The Log Jam has Broken!

Are you like me?  If I have something I feel I have to do, but I don't want to do, then I feel guilty doing anything else - which means I don't get anything done!

I started Sand and Sea Glass back in 2011.  That's three years ago - around the same time I started this blog.  It was a block of the month, and I was pretty good about keeping up with the blocks.  I even put them together fairly promptly.  Then it came time to quilt it.  And I stalled, and stalled.

I actually started quilting it over a year ago.  I got the bright idea to quilt each block differently.  Which meant I had to think up a quilting design for each block - yikes!

It got put on hold while we renovated, last year, and after that, I seemed to be unable to focus on any other project.  In my mind I ought to be finishing the quilting on that monster.  And yet, I wasn't finishing the quilting.  Gak!

While I was off over Christmas, I twisted my own arm, and got back to work on the quilt.  And got it done!  Well, almost - I still have to bind it.

Hopefully, now that this monkey is off my back, I'll be able to get back my quilting mojo!

Here it is, draped over the fence.

Sand and Sea Glass

And, draped the other way round.

I'll post some close-ups, and try and convince Mr. CQT to hold it up for a proper photo after the binding goes on.

Now, I remember that I cut the binding strips for this quilt at the time I put all the blocks together.  But, do you think I can remember where I put them?

Drop and Give me Twenty Time Again

I, Colleen, owner of too many UFOs and/or more fabric than I can hope to use up in my lifetime, am joining Quilting Hottie Haven's third  annual DaGMT event, and pledge to quilt for at least 20 minutes, (since Downton Abbey will be almost over, and Outlander doesn't start again until April) every day of the month of February, 2015. In doing so I hope to finish 5 or 6 UFO's (but who am I kidding - I'll be lucky to finish one) and I think Beth Helfter is brilliant for coming up with this concept and inspiring me to join.

OK, OK, she made me post this pledge - but I DO plan on joining in and you might want to take a look at it her blog.  Beth has a wickedly good sense of humour!

Another Scrappy Mystery

Back last winter, I had a few posts about the Scrapitude Mystery quilt.  I was really pleased with the result (which doesn't always happen for me with mystery quilts).

Here is my Scrapitude top



Have I actually finished the quilt, you ask?  Well, um, no.

But let's not think about that!  Charlotte, the designer of the Scrapitude quilt is running another mystery - Scrap in a Box.  When she did Scrapitude, she didn't have her own blog, so the clues all ran on Sandy's Quilting for the Rest of Us blog.  But this year, Charlotte has her own blog, Scrapitude Quilts, and she is running a new mystery, called Scrap in a Box.  It starts here.

What I liked about Scrapitude, and what will continue with this new mystery, is the slower pace.  I've thought about joining other online mystery quilts, but before I've even made up my mind, they're already on Step 3!!  I'm a slow quilter!  (All of my blog followers are nodding vigorously at this point.)

Charlotte posted her cutting directions in October, and gave us till now to pick fabric and cut. Then, her clues will run once a month.  I can keep up with that.

When I did Scrapitude, I went totally scrappy.  I had never done a scrap quilt before, and was a little nervous, especially in a mystery, with trying to control the colours. And I really liked how it turned out.

But this time, I'm going to restrict the colours a little.  I have this fabric, which I like:

I'm going to use those colours - red, pink, orange and yellow.  The background will be white.  Here are the fabrics I chose.

I've got all my cutting done.  The instructions for the first step went up this week, so I'll be working on it this weekend.

But, on Sunday night, I do have some other plans: