Does anyone else start a new year and think “This year I’m going to learn something new” while at the same time having anxiety about a pile of unfinished things that you technically already know how to do, but haven’t quite got round to putting that into practice? It might just be me, but man, that guilt gets me every time! Now don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I clear all my WIPs before starting a new thing, but I have levels of comfort about the WIPiness of my projects, and as long as the bits are not in my way (like the 21 blocks currently hanging out on my design wall), I can leave them be, but when I feel like they’ve invaded my space and I have to work or live around them, then I have to deal with them (note that it can take me months to get riled enough to deal). The only problem with that is that I can then get very resentful that I’m having to deal with them before I can play, because they’ve usually been put in a time out for a reason, and I just don’t wanna! I know, I have issues…
Anywho, the ramble above leads up to the fact that I finally finished some WIPs I’ve been working on for a year. I started last year with good intentions of production line making 8 Sew Sweetness Art Organisers and 4 By Annie’s Everything In Its Place bags, all out of Tula Pink Zuma, glitter vinyl, mesh and some cool rainbow zips. 2 were for swaps, 2 were for gifts, and the rest were for me. I did all the Art Oganisers by Easter, and had quilted and trimmed all the parts for the Everything In Its Place bags and even finished 1 for a swap and then… Well, then I started thinking that I might want to add other pockets to mine and change a few things up but I just couldn’t bring myself to work out the dimensions and I was a bit over cases at that point. So mum’s June birthday case became her Christmas case, which I finished in December, and with a supreme effort over the past few weeks I sucked it up to finish the last 2 for me, with some basic extra pockets, with the last stitch going in on Monday. I have some future ideas for future cases in different patterns. They can wait a month or 10 I think!
Finishes This Week:
Well, technically this was done last week, but this is my dad’s birthday present. It may look a lot like his Christmas present, because it is, except I swapped out the flap pocket on the outside for an inset zipped one instead so he could tell the difference between the 2 when travelling (he did request this second one, I don’t usually keep making people the same thing over and over ;o) ) It’s a weekend-style bag, which can be closed and carried in 2 ways – the first pic shows the ends of the top zipper clipped down to the sides to create a rectangular bag that can be carried by the handles, the second shows how a shoulder strap can be attached to those tabs at the end of the zip for a more trapezoidal finish. The original pattern was from Sew 4 Home, but I changed the construction drastically.
And here are the Everything In Its Place bags for me. The inside of the orange one matches the inside of the blue one, so I only took photos of the blue:
In Progress This Week:
Yeah, that lot did me in!
To Be Worked On This Week:
- I signed up to a bunch of online classes to learn different craft techniques, so I want to have a play
- I also have to work this weekend and next – boo!
Hope you all have a fabulous week!
