Wednesday, June 29, 2011

{WiP} Wednesday, Lucky 13

WIP Wednesday at Fresly Pieced

Finito!

I'll count this block as a "finish", although I'm not completely finished with the entire task. June was Katie's month for the Bee Happy bee, and she sent us two sets of fabric and asked us to make two tree blocks. One for a Christmas tree quilt (red and aqua), and the other for a rainbow tree quilt. We either got the red or the aqua for the Christmas tree quilt, and we each got one color for the rainbow tree quilt. Kelly and Natalie have both finished and posted about theirs, so if you want to see what my blocks are up against, you should go there! :)  I'm happy with the aqua Christmas tree block (although I'm glad I didn't get red because it looks a LOT like the Macy's Christmas tree logo, no?).  I'm not as happy, though, with my rainbow tree block.  I don't really like how it evolved. Which is to say that it is nothing like it looked in my head!  I'm still working on it.

Bee Happy Bee ~ Katie's Rainbow Block

I still need to get it to the right size, but since I'm a quilting vampire, I wanted to take a picture of it in daylight!

Also finished are my lollipop tree blocks for the Faith circle of the do.Good Stitches bee. Lots of trees in June... :o)  Taffyjane-Des asked for 4 little blocks for a quilt for a new baby, using a modification of the Moda Bakeshop pattern for Love Beads.  They were super easy, and I suspect the final quilt will be incredibly cute.

do.Good Stitches {June} ~ Lollipop Trees

And, finally, among the finishes, I completed two more blocks for my Birdie Stitches Block-of-the-Month stitch-along. March and April are done, and I've started on May. Forever behind... but the good thing is, there's no real deadline for this, and I can complete it when I have the time. And I plan for it to be for me, so I'm not trying to hit a gift or mail deadline. Whew!

Birdie Stitches BOM ~ January through May

All of the ones I've completed, although I'm unsure of the layout.

Birdie Stitches BOM ~ March

March

Birdie Stitches BOM ~ April

April

Still Needing Some Lovin'
  1. Robert Kaufman Solids Challenge -- it is in progress. It's such a mess right now that I won't even bother to show you pictures of the pile of fabric that WILL become this quilt. I've also identified who I'm giving it to. Now I just need to get it done!
  2. Jen's purse -- no progress, no change, nothing.
  3. Bottled Rainbows QAL -- unstarted, still.
  4. Secretive Get Better Quilt -- unstarted, still. Which is a good thing when you consider that it will be a gift for someone going through a difficult time...meaning that person isn't going through that difficult time, yet!
  5. Secretive P&P Quilt -- unstarted, sigh. I have to have this done by October, so I guess I need to get started now, eh? :)
  6. Fabric Hutch-- I took off some doors, and put baking soda in there. I'm beginning to wonder if it isn't the smell of the wood I'm smelling. Whatever. I'm not in any rush. :)
  7. Mug Rugs -- no progress. I didn't even put any thread through the eye of a needle to work on this one!
 New This Week
  1. Habitat Challenge -- Free Spirit has graciously offered 6 fat eighths to all MQG members wanting to participate in a challenge. We got our fabric bolts yesterday and will be giving out the bundles once the fat eighths are cut.  I'm either going to make a skirt or a bag... And this one will be for ME!!!
  2. Camera Strap Cover -- this one is for the back burner, too, but I want to keep track of it.
  3. T-shirt Quilts -- I am going to be a part of making 3 t-shirt quilts over the next few months. One has a deadline and is for someone else, and the other two are for a quilt-along with a friend whose husband doesn't appreciate her pile(s) of t-shirts. :)  Between her pile(s) of shirts, and Dave's pile(s) of shirts, we should come up with two very lovely quilts!
I think that about wraps it up! I fully acknowledge that this is JUST TOO MUCH, but I'm not sure how to minimize, and what to eliminate. It seems that as I finish one project, three more crop up. I love what I'm doing, I'm just feeling too much pressure right now. (That's me bearing my heart to y'all. I know you know where I'm at because a lot of you have either been there too, or are there now.)

Now, you should totally go over to Lee's place and see what my {WiP} compadres are doing this week.

17 comments:

  1. I love the Xmas tree block. The colours make it definitely.

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  2. Beautiful colours in the Xmas tree block. Love it.

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  3. Your Christmas tree is lovely, thank you very much! I can't wait to see your birdie blocks!

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  4. LOVE the aqua Christmas tree!! Awesome!

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  5. I love the hexie tree!!! What a great idea. And that Christmas tree block is lovely.

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  6. Melissa, both trees look great! and now you're one birdie block ahead of me. :) I have may and june traced and pieced...just have to do the embroidery.

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  7. Sometimes all the things we list on these posts can feel like too much pressure--just all around Too Much. Sometimes it's best to step back, take a break and do something completely different (lunch out with a friend, or a trip to a museum, or that fun painting thing you did with your husband) and then come home and prioritize. I used to keep lists of quilts I wanted to make with the fabrics I kept collecting (what is it about us quilters?), but like you, each new piece of fabric I bought began to feel like pressure, instead of pleasure. I also found that backing out of some committed-to projects helped me find time for my own creativity to flourish, instead of always piggy-backing onto others' creativity. Just some thoughts.

    Re: your post today. I'm especially taken with that group of Birdies. How fun to combine embroidery with patchwork! But what drew me in was the beautiful aqua Christmas tree block. What a great idea to layer up some rectangles then raw-edge applique. Beautiful.

    Elizabeth E.
    http://occasionalpiece.wordpress.com

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  8. Those birdie stitches are 'sew' cute. Love your aqua tree, that is really neat. Can't wait to see your t-shirt quilts.
    ~ Kimberlee at The Spunky Diva 

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  9. I love both trees, a lot. My WIP list is so ominous, I can't even write it down! :(

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  10. very nice tree.. looks it could be a Bohemian Christmas.. and your LMS blocks are great.

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  11. I love the aqua tree and all your other blocks too.

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  12. I love both trees, but my favourite is the aqua one. I know exactly what you mean when you say that it is nothing like it looked like in my head. That happens to me regularly.
    Love your birdie stitches blocks too.

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  13. I too am a quilting vampire. It makes it hard to do blog posts sometimes. Everything looks wonderful. Your Christmas tree is fantastic!

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  14. That Christmas tree block is super cute. I love all your trees, actually. And I laughed when i read that you're a quilting vampire - that's totally me too! Thanks for linking up to WIP Wednesday. : )

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What are you sewing?