The other day, when we had our rollicking weekly Haiku Madness, I axed you folks to tell me about your hobbies. I told you that one of mine is sewing.
You know I’m great at reviewing movies, and writing beautiful, heartfelt haikus, and kickass recipes like Ice Cubes, but I thought I would show you a little proof that there is a little more in this head than hot air.
I can’t spend as much time sewing as I would like, but after making my wedding dress, and getting my lair all organized, I was dying to get to the projects I had started many years ago but had abandoned because life got in the way. So today, I spent most of my day in this room. My lair. It’s not built into a mountain or underground, but it’s pretty badass as chick lairs go, so there.
When I organized my sewing stuff last summer, I ran across this little gem. I started working on it a couple of weekends ago, and today managed to spend a lot of time on it. I had mentioned that I organized all of my projects into their own little boxes, with a copy of the pattern and extra fabric that in the event of my untimely death, the lucky winner who gets my crap at the estate (like I have an estate) auction will be able to finish the projects after I’m dead. Screw that! I’m actually going to attempt to get them all done once and for all. This is just the first of many.
Here’s what it looked like about halfway through the day:
I had a realization today while doing these blocks. It’s boring! They are all the same. A few hours of this and I was ready to lose my mind. No wonder I started so many projekks and never finished them. Quilting can be a very repetitive business, and while the quilts in books and magazines are beautiful to look at, the making of them can get rather tedious. This block here, shown before trimming, is what I worked on today. I need to make 18 of these. All the same. Oy. Maybe after I leave it alone for a few days, I can finish the rest.
By 5 o’clock, I had only 4 blocks to go, but decided I had had enough for one day. It was time to make dinner, and it dawned on me that I hadn’t done any blogging today, even though it’s my goal to write something every single day this year. Today would have been the first day I had missed. I just couldn’t think of anything to write about, so I didn’t do much but check my stats every few hours and gape in awe once again at how many hits I had from searches for “porn pics”. Here’s the desk, with those 4 blocks looming. I’ll get em later.
Here’s what I had finished by the time I (and my aching back) decided to call it a day:
And to further astound and amaze you, here’s a wildly impressive close up view:
This is what it looks like in the magazine where I found the pattern ( about 10 years ago). Another thing I excel at is procrastinating.
This pattern is called Morning Light. It appeared in Quilter’s Newsletter Magazine, October 2003.
I’m getting there. I’ll be proud, happy and thrilled to share my version when it’s finished, which hopefully will be very soon. Thanks for taking a look! Now I have satisfied my postaday goal for at least one more day….what am I gonna write about tomorrow?
Hmmmmmm……………..
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The Cheeky Diva 
Wow….that is amazing!! I made a quilt for my brother as a wedding gift…I’ll have to find the picture. I used to do a lot of sewing as well and went into craft shows. I’m impressed….and I love the pattern!!
Thanks so much! It’s for the wall above our bed. I’m thinking maybe I need to make one to actually go on the bed. Ha ha! Doubt it!
I bit off more than I could chew on my first quilt attempt – my brother had a queen size bed. It was a sampler pattern, but I’m still pretty proud I finished it. Too bad they don’t have it on their bed. 😦 I also have a small wall quilt I made for myself that I display proudly.
I’m the queen of biting off more than I can chew. I don’t even know what possessed me to make my own wedding dress. I was not up to the task. I’m so glad I had all the little woodland creatures and a fairy godmother to help me finish it.
That is a big bite!! I wish I had done the same….it would have saved the disaster that was my wedding dress. Apparently that dress was the omen of a failed marriage….but I’m much happier now, so I can look back and laugh.
Well that’s a good thing. I wanted the perfect wedding, blah blah blah, since I was marrying Prince Charming and all that, but I didn’t have hundreds to spend on the perfect gown. What I ended up with was nice, but would have been much better if it had been done by a pro.
But it means so much more because you did it yourself. I still love your story. 🙂
Aww, thanks! I actually took that giant wedding dress and petticoat off of my dress dummy yesterday and just tossed it into a cardboard box for the moment. I don’t know what to do with it now. But, I scored some incredible green patterned chiffon for $2.50 a yard yesterday since it was the end of a bolt. I need that dummy. Mamma’s gonna be making a dress she can wear more than once! That’s the next project after this little quilt.
Nice! Be sure to post pictures….you may inspire me to start sewing again.
I’m going to need a little help myself. I’ve never worked with this type of fabric before, so I’m going to make a muslin mock up first to get the right fit with the pattern, and practice sewing on some el cheapo chiffon I picked up to make a summer top. I won’t need a dress like this until spring or summer anyway, so I got time.
And I encourage you to start sewing again! No matter where your inspiration comes from. Do you follow this blog? http://coutureacademic.wordpress.com/ Inspiration a plenty there. I love this blog. She makes the prettiest clothes. She’s quite the charming little seamstress.
