These ladies have been waiting a very long time to get their skirts.  But don't they look so happy now?  They were left in painted on hot pants for over a year, as I tried to work out how to make them stand up.

The original plan was to hand turn some wooden bead and route out a centre that let each doll stand.  The problem was I haven't touched woodwork since manual training and have no idea where to find a freindly wood turner.  In the end, it was air dry clay to the rescue with hand molded bases holding each lady.  They look just about ready to start singing

In the quest to get my craft room sorted, I have not only found some orphan tops, but a really good home for them. Cat is collecting up blocks, tops and supplies to put together quilts for children in Christchurch. You can read more about it here.

The first top I’m sending off is from my make it all work stage. The fabrics are largely from a bulk bag of fabrics from the thrift store, supplemented with a few reds from my collection. After cutting everything into 2” strips and sorting by light and dark only, the courthouse steps came together. A friend I was quilting with at the time, held the belief that you can make any combination of colours go as long as there are no brights. I have to agree, but the end products always appear to be brownish. I miss my brights and so this one has sat unfinished for 4 years.

The second one is from my shabby chic phase. I started it at a night class 3 years ago and haven’t touched it since. I had wanted to finish this for Little E’s bedroom, but I’m not so sure anymore and my shoulders dread that ache of machine quilting.

The quilts are off and I’m sure will soon find somewhere to call home. If you are in the slightest way tempted to send something also, please get in touch with Cat. She’d love to hear from you.

Thank you so much for the lovely comments on the quilt in progress. I'm slowly getting there with only the binding to go. I thought I should share what happened to the the first stash of 1930's fabrics in the mean time.

I had been looking for something that I could hand piece and decided on a Grandmother's Fan. In between gathering the fabrics and starting the quilt, I came up with a strategy to do it all by machine and so the hand piecing went out the window.

It was certainly a slow work in progress. Started in June 2004 and not finished until the binding was sewn on in June 2007 (it was one of the things in my crazy pre-baby to do list).

It took some time to find the right yolky yellow, not too lemon and not too brownish. The backing is a Trelise Cooper remnant from The Fabric Warehouse. Despite it's long journey, the quilt is still one of my favourites. When we started to redecorate the spare room for Little e's imminent move, I knew just where it would go.

The “Days of the Week” quilt is now officially finished. I finished the binding and label today.

I had been contemplating free motion quilting but chickened out. The most of this is straight lines with a few areas of free motion to the stripes.

The year started with me vowing to empty the WISP box. By June, I had modified this to – if it was started in 2008 it will be finished in 2008. This one was started, I think, in April. This leaves only two more quilts started this year still to be finished.

When I saw this kitset many years ago it reminded me of sitting and chatting with my friend, M. I had just left university and started my first job in a new city. I was really missing my friends too.

M and I have been friends since the beginning of university and lived in number of dodgy flats together, before striking out to different cities. We had both come from boarding schools and were marveling at the freedom of university. While in the first days of the university hostel everyone was asking about study and exam marks, M was the first to ask about family. It's the little things that you remember.

We have lived cities and countries apart, managing to stay in touch all the while. Along with her husband, she is a godparent to my child. Her son insists on being part of the action too, and sees himself as a godbrother.

While neither of us has ever owned a frumpy dress like the one in the picture, I think the pink top and brown pants looks like someone has raided my wardrobe. The picture hasn't really changed over the years. There are a few more kids toys on the floor, maybe, and husbands doing manly things somewhere.

After eight years the picture is finished and on it's way to M for her birthday and yes, it still reminds me of sitting and talking with her.

Last time I gave any serous thought to tidying my craft space, I vowed once again to reduce the number of WISPS. After counting up an embarrassing number of Works in Slow Progress, I decided to start with some that were almost finished and this pair fits the bill.

I adored these Jennifer Pudney kitsets. I finished stitching them in 2000 and 2002 – so let's make that work in very slow progress. As I had no idea as to how to frame them, they stayed that way until today. There are some very helpful notes on framing here. My masochistic streak had me trying to stitch the canvases over their blocking, before giving in and going hammer and tong with the glue gun.

It's time to bundle one of them up as her new owner is waiting.

I wasn't supposed to have a sewing room, but now my sewing room has a couch. When we replaced the carpet with lino, it was to let a little someone or two eat, paint or play with water there. Now that the couch is there I had to sort some stuff out again.

At the time we moved in, little e was nowhere near mobile and I needed to unpack my sewing machine for sanity's sake. Gradually, I took over.

The room was finally unpacked properly when we had relatives come to stay some six months later. Sorting it out was a mammoth task, ending with only one box of WISPs and a vow to get some finished. I dread the sorting out because some projects I'm “just not that into”, some give me a guilt trip (a wedding quilt that is 2 years over due) and some I still have good intentions for, really.

