Never too late

It seems like there is some kind of jinx whenever I set a goal for the month. Last month I had no internet service and could neither blog or upload a photo. This month I completed the quilt top very early in the month and spent a week making gifts and stuff for family. I was going to my hometown and nowadays feel like nothing can compete with a handmade gift. Trip over and I was back to quilting the Old McDonald quilt top or flimsy as I believe it is called.

As you can see from the photo it is all applique and I had decided that I did not want to quilt it all over. It would interfere with the applique I felt and decided to tie the quilt using single stitches by machine.
That should have been a simple exercise except my machine started acting up. My needle was going beyond the slit in the needle plate and after breaking about half a dozen needles I am at a standstill. Straight stitch is no problem but for some reason when I thought I would fmq small flowers again a needle broke.
There is no sound more jarring than a needle breaking I feel. I have set aside that quilt for the day and am just catching up on my Splendid Sampler blocks. I often notice that when my machine has issues in fmq going back to regular sewing seems to make my machine sane. Tomorrow I will try the quilt again. I still think that I should be able to complete the quilting at least as this month's target though not the binding.
Linking with OMG
And the good news is that I managed to coax my machine into cooperating and the quilting is done. The quilt is still in need of cleaning and so I won't post a photo of it right now. Like I said it is Never too late to meet your goal. Just got to keep at it.

Come September

I have become quite lazy about writing blogs. Perhaps it is because the keyboard on my laptop has issues and writing on a tablet is not very easy. Last month I waited till the last day to pen out my monthly target and as luck would have it had no internet starting from the 7th till almost the end of the month. Not that I learnt a lesson. This month we are on 7 the and here I am writing my blog!!! But on the other hand I do keep up with my sewing which is all that matters ultimately.
I did finish the train quilt and it has reached the intended recipient!

This month I am working on another quilt for a child and again it has a lot of scope for creativity! The theme is the Old McDonald song and I expect it to be very colourful! Hopefully I will finish it and make a start on a gift for dh who will celebrate his sixtieth this year!
Linking with OMG

July - a train to catch

It is time to share and thankfully this month I have something unlike last month when I did not even attempt to have a go at my target. This month I was to do a train quilt for a two year old and though I would have liked to have finished it in total, I am content that the top is done to my satisfaction. I am waiting to get my hands on batting and so the quilting was delayed.

Linking with OMG

Plans for July

Last month I did not get to do my monthly goal. Forget not finishing I did not even start it. I think it some kind of mind block for I did do other stuff. Anyway this month I have already started a child's quilt and quite realistically if I finish it I would be happy. I have already changed the dimensions of the strips and also some of the design elements and since there is a lot of applique involved it is going to be a protracted project.

So that then is my OMG for July. Linking up with Red Letter Quilts.

OMG it is June!

Time to set myself another target again. I do have a runner to quilt and finish for a birthday coming up this month and my Splendid samplers to catch up with but those are not going to figure as my OMG. I find that the only way to do the ones on my to-do list is to put them on my OMG. That way it won't be years before I get to do them. So here is something I have been wanting to make - a passport holder. There are so many travellers in the family and I should be making them all one of these. But I will start with my mom who is also celebrating her 80 the birthday this month. And she is visiting my sister in UK right after that. So a passport holder would be great for her. ( And also a wallet to carry her meds but I don't want to get too ambitious)
So that is my OMG for June. Linking up with Red letter quilts OMG.
Oh and before I wrap this up here is a look at my ' Sunset in Africa ' all done!

Hanging in there

End of a month again and that is half the year gone. It is a year and a half then since I decided that if I really wanted to do art quilts then I would have to stop making bed quilts. The constant pressure of deadlines to finish was a real issue to start anything creative, anything that required one to stop and think and play with ideas. So this year I finally got around to saying 'no' to bed quilts but there was always other stuff coming in the way. If it was not the house getting painted it was tamarind to be harvested and processed, or a workshop to prepare for.
So I gave myself a deadline - not for a finish but for a start. So here is my work so far on a wall quilt. I have done the piecing after painting the fabrics in colours that seems right and have partly finished the quilting too. If I don't get distracted I should finish it in about three days. The theme is ' An African Sunset' and it is meant for my oldest sister who turned sixty in March and who celebrated it with a week in S.Africa. I could not take up her invite to join her but with this piece I hope to be part of the trip.

Linking this with OMG!

OMG it is May already!

And a week gone too. I have been dithering over my goal for the month! Imsaid yes to a friend who wants some painted fabrics and that takes away the mornings. With thunderstorms disrupting everything in the afternoons most nights we end up with no power. So do I even set up a goal!for the month let alone something that I have been dodging for months now?
Well if I don't pin myself down I will never get it done. So here I go - this month I want to make a start on a wall quilt meant for a special person. She has turned 60/ and celebrated it with a holiday in Africa. I could not join her but wanted to make myself part of it by making a quilt that will echo Africa for her. I have bought shades of red paints and fabric to be painted and will push myself to have a go at it!
That is my goal for the month!