Win! Win! Win!

I totally won!  Awesome!  I NEVER get to say that!

Audrie over at Blue is Bleu was featured in a fantastically tantalizing new book and, ever true to their blogging roots, the contributors each hosted a giveaway.  

So I'm getting one of these:

This is the most exciting thing to happen since I learned to thread my sewing machine!  

The right inch...

Today, at work, we had a network meeting where the speaker talked about the "right" inch.  She said it doesn't matter if you only move one inch forward, as long as you go a mile deep.  While my quilt only FEELS like its a mile deep while its sitting on my lap, tonight, that's how I'm measuring my progress.  My inch?  A bobbin.  While my quilt won't be built in a day, I can chip away a bobbin at a time.  This way, I might be done sometime before the recipient retires.

More than halfway finished!

Close-up!

...its good distraction from The Ugly Quilt....ha.

The ugly quilt

Now I'm not sure if we've all been there but I'm hoping I'm not the only one.  The ugly quilt. The project that - given total free will - no one could pay you to make.  That's the one I'm making right now.

The pattern itself isn't heinous but given the fabrics I am using, its totally....whats the opposite of inspirational? Dispirational?  There, I made a new word.

Now, this clearly isn't a quilt I'm making for myself.  In fact, half of my motivation for starting it is to get these ugly fabrics out of my stash.  I'm sure they are beautiful to someone.  Its just that the someone is definitely not me.  The other half of my motivation is that I made a deal with myself that I can't work on the things I want to finish until I have made some serious headway on this.

So here is the block....its made of four subsets and a tiny square in the middle...

See the tiny black square int he middle - I have NO idea how I'm gonna merge that into the block.
I feel some serious four-letter words coming on.  

And after you make all the blocks you are supposed to randomly place these circles over the block and raw edge applique them on like so...

I can't decide if the circles make it more or less ugly.

Regardless, I am knee deep into the ugly quilt.  I know sometimes, when we make things for others, they aren't necessarily the things we would make for ourselves.  However, from here on in, I'm making a new rule.  I have to at least not HATE it.  

'Nuff said.

Work in progress

I was working diligently on a quilt for a friend for Christmas.  However, I was also working on five other projects for other folks for Christmas so hers got pushed to the back burner.  Yikes!  I still haven't found the motivation to go back at the machine quilting which is over half way done!  Yup, I too am disappointed in myself.  I know if I went to town on it, I would be done by the end of the weekend.  For some strange reason though, other projects are calling my name.  Loudly.  And repeatedly.  :)

Here's a couple of shots as to the progress.  Maybe posting it up will motivate me to finish!

It was a Yellow Brick Road pattern done with really beautiful and calming Amy Butler fabrics from her Midwest Modern line. This is it getting spray-basted on my living room floor.

And a close-up of my second attempt at Free-Motion quilting.  This one is smaller and more dense than the last one I tried.  I used a variegated thread that ranges from a sea-foam green to white.  It looks really cool.

I.  Will.  Finish.

Guild project

Our local guild is going modern!

The new guild project is a "Liberated Log Cabin" done in modern colours/fabrics.  I recently took home one of the blocks to try out.  Here's how it turned out:

Not too shabby!  When I took it in they let me go home with two more to play with!

Diving into the Sugar Block Club

Its been a while...I've been trying to figure out this blog business...with less real commitment than is likely necessary.  But its a new year, right?

Anyhoo, I decided to branch out this year and try some new things.  One of them is a block of the month club.  Amy over at Stitchery Dickery Dock is hosting a block-of-the-month club with each block being distributed via email each month.  I figured, what the heck, and signed up.  I was a little daunted by the persnickety cuts (into eighths of an inch) but you can't call yourself a perfectionist without willing to be particular!

This is my first block, which I am proud to say I got done before the month was over!  Yay me!  I'll take the small victories thank you very much!

Who knows, maybe this BOM will keep me posting on a regular basis - stranger things have happened!