November Finishes - Pictures

November was the month I started pulling out my sewing stuff and reaquainting myself with my sewing machine.  I decided to finish off a few nagging projects before I started anything new. I finally got around to downloading my pictures so here's my November finishes:

1.  Diaper bag - only 2 years late.  It'll make a good gift for someone else. My own design and I also recycled the drawstring from a bag that fell apart.

2. My own apron - I made 2 for my daughters and 1 for a friend last year and even cut mine out, but just never got around to finishing it.

I've just realized I forgot to post my October finishes (gifts I had been procrastinating on for a while) so I'll dig up those photos and post them tomorrow.

UFO's for 2011

What is a UFO?  For me, it's Un-Finished Objects and I seem to be surrounded by them.  I get excited by the idea of new project, get bored easily and then a deadline for something else comes along and the project gets put aside.  I thrive on the adrenaline rush of excitement or pressure, and have a hard time pushing myself to get through the everyday, mundane stuff. 

But this year, it's time to clear out the clutter our of my mind and my house, and get down to the nitty-gritty of dealing with the UFOs in my life.  I love lists so these are the ones I know I want to finish in 2011:

1. Snowman Family Flannel Quilt top
2. Vintage Valentine Quilt top
3. Purple Dragon - send it out to be quilted and then do binding
4. Pansy Rail - quilt, bind and send to a special friend

I know I'll add to this list as I clean out the room and the boxes, but it's start, wouldn't you agree?

Fabric - what to use?

When I was 18, I took a 12-week quilting class at our local community college.  That was back in the days before rotary cutters and dedicated quilt shops.  I still have not finished that sampler quilt for a number of reasons (mostly my tendency to get distracted).

One of the reasons was the fabrics I had chosen.  The class required we buy our fabric ahead of time, so I went to the local chain store and bought away - mostly poly/cottons of course, because that was the biggest selection.  I think the instructer did us a big disservice not to use the first class to teach us about fabric quality, type and even how to make colour choices. Especially since it was a beginner's class.  As a broke student, I couldn't afford to replace the fabrics I purchased with cottons, so I made my  sampler quilt blocks with my original purchase, and was never happy with it, so into the UFO pile they have sat for 30 years.  I did finish the pillow with hand-quilting, and it still hangs around with it's lumpy batting fill and all.

Now that I am back into quilting, I was trying to explain to my friend K why it's not always the best choice to go to the chain stores to purchase fabric for your special quilts.  Here is an article I found that explains it best:

Quilt Fabric Shopper's Guide to Fabric Quality

Are Premium Quilting Fabrics Really Worth the Extra Cost?

This came from Suite101 posted Dec 27, 2007 by Christine Mann 

Friday Night Sew-In

I found this signup on Heidi's blog and since she suggested even scrapbooking counted (On Friday – 11/19/10 - Get your house settled, put on your comfy jammies.. maybe make a cup of tea.. and sit down to work on some of those projects (or anything else that you want to work on.. maybe you want to knit.. or catch up on scrapbooking)), AND I'll be in Monroe in my jammies, I signed up.  I'll probably take some embrodiery (Bunny Quilt) and do that when I lose momentum on the scrapbooking.

What got me back on the sewing/crafting track

A few weeks ago, I rediscovered my love of sewing thanks to my friend, Kim! She reminded me of our Judy Niemeyer Christmas tree skirt patterns and fabric that we purchase last year(?) and said she wanted to change her colours.  I've changed my Christmas colours over the last couple of years,too, so off to our favourite fabric store we went. Kim chose purples, pinks and black-purple while I chose shades of aqua and purple.  Both tree skirts have been cut out now and we have both completed Step 1 (Bag 1) of the 8 steps.

3 years ago, I was very fortunate to take a class taught by Judy Niemeyer herself, and I am so glad I did!  My Dragon Star quilt top is done, and the pieced backing is too, and I still count it as one of my UFO's.

Since that day a few weeks ago, I have done the following:
- pulled all my fabric/sewing totes out of the attic and unpacked 5 of them (4 to go)
- finished a diaper bag that I started 2 years ago when Alex was born - I'll put it away for Sarah or a baby shower gift
- added Alex's name to a quilt I started 2 years ago, and have started the final quilting on it.  I hope to have it finished by the end of November

- finished my pink scarf made from this yarn - I'm not sure if it is the colour "Chick" because I bought it in October during the Breast Cancer campaign and the special packaging doesn't give a colour name or number
- made 2 pairs of pyjamas for Alex from start to finish (in just 3 hours, a record for me) from a pattern similar to this one
- started going through my scraps and found Bonnie Hunter's method for dealing with them, so now I'm cutting strips and squares for future scrappy quilts and getting rid of the stuff I'll never use

Now I have to make a list of what I want to finish before Christmas!

Welcome to UFO's & UBI'S

Welcome to my crafty blog designed to help me keep track of all those UFO (Un-finished Objects) that haunt my life.  And sometimes I just might share some Useless Bits of Information that my sister says my mind is full of!