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Saturday, January 20, 2018

Finished my Disney blocks (and a link party)

Crazy week at work, but I managed to finish my Disney blocks!


The Ongoing Project List:
  1. Starry Bright Sky QAL (2018) - first pattern released at the beginning of January!! and new textured block (see below)!
  2. Art with Disney QAL (2018) - last two blocks completed (see below)
  3. Journaling into my new Leuchtturm 1917 - progress as usual!
  4. the 70273 Project - no progress
  5. Twilters! Bee - waiting for this to start again!
  6. Pantone 2018, Ultra Violet mini - no progess
  7. Project Quilting - keeping this on the list, but didn't join yet! 
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Completed the last two blocks for my Art with Disney QAL that I will run in April on Fandom in Stitches.
Now I have several blocks that I need to baste and quilt (which is my least favorite part of the process) but I may have time this week!


Orazio Antonio Canaletto

Donaldkhamun

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At the beginning of the month I shared the first block of the Starry Bright Sky QAL.

Find all the information at alidatweloqdesigns.blogspot.com

Last week, I shared the first textured block (a free side event that I run as part of the QAL). You can see how I integrate the "made fabric" blocks I created in the past few weeks!!

Find the story and my tips on how to create this block in this post

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How about you? What are YOU up to?
Link it here and share it with me!!


Sunday, January 14, 2018

Feeling productive and creative (and a link party)

Another week with great progress!


The Ongoing Project List:
  1. Starry Bright Sky QAL (2018) - first pattern released at the beginning of January!! Many people joined, I am working on future blocks but cannot share!
  2. Art with Disney QAL (2018) - one block completed (see below)
  3. Journaling into my new Leuchtturm 1917 - progress as usual!
  4. the 70273 Project - 4 more blocks done
  5. Twilters! Bee - waiting for this to start again!
  6. Pantone 2018, Ultra Violet mini - no progess
  7. Project Quilting - keeping this on the list, but didn't join yet!
  8. No waste/No spend - 3 tissues, 4 made fabric blocks 
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This year I set a "No spend" tracker in my journal for sewing, stationary and personal care.
No spend doesn't really really mean no spend... more on this previous post if you are interested

In the spirit of this, I started looking at my scraps and commited to create improv pieced "made fabric" squares that I will use where patterns calls for specific colors.

These are the 4 blocks I made this week... small dent in the scrap pile, and they are beautiful!!


Thinking about No spend/No waste, I realized that I use a lot of tissues because of the cold season... and every day, at lunch, I use disposable tissues and utensils because I buy lunch at the cafeteria. However why am I creating so much consistent waste, when I have perfectly good fabric (with prints that I don't particularly like) and that would make fantastic tissues to blow my nose or to clean my mouth after lunch?!?!? Seriously, it doesn't make any sense!!
So I took a panel that I didn't like, and I turned it into 2 tissues (where I just hem around the four sides) and 1 tissue that I enveloped turned (just to have it a little more sturdy). Now I can enjoy them, rewash them for many years, and I have more space in my stash for fabric that I actually like :)


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One more block for my Art with Disney QAL in April on Fandom in Stitches.


Gyro Van Gogh
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More blocks for the 70273 Project. If you are curious to see some of the beautiful quilts made with all these blocks check out this Pinterest board!


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How about you? What are YOU up to?
Link it here and share it with me!!


Saturday, January 6, 2018

No spend, reuse, create (and a link party)

I am starting the year with good resolutions and intentions!


The Ongoing Project List:
  1. Starry Bright Sky QAL (2018) - first pattern released a week ago... already more than 200 people joined the QAL and few completed the blocks! so excited!!
  2. Art with Disney QAL (2018) - designed the last 3 blocks (cannot share yet)
  3. On Ringo Lake - probably won't do this
  4. Journaling into my new Leuchtturm 1917 - progress as usual!
  5. the 70273 Project - no progress
  6. Twilters! Bee - waiting for this to start again!
  7. Pantone 2018, Ultra Violet mini - no progess
  8. Project Quilting - maybe participating, not sure yet!
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Come and join my new Block of the Month, FREE, Skill Builder QAL!!

Find all the information at alidatweloqdesigns.blogspot.com

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This year I set a "No spend" tracker in my journal for sewing, stationary and personal care.
No spend doesn't really really mean no spend... let me explain...

Deodorant falls into the personal care category... I need deodorant :)
When I finish my deodorant, I go to the shop, buy one new... this day will be a no spend day :)
If I go to the shop and buy 5 different deodorants because I want to try different scents, 4 are not necessary and will count as expenses that I will track in my planner!
So basically, if I have at home an equivalent and I buy more, then that's not good :)

Definining "equivalent" is tricky when it comes to fabric or stationary.
... I don't have watercolors, so if I buy them are they necessary? Can I use another media?
... A pattern calls for a specific color... do I really really need that? Can I replace it with something else I have in my stash?

Basically my idea is just to be honest with myself... because the "no spend" effort will have the following impact:

  • financial: well, I don't spend, so I save money, kind of obvious right?
  • practical: using up what I have will automatically declutter my space, and less things around are fewer things to clean
  • emotional: I feel bad about buying things and not using to their best potential, so instead of beating myself up, I can see how good I am with embracing my creativity
  • environmental: all the things we buy come in packages, boxes, plastic, etc. The more we buy, the more we pollute! I am starting to be more mindful of waste, and while I absolutely far from zero-waste, I am just more aware of the problem, and one of the easiest way to tackle it at my current state, is just not create more!

In the spirit of this, I started looking at my scraps and commited to create improv pieced "made fabric" squares that I will use where patterns calls for specific colors.
I started with dark blue because I can use them in my QAL :)

I tried before (and failed) to stitch up my scraps into usable pieces... but now I have a very good plan!

  1. I pick a color plastic bag (blue in this case)
  2. I grab a handful of scraps and I am not allowed to put them back until I sew each piece to something else
  3. If I need to chop pieces off to make things fit, I cannot reuse the left over again that day (that will create coherence across multiple squares, since colors will repeat organically)
  4. I create squares that finish 6.5'' square, which is the size of the small ruler I have and the size of a small cutting mat (so that I don't need a fancy setup up to just make a block when I have 10 minutes of spare time)
  5. I use a very tiny stitch length (1.2) and press all the seams open, so that the finished piece is very flat and not bulky.
I also added a weekly tracker in my planner, and I decided to make 4 blocks a week: small, useful, attainable goals!!

These are my first 4 blocks... small dent in the scrap pile, but they are beautiful!!



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How about you? What are YOU up to?
Link it here and share it with me!!


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