Guess Why I Haven't Been Sewing

 

I would have packed everything in boxes and stacked it on the other side of the room, but Hubby just wanted it all moved.  It's going to take months to get it straightened out.

The good news is that he said the sawdust that has been showering down the stairs should be done.

See you again sometime!

Week 18 With No Sewing

I'm not going to link to most of the usual places because I have nothing to report. Hubby followed his squirrel into my sewing space and made a royal mess of it, not to mention the noise. So I stayed out of his way and did other things. For most of the week, my knee kept me immobile. I thought a knee replacement might be sooner than expected but it is hurting less today. I am going to post my to-do list so I have goals for next week, though it looks like work will continue up there until it gets hot. Hubby asked me to start unloading my bookcases so he can go around the corner with another wall. The above wall still needs to be stained and finished and then I can start moving things back to that side. My sewing machine usually goes where the stack of mailing boxes is, but I am going to set up my hand quilting frame there so I can sit on the window seat and stitch.

Last Week:

❌ 1. Finish backing for Glory Be.

❌ 2. Find Bubble Jet and prep white cloth for printing rodeo events silhouettes.

❌ 3. Finish purple shopping bag.

4. Build tomato frames I did do this because it was outside.

This is my pepper shade from last week.

❌ 5. Level espalier space beside fence.

Back burner:

❌ 6. Make dog pillow cover.

❌ 7. See if I can get Hubby to see if light fixture can be converted from plug in to wired in. This will not happen, I just don't want to drop it off the list.

❌ 8. Reorganize my UFO boxes. Now that Hubby has moved everything, now there are more to reorganize.

❌ 9. Find stash of finished hexagons.

❌ 10. Put away Christmas decorations.

♥  ♥  ♥   ♥  ♥  ♥    ♥ 

This Week:

1. Level espalier space beside fence.

2. Try out my new flame thrower on some weeds.

3. Move stuff out of bookshelves even though there is absolutely no where to put it.

Back burner:

4. Finish backing for Glory Be.

5. Find Bubble Jet and prep white cloth for printing rodeo events silhouettes.

6. Finish purple shopping bag.

7. Make dog pillow cover.

8. See if I can get Hubby to see if light fixture can be converted from plug in to wired in. This will not happen, I just don't want to drop it off the list.

9. Reorganize my UFO boxes.

10. Find stash of finished hexagons.

11. Put away Christmas decorations.

Week 17 Sewing Linkups

.
To-Do Tuesday

I had high hopes for this week, but Hubby decided he wanted to build a wall in my sewing space. Between the roaring of a compressor and the layer of sawdust, I haven't wanted to do much work up there. Instead, I've only been sewing late at night after he was done, trying to just get one thing done before calling it a night myself. Still, I managed to check a few things off my list.

Last Week:

1. Put white borders on Glory Be.I'm not happy with it and will be making some changes before I put the back on.

2. Put wonder under on rodeo bandana and square it up.

❌ 3. Find Bubble Jet and prep white cloth for printing rodeo events silhouettes.This was a two-part goal and I didn't find the Bubble Jet, so couldn't prep the cloth.

❌ 4. Tea dye rodeo quilt new fabric. After washing all the fabric, I don't think it is as bright as I first thought it was.

5. Apply beneficial nematodes to garden and yard. I did this Wednesday night before it started raining and today I worked in the garden and didn't find any grubs, so maybe it worked. Monday night, for the first time in weeks, June bugs weren't pelting the windows after dark either; I just heard a few hit the glass.

6. Re-plant okra destroyed by cut worms. No signs of sprouting though.

7. Dye bleached spots on Mom's towel. Better, but not as good as I hoped. In the photo below, it looks like the "after" is lighter than the "before", but that's just the lighting; if anything, it is darker after dying. If the bleach spots fade out again, I'll re-dye it, but this time, I'll dye the spots first and let the dye sit on them and then dye the whole towel.

Before and after

8. Cut elastic off old sheets and make garden row covers. This actually worked pretty good and made use of a sheet I would have thrown away.

❌ 9. Finish purple shopping bag.

Back burner:

❌ 10. Make dog pillow cover. As expected, I didn't get to this.

❌ 11. See if I can get Hubby to see if light fixture can be converted from plug in to wired in. Since he started building the wall, the light has to wait.

❌ 12. Reorganize my UFO boxes.

❌ 13. Find stash of finished hexagons.

❌ 14. Put away Christmas decorations. Didn't happen because they go in my sewing space where Hubby is working.

15. Rearrange sewing space and see if there is room for a bigger sewing table.I moved the sewing machine table against the wall and it made a huge difference. Now all I need is a second sewing machine table to form an L next to it.

