The last thing before I fall asleep I often plan what I want to do the next day. I love waking up with a sense of purpose. DH is out of town and I had a lovely long uninterrupted day ahead. And I decided I was going to spend the day painting buttons and answering emails. I did neither.
I got the lace and trims on the last three blocks last night and this morning I awoke wondering where was the blue silk I bought in LA two years ago and what did I do with the two extra blocks I made for the covers for the corset cuties. And so I ended up making a huge mess but finally found the silk, etc. and was able to sort tons of things out. But not until I had made a huge mess everywhere. My goal is to go right into January and finish this project. I got the silk page linings cut today, the interfacing applied, and the seam lines basted. Now I can add the corset ads and embellished them. These linings will be my on-the-go blocks for the next two months.
I decided I would not start any new projects in 2016 until I finished the hanky project and the cottage project. The hanky project has been held up because I could not find exactly what I wanted to back and border it with. I had my heart set on a dusky blue moiré taffeta and it proved almost impossible to find... But I have it now and will move ahead after the first of the year. There will be lots of embroidery on the taffeta so this is not a quickie project.
The second big finish will be the cottage blocks. I originally intended for these to be a book. But after the excitement of a quilt in Houston, I thought I might finish it as a quilt and enter it. I just could not make a firm decision. But now I have. I will go with my first plan and make it into a book. Friends and family can look at it in a book and I know that I (nor anyone else) would ever hang it on a wall... so a book it is. I have this lovely striped silk for the linings and now that I have made that decision I am eager to do this. I loved these blocks from start to finish. The blocks are only 7" but I want the book pages to be about 12" square so each block will be bordered and embellished. So this also will be a time consuming finish.
When I do finish these, which will probably take several months, I ran across two projects to finish that have been shunted aside.....
especially the peacock piece which I have MANY hours already into. The other is a ORANGE piece with a Moroccan theme.
So even though not one button was painted, it was a very productive day and just what I needed to get myself going again.
you might not have done what was planned but you found things you had mislaid and came across lots of projects, good idea to finish these before starting anymore as they are all so lovely, especially love the house blocks and what an amazing book it will make, best of luck
ReplyDeleteSometimes creative chaos is just what you need. Ever since I cleaned up my sewing room I've completed several projects that came to the surface. I haven't done any stitching since I finished the fairy marathon. Pretty burned out but a couple of days ago I dug out the bird block I'm working on and put in a few stitches. So once I finish the tote bags for the Women's Shelter (hopefully tomorrow) and quilt 5 more quilts I should be able to get more stitching done. Sounds like you are all ready to go :)
ReplyDelete"And I decided I was going to spend the day painting buttons and answering emails. I did neither." Love this! And am immensely comforted to know I am not alone!
ReplyDelete"All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well" (Dame Julian of Norwich)...keep calm and create on, my friend! :-)
Oh how I understand days like this! I think side-tracked should have been my middle name. The problem is that we have such fascinating stashes and tend to get lost when we start hunting for something.
ReplyDeleteHip hip hooray for productive days...so much to say...
ReplyDeleteFirst, the blue moire taffeta is just perfect for the hanky quilt. The extra stitching will be fabulous. Nothing incredible was ever done quickly so good on you.
And those cottages! It was a joy to see them again. How about edging those cottage blocks to set them off and then embroidering some personal wisdom, poetry or thoughts for your book?
And I have always loved that asian peacock block...
And how could I forget the Moroccan block? It seems to me it was inspired by your granddaughter's (?) picture with the bike and all the colors...is that right?
Love to you Gerry. So many beautiful things to work on and keep your mind off of your battered body.