Sewing Reports Week 22

It's been awhile. I've all but quit sewing; it's my eyes but not what you probably think. My eyes aren't focusing as well in the last couple of months and my sweet spot of vision has gone from 10-12 inches down to 4-6 inches. Getting that close to the sewing machine needle has been really hard on my back and I am only able to sit at the machine for a few minutes before it starts hurting. I was hoping to get my quilted tops completely finished before my next eye surgery, but I don't think that is going to happen. I can still read, and have been spending more time reading lately to take my mind off my decreasing vision.

While I should be working on UFO quilts, I decided to go off target and make something else instead.  What stitching I have been doing in the last month has been on a little project that I can work on for a few minutes at a time until my back needs a rest. They are pen holders for journals or reading books. I thought of the idea last month when I finally reached my limit with the inconvenience of hooking my pen into the spiral binding of my book journal and then either losing it or not being able to open the journal without removing it, and then I lay it down and leave it somewhere. I googled and sure enough, it was not a unique idea, but none of the ones I found were quite what I had in mind, so I designed my own. Cheap, easy to make, and no velcro or buckles that add bulk, plus it fits onto any size reading book from little paperbacks to large hardbacks. I'm making these for members of my book club so I have plenty of time to finish them before December even working at snail speed.

Because of my very slow pace and frequent breaks, my sewing reports are not impressive. But that's just what it is right now. I also had to buy some fat quarters this week in bright colors to go with the bright bands. Those only came in five colors and they are not my usual choice of colors so I had very little to choose from. I also had to buy some fusible interfacing. That purchase didn't help my stash report, but happily I've already made a dent in it. For the most part, I was able to use scraps from my stash.

I'm joining the usual Sunday groups here. It will be fun to see what everyone else has been doing while I've been lazy the past few weeks.

May One Monthly Goal

Word to the wise: Don't make any plans for the first month after your spouse retires.

Hopefully, Hubby's enthusiasm for getting things done around the house has waned and I can have my own To Do list for May. I will admit though, it is nice to be able to put the car in the garage and to have an organized desk again. All of the raised beds have been moved and partially filled with new garden soil, and two beds are planted. The stock tank water garden has been moved, repaired, and filled again. The old stock tank has also been moved to the far side of the barn.

You might remember that we spent the first week of April with my mother and now I am planning her 90th birthday party. We are having a family only birthday at her house followed by drive by birthday greetings. If anyone has done a drive by birthday party, tell me what worked and what didn't.

Since I didn't accomplish anything sewing related in April, I am repeating it as my May goal even though I've missed the linkup deadline. I should shelve it since it is not on my PhD list, and I am running out of time before my next eye surgery, but I'm afraid if I don't continue, it will be harder to get back to it. So for May, I want to get all the blocks made for Glory Be! That's the blocks, the whole blocks, and nothing but the blocks!

Sewing Sunday Week 17

I have done very little stitching this week, so I'm going to start with a picture of bluebonnets! I noticed a few cars stopping to take pictures today and thought I'd better get out there and take some pictures myself before the flowers were trampled flat.

Tis the season to be outside and even though I can't do much, I am still great at directing. This week Hubby got a couple of loads of dirt from a friend who was dredging his creek. You can see the piles to the right of the barndominium. They were too wet to spread Thursday and then Friday we got an inch and a half of rain, so they will be there awhile. While waiting for the dirt delivery, he moved more of the raised beds from the side to the back where they will be protected from the wind. Then he drained the stock tank where my water lilies live, pulled out all the lilies and fish, and moved the tank to the back. But first, he had to move the tank that was there. It developed a leak so now needs to be repaired and moved to the back pasture. Hopefully, the deer will go to it at night instead of coming to my lily tank and feasting on water lilies. The feral hogs have also been coming up to the house at night, so it looks like a fence will be needed soon. I may not get back to sewing until July.

I only sewed three days this week which made my success percentage take a dive. I didn't use any fabric, but I didn't report fabric use last week, so I'm doing that this week before I lose those little notes pinned to my design wall.

Join me at the two linky parties below to see what other quilters have been doing this week.

To Do Tuesday

After a week in the COLD Texas panhandle, I'm glad to be home. Growing up there, I don't remember ever having a freeze after April 15. That date was memorable because it was Mom's day to plant the garden. But this trip, we had several days where the temperature dipped down to 32F and Sunday morning it was 28F. We had taken the RV because Mom's house isn't really set up for overnight guests and her spare bed hurts Hubby's back. We decided it would be easier to keep all of our stuff in our RV and run back and forth. However, we decided that before the temperature dropped to 28 and froze our water supply. That night, poor Hubby had to thaw out the hose and blow it out so we could have water. Needless to say, by the end of our eight days there, we were happy to be headed south. When we got home, I had a message that Baby Bow Tie was ready to be picked up from the quilters, so now I have two quilts that only need binding to be finished. Those will be my main goals for the coming week.

I didn't take my sewing machine or any big projects because of the space issue. I thought I'd get some hand-quilting done on Dark Star, but I just couldn't see well enough. I need a lighted magnifying stand. So far, the reviews for most are unimpressive. The result is that all I did there was work on a couple of small embroidery projects. I used the same pattern I've tried before, but this time with sack cloth and really, I think the weave in it is too loose, where the quilting cotton I used before was too tight. I looked at some linen in the craft department, but decided to wait until I can buy it off the bolt. Like Goldilocks, the linen is jusssst right.

Since I missed a week, this is from the last list I made:

√ Press Christmas Friends top and back and deliver to quilter on Friday


She found the perfect pattern with poinsettias and holly leaves!

√ Starch Glory Box blocks and add missing pieces to several of them
√ Finish Santa redwork
X Make four Crowning Glory blocks (I only made 3)
X Bind Baby Bow Tie
√ Make quilting design for Dark Star

New goals for April 20-26, 2021:

• Make and put on binding for Baby Bow Tie
• Finish Christmas bird redwork
• Make and put on binding for Christmas Among Friends
• Make three Crowning Glory blocks

Linking to:
To Do Tuesday at Chris Knits

Design Wall Monday

My days are a little off kilter this week. I am staying with my mom for a week and have completely lost track of time. I was going to bring my sewing machine and projects with me but in the end just decided to bring some hand stitching. I forgot how dark mom's house is though so I may not get to work on any of it.

The bluebonnets in our front pasture are having a banner year but I haven't had a chance to get a photo. Yesterday, a neighbor texted that he has been admiring our bluebonnets and sent this photo in the text.

I took this photo of my design wall Friday and I'm afraid it will remain this way for awhile.

Join me at Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts to see what other quilters are doing this week.