The best laid plans

All weekend I've had echoes of quotes about the futility of making plans going around my head. I watched the season premier of Private Practice which used the following quote a lot:

"Men plan, God laughs" - Yiddish Proverb

It seemed very fitting for my situation and then for some reason random quotes started coming into my head.

"The best laid schemes of mice and men / Go oft awry" - Robert Burns

and my personal favourite:

"Everybody's got plans... until they get hit." - Mike Tyson 

My magic timetable went completely out of the window this week when one thing after another went pear shaped. I was on schedule up to and including Wednesday but then when I went to knitting club on Thursday night I didn't get home until after 10 which meant I couldn't finish my Ellie tea cosy.

Then, on Friday, I couldn't get drunk and fall over because I had to go to work on Saturday. The final disaster was when I discovered that mum had let a friend borrow the Tilda book so I couldn't make the elephant toy.


However...
I did manage to finish elephant version 2. He's a much better overall shape

and now he fits my tea pot perfectly

but I think that elephant version 1 is cuter. Proportionally the original elephant's head was larger which made him look more of a baby.

So I think I'll have to have another go at the design. It's not so much of a problem because I have a queue of people willing to give them homes.

I'm  having quilt cravings now. I'm going to have to make something bigger than a tea cosy soon or I'll go mad.

WIP Wednesday No. 7

I'm having a very productive week so far. Tiring but productive. By the end of the week I need to have made 3 stuffed toys, a tea cosy and finished up my block swap blocks. I've given myself a strict timetable and, so far, I've managed to stick to it.

This evening's progress

One completed goose

and

a redesigned heffalump

Block swap
It didn't occur to me that 25 blocks is actually equivalent to making a whole quilt. I'm slowly getting through the piecing in between other jobs. So far I have 108 pointy house shaped things, 108 HSTs and 108 plain 2.5" squares. I just need to dog ear 108 rectangles then I'm ready to put them together.

The blocks are supposed to be in the mail by 20th October but I want to get them posted ASAP because they always take so long to get to the US.

Time to sleep, work in the morning (I still like the sound of that, I wonder when that will wear off.



Why not pop over to Freshly pieced to see what everyone else is up to this Wednesday.

WIP Wednesday No. 6

Here's a quick update before I hop into bed for a good night's sleep because it's my first day at Woolaballoo tomorrow!

Completed projects
I made these sweet little draw-string bags for my three nieces. They each have a little animal on the front that match the stuffed toys I made them along with their initials. They also have gorgeous floral linings but I forgot to photograph those - sorry!

Heffalump is all done and gorgeously, huggably cute. I think he's got a really smiley face.

I found some cotton yarn that was exactly the same colour as his ears. A quick plait and he has a beautiful tail.

Hexalong
Only a single lonely block this week but I think it's my favourite so far.

Something about that lime green and aqua together really makes me smile. It kind of reminds me of a sunny holiday somewhere.

Block swap
I went to my LQS this today for an afternoon of sewing with my mum. I did promise myself to stick to the sale rack but these Whimsy prints were calling out to me.

I decided on the Weathervane block (see yesterday's post for the other options) and set about making a test block.

Amazingly my maths was right first time so, when I came home, I had a marathon slicing session. I have all the pieces ready to go for the other blocks. Next step: draw diagonal lines on 168 squares - definitely a sitting in front of the telly job!

Other Projects

• Strawberry Patch - Quilted around a couple more blocks. I've set myself the target of finishing all the echo quilting by the weekend so I can concentrate on the motifs.
• Neutral jelly roll bear paws, It's a hoot, Frosted window panes and Antique quilt - No progress. 

Why not pop over to Freshly pieced to see what everyone else is up to this Wednesday.

WIP Wednesday No. 5

Well I've drilled, painted, weeded and planted until all my jobs are done around the house and, since I now have a job lined up, I no longer need to spend hours every day filling in application forms which means much more sewing time coming up! So not much progress this week but I expect leaps forward in the next fortnight.