Last weekend as I started on the mammoth task again, I was left wondering what was going on. Yes, I have finished some stuff this year but, there are still 11 projects to finish in the box. I'm not sure if the star quilt along counts, because that is laid flat in a drawer somewhere else.

Anyway, now there is a couch too. It sits across the windows and looks out to the garden. For all the frustration of clearing out and tidying up, it sure feels nice to sit in the sun and think about sewing.

I love reading books about quilting history and catalogs of historical quilts. In a sense these make me appreciate the importance of labels. There was one quilt that sticks in my mind. I cannot find the book any where but the label started with “It is finish, it is finish” and continued with a history of how long the quilt took and who stitched it.

There is some debate about when a quilt is finished. I remember my mum having a book called “It's Not a Quilt Until it is Quilted”. For me, I often consider something finished when the top is ready for quilting. This is probably because I don't usually handquilt. I have to admit that these quilts are not really ready for use until they are bound. I have friends who take it one step further and say that it is not finished until the label is made.

I can proudly say that the Frocks quilt is finished in every way. It even has a label that was carefully added on Thursday. This was my first attempt to use cotton flannel as a batting. I was inspired by some summer quilts I read about in Yarnstorm. While it isn't the warmest batting, it feels lovely and light and just right for the summer that is just ending. I even managed to do some basic hand quilting.

I find New Years resolutions inspiring but often unachievable. Before Christmas this year, I had to tidy up my sewing space to make some room. As I gradually stacked up the projects that I had started, but still had to finish, it was looking a little hopeless. I resolved there and then to make a good go at reducing the stack.

When I first started quilting I was diligent about finishing one project before starting the next. I think this lasted until I decided that I was going to hand quilt a top. Needless to say, that top is still in the process of being hand quilted 4 years later. As I talked to fellow quilters I was introduced to the term UFO, Un-Finished Object. It was spoken of in hushed terms and often referred to something hidden in the bottom of a cupboard somewhere. Some people announce with pride that they have no UFOs and others look on in envy.

Earlier this year I was introduced to the term WISP – Work In Slow Progress. It's a term that conjures up a slow thoughtful process from which you are allowed to take a break while you look for inspiration in other things. No project becomes a millstone that must be thrown off in order to progress, but rather an item waiting patiently for the right moment. In January of this year my UFO pile was rechristened as WISPs. The projects are sitting patiently.

Taking one project a month for the first 2 months has seen the Frocks progress from 3 blocks to a completed top in January. The backing is going to be a summery cotton with a soft flannel lining. Something I wouldn't have thought of a year ago but very fitting for a quilt of summer dresses. I had something lined up to tackle in February, but the Four Patches nudged in. It was their time.

The Four Patches began as a swap with the quilting group I belong to, Stitching Sisters. Each fortnight we would make 10 Four Patches, take them along and leave with a mixture of 10 different ones. Some of us started out with an idea as to what we were going to do with them others like me waited to see if inspiration hit. Sharon keeps us organised, so it is only fitting that she started on this with a plan. She required 260 patches which had us swapping for a year, from July 2006 to July 2007. In January this year, the gauntlet was thrown down. We will be showing the 10 + finished works at the April meeting of the Quilting Guild.

I have been putting the pieces together in a type of Jacobs Ladder. The top last saw work in November last year when I was trying to decide between the two layouts below:

It has been a busy week for me. Upon hearing about the deadline, I booked the top in to be quilted, while it was unfinished, and thought nothing more until last week. Amid a flurry I managed to get the outer blocks all sewn together and the top complete. On Saturday the top was delivered to Quilter's Lane, backs, patterns and threads chosen in a bit of a flurry. After that I could relax.

While having a celebratory Hot Cross Bun at 10 o'clock Cookie Company I spotted an awesome jersey that looked like one I had seen before. I was initially unsure if I should say hello, admitting hat I had been reading the Heart Felt blog but not yet posted a comment. The kid in the jersey was playing Little e's favourite game, Boo, over the back of the couch which solved the dilemma. It was a pleasure to be able to meet Janelle.

I will be taking a short break from the WISPs while the Four Patches are being quilted. I am thinking of getting some smaller projects started so that I can approach the next WISP refreshed.

The ladies are progressing slowly. They are getting dressed in all their finery and jewels. They might even be ready to face the world soon. At least, this aqua beauty is.

I started this top in a Jan Mullen Class at Quilt symposium 2007. I loved the shapes and colours of the original Dressez quilt. The collection was based around some dainty florals I found at Fabric Barn, while it was still in Porrirua. I could just imagine them as sweet frocks for taking tea in, so Frocks it is.

The boarders are finished and the ladies are discussing their backs as ladies do To keep the simplicity, I'm heading towards a bagged quilt with simple knots and silhouettes. The back is to be either cotton aqua print and flannel lining, or mint green blanket. What do you think?