I meant to make a Christmas Day post wishing everyone a happy holiday. But we spent Christmas Eve frantically packing and tying up loose ends so we could leave early Christmas morning for a twelve hour drive to our youngest daughter's house. Our son-in-law was working and our eldest daughter wanted to spend Christmas day at home with her boys. It didn't bother us to postpone our celebration a few days. We rediscovered that driving on Christmas day is the same as Thanksgiving day. The only places open were convenience stores, and only a handful of those had an adjoining restaurant that was open. Luckily, we had tossed in a package of bread and vienna sausage (which I have said I would never eat again, but hunger does funny things to people.)
I thought about taking my EPP (English paper piecing) kit, but I grabbed an unfinished cross stitch project instead. I can't even remember when I started this; it's been years. I stayed up late the night before, so I spent the drive up there reading and napping, and looking at the beautiful Arkansas scenery. Once there, I was a bit worried that I wouldn't be able to find any time to stitch. Brownie's boys are a couple of whirling dervishes, and having a needle and thread near them would be a disaster. But they had long naps and went to bed early, so there was time to get quite a bit of work done.
With that project, I maintained my 100% success rate for December and raised my year's rate to 45%. Two more days of December and I should end December with 100%. First. Time. Ever. My yearly goal for 2019 is 70%, but if it doesn't happen, I'm not going to be too disappointed. This year has taught me that goals should be flexible.
Since I spent the majority of this week cross-stitching, my stash has remained static. Nothing in and nothing out. Next year, I want to make headway reducing my existing stash, not just using what I bring in. I am going to have to spend some time making sure I have unpacked all my fabric before the start of 2019.
I forgot to put my weekly goals in this post, and since that really seems to help me, I'm adding this late:
1. Join Depression Blocks into 2 rows.
2. Lovers Knot Blocks, make 1 red
3. Pond Lily, make 1 red
4. Snowball Blossom, make 1 red
That's how many triangles are in my Depression Blocks quilt. But I'm happy to say that all the blocks are done now, so my December One Monthly Goal is complete. Whoo-hoo, Yee-haw, and Hallelujah! It's on my design wall now, but in a few minutes I am going to pack up the blocks until next year when it will become my first OMG (One Monthly Goal).
I just noticed that I didn't post my weekly goals last Sunday. One was to finish the Depression blocks, which I did. Another was to finish the clamshell wallhanging, which I didn't do. I have taken it apart twice and it still isn't what I want. I'm just about ready to throw it in the trash. After watching a couple of videos and seeing a couple of blog tutorials, I've changed the way I'm doing the clamshells a couple of times. On the very last row, I finally found a method that worked for me and kept the rows straight. Yeah, last row. There may be more at the top though. Stay turned. Oh, and I also added their cat.
My goals for next week are pretty small, because I plan to spend more time playing with grandsons than quilting. In fact, I only have two goals:
1. Work on the clamshell wall hanging (which was supposed to be a Christmas gift.)
2. Work on EPP (English Paper Piecing) stars.
I thought I was done with my Christmas shopping, but after talking to my daughter, I need to go find something else for each of the boys. And my mother-in-law says she is desperate for clothes, so we'll try to find some shopping time in the next two days, maybe first thing in the morning or right before closing. Maybe the crowds won't be too bad then. Oh, did I mention the store we have to go to? Walmart! Walmart on Christmas Eve. Eeek!
I am actually excited to say that I have sewn every day this week, and every day this month. I know it's going to be hard to keep it up during Christmas, but I'm determined to have my first ever 100% month. That increased my yearly success rate to 44%. Not exciting, but better to be going up than going down.
Working on scrappy projects has not done wonders for my stash. On the good side, I didn't add to the stash this week, but on the bad side, I didn't decrease it either. Maybe next week if I get to make a backing or binding, or something.
As I said before, I've been thinking about this for awhile, trying to decide what I want to accomplish in 2019. Things are so up in the air with me that it's hard to plan too far out, but optimistically, this is what I'd like to do in 2019.
1. UFOs are my priority. I'd like to finish all I have, but I have to be realistic and remember how much longer it takes me to do things now. Rather than list the UFOs here, I'll just say that I am going to join Patty at Elm Street Quilts with her monthly OMG (One Monthly Goal) linky parties. Even though I stopped quilting this year when it got really hot, I don't think that will stop me in 2019. Something else might, but not the heat.
