Pages

Thursday 14 April 2016

I failed……….

In January Jen, Quilter in the Closet, issued a 100 Day Challenge, choose three quilty/craft goals to complete in the 100 day timescale.  Examples were declutter/destash, finish a UFO, try something new, that sort of thing.  I rose to the challenge.  I posted on Jen’s blog, I didn’t have a blog, or at least I had only just started one but hadn’t posted and had no idea how it worked.  My goals were, in reverse order:

3. Start the blog and post once a week.
Did it! My first post was Tuesday 19th January, it was quite short, no pictures and 
explained who I was and why I was starting.  This is my 15th post, about one a week.

2. Finish quilting my Sugar and Spice quilt part done for several months, closer to a year actually.  You see it needed FMQ and I hadn’t done any before, scarey.  I practiced, I practiced some more, I ruined my friends supreme slider by getting it caught and ripping a big chunk out of it (blush, blush).  In the end I took courage in both hands and followed my motto for the year, ‘just do it’.  Did it!  It was just a loopy swirl, nothing special, but it looks fine.  Here it is


1. Complete the top, layer, quilt my Sticks and Stones quilt………..Failed, miserably (cries into a hankie).  I have finished the top, it is layered, but only part of the quilting  has been done (sobs, uncontrollably).  No excuses, yes I have been busy, but aren’t we all?  I don’t have the excuse of children to look after, just my two dogs, oh! and a husband of course, and I work, but part time, but I still failed.  So sorry.  Here is a pic of how it is now, on the sewing machine.


On the plus side, I’m having a great year, craft wise anyway.  Time to list what I have achieved this year.


I quilted and finished a wallhanging with my Global Quilt Challenge blocks and for the first time ever spiral quilting it.


Finished the Sugar and Spice quilt with FMQ for the first time.


Started my City Lights quilt from scratch completing the top.


Made two blocks for a group quilt then stitched the blocks together, added the borders, spiral quilted it and added the binding using a binding tool for the first time ever.


Made two thread catchers, one for me,


and one as a gift.

Progressed my embroidery project 

Started this blog.

So, although I failed I am pleased with my progress this year to date.  Starting the blog has increased my productivity so much, I don’t think I would have accomplished as much without it so I am one happy bunny.

BTW I had a great time last weekend at Higham Hall.


This is last week...


and this is the progress I made, I removed the green stems.


I learned silk shading.


and Battlement Couching.


I progressed in other areas too, I love the clusters of french knots.

The challenge may be over but there is still lots to be done, 
1 .City Lights needs to be finished by mid May 
2. Sticks and Stones needs to be finished 
3. My embroidery needs attention before my next weekend in July 
4. I have only made one ugly Christmas sweater block and I need 16  

These are my personal challenges by July 1st and I will keep you updated on my progress, after all, I can’t stop bloggng now can I?

I was going to show you my sewing room but I've ran out of time...........

Smiles from
Kate




24 comments:

  1. Welcome to the blogging world! Found you on the linky at NTT. Wonderful quilts, and making progress is a success, even if the finish is a bit later than you wanted. Love your stitchery.

    ReplyDelete
  2. That's an amazing list of achievements. Love the spiral quilted squares and your thread catchers inspired me to make a couple as well (have yet to post about them). So thanks for sharing all your progress, I think its admirable!

    ReplyDelete
  3. You have finished a lot! Be proud of everything, it's all beautiful! I love your motto, Just do it!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow! You have accomplished a lot this year! Don't hang your head at all. Your quilting and stitching projects are all beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  5. It looks to me like you're doing great! Starting a blog and navigating through learning how to make it work is huge. I love all your projects, too! The close-ups of your embroidery are gorgeous! That's on my list for this year.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Two out of three is good in my book Kate!

    ReplyDelete
  7. WOW! No fails here...you are doing gorgeous projects! Keep it up! I am swooning over your embroidery skills.....

