Thursday, January 11

WIP s & other unfinished items

This is a pic of one of my WIP's. A WIP is a work in progress, for you nonquilters. I have about 4 wip's now, I am ashamed to say. I love the bright colours in this one, & have even bought the fabric to make the borders. Work ground to a halt with the coming of the hot weather. And... I am thinking of starting another, before I have finished this! It seems to be something most quilters do. Though I did promise myself I would never do it, I find I have, anyway. When I first started on this quilting lark, I was introduced to it by my daughter. She has about 17 WIP's!! I have finished off some for her, & done the quilting for her on my machine. Now she is so busy she doesnt seem to find time for her quilting, but I try to remind her to take some time for herself.

My first effort was the quilt I called Four Seasons, that I made out of Charm Squares. Next, I made this quilt that is pictured. I made it from a pattern by June Gilchrist, & loved every minute of making it! It gets used a lot by SG when he makes cubbies, & it has lived for some years on the back of a chair. Now it is in the blanket box- hence it's wrinkled state.
I refuse to be 'precious' about my quilts, & like to think they are being used- & abused a little- & I really make them for enjoyment & comfort.
GOM gets upset when SG takes them outside, but they can always be washed!
It seems I have always 'made' things, knitting crochet, sewing & stuffed toys, & of course, my beloved dolls. I used to make cloth dolls to sell for a bit of pocket money when I was first married, & GOM used to be such a help. He would sit with a knitting needle & stuff the long legs of the floppy bed dolls that were popular then.
Later I made little dolls for orders, & I never made much profit, but I did enjoy the process. My DJ still has her little 'Sally' I made her, even though she is a bit worse for wear these days!
When I was a teenager, I used to make myself clothes on my grandmother's old treadle. I also remember trying to fix the belt on it once, & put the wire hook through my finger. I never let on, as I wanted to go out, so I hid the fact that it was a nasty wound. It got infected of course, & I was lucky not to lose the tip of my finger!
When I was a teenager, I decided I wanted to be a nurse- well, I had probably decided that long before I was a teenager!
So my friend of the car-knapping, & I became St John Ambulance Cadets. I loved everything about it, & all the things we learnt. The classes used to be held in the old Courthouse. It was a lovely old wooden building & I used to often sit & wonder about what had gone on, long before we used it for our classes.
There were cells, & this is where we used to have our pracitcal exams to pass to the next level. One of our very loved local Doctors used to take us for our exams, & examine our bandaging techniques. I remember coming second in my class, & felt very proud of myself.
In the summer the St Johns cadets from several districts about, used to go to a camp at Mt Maunganui. I cant remember the exact location of the huge buildings we used for barracks, but I do remember the fun & the excitement we used to have. One of my cousins, from another town used to come to the camp, & we used to get together, but it was more a case of being with the friends you spent most time with at your home base.
I remember we used to get prizes for the best kept cubicle, & we WON! one year, anyway. I was a bit fearful of the high bunks, but I would never let on about that! Silly me, for I always seemed to get a high one allocated to me.
We used to have to prepare the food for all our meals, & take turns at doing all the chores about the camp. At meal times we would hoard cheese & bread, & in the night, after lights out, we would have cheese & bread ball fights, flinging the lumps about in the dark at the other cubicles & down the 'boys end'.
I was never a 'joiner' really & Brownies or Girl Guides never appealed to me, but I love being a St John Ambulance Cadet.
I don't really remember when we stopped being cadets, but I suppose we must have just 'grown out of it.' And discovered boys, no doubt.


11 comments:

Mrs. Goodneedle said...

Cheese and bread fights... how funny! Your WIP pictured is fantastic, we call them UFO's here in the U.S. (un finished objects)and your daughter can rest assured that she doesn't have more than I do by any means... I've stopped counting, it's better that way. I gain great peace in the knowledge that I will never run out of things to finish in this lifetime (or the next!).

Quilting Kim said...

Meggie - I love the bright colors in your WIP and your Charm Square quilt is gorgeous -- no wonder SG uses it so much. I also refuse to be fussy about my quilts - I make them to be used not admired.

My DGD was using a quilt one day and her father scolded her for dragging the quilt around - she told him that it makes Mom Mom so happy when she uses a quilt - so true.

Emma said...

I love your quilts! It's a skill I have not learnt yet, though I am making tentative plans to learn hand piecing this year.

I saw your blog address on my stat counter, and came over for a peek. I am so glad I did! I have really enjoyed reading your stories. It's amazing to realise that everyone has an interesting personal history that makes them special. Thanks for sharing a little of yours!

Emma

Jellyhead said...

Those are such pretty quilts, Meggie! You have a real eye, and a wonderful skill.

KPB said...

Ahhh, one day, one day I will be a quilter.

Tracey Petersen said...

Nice work on the WIP. I love the bright colours. I agree that quilts should be used. My children were forever making cubby houses from every quilt and pillow that we have in the house. They loved to eat in them (a picnic) and even sleep under them (camping). They have lots of memories now when they look at their quilts. Better than memories of being told not to touch!

Angie said...

Oh Megs, those are wonderful -- your "WIP" of which I have MANY!!! ROFL,, and the one that's been used and loved for some years. Just beautiful! :D

Paula said...

You make such lovely quilts. I like that you want people to use them.

I call my WIP UFO's unfinished objects...

molly said...

Loved your colours Meggie...I think there's a difference between WIPs and UFOs. WIP sounds to me like something you're working away at steadily. Whereas, with my short attention span, a UFO is something I used to be excited about working on, but then it fizzled, or I started something more interesting...I'd be ashamed to tell you how many unfinished symphonies I have. But, I'm going to slog away at them this year.

meggie said...

Molly, I think you are right- I do have many UFO's, but I tend to feel they may be a long time finishing, whereas if I label them WIP's they dont seem like 'lost causes'. LOL.

DJ called in today, saw the WIP & said, 'O so glad you got that out, I love it!' I think that was a hint- finish it, I want it!!

It has been so hot here today the last thing I could think about was sewing. We had a visitor so I could just 'sit' & be 'hostess'!!

Ati said...

Hi Maggie, nice to meet you. I love your quilt with the houses, the birdhouse and the chicken. I am also tyred of all equal patterns, therefore I chose to be a CQ-er.
I have still a few 'sane'ufo's. And I do need to finish them some day.......