Just made it.

Thank you for all your helpful suggestions regarding how to fix the f*** ups in the last quilt, I'm delighted that everyones suggestions were positive!  Massively disappointed that none of you had any suggestions that didn't involve hard work though... I don't know, not one trick or quick fix amongst you?  Really?  Must just be me that operates that way....  Anyway, to update on that, I shall be putting said quilt away and hiding it for a few weeks as I do not have the will to go back and stitch every dodgy petal just yet.  It shall come out again; when I can look at it without pouting, scowling and generally muttering profanities.  It shall be my first entry for Leanne's 2013 Finish along!

Can I just sneak in one more finish before the year is out?  Pretty please?

Yes, it is my very own Stained II, from the slowest Quilt Along Ever...  And yes, in my hurry to get it on a 2012 blog it still has the sodding pins in it... d'oh!  But then the photo is so dark and rubbishly placed and actually out of focus I doubt the fact that there's pins in it really makes a blind bit of difference.  Note for 2013 - when man eventually comes home insist on a picnic / lets take all the quilts on a road trip and see if I cant get one bloody picture I like!!!

The Stained QAL was my first time hosting anything never mind a whole Quilt Along.  Might have been a teeny bit over ambitious but thankfully the pattern was soooo simple to put together no one needed to be told how to! (bad host... sorry)  Stained QAL and the Japanese Charm Swap were definitely the most time consuming things I did this year, but they were so much fun, and I am so glad I dived in and just did it.  Happy happy, and that's thanks to you guys!  

I'm hopeful that the lurgy is on its way out as I'm starting to stay awake for more than half an hour at a time now, although I'm still a veritable snot machine and am onto the kitchen roll now.... mmm...scratchy...but certainly more absorbent...  

Cant quite decide if I'm up to seeing the new year in at the sewing machine like last year.  I might.  But then again a quilt and a large glass of mulled wine (or two) is sounding darned appealing right now.  

I shall leave you with a mosaic of all the versions of Stained to have appeared on the Stained QAL Flickr Group Page.  I cant begin to tell you how amazing it's felt to have people actually want to make this quilt!  I love how different they all look, it's incredible!  Often when I make something I sit and think "maybe this would have looked better in some other fabric".  I've said before, I am utterly useless at making the same thing twice, so its been such a fantastic treat to have people do that for me *wink*.

1. staind picnic, 2. qal9, 3. Stained finis!, 4. IMAG1102, 5. Stained - Finish!, 6. Neon Stained, 7. Stained QAL All Done, 8. Stained Quilt Top Detail, 9. Stained Colourful Finished, 10. apples1, 11. Stained quit top done. But rainy day=bad pics, 12. Stained Quilt finished 2, 13. stained on bench, 14. DSCF6839_WCC, 15. Stained so far, 16. Little Apples Stained quilt finished, 17. stained quilt all finished, 18. Stained Blue - Stained Quilt QAL, 19. Shattered Stained Navy, 20. IMG_1028, 21. Echo Stained, 22. Stained Glass top finished, 23. Folded over a sign, 24. Stained II - finished, just..., 25. black monkey, 26. Block 1c, 27. Not available, 28. blok 1c29. Not available30. Not available

A massive, heartfelt thank you to all those who joined in, it was wonderful!  If anyone isn't finished yet, don't worry - it is the slowest QAL ever after all, and the group will stay open as I love popping in from time to time.

All that remains to be said is that I wish everyone a very happy new year!  Lets hope for love, for health and for some bloody good fun :-)  (and a bigger fabric budget...)

She thinks its all over.... it's not.

 Remember this one?  My attempt at the Soda Pop Quilt by Katy Jones?

You might remember me moaning about my issues with the fusible batting not sticking.   Or my issues with the bonda web on the white bubble parts not bonding.   But then I do moan rather a lot so maybe not...  

Mum helped me get all the bubbles done in a couple of mammoth quilting sessions before she left, and its been sitting on the sofa waiting for me to hand stitch the binding down on the back.  Boxing day seemed like the ideal day to get that finished. 

As usual, I wish the photos were better.. but believe me these were the best of a whole big bad lot!

Looks aaaaright eh?  Looks like a finish eh?  I bloody wish.  This quilt is not done yet... it has yet more "issues" to wind me up with.

Poor wee soadypop, the faults are entirely my own.  As you can see, there are a few bits where my stitching has come too close to the edge of the petal bits.  Or the stitching has missed the edge completely...  This is only four of them.  Unfortunately there are decidedly more than four in the quilt.  

Unfortunately the bondaweb stuff didnt work, so they arent even stuck down.  So...

How the hell do I fix it?  Is it just a "grin and bear it cos there's no simple way" situation?   Frankly right now I'd rather just pretend that it is finished and forget about it!  But, it needs a wash, I am hoping that the failed fusing crispiness will wash out and I would love to feel it soft and drapey instead of its current cardboard nature.  If I washed it just now though I'd lose half the petals - and if that happened I think I'd seriously loose my temper with it!   Answers on a postcard please....  

Christmas makes and mental cat.

Am too stuffed up with cold to make any kind of polite, non snot related conversation - the dreaded lurgy hit on 23rd and I fought it as best I could til auntie went home boxing day morning.  Since then I've just been a dozy dopey mopey mess!  So, I shall show you the pressies I made (at least the few I remembered to take photos of.... numpty)....

And they do say that Christmas is all about the kids, and since I dont have any the cat will need to do.  This is the beast the night before Christmas, getting up to all sorts of trouble and making me fetch baubles from under the sofa and the armchair every five minutes...

And this is her on Christmas morning, getting her Christmas Catnip....

Return of the Christmas Potted Plant...

I'm a bit stuck for a decent blog post ("again?" you say...) mainly due to my not having done anything other than sleep and make Christmas presents that I cant show yet!  I've been keeping the most awful hours lately - I'd had a long spell of not sleeping at all during the night which naturally leaves me useless during the day, and when you've got pressies to make I just gave in and got up whenever I woke up...well, I've heard I'm not the only nutter person who got up in the wee small hours to sew!

Anyway, all presents made, and those that needed posted were posted in time - big relief, small miracle...

Hardly any Christmas trees made it to the island this year, so I'll leave you with the Christmas Pot Plant in all its festive glory, and a reminder to put radio 2 on at 9am Christmas morning for Junior Choice....  I will!  (Elliecat likes it..)

Now, off to make the (veggie) sausage rolls, the cheesecake, and wrap Aunties presents.  Merry Christmas one and all!