CLAMSHELLS

Today should have been spent cleaning up my studio and organizing the projects that need to be ready when I go to Retreat next week, but, instead, I got a little sidetracked.

A while back I made some clam shells.  They were cut on the Accu Go machine at my local quilt shop.  I put them up on the design wall.  After looking at them for a few days I decided to make a pillow.

It was easier to applique the clam shells on the pillow top so I faced the clam shells with the same fabric as the background.  This made them a little thicker and the background blended better.

So the top was made and I made the quilt sandwich and pin basted it.  That has been lying on my worktable for several weeks...

 

Today I was trying to get projects ready to take to Retreat.  I thought I would finish this pillow top at the retreat so I set out to get the back pieces cut so I could sew it all together next week.

One thing led to another and voila! I had a pillow top made.

Organic straight line quilting in the top part of the pillow:

Serpentine quilting in the lower part;

After assembling it into a pillow top I tossed it in the washer and dryer to get the "crinkle" look.

I really love this!!

-sandi

TIME TO FINISH IT

The other day was time to clean up the studio.  It was a really big mess from several projects I had completed.  I started to straighten out the fabrics on the shelves and discovered that I was constantly re-arranging plastic bins, tubs, and boxes. 

The time had come!!!  Get these boxes sorted out and stacked together so I could see just how many WIPs (Works in Progress) I truly had.  This is certainly not ALL of the WIPs, but I could not safely stack anymore. 

Okay, let's get a system here.  I decided to list these projects in a binder with a little information about how much was completed/started on each project.

This is about 15 projects.  Some would take an hour or so to complete and some will take a week or two.

I have made these lists before and I am bored with the list making.  June is the mid-way point of the year and a good time to settle down and finish off some things before the New Year.

I don't know if I will finish all of these, but I certainly want to see the stack go down.  We will keep tabs on it each month.

After getting the list in the binder I needed a way to get myself to complete a project.  Maybe I could get someone else involved.

A few of my friends are in guilds that have a UFO/WIP challenge.  I am not in one of those guilds.

The next best thing was to ask my DH to help with this.

I made little slips of paper with the corresponding number of the project in the binder and folded and put them in a little bowl.  You will notice that I am using recycled paper so there is printing on one side and I could write the numbers on the other side.

I explained this to my DH and told him that he would draw one number out of the bowl for me on the last day of each month until I had completed this stack of WIPs.  If I finished something in a day or two we would then draw another project for the same month.

So yesterday was the last day of May and he drew the number for me.   I started laughing when I opened it and saw what number it was:

No better place to start than with the number 1!  So I looked back at the list and found that the project #1 is Dresden Plate.
I started this project with a friend of mine 2 summers ago because she wanted to learn how to do machine applique and she chose the Dresden Plate.  She and I met several times and sewed together as I taught her how to do the applique, etc.  She caught on quickly and did not need me anymore.  She went on to complete her project and mine stayed in the plastic box.  I have several blocks completed, but still have many to go. 

The WIP for June is Dresden Plate:

I will keep you posted on my progress this month.

This will not be the only project I am working on.  There are always other things that get mixed in too.  The goal is to make sure this one is completed by the end of the month.

Stay tuned . . .


                                         -sandi