Tea cosies
Fishy Fish Fish mark 2 is all finished up. The new version is on the left with his clone on the right. I made the scales much larger which made it quicker and easier to assemble.

I think the larger scales are still effective so they'll be making it to the final pattern. I'm not so sure about the polka dot eye though. So say goodbye to him because he's going to be put to one side for a bit while I work on the rest of the menagerie.

Next up is Heffalump. I couldn't resist using the French General blues for him which means he's a lot more subdued than Fishy but cute in his own adorable way. His sections are all cut out and ready to assemble.

To add the 3D element he's going to have flappy ears and a dangly tail.

New projects
I was just saying yesterday that I couldn't think about quilts because I couldn't afford any new fabric but - TA DA! - the quilting fairy (AKA my lovely mother) brought me these gorgeous Cath Kidston fat quarters home from her shopping spree.

I have no idea what I'm going to do with them but I'm going to have fun playing.

Big sister has also commissioned me to make 3 drawstring bags for the little nieces so I need to get my head around those this week.

Other Projects

• Neutral jelly roll bear paws - Going to be my "practice" quilt when I start learning on the Gammill soon
• Strawberry Patch - Slowly quilting around the blocks. Check the side bar for progress.
• Frosted window panes - I have found the pattern and it's hanging above my desk where  can't lose it again. Can't wait to get started:

• It's a hoot, Hexalong and Antique quilt - No progress at all

Why not pop over to Freshly pieced to see what everyone else is up to this Wednesday.

Horses, elephants and an upcoming give-away!

I wish I had more to show you but I've been so busy this past week. On Monday I went to see my friend, Tamara, compete at a  dressage competition. I'm terrified of horses so this was a big step for me but I did get to drive the horse box home which was super fun.

The rest of the week was spent painting the kitchen, weeding the garden, erecting curtain poles and attending interviews. I thought I would get all the little jobs done before I started work next week so that mum doesn't have to worry. I also learned to knit!

I call it my scarf of many stitches. I don't think it's bad for a first attempt. There are a couple of holes at the beginning but I'm mostly hole free now.

In sewing land, I finished off my sketch for the elephant tea cosy and I think he's going to be very cute. I'm trying not to think about quilts until I can afford to buy fabric but it's very difficult.

I spent opening day in Woolaballoo getting used to the shop and learning how to use the till. It was fun, the            shop is really welcoming and the customers were lovely. However, I couldn't resist running next door to buy some fabric for heffalump there. I figured I deserved a metre of fabric for working so hard.

I went with French General and got half a metre of the Faded Denim solid from the La Petite Ecole range for the background and half a metre of the Rural Jardin Blue Clair Woven for the elephant. Let's see how he turns out...

This is my 98th post! I've set myself a deadline of my 100th post to finish up some of my patterns to give away to some lucky winners so check back later in the week to be in with a chance of winning some fabulous prizes.

WIP Wednesday No. 4

There hasn't been much sewing going on this week but there has been some major decision making. Sewing first:

Tea cosies
Fishy Fish Fish mark 2 (really need to think of a better name) is almost done. I'm just finishing hand sewing the binding on the front.

There are a couple of differences from the first Fishy Fish Fish:

• The scales are 1 1/2 times the size, which means it no longer takes 90+ scales to make him up. Definitely an improvement.
• I fussy cut a large polka dot for his eye. 
• The lining is fitted inside and then a binding sewn around the bottom. The original version had the lining folded around the outside. The new version is much neater but was very fussy to do so I'm not sure which version to go for in the final pattern.

I've also started my monkey tea cosy and drawn up a new design for an elephant. This was a request from big sister who is absolutely elephant addicted.

Hexalong

Only two hexies this week; a blue and green spot and a magenta pink stripe.

Other projects

• Neutral jelly roll bear paws - Still waiting to be basted and quilted (come back tomorrow for exciting news about this) 
• It's a hoot - Finally made a decision (I think) to make a friendship braid
• Strawberry Patch - Slowly quilting around the blocks. Check the side bar for progress.
• Frosted window panes - It's a mystery where that pattern has gone!
• Antique quilt - No progress at all

Jill - a work in progress?

Pop back tomorrow to hear about some big decisions and some exciting news.

Why not pop over to Freshly pieced to see what everyone else is up to this Wednesday?

WIP Wednesday

There hasn't been much sewing going on this week. Lots of job applications and interviews (unfortunately no jobs) and a lot of organisation for my 30th birthday on Saturday.

Fishy Fish Fish tea cosy got finished.  This is what happens when you ask 3 year old twins to name a fish.

Both sides are the same so he looks like a 3D fish when he's sat on his tea pot. I absolutely adore him.

The only snag is that I sewed his pupils on when the sides were separate and when I sewed it all together it turns out that he's quite cock-eyed.

Never mind. Back to the WIPs, or should that be WsIP? 

• Hex-a-long - Solid fabric still hasn't arrived but I've printed out lots of sheets of triangular grids from incompetech. These polka dots are just too tempting so I'm going to start sewing my flower centres and add the solid outsides when they arrive.

• Strawberry Patch - I spent most of this afternoon trying to figure out if I'd bought enough fabric to sash the blocks. I've come to the conclusion that I have but looking back on my calculations I'm not sure how I've worked that out. I appear to have underlined 37 several times but I'm not sure why!

• Neutral jelly roll bear paws - Still waiting to be basted and quilted. 
• It's a hoot - Still debating layout. Maybe I'll have to come up with something completely different
• Frosted window panes - Lost the pattern again. This quilt is destined not to be made.

I gave in to temptation

I've been digging through my stash, pulling out fabrics to attempt my fish and monkey but this afternoon I had to drive my mum to the LQS to buy some batting for a rush job (that's another story!). I just couldn't resist rifling through the fabrics and found these beauties:

The scale fabric jumped out at me as being perfect for the fish's body and most of the others are from the same range. I just had to buy them. I hope it turns out as well as it looks in my head.

Do fish have lips?

Another day, another 5 CVs sent out. Job hunting really is mind numbingly boring. I'm glad I have my quilting to keep me sane.

I finished all the blocks for the Strawberry Patch quilt this afternoon. It turns out the pressing wasn't so bad. The trimming, however, was an absolute nightmare! I spent hours and hours bent over the cutting board as you can probably tell by the large pile of trimmings left over.

I've laid all the blocks out on the floor (I really wish I had a design wall) and balanced all the different values of the prints but I'm going to have a little play on the computer to make some final decisions. Sashing or no? All blocks in the same direction or alternating? Border or no border?

On a completely different theme, I've had tea cosies on my mind for a while now. Remember this one I made for my mum for Christmas?

I kind of copied this one from a cosy I saw in a shop window but it got me thinking about other animals that might work. I did a little doodling in front of the TV, which leads me back to my random blog title: Do fish have lips?

Because that doesn't look quite right!

Mad rush over, time to settle in to some sewing

It's been a mad couple of weeks. I've been ill this term so missed a lot of work at university, which I had to get extensions for. That meant that I was working right up until the 23rd December which left very little time to get the Christmas presents all sewn up!

Two straight days at the sewing machine and I managed:

Six coasters on a tea and coffee theme for my dad and step-mum. Dad's a big coffee drinker and Barbara's a big tea drinker so they can have three each.

Two sets of these lovely bright squishy cubes for my step-sister Jenny's new baby and Clare from Clarebears new baby. They are both adorable cuddly boys and I had a lot of fun playing with them.

and - last but not least - Owly the tea cosy made for my mum. Although, he's so adorable I think I'm going to have to make a matching one for myself! 

It just goes to show how much you can do if you put your mind to it and now all that's over with I can settle in for some proper quilting. I hope to get my bear paw quilt finished and layered up and start on my "It's a hoot" jelly roll quilt tomorrow.