still getting lots done, maybe not as much quilting at the moment, a little break can be good.
If you call that a slump, then I am in a quilting coma!
Love your now finished UFO. Beautiful colors.
As for that postal system...we complain to our post office people all the time, because they cannot seem to get addresses correct. We are always getting our neighbors mail. It amazes me that they have that much back log while they are complaining that the internet has taken away so much of their business! Makes you wonder, doesn't it?
Andrea, that "slump" is pretty productive. I love the way you improvised for the wadding on that quilt.
I have had the "creased quilt backing blues" a couple of times. It is very frustrating.
It can be good to have a break from quilting sometimes and do something else. You can then come back to it with renewed enthusiasm. Not that it ever goes - it just changes!
I love your improvisation for the wadding - that's what it's all about as far as I'm concerned.
Teresa x
Congrats on your finish! I really like the colors in your rail fence, warm and cozy. Enjoy sleeping under your nice heavy quilt. I like heavier quilts too, I have to admit, the string quilt I am trying to get finished probably weighs 6 or 7 pounds! I just love the weight though.
Can't wait to see what you do with your belated Christmas gift. Just lovely. Seems to me you are starting to come out of your slump, and hopefully you will continue to be more and more inspired to create more beautiful things. hugs!
I understand the "slump" too, but I admire how much you have gotten done! It is frustrating indeed to have a quilt all ready to go just to find out the back isn't right...arrghh.....take care
This is an encouraging post. For me, my list of UFOs create my slumps. Some of them are not what I feel like doing so instead, I wind up doing nothing. Good for you... you are tackling them. Nice work too. Imagine what you will have done and keep going!
Good for you pushing for a little service at the post office! Glad you got your parcels. I thought the postman was suppose to deliver come rain shine or sleet! :o)
I've counted up my UFO's too and I've got something in the region of 17 or 18. The problem is that I don't LOVE the UFO's in the pile and the temptation to start and work on new things is immense!
Your new fabric from FQS looks gorgeous - glad the lady at the Post Office helped you out.
Love your UFO - and how wonderful that the fleece worked as a batting. I can only imagine how heavy it is.
It was Keryn's quilt that inspired you, it's nice to know that others like what you're doing. I love your strippy backing, and the simple quilting, sometimes that's all it needs. Keep slumping along, you're still getting things accomplished by the look of it!
Your railfence looks great!
I think you have been productive and great to have a UFO done.
A quilting slump maybe but definitely not a creative one. The baby blanket is beautiful.
Well done on the creative thinking for the wadding.
I love the way you handled the post woman. I would probably have been very sarcastic back and still be waiting for my parcels.
Love and hugs Gina xxx
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