There's Nothing Like a Deadline

It focuses the mind, gets the foot to the sewing machine pedal and before I know it I am almost half way through the blocks for the birthday quilt. Well, it's either the deadline or just plain avoidance of the work I need to get finished up! Only yesterday I told a friend that I was focused on finishing a report I need to write for work and that there'd be no blocks made until it was finished. And here I am a mere day later - and I seem to have finished 16 blocks.... Either way it seems to be working - I'm clearly going to make the quilt deadline.

I also keep pondering this little pile of trimmings. Normally I would toss these without a second thought, but they look so appealing I've been wondering just what I could find to do with them.

These thoughts, I willingly concede, are pure report writing avoidance. So easy to spot the life time habits of a procrastinator!

And onto the new

Such a fun day today as I was able to give my finished quilt to my friend - I'm pleased to say that she loved it and is thrilled to have something to wrap herself up in. Of course the other marvellous thing about binding, that I didn't mention yesterday, is it means that you are able to get onto the next new thing. And get onto it I have.

For me the next new thing is a quilt for a family member to mark her 70th birthday. I have long thought about making this quilt and was quietly confident I would have enough time as I had a clear two months to get it made - that was until I discovered that we are meeting a month early to celebrate her birthday! So here I sit with only a month ahead - as you can see from the photo I am at a somewhat preliminary stage.

Thank goodness for quilting friends! I confessed to them last week that I wanted to make something featuring the dutch wax batik fabrics that I have hoarded for almost 15 years - and they came up with the design you see. It has an elegant simplicity about it - and I'm eternally hopefully that it will be achievable in the time remaining to me. What more could one ask?