♥  ♥  ♥   ♥  ♥  ♥    ♥ 

This Week:

1. Finish backing for Glory Be.

2. Find Bubble Jet and prep white cloth for printing rodeo events silhouettes.

3. Finish purple shopping bag.

4. Build tomato frames

5. Level espalier space beside fence.

Back burner:

6. Make dog pillow cover.

7. See if I can get Hubby to see if light fixture can be converted from plug in to wired in. This will not happen, I just don't want to drop it off the list.

8. Reorganize my UFO boxes.

9. Find stash of finished hexagons.

10. Put away Christmas decorations.

. .
Design Wall

On the design wall this morning is the backing for Glory Be. It's going to be pieced with a lot of the leftover pieces from the top. Next up is making rows of blue and yellow squares for the top and bottom of the backing.

.
Sunday Stash

As I hoped, I was able to use a bit of fabric this week. I made the outer borders for Glory Be and began piecing the back. I thought I had enough spare blocks for a strip down the middle, but I only had two completed blocks. I made one more block and will fill in the rest with other scrap pieces.

2023 STASH TOTALS
Added Apr 23-29                            0 yards
Added year to date                     8.00 yardsUsed Apr 23-29                          3.50 yards
Used year to date                       11.25 yardsNet use in 2023 3.25 yards

.
Stitching Stuff

For the first time in a long time, I was able to get in seven days of stitching this week. Some days were just the 15 minutes, but a couple of days were a few hours, long enough to show some progress. It barely raised my success percentage, but every little bit helps. I'm not happy with the border on Glory Be. The fabric is thinner and without any piecing, it seems very limp and stretchy. If it doesn't look better after pressing, I am going to take it off and make some adjustments. I've worked on it too long to just let it go.

15 Minute Challenge for 2023:
Apr 23-29                         7 of 7 days
2023 Total                   61 of 119 days
51% success rate

Week 16 Sewing Linkups

.
To-Do Tuesday

Last week was mainly centered on the garage sale and the garden. The garage sale was a complete waste of time. Very few people came and the few who did said it was because we are so far out of town. We're five and a half miles from the center of town, which doesn't seem that far to me because we were seven miles from town at our last house. But that's what it's like to live in town where everything is a short drive. Saturday, we changed all our online ads to read everything left is $1 and that drew out a few more people. Still, they asked what the bigger items cost and I felt like the old Dollar Tree guy "It's a Dollar. Everything is a Dollar." lol As one couple walked away, I heard him tell his wife, "Can you believe I just bought a propane grill for a dollar!"

The garden is in, or was in. We've got cutworm and grubs and they are nipping off the stems as soon as new plants emerge from their seeds. This week, I retaliate.

Last Week:

1. Get a load of planting mix.

2. Plant tomatoes and peppers.

❌ 3. Make dog pillow cover. I just didn't get to it.

❌ 4. See if light fixture can be converted from plug in to wired in. Disclaimer: When I said I need to see if the light fixture can be converted" I actually meant that I need to get Hubby to see if it can be converted, and he didn't do it because I didn't push it.

5. Sort green scraps into strips and squares. Now I have to decide what to do with each pile of green scraps.

❌ 6. Dye Mom's towels and attach more labels. Bought dye, but didn't get it done.

7. Garage sale! Three days of hard work and very little to show for it. I think Hubby is finally convinced not to ever have another.

Back burner:

❌ 6. Find stash of finished hexagons. Nope, too busy with searching for garage sale stuff (which was a complete bust and total waste of time).

❌ 7. Put away Christmas decorations. Ditto the reason for the nope above.

PARTIALLY DONE 8. Rearrange sewing space and see if there is room for a bigger sewing table. Removed all the portable tables but haven't moved the main sewing desk.

❌ 9. Reorganize my UFO boxes. Just didn't make it in there.

♥  ♥  ♥   ♥  ♥  ♥    ♥ 

This Week:

1. Put white borders on Glory Be.

2. Put wonder under on rodeo bandana and square it up.

3. Find Bubble Jet and prep white cloth for printing rodeo events silhouettes.

4. Tea dye rodeo quilt new fabric.

5. Apply beneficial nematodes to garden and yard. Cut worms and grubs be gone!

6. Re-plant okra destroyed by cut worms.

7. Dye bleached spots on Mom's towel.

8. Cut elastic off old sheets and make garden row covers.

9. Finish purple shopping bag.

Back burner:

10. Make dog pillow cover. I don't want to do this bad enough to give it top billing.

11. See if I can get Hubby to see if light fixture can be converted from plug in to wired in. Since the ball is in Hubby's court now, it may or may not get done.