I’ll have a look….thanks!!
Someone made me a quilt as a wedding gift. It was their first attempt. For 6 months we kept getting wakened up with pins stabbing us in the middle of the night. So my advice to make sure you get all the pins out!
ERMA GERD! Wow, I’ve never heard of such a thing! All the blocks for this particular quilt are sewn on paper with a printed pattern, then the paper is ripped away. Very little pinning, but thanks for the warning.
Oh good! So the worst that could happen is a little rustling under the sheets . . . that ain’t a bad thing 😉
Oh, this is going on the wall! We are way too old and decrepit for anything quite so acrobatic. No danger of any kind with this one. Unless the decorative rod I plan to put it on should come loose, fall off of the wall and give us both a concussion in our sleep when it falls on our heads.
Oh great. Well, now there’s that to worry about. Always something, eh?
Maybe I should hang it on a different wall, just in case. 😉
Lovely quilt – look forward to seeing the other things you will make 🙂
Hi there, and thank you! Finishing these projects is long overdue. But, when you work full time and have a house full of kids, you’re lucky to finish the laundry, right? They’re all grown up now, so I have more free time than I’ve had in years, so I’m spending it catching up on things I used to love doing. 🙂
That’s amayzing. It’s trying to hypnotize me, stop it, stop it! Well done for finishing the projeck! I feel inspired to glue a bunch of seashells to…something. maybe hubs. ha ha.
Oh, it’s far from finished, but far from started, so that’s a good thing. Maybe two more weekends and i’ll have it done. And I was trying to hypnotize you. You…..want…..to….mail….mee…..that….vintage….Valentino…..you…don’t….like…it…anymore…kay? Kay!
HA HA! And I’ll squawk like a chicken too. No, I am resistant to your nefarious efforts to pry that Valentino from me. I have a very strong will, Cheeky! But good try.
From one evil genus to another, thank you for the compliment. I’m going to make me a purty party dress as soon as I’m done with this quilt. I can’t wait to blog about what an epic fail that might be. Ha ha!
You are a hoot! I will be following you! I love your quilt and cannot wait for the finish!
Hi and thank you. I gotta warn you, I usually only write crap. About crap. Once in a while, I write something that might actually be worth reading. So watch for those!
Wonderful quilt! I used to sew but nothing like that. I really wasn’t into it. I paint. Mostly scenic stuff or animals. It’s going to be beautiful when it’s done. 🙂
Thank you! I do love to sew. And now I have a place to do it that’s all mine, so I don’t have to pick up my stuff and put it away when I have to do something else. I just shut the door and come back later. I used to do all my sewing and other crafts in the laundry room. With a family of five, and a door to the back yard, it was always one of the busiest rooms in the house. I also don’t have to stop every five minutes to break up a fight, fix lunch or run a kid to the ER after an unfortunate kid type accident. Sewing is a much more peaceful pastime now, and I’m looking forward to enjoying it a lot more than I used to. 🙂
10 years ago?!? Holy shit!! Seems you really ARE the master at procrastinating 🙂 quilt looks nice so far though!
Hey come on! In those ten years I had a lot of other stuff to do, like work full time, raise my three kids and take care of my elderly mother. Add in a divorce, a couple of moves, remarrying and a lot of other junk. I’ll get it done now, I have much fewer responsibilities and distractions now.
Holy shit. Okokok, I bow down to you… In that case, 10 years is freaking amazing!!! 🙂
Oh, when you have kids you’ll understand. A hobby is something that will seem very selfish when they need you, so you either don’t spend much time doing it, or you feel guilty if you do. So the fun junk like quilting and eating swords and bungee jumping just have to wait until you get a few more hours to call your own in a day.
Shit. At least baking will be something they directly benefit from so hopefully they won’t mind TOO much…
Totally! I baked a lot! Still do. You’ll never have to give that one up. 😉
Oh goody 🙂
You’re pretty talented there, dearest Cheeky.
Why thank you my friend! I use The Force. It does most of the hard stuff.
It does, doesn’t it? I heart the Force.
I’m sure The Force hearts you right back. ❤
I hope so. I need me some Force right about now.
Wait… you have been wasting our time deliberately? I thought that was just an accident… Ha!
Seriously, I love quilts. This is awesomeburgers… I know loving quilts isn’t manly, but I do… so sue me…
What’s not manly about appreciating an art form? Doesn’t matter what it is. And thank you. Never been called awesomeburgers before.
Because I just made up awesomeburgers… you are the first on this palnet.
Weeee Doggies!
Better than doggie wees… ha!
Wow, that is really beautiful, Julie. It will look fantastic hanging on your bedroom wall. I’m impressed. Very nice job! 🙂
Thanks Maddie my friend! I am liking how it’s turning out too. I have to do another post to show the method. It looks much more impressive than it really is. It’s quite simple really.