Kicking back - looking forward

I had a lovely day on Saturday quilting at the Sit and Sew at High Street Quilting.  I took my first UFO which will be going as a Quilts for Comfort Quilt.  Love this quilt design. But then I love rainbow things.

We had a quick tour of the new shop - a bit of a wreck at the moment but sooo much potential. It's very exciting.  There are some 'before' pictures on the link above.  Hilary thinks she should be in sometime in February.

I have completed six of the ten rows of the hourglass quilt and hoped to get a bit more done yesterday but Ben came for New Year's Eve and New Year's Night as his Mammy is poorly.  Max has a chest infection and his Daddy is busy making sure they are both ok. Ben is playing with Will at the moment.   We were going for a walk to the local woods yesterday to do some bug hunting as the weather was bright, cold and sunny, but I think the lure of Will's computer was more appealing. We made pizza last night - Cheetzo flavour (Chorizo)

I've been busy sorting out a design for a Spring Quilt as You Go for my Thursday night quilt class

I start off compiling the main size of the quilt and then work on individual parts of the design.  Then I go on to drawing out the different elements and making initial measurements and fabric requirements.  The pattern is written last and if I haven't already made the quilt I try to keep one step ahead of the class to test for errors!  This will have 15 blocks separated by panels of flower and leaf vines.  The class will quilt each block and each vine panel separately and then join them all together at the end.  It's a long task for them so I'll need to intersperse a few other projects.  I have a bag and wall hanging in mind at the moment.  I'm not sure whether to do different pieced blocks (they are just coloured on the diagram at the moment) or a mixture of pieced and appliquéd blocks or a single design. - Might leave it up to them, but as I am making it myself as well I'll have to sort something out!  I think the design will change a few times before it reaches the class.

I'll have to pace myself to make sure I do some UFO work too. So little time! It's very frustrating because I never really feel like sewing after a long day at work but I can't afford not to work.  Apart from running out of backing fabric and wadding I've got enough fabric to last a hundred years or so. Not to mention wool and craft paint...... Trouble is I'm still in Christmas design mode - it's not the same when you do things out of season.

However it's New Year's Day and I'm looking forward to all the lovely things 2018 has to offer.  I wish you all a good year.

xxxxx