How Many is Too Many? (The Plague of the Maker)

A bit dramatic… perhaps. But seriously, being crafty and creative can get out of hand very quickly. One moment you are happily working on a single project, and the next you are drowning under a mountain of works-in-progresses. For the most part, I have been sharing finished projects on the blog, so I thought I’d take a moment to share some of my current works-in-progess.

1. Effie’s Woods Quilt

After completing my Effie’s Woods rag quilt I still had a lot of fabric left over. I didn’t want to have to chop up the leftovers into little pieces (or spend a ton of time working with fabrics I’m not in love with), so I chose a quilt pattern with large panels. Knot and Thread Design’s Modern Half Hexi quilt was just what I was looking for. I’ve already got the sandwich quilted, so I just have to bind and label it (we’ll see how long that takes :). I’m going to attempt leaving the top and bottom of the quilt with angled edges, but if it goes south I plan on just trimming it straight.

Here’s a little sneak peek:

2. Crochet Potholders

How far have I gotten on this project? Uh…. I bought the cord, I don’t even have a design in mind yet. But, once I get the ball rolling these four potholders should come together really fast. Here’s the 5mm cord I plan on using, isn’t that color gorgeous!

3. Pineapple Quilt

Okay, this project is a monster! It includes two different types of border blocks, and 16 sixteen inch foundation paper pieced blocks. Each one of those blocks takes almost a whole day of sewing to make. To say the least, the end of this quilt is still pretty far off in the future. I have completed most of the cutting, I only have two more yards of fabric to cut. Since this is more of a long term project, you’ll probably be seeing this quilt on the blog several more times before is all done. The pallette is a simple off-white and off-black, so I’m hoping I don’t get bored of it before the end, sometimes the piecing is more fun when you have a wild pallette.

All of these pieces are just for making one block!

4. Graduation Dress

This dress is going to be for my sister. I already have the spa blue double cotton gauze, but as far as the pattern goes, I’m going to be making a lot of modifications. It will be loosely based on the same pattern I used for the Taylor Dress some months ago. I better get started soon if she wants it before the end of the school year :)

5. Cotton Tee-Shirt

Can you please tell me why I selected a complicated and vague knitting pattern as only my THIRD knitting project ever? Yeah, I don’t know why either. However, if I execute it properly it is gonna be one gorgeous shirt to wear next autumn. The ill-concieved pattern choice was the Cropped Western Tee by Witre Design, I’m sure it’s fine for experienced knitters, but that is one thing I am not. The yarn, however, is still looking like a great choice. It’s Remix Light by Berocco: 100% cotton, soft and light, and in a lovely shade of yellow. I’ve got a couple of inches done, here’s some quick shots:

In addition to all these projects I also have three crosstitch and embroidery projects I’m currently working on, and they have a fast approaching deadline!

Something That Is Finished

And, as an attempt to counteract the mountain of projects of my task list, I thought I’d share a small recent finish. This one had been in the works for many months (maybe even a year!). I started the EPP after seeing the project on Aurifil’s blog. Over the time period I worked on it, the final use for the EPP panel drifted, to be honest I can’t even remember what I was going to use it for when I started. Later on I thought I might use it on the exterior of my Hand Sewing Folder but that obviously didn’t work out.

I finally settled on using it to make a journal cover, using the same tutorial that I did for my piano notebook, the free tutorial from Stitched in Color. Throughout the making of this project I made SO many mistakes. The biggest one perhaps, was cutting the corners off of some of the basted trapezoids. Needless to say I ended up with a lot of frayed fabric pieces; I eventually gave into my laziness and fixed it with fray-check. But that is all past me now! It’s done!