Friday 21 June 2013

Return of the Sewjo*

 - Stars Wars theme music -

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away (or in Auckland, New Zealand) evil forces had been at work, stealing the sewjo from honest quilters. But never fear, because the force was strong in the quilters, and their sewjo returned ...

- Theme music crescendo, and ... End -

And not before time either. But thank goodness, the funk has lifted. I'm not sure why - perhaps it is the new iron supplement?!  It's certainly not because I've been getting good night's sleep. That is still a fantasy, like Harrison Ford as Han Solo. Mmmmm. 

I digress. 

So sewing has happened. Not a whole quilt top - don't be silly!  But at least some reasonable progress on the Oh Deer quilt. First, I made a few more blocks, because I thought maybe if I could see the pattern emerging, I might like it more. Which worked. Phew. Although not straight away. Here is the first pic I took of 6 blocks.

Hmmm, those little deers seem to have their ugly pants on.

Not loving it. I didn't like the brown all over the place, and I was beginning to think I'd be the only quilter in the galaxy capable of making an ugly quilt with this cute fabric. So I decided to put the brown together in a block, which I think worked better. It means less of an overall brown look, but a nice block of pattern where the brown is together. See.

Marginal improvement.  Perhaps some more blocks would help?

And then there was 9, which made me much happier.  I like the red and the full block of the brown. 

Yep - 9 is good.  No longer hating it.

And although it didn't make me love putting these blocks together (seam matching is not my friend - it seems to go best when I don't try so hard!) it did give me enough oomph to sew the four patches. All of them. So now I have 9 finished blocks, and 71 four patches, all ready to be cut up and rearranged. Yay for me.  I'm patting myself on the back!

And to make my life even more complete. My Hello Kitty Liberty fabric arrived.  I might be late to the party, but I sure love my Liberty tana lawn now. Silky soft like a baby's bottom!  It can go in my fabric boxes which are full of beautifully FOLDED fabric. Yes they are. Little piles 11" long and 6.5" wide. Lucky my ruler is the same width as my boxes, eh!

Top left = patterned neutrals, which I keep thinking I don't have enough of.  Turns out I do.  Pink isn't full though. Time to shop, shop, shop.

Here is a sample of their fabulousness. 

The week didn't pan out so bad after all!

Linking up Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Crazy Mom and TGIFF. Howdy visitors!

*aka Sewing Mojo - a term unashamedly stolen from Kristy at Quiet Play, who we like because she also likes Star Wars, also comes from Down Under and makes AWESOME Lego Star Wars blocks. Go see. 

14 comments:

Jusmom1 said...

No digression at all...Harrison Ford is EXACTLY where my brain needed to go this morning!

I love your quilt blocks. I may just have to try this pattern some day.

And your fabric...ah...swoon (hey I didn't even swoon for Harrison!). I just LOVE to look at nice neat piles of fabric. Could do it all day long, actually.

Okay, back to reality....

It was a nice way to start the day all around! Thank you!

Aunt Marti said...

Liz, I love looking at your perfectly folded fabric. When you decide to visit Colorado, you have a hostess! Can't wait to see a photo of the Hello Kitty fabric.

hydeeannsews said...

thanks for the daily dose of laughs, liz. =) all your sci-fi obsession has paid off as it amps up your comedy.

you get a great big pat on the back for pressing forward with oh, deer. and all that fabric folding, too. i think all the fabric caressing might be what restored your sewjo.

liberty + hello, kitty! eek! you're welcome for the intro.

Sara said...

So glad Star Wars saved the day! hehehe

I like the brown together in one area too:)

Alycia~Quiltygirl said...

I love it! Your Sewjo!!! those blocks look like fun!

M-R Charbonneau said...

LOL! Love the Star Wars analogy. Glad you are getting your sewjo back I have a hard time with brown too so don't feel so bad. It's a tough colour to use in quilts. You did a great job!

Pomegranate Quilts said...

That Deer Quilt is looking goo-ood.

But I am having some serious plastic box envy. All those neat stacks of gorgeousness. Be still my heart.

Kymberly said...

I love your blocks. Once you see everything together the brown plays really nicely with the other fabrics.

Deb@asimplelifequilts said...

I really like your blocks and the sight of those bins of pretty fabric makes me very happy!

Leigh Anne said...

Those bins of fabric made my heart go pitter pat ;) YAY for the return of sewjo :)

Renee said...

Yup, those extra blocks do help! I love having my fabric nicely folder and in clear bins.

Anonymous said...

This quilt is coming together beautifully. The more blocks you add the more fabulous it looks.

Nilya said...

It´s a goreous block!

heart of charnwood said...

It's a great start, but i know exactly what you mean about brown, I always struggle with it, I think i might be brownaphobic, a bit! Thx for linking up :o)