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oh my gosh! You have nothing to feel sorry for or guilty about. You've done very well. Your free motion quilting is pretty amazing for a beginner. Can't wait to see your quilting once you've spent more time with it. And you have accomplished so much more than the goals you set. Starting a new blog is a bigger all by itself. So three cheers to you. Visiting from Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Oh my gosh! You have nothing to feel sorry for or guilty about. You've done very well. Your free motion quilting is pretty amazing for a beginner. Can't wait to see your quilting once you've spent more time with it. And you have accomplished so much more than the goals you set. Starting a new blog is a bigger all by itself. So three cheers to you. Visiting from Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Fabulous work! The City Lights quilt top is really beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I think your quilts look lovely and congratulations on the FMQ! I'm not brave enough to try.

    ReplyDelete
  12. WOW! Very impressive list of accomplishments! So many beautiful projects!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Great work, Kate ... I have been promising myself a stab at spiral quilting all year and still haven't felt brave enough to try it so good on you!

    ReplyDelete
  14. You have done extremely well indeed - don't say you have failed. Starting and writing a blog is a great achievement inn itself! And as for your first FMQ quilt, plus the spiral - great work. You are a winner indeed!

    ReplyDelete
  15. nothing I enjoy more on blogs than seeing into someone's sewing room... can't wait. You know, you didn't fail at anything. Look what you got done! The challenge was probably to get people started and you went above and beyond. LeeAnna at not afraid of color

    ReplyDelete
  16. Oh wow! I wish I'd have accomplished as much! Really, really love the embroidery. And I love touring sewing rooms....there's always one idea to steal (wink). I love spiral quilting but I can't seem to get my spirals even, and have o idea how! Yours is gorgeous! You should be proud of your accomplishments--you definitely have lots!

    ReplyDelete
  17. I don't consider those fails. Your quilts are beautiful and I love your embroidery. I love to embroider and those stitches you are doing are difficult. They look great. And tell you the truth, sometimes my husband takes more time than my children. Sounds like you are doing a ton!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for your kind words Vicki. I am fairly new to embroidery and I find it much harder than cross stitch which I did for years, I find it hard to get the needle to go in just precisely the right place, all suggestions welcome.

      Delete
  18. Kate, I think the title of this post should be "I Did It!" You have so many milestones and accomplishments here to be proud of!!! Your quilts are so pretty! And hooray on learning to quilt them as well! What is the gorgeous fabric you are using for City Lights? And Wow, you took right off with being a blogger too! I think you have a gift for both quilting and blogging!

    Have you heard about the New Quilt Bloggers group, run this year by Cheryl, Yvonne and Stephanie? Everyone I know who has been a part of this event has talked about how great it is and how they met so many wonderful blogging friends through it. Sign up is now at Meadow Mist Designs, Quilting Jetgirl, and Late Night Quilter. (Three amazing mentors!)

    ReplyDelete
  19. Well, I think that you have been very productive.
    Your Sugar and Spice quilt is gorgeous and the quilting is very well done, in my opinion!
    Your embroidery project is quite beautifully done. I love your color scheme.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Oh my goodness. You didn't fail at all! I think you made huge strides, very productive. I love the City Lights quilt. It is gorgeous. The quilting on the Sugar & Spice quilt looks lovely. Even more, i love the spiral quilting on the Global quilt is wonderful.
    As a new blogger, I encourage you to join up with the New Quilt Bloggers group that Lara B mentioned. I did it last year and loved it.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Wow, Kate!! Your spiral quilting looks absolutely amazing! I love how you set it off to the side, too. I love the look of City Lights - please share when you've finished it!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Oh no....you did not FAIL! Look at how much you actually achieved! I love the Crewel stitching....I have wanted to give it a go for a while now. I love the colour blends you are using in yours.
    ps....I did the 100day challenge too and did not complete my pledge :(

    ReplyDelete
  23. No, you're overruled -- you don't get to call that a failure!!! You have grown and learned so much, advanced so far in your skills, and your projects are beautiful. Just taking the plunge to try your first FMQ on a quilt is a huge accomplishment, and your loopies look great! The first time I tried FMQ it looked so bad that I gave up and didn't try it again for 5 years! Enjoy the process of creating and learning, and don't be so hard on yourself!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you so much for taking the time to read and leave a comment, it helps me grow as a quilter and as a blogger. It also makes me very happy :)
I try to respond to all comments by email, but if I don't reply within a few days it may be because you are a no reply blogger

With smiles from,
Kate