Miserable Failure...

OK, I confess, I am a miserable failure.

UFO finishes to date : One.

I finished the 3D flying geese wall hanging for the group's exhibition, which ended two weeks ago, but that was it. If I hadn't already had a couple of things finished for the shop, I wouldn't have had anything to show at all.  I don't have a picture of the wall hanging yet, I'll try to get one up soon (but don't hold your breaths - y'all can see what a frequent blogger I am :-))

Poor hubby got presented with a box of flannel squares for his birthday, with the promise that they will eventually turn into a quilt.

Life just got kind of out of hand the first half of this year. I ended up travelling to the UK three times at pretty short notice for family reasons, the second time I got stuck for an additional five days thanks to Eyjafjallajökull, and I had a lot of work for the exhibition committee, and goodness only knows what else, so that I was just kind of overwhelmed.


Anyhoo, the exhibition is over, and was a success, and life is gradually settling back into something vaguely representing normal, so I might just manage to get back into the swing of sewing, and maybe even blogging.

During my first trip to the UK, I did at least get to the Quilts 1700-2010 exhibition at the V&A, which was excellent. I bought the exhibition book, and also Jane Brocket's book The Gentle Art of Quilt-Making - such a beautiful book, I almost bought it more for its visual gorgeousness than for the quilts. I love her blog - she has an amazing eye for colour, and the photographs she posts are just stunning.

It seems though at the moment that I'm reading a lot more about quilting than I am actively doing it - the list of quilting blogs I subscribe to gets longer and longer, as one blog leads me to another. It's hard to say which is my favourite - they all bring so much, and I've learned so much just in these few months of blog-reading.

One of the many blogs I follow is that of C&T Publishing. They are currently offering a giveaway of a pack of RIT dyes, Linda Johansen's book Fabric Dyer's Dictionary and a pack of hand-dyed fat quarters by Linda Johansen. I haven't worked with hand-dyed fabrics much yet - I have one WIP using some gorgeous hand-dyed cotton sateen from Heide Stoll-Weber, and one NSY which is the miniature pineapple/flying geese quilt kit. In August Birgit and I are going to The Festival of Quilts in Birmingham, and managed to get the last two tickets for Laura Wasilowski's workshop Folk Art Fusing. I first heard of Laura via her interview on Annie Smith's podcast - she sounds just so much fun, and I am sooooo looking forward to the workshop. I think after that I really am going to have to have a go at dyeing some fabrics of my own. I have a linen damast tablecloth and napkins that just don't get used any more (one of our pet rabbits somehow managed to get at the tablecloth and ate holes into it - don't ask me how!) that are crying out to be cut up and dyed and turned into something quilty. Even if I don't win the giveaway, once we get back from Birmingham, I'm going to look into getting some dyes and having a go. Like I don't have enough projects on the go already... :-)