Working on those WIP's

bag lady linky partyNo matter how hard I try there always seems to be a lot of WIP's lurking around the house. When I say lurking I really do mean they lurk.  The dictionary says;

lurk

verb

gerund or present participle: lurking

be or remain hidden so as to wait in ambush for someone or something.

This is exactly what my WIP's do. Last evening John was putting some laundry away in the airing cupboard when he pulled out a plastic bag with fabric in it and asked 'what's this doing here?' I'd put it on the top shelf out of the way as I had nowhere else to put it.  My WIP's end up lurking around the house because I have no dedicated sewing area or storage area. This problem was in the process of being resolved back in April, when unexpectedly my youngest daughter moved home and my sewing room / guest room plan had to be dropped for the time being. Don't get me wrong I love having her at home as she is great company and I'm happy to forgo the sewing room but keeping track of my projects is very difficult at times as they are scattered around the house, in different cupboards, where ever there is room for them. The bag John had found contained some fleece fabric and several small quilt tops for prem babies, plus some needing borders added, that the Brownies had made last term. I had meant to stitch the fleece backing to the tops so we could give them to the local special care baby unit this term. So first I added borders to those that needed them.

I had this fabulous stripy fabric that made a perfect  border.

When I started cutting the fleece fabric I found I only had enough for 4 mini quilts. I'll have to buy some more this week. I'm not working on Wednesday so hopefully I'll get to attach the backing then.

Earlier this year when I was going through my wardrobe I discovered this skirt crushed right at the back. The skirt was a present a few years ago and I have only worn it a few times. The main problem is that it is too long for my taste.

The skirt has a front zip and side pockets but it is a dull colour.

Having hung at the back of the wardrobe for ages it is full of creases but when freshly ironed it looks nice and crisp. My plan is to cut off several inches from the length so that it sits just above the knee and then to dye it. I currently have some black and some bright green dye either of which would do the job nicely but I might go for a totally different colour. So having measured for the length I wanted I cut the excess fabric off and pinned and then stitched the new hem. I machine stitched the hem to match the other top stitching on the skirt. Now all I have to do is dye the skirt.

On the hand stitching front I haven't made any progress since early last week so Mathilda is unfinished this month.

I can now finish stitching her coat as I've finally found the blue thread I was using. October is month 10 of the year and the bag lady for October is Abigail. I'm looking forward to making a start on stitching her. 

Today when I got in from work I had my sewing box waiting for me. I love receiving this every month. The 5 fat quarters are by Lewis and Irene. They are so cute, I particularly like the leaf fabric and the hedgehog fabric.

There is a very cute pattern to make place mats in this months box. I have some wadding off cuts which are the perfect size for the mats. Before I start that I must finish one of my other projects. I promised myself I wouldn't start anything new until I do. The good news is that Lucy handed in her Master's dissertation this evening so I can now set up my sewing machine on the dinning table without worrying that I'm getting in her way. 

I'm linking this post with Barbara at Cat Patches for the  bag lady link party  Tomorrow I'll tell you about my set reunion from starting my nurse training a long time ago and my discovery of another 'lurking' WIP

Lyndsey