12. Reorganize my UFO boxes.

13. Find stash of finished hexagons.

14. Put away Christmas decorations. Since I unpacked garage sale stuff all week, I now have boxes and packing paper.

15. Rearrange sewing space and see if there is room for a bigger sewing table.

.
Design Wall

I am relieved to say that I finally got all four borders on Glory Be! Not perfect by a long shot, but done. Next up is getting the outr border on. A nice, single strip of white fabric border. I should probably square up before I put it on. I'll iron it and measure it tomorrow and and then see what it needs. .
Sunday Stash

Even though my fabrics are literally crammed into my stash cabinets, I didn't have any fabrics that would work with the rodeo bandana. So with bandana in hand, I went to Hobby Lobby, which is the nearest store with fabric. I think I could have done better at JoAnn's or the quilt store, but didn't have time for a trip to either of those. I added four and a half yards to my stash, plus a yard of interfacing (which I am not counting).  For the first time this year, I am showing a gain in my fabric stash.  Hopefully, I'll use it this week and be back to using up the stash.

2023 STASH TOTALS
Added Apr 16-22                       4.50 yards
Added year to date                     8.00 yardsUsed Apr 16-22                          0.00 yards
Used year to date                       7.75 yardsNet use in 2023 -0.25 yards

.
Stitching Stuff

This week was a repeat of last week.  Same number of days stitching resulted in the same success rate for the year.  Three days were spent doing garage sale (more on that Tuesday) and in the garden, and I was just too tired to make it into my sewing space for even 15 minutes.  Today is cold and rainy, so I hope to get in a few hours today.

15 Minute Challenge for 2023:
Apr 16-22                         4 of 7 days
2023 Total                  54 of 112 days
48% success rate

Week 15 Sewing Linkups

.
To-Do Tuesday

Last Week:

1. Sew the finished border strip on, cut triangles for the other three sides, and sew the left side triangles together.

2. Put another raised bed together.

❌3. Plant tomatoes if I can get a load of planting mix.

4. Get more towels from Mom and attach more labels.
Partially done. I got towels, but I need to see if I can dye some bleached spots before putting on labels.

❌5. Make dog pillow cover.

6. Find or make pattern that will work with bandana.

See above.  This is one mock up I made on MS Paint.  I'm still trying to decide on the size for the corner blocks.

7. Get our taxes done!

❌8. See if light fixture can be converted from plug in to wired in.

❌9. Sort green scraps into strips and squares.

❌10. Find stash of finished hexagons.

❌11. Put away Christmas decorations.

❌12. Rearrange sewing space and see if there is room for a bigger sewing table.

❌13. Reorganize my UFO boxes.

♥   ♥  ♥   ♥  ♥  ♥   ♥   ♥

This Week

1. Get a load of planting mix.

2. Plant tomatoes and peppers.

3. Make dog pillow cover.

4. See if light fixture can be converted from plug in to wired in.

5. Sort green scraps into strips and squares.

6. Dye Mom's towels and attach more labels.

7. Garage sale!

Back burner:

8. Find stash of finished hexagons.

9. Put away Christmas decorations.

10. Rearrange sewing space and see if there is room for a bigger sewing table.

11. Reorganize my UFO boxes.

.
Design Wall

I'll be lucky to have any hair left if I ever finish this quilt. The right triangle border doesn't look great, but it is on and fairly flat. I sewed together all the left side triangles and pinned the strip on last night and all the triangles are too big so don't match. I used the same template and the same quarter inch foot. Now I have to re-sew all of them making the seam a scant over on each side.

.
Sunday Stash

I'm late, as usual.  I worked in the garden most of the day yesterday.  One of my gardening rules is that the wind has to be under 15 mph for me to be outside.  Yesterday, it was over 20 mph all day but I had no choice.  I had to get the last raised bed moved and planted.  In moving it, I picked up a board and uncovered fire ants.  Whether it is sewing or gardening, there's always a wrinkle in the plan.  I poured a gallon of boiling water on it, which will only make it move, but at least it will be out of the garden and I can deal with it better.  I was so tired when I came in that I don't even remember eating dinner.  Maybe I didn't eat.  Tired as I was, my aching joints kept me from sleeping.  I finally got up at 3:30 this morning and took something for arthritis.  Thus, I am late and moving slowly today.

I've been trying out fabrics on Mia's pillow, not colors, but textures.  She likes soft fabrics.  So far, she likes these two.  The green one is a fleece, and the blue one is flannel.  I think she'd really like minky, but I don't have any in my stash. 

I like the navy with my living room colors, but she seems to like the green, and since she can be pretty stubborn about her needs, I'll try the green first.  If I have time, I'll make two so there is always a clean one ready.  The blue flannel took a yard out of my stash.

2023 STASH TOTALS
Added Apr 9-15                              0 yards
Added year to date                     3.50 yardsUsed Apr 9-15                           1.00 yards
Used year to date                       7.75 yardsNet use in 2023 4.25 yards

.
Stitching Stuff

I had a better week with 15 Minutes to Stitch this week, managing to sew 6 out of 7 days. I would have gotten in 7 out of 7, but today was the first day in weeks that the wind hasn't been howling and I spent most of my day in the garden.

15 Minute Challenge for 2023:
Apr 9-15                         4 of 7 days
2023 Total                  50 of 105 days
48% success rate