WIP Shuffle

Three steps forward, two steps back. Yes, it's time to WIP dance once again.

I was so excited to finish three WIPs last month (one in January, none in February and two in March, sort of meeting my 2022 goal for one finish each month), and SO excited to have made a meaningful dent in my WIP list. Until I began making this quarter's list. Yikes. I forgot about my latest Spoonflower panel and the first kit I've ever bought in my life, which is supposed to be a Mother's Day gift for Lizard's mom next month.

And... I'm still SO tempted to jump into Moda Blockheads 4!!! (Trying to resist, trying to resist, trying to resist...)

Perhaps the best I can do this quarter is knock my two new arrivals off as quickly as I can so the list doesn't seem AS long while spring moves along. (Although my list is still shorter than it's been in many years!)

Planning to teach my mother-in-law to quilt, I bought a couple of western-themed charm packs I thought she'd love for Christmas last year. I also bought a bit of yardage and cut it into charm squares, in case she wanted to make a rag quilt, which she has done with denim in the past.

When we visited her earlier this year, she hinted around that she is too old to learn a new craft. I thought she was trying to tell me in a kind way she doesn't really want to spend what time she has left quilting. So I offered to make the quilt for her, according to her specifications. We played around with layouts a bit, and I ended up ordering three more coordinating yards she thought she'd like to include, possibly on the back. She decided to give the charm squares a few more months to inspire her creativity. At least she didn't want a rag quilt!

While ordering the new yardage, I came across the cutest table topper kit, and, looking at the computer screen over my shoulder, she agreed it was perfect for her dining room table. But she didn't want to make it. I told her I'd make it for her for Mother's Day. I told her we could return then, with the completed table topper, and if she still didn't want to make the quilt, I'd make it for her, and she'd have a quilt to match her table topper.

That was more than two months ago, and the kit has been taking up space behind my sewing machine for nearly eight weeks! Because... I didn't want to spend $32 on a diamond template I might not ever use again. I have a box full of templates that have never been opened. (I did check to see if I'd already bought the 60-degree diamond, but I don't have any templates as huge as this one needs to be.)

So last weekend, I decided to make a practice table topper in my mom's favorite color with leftover Jelly Shelly strips to see if I could do it without the template. And this is what I came up with...

There are plenty of mistakes, so I'm glad I made a practice table topper before cutting into the kit that wasn't cheap or even on sale. I think this is the first time I've ever done Y-seams by machine. By the second Y-seam, I'd decided I really don't like Y-seams, but then I realized I LOVE hexagons, which means LOTS of Y-seams. I just do those by hand, and I've learned my Y-seams look best when done by hand.

I'm glad I made a table topper for my mom because I hadn't thought of doing that until now, and I think she'll like this as much as I hope my mother-in-law will like hers in May. Plus, and this is HUGE, more huge than the diamond template I didn't buy: I used up ALL my leftover Jelly Shelly strips except one!

I probably could have used that last strip in the binding because I was short exactly one strip after putting together all the other leftovers for the scrappy binding. I decided to cut one more strip from one of my leftover ocean-themed backing fabrics instead because it's totally blue instead of multicolor with blue.

The solid fabric I used for the backing and as the triangles on the practice table topper front has been in my stash for three years. I bought it online to include in a Color Calypso project I wanted to do back then, but the actual color did absolutely nothing for me when it arrived. I ended up buying a gorgeous Moda Grunge to use instead (but still have not finished that non-quilting project yet).

Even though the Kona Astral did not pop enough for my Color Calypso project, it goes so well with the variety of scrappiness in the table topper, I didn't have to buy more fabric, and it's perfect for my mom because it's her favorite color. And it has such a great name!

The patches in the triangles on the front of the table topper came from a sealife panel I was gifted a few years ago. The sand dollar is my favorite!

I didn't add this one to my WIP list because I started it Friday (the actual first day of the new WIP quarter) and finished it Sunday. Now I'm ready to make the kit. I learned from the mistakes I made in the practice piece, and I hope to do much better on my next diamond project, which is under my needle right now.

Here is my WIP list for the Ravelry Spring Quarter:

1. Hawaiian Punch

2. Hexie Booboo

3. Tickled Pink, the Sequel

4. Goodbye Hollyhock Road

5. Snowflake Strip Bar

6. Green Floral Batik Postage Stamps

7. Giant Dahlia

8. Showcase

9. Venetian Squiggles

10. Moda Blockheads

11. Tiny Triangle Leftovers

12. Matthew's Quilt

13. Green Batik Leftovers Quilt-As-You-Go

14. Scrappy I Spy Neighborhood

15. Fenced Out (This one really needs a better name.)

16. Home on the Range table topper

Linking up with Alycia Quilts.

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