Pigeon House

Last August I agreed to take part in the MQG's Riley Blake Challenge. Participants got 6 fat eighths of fabrics from Riley Blake's basics collection, we could make anything once it was quilted and could add any solid or any Riley Blake printed fabric. The deadline was sometime in February. I missed it. Understatement. Though most of the work, including the quilting, was done the few days right before the deadline. I semi-lie, most of the quilting was done the night before the deadline. Then I got to the buildings, realised how much I like sleeping, and how crazy sewing black thread on dark grey at night was, and gave up.

I'm glad I caved. I'm also glad I busted ass for the deadline. Without the challenge I may have never made anything like this ever. Tiny pieces, inspired by the real world, crazy dense quilting, self-drafted paper-piecing, starting and stopping quilting in the middle of the quilt, burying threads - I'd never done any of those things before this.

I also learned tonnes. For instance, I should have starched before I even started cutting for this project. I probably should have used interfacing for piecing the top section. The base has two different greys in it, because my ability to paper piece, think in mirror image, and work out triangles flipping over, are all limited. This required an eleventh hour trip to my local Hancocks when I still thought that I could finish on time if I busted ass till like 3am.

It is so far from perfect. And after spending the last 4 months putting it down and picking it up to bury what felt like a million black threads into the black backing and cursing myself for the zillionth time, I see all the imperfections. However, I'm proud that I finished it. That it isn't still languishing on the corner of the sofa. Getting the stink-eye thrown at it intermittently. I'm proud that one small piece of work can hold quite so many pieces of information, and maybe by putting it in my regular line of sight I won't forget those lessons when it comes to the next project. Mostly I'm glad it's done.

You'll notice it's also not flat or square - the wall or pins are hiding
that for now!

The other nice thing about it is that it's a tiny little non-cliché piece of home. It's not green, there are no leprechauns, and definitely no diddly-aye fiddles playing. That is dawn from behind a power generating station in Dublin. I struggled with the colours and prints that the Riley Blake fabrics came in for a couple of months, and then decided to just think about the broad colours and see what I could interpret them as. As I was busy racking my brain for all kinds of inspiration, I came across this photo taken by @botsbushman of Poolbeg Generating Station (or Pigeon House, as we've always called it).

Picture's a link to this instagram pic!

Dublin is not a very high-rise city so the chimneys at Pigeon House can be seen from a lot of places, and are a well known landmark. I've also spent a lot of time travelling up and down to Dublin along the coast by train watching the sunrise, so this seemed like the perfect inspiration. And still a challenge to get those fabrics to work.

Seriously stumping, though the resulting Challenge Quilts were stunning!

Linking up with Pretty Bobbins' I Quilt linky hosted over at Blossom Heart Quilts this week!

Emerging

I have been beating myself over the head for a few weeks now for not posting more often, for not sewing every day, for not having a finished project or even a started project to share with you. I thought last week would be the week when I would catch up with all my sewing and, of course, last week I was sick, then I got better, then the fire alarm on our 10ft ceiling decided to run out of battery and start to shriek at 130am, every 40 seconds, for the next twelve hours. Somehow Paul got back to sleep. I couldn't. So I decided to do something I've been putting off until I felt more caught up, on track, on top of everything. I started to do the Wardrobe Architect over at Coletterie.

Sleep deprived, grumpy, and with a stonking headache (considering there wasn't any alcohol involved) I realised last Friday that I need to let go, lighten up, and do things as I come to them and not force myself to do them to some crazy internal schedule that a clearly batshit dictator/drill sergeant came up with.

Something I put together on Polyvore, which I don't really understand
but do like quite a lot. I am looking forward to when Spring has sprung.

So I'm taking this week off. This is my week of fun, of whatever, and next week I'll add in little bits of more time-sensitive projects again. But in small doses, and with no invented hard deadlines.

So here's where I am. I finished the top of the Riley Blake Challenge, the night before the deadline. I still haven't finished the quilting. There are a lot of threads to bury (first time burying threads - how fancy!), and after forcing myself to work on only this for too many days in a row, until I started to actively avoid the machine (hello, awful daytime reality television) I have stopped. It is now pinned on a wall, until I mellow towards it again and return happily to bring it to a finish.

I will eventually show my inspiration and explanation behind this!

The one thing I have been doing is doodling, making quilt plans, loving them, hating them, colouring them in, and generally enjoying the possibilities. The other guilty pleasure has been pinterest - no required interaction, and lots of possibility.

On the cutting table this week, are some leftover Amy Butler WOF strips, the remaining x and + blocks waiting to be pieced, skull fabric I won almost a year ago paired with an AMH Pastry voile (bought before I knew what voile was), and a stack of solids to be cut up so I can practice my new-found appreciation for paper piecing with last years forgotten Lucky Stars blocks!

I don't know if it's clear, but my unused, almost 1 year-old,
darning foot is out - this week I shall try my hand at some FMQ!

I have a new needle in my machine, and new blade in my rotary cutter, and a new found enthusiasm for doing what ever the hell I please! If I wasn't six months or so late, I'd be joining Made with Moxie on her Selfish Sewing Week - here's to fresh starts :)