I'm moving house - actually we are moving cities. As of next week, I will be living in part of the artistic (and coincidentally also political) capital of New Zealand, Wellington!
However, in the meantime, it has meant a lot of sorting, donating, cleaning and generally having a clear-out of the horrendous amount of rubbish that we seem to have accumulated or kept from our last move. Seriously - how many spare pillows do we actually need? Because I had about 16 spares in the cupboard and more on the spare bed! Unfortunately, all of this has not left me a lot of time for quilting or sewing.
However, I have managed to finish up one of the items on my list for The Work in Progress Project.
Remember I wanted to finish my Up in the Air Quilt filled with Aeroplanes, Rockets, Helicopters, and Hot Air Balloons but was very unenthused about it. I had chosen a baby blue background colour which I thought was going to look like the sky when it all came together. Turned out by the end of six quilt blocks I really disliked the colour.
I think it was just too over-powering on its own and needed more colour to break it up. So I decided to put a colourful border around each one and make six mini-quilts to donate to Tauranga Hospital's Special Care Baby Unit. This is something I have done before, but never six at once!
 |
| Thanks to the ladies at Papamoa Patchers for being my lovely quilt-holders! |
I know it probably seems a bit crazy, that as I'm trying to reduce the number of unfinished quilts I have by actually finishing them, I would decide to make six quilts instead of one. But it did give me the passion back that I needed in order to finish these blocks and make something that I know will be cherished by six little people. As I started putting the borders around each one, I realised that I could have quite easily put all six blocks into one quilt with the rainbow borders, making a lovely aircraft themed rainbow quilt. However I was also pretty determined to finish what I had started and because we are moving I now had a deadline!
Each of the blocks has a pretty backing, but my favourite is definitely the backing I used for the Red Hot Air Balloon Quilt. The heart fabric is by Riley Blake, and is something that I found while cleaning out my stash. The hot air balloons are a fabric that I had printed at Spoonflower using my logo (it's not for sale, but here are some designs that are) It turned out so cute. I also ended up using a lovely Satin binding which will I hope will be nice and soft and silky on those precious baby fingers that will be curling around the edges.
I'm pretty pleased with all of these awesome colourful mini-quilts and hope they brighten up the Special Care Baby Unit! All of these quilt block patterns can be found in my Etsy shop either individually or as a set of quilt blocks.
It's another project finished, but I still have plenty left. Plus, unfortunately, when I was cleaning out my fabric stash I found another two unfinished projects that I started years ago. One is a completed flimsy (quilt top - yet to be quilted), and the other was an EPP project I started moons ago and clearly did not get unpacked from last time we moved. I have put them both in a box marked "The Work in Progress Project" and will add them to my list. One thing is now very clear - given my propensity to start further projects on a whim (I want to make everything!) and the fact that I keep finding forgotten projects, it is a safe bet that I will not be finishing all of my WIPs any time soon, but that doesn't mean I won't keep trying!
Now my sewing machine, overlocker, and all my tools are sorted and packed into boxes. So that means no sewing for the next couple of weeks and not finishing any more projects for now. Although I'm sure it will be unpacked and set up in a new room as soon as possible when we reach our new home.
Until next time, Happy Quilting!
RJ
No comments:
Post a Comment