good intentions

i had intended to blog again about 3 days ago and post a picture of my beaded work and my hand pieced and quilted lap quilt....it didnt happen. ive been spending a bit of time lately working on my fitness and eating habits as well as trying to get some research together for a 3000 word essay i have due monday. so between trying to understand st Augustine and his relationship to roman civics and minding my back ive been somewhat busy. I then spent last night and this morning helping hubby dearest move, packing many boxes and pointing removalists in the right direction.

well now that ive posted to say im still alive and kicking im off to have lunch and then carry on with the research. pictures will come eventually...maybe next week or when the essays finished whichever comes first

my fantastic granny square bag, still need to do the handles and lining but am definitely happy with it so far

it can be done!!!

so this is me admitting defeat. not because it cant be done only because i physically couldnt finish it. i put the top together beautifully, its about single bed topper size in a roman coins style. the problem came when i pinned the three layers together to sandwich. because im doing it the cheaters way - think how youd put a quilt cover on a doona, you have to layer the batting, the back and then the top -right sides facing. but i stuffed up and put the backing on last, so when i went to turn it right side out the batting was on the outside and the backing was in the middle, OOPS.

so i then had to unpick it and repin it by which point my back was in major pain and still is. so now i have a quilt with 2 sides together still sitting at my machine and im in bed trying not to cough or sneeze cuz it hurts even more when i do.

i will finish it...in a few days i guess when i can sit up straight, stupid back!! grr

quilt in a day

so as i've mentioned before im into quilting at the moment and recently got myself a sewing machine (looong long story, bad very bad) but im yet to actually finish a quilt on the machine. ive done applique on squares for a quilt for my sister and put together some clothes but havent done a full quilt. partly due to time and my laziness and fear of cutting fabric and also because i dont have a whole lot of room and cant really leave my machine set up 24/7 so i have to be ready to go before i will pull it out.

i envy those women in tutorials who say 'oh this old thing, it only took me a day' so i look at all these patterns and say well yea for you, you have far more experience than I. so I went searchin AGAIN online for a 'quilt in a day' wonder job i could try because i really think that if i got just one finished id be more inclined to keep at the other projects i have going one square at a time. so i found a tut on 'cloud 9' will post the link later. its only a cot size but it can and most probably will be adapted but its relatively easy and i look forward to getting into it. the only quilt i have so far is one i made by hand before i got my machine, its very nice , probably only cot sized as well but because it has frayed edges its not really appropriate. but i like it, its double sided and hangs on the back of my couch and occasionally changes sides just to confuse people. really should post a pic of that too.

well wish me luck. hopefully this time tomorrow there will be a blog of me basically jumping up and down saying YAY

dressmaking

so ive been altering my own clothes for years by hand but at christmas was using mums machine to make some clothes from scratch, nothing too exciting just a pair of thai fishermans pants and a peasant skirt. since purchasing my own machine ive made another pair of the same pants and just yesterday made a wrap skirt which i will eventually post a picture of.

when looking online for hemming options for said skirt cuz its a full circle and im scared of it i came across many tuts for altering skirts to make dresses (which i already know how to do) but came across a maxi dress tut on youtube, of course that particular dress would be a waste of time because unlike the gorgeous model i actually have curves. but it did make me think of the blue free form dress pattern i found back in december so i went looking for it again and am determined to make it, hopefully next weekend after buying fabric. however looking at all the altering videos made me think of the jacket and denim skirt i started...a while ago that are sitting in a box outta sight that i really should finish now i have a machine.

however im working on wool stuff at the moment, finishing off blankets im making for vinnies and dont really want to move on until im done with them. then of course is the small matter of uni...hmmmm perhaps i need to adjust my priorities slightly....or not