It's just a matter of building up the momentum, I think...

Today, I sucked it up and made one of the backings I've been putting off for a month or so.

This is the front of Modern Grace (it's the name of the fabric range and I can't think of a better one) which is number 19 in the list to your top right and was generally known as the Blue and Brown Square quilt or the Stitch and Knit Quilt (where I bought the fabrics from) It's about 120cm square, so it's a bit bigger than the ones I've been concentrating on lately, but it's still a very manageable size.

I got a half metre each of the two brown and cream fabrics and a fat quarter of the one that's in the top left corner, and the rest is scraps left over from the front. It was only basted when I took the photos but it's been quilted since, and the binding is cut ready to go tomorrow.

I also got the photos of the recent finishes taken out in the yard today, but since there was a guy on the roof putting up the new TV antennas, I went to the far side of the block instead of doing them in the backyard. The grass out there is a bit more unruly though, so what looks like really wonky piecing is actually just lumps and bumps of longer grass under the quilts.

The more I look at it, the more GoogleEarth has become one of my favourites. The richness of the colours and the wavy/straight quilting lines make it look so... I don't even know the word. But it makes me think of sitting inside watching the rain wiggle it's way down the windows with the greens of the trees and the grass behind it, and it makes me want to eat my vegetables, and it makes me want to snuggle under it and be warm and indulgent and all that really nice stuff. It's like the world outside at this time of year - starting to warm up but still green and damp and lush from the rains of winter and spring.

I love the lines of quilting on the back, going in different angles. When I was shopping for the binding I found some fabric that is a print of slices of citrus, and if I'd seen it earlier I would have loved to use it for the back, but even though the print was too big for the binding, I bought half a metre anyway. I think I'll make it a matching bag.

I decided to call it Sweet Sacks, since it's all reproduction 30's feedsack fabric, and none of you liked the name Blandybland. You can't really see it, but I gave this a pale yellow striped binding just because I knew it would annoy Helen. I can't help myself sometimes. I would love to make an all yellow quilt one day, just to watch her hating it.

I've randomly decided to go with the name Shallow Water for this one - I think the colours are more like the sky than water, except for the brown which isn't sky-like at all, but does remind me of the sand and the rocks down at Woolwash creek.

I really need to get myself geared toward more little things for the market next weekend, but instead I find myself wanting to make bigger quilts instead. I'll see how I feel after I've had to bind this big(ish) one tomorrow - that might put me off it.

Even though I haven't sewn anything since I got home, I made a fair bit of progress before work tonight. I decided I may as well give the flanelette a test with the pastle retro quilt, which I took a photo of finally tonight after it had been quilted.

It's a bit bland, I know, but hey. I'm sure someone wants a simple, pretty, girlie, slightly bland quilt, and it's just the thing for them.

I also got the blue and brown baby quilt done too, finally, although I had to use a random piece of batting I had which was a bit narrower than the actual quilt top, which is a bit annoying. Still, the quilting came up very nice.

Excuse the cat. It does that. I liked the unstructured zigzag I did with the blue and green quilt and I decided to give it a go in the other direction. It changes randomly at each straight seam, some going parallel, some going towards each other or away from each other, and I haven't washed it yet, but so far I'm loving it.

And then, tonight, because I was feeling good about today's progress, even though I said I wouldn't, I made up another half a dozen bundles for mini quilts.

Every second one is boy safe, so I think I'm gunna focus on those ones first. I feel good about the piecing (obviously) and today's quilting upped my spirits, and best of all, binding is still a while away.

I really don't like binding, and piecing and quilting this lot will let me put off binding today's work.

I'm gunna need more batting though.

Friday

Just because I got all sentimental about the rainbow quilt earlier doesn't mean I didn't still do another simple baby top tonight.

It's nothing amazing, but boy coloured baby quilts are tough. You can either spend a fortune on some funky designer print, or do something perfectly lovely but a bit bland for $6. I think I want to quilt it in a really bold blue cotton, I'm even thinking of doing some tests to see if I can quilt it upside down and use an embroidery thread in my bobbin for some special accents. I think that might make it pop.

I actually had this one almost completed before work tonight, but after I got home I got distracted by the frankly excellent idea of an online quilt festival, and then I had to go pick up my drunk (well, to be fair, only actually tipsy, but still not okay to drive) sister, and then I realised I'd missed Offspring last week and I needed to catch up before Sunday, so again, super late (it's 3am here in South Australia) night.

And then we come to tomorrow, which it actually is already but I don't let that count untill I've woken up. My plans include making lots and lots of scrunchies, since I like scrunchies, but I don't have another top planned. Sunday's is, since I have the day off and can commit to the bigness that it is, but for tomorrow? I still have the pink and brown pile, but I'm a bit ambivalent after doing 3 stack and slash quilts in a row. I'd like to do something that's only the size of the bits of batting that I have left (about 75cm by 95cm) so I'll probably have to do some math.

I guess we'll all find out in 24 hours, wont we?