2. I am going to continue linking to Kate's weekly 15 Minute Challenge at Life in Pieces, where my goal is a 70% success rate for the year, but I am going to limit linking to other linky parties to once a month for each one. I don't have anything new each week anyway and linking to parties takes time, both to make the posts and to visit and comment on other blogs, and who can see all those pretties without visiting?
3. This isn't a quilting goal as much as it is an sewing room goal, but here it is. When, not just if, we get our house finished to the point of being able to unpack and move things down, I'd like to make my sewing space in the attic a little more convenient. Hopefully, that will be early in 2019.
4. I want to participate in soscrappy's Monthly Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I think that will help me finish some UFOs and make more giveaway quilts too.
5. I want to participate in the Garden Sunshine BOM at Quilt Doodle Designs. Her quilts always inspire me.
6. If I start any new quilts, other than BOMs, I want to finish them before moving on to the next.
7. After finishing my list, I thought of something else I've been wanting to do for awhile. I'd like to find a daytime quilt guild. The one I've belonged to meets at night and is now twenty miles away. None of my local friends go to the meetings because they don't drive at night either. lol. If not a daytime guild, maybe I can find another sewing group. My sewing group disbanded last month.
That's probably enough to keep me busy all year. I have most of this listed on my right sidebar, along with buttons to the various websites mentioned above. Now to go find all the UFOs I want to finish, so I can complete that list. Join me as I link to the 2019 Planning Party at Quilting Jet Girl.
If you've noticed my sidebar, I've started my list of UFOs I want to work on each month of 2019. I had to revise the list a couple of times when I couldn't find a couple of the UFOs, but I think I've found all those currently listed. Some are so near completion that it won't take more than a week or two to finish, and some have so little work done on them that they will take a couple of months, so I broke their work down into smaller goals. I'd like to only work on UFOs next year, but I know that won't happen. Some new project will catch my eye, I hope, and I'll start it too. I'm just determined not to let any more become UFOs.
I have a couple of other small goals for 2019, but my biggest goal will be to have a clean space to sew, even if it does have to be in the attic. I'll probably spend a lot of time dreaming about a finished sewing space when and if we ever finish the attic. I'd also like to make that Sunbonnet Sue and Overall Sam quilt that my mother wanted.
Sewing Depression Blocks over and over makes my mind wander a bit and I think I've spent too much time dreaming while I sew. In the meantime, I've been working on my clamshell wallhanging which I've temporarily named Puppy and Fox. I need to find out if Puppy and Fox have real names. I didn't like the straight line of clamshells, so took them off and made staggered lines. Much better. I'm not sure what kind of eyes I am going to put on the fox, but it can be done later.
I am probably the only quilter who needs to use silencing ear muffs while working in the sewing room. It's not because my sewing machine is noisy. It's not. But on weekends when Hubby is cutting lumber on the other side of a wall consisting of a single thin sheet of foam board, it can get pretty loud. And as you will see in the picture below, my sewing room, aka the attic, is unfinished. Ah, the things we quilters put up with for our hobby.
Over the Christmas break, Hubby wants to insulate the wall between the attic and garage. That will help muffle the sound as well as keeping the cold breeze from coming through the cracks between the foam pieces. In the meantime, I have made progress on the Depression Blocks. I exceeded my goal of eleven by making twelve blocks. That doesn't sound like much, and really the blocks are simple to make, just time consuming when each set of half square triangles need to be sewn together, pressed, and squared up before joining into rows and then blocks. I try to make two blocks each evening and make enough half square triangles to get a head start on the first start the next day. It's easier to build momentum if the block is ready to be put together without spending time searching for fabrics first.
I normally crop my photos to avoid showing my attic space, but the blocks are off my design wall board and the only way to show it is to back away and take a big picture. Besides, if anyone is unhappy with their sewing space, this should make you feel better about it. But someday... someday, I hope to have a beeeautiful space up there.
I was able to get in sewing time every day this week, so I'm still on a roll for December. At this rate, I'll be up to 45% by the end of the year. Not the number I was hoping for when I started keeping track in January, but months off will do that. Currently, my success rate is 43%.
My local quilt store is liquidating and I finally made it over there this week. I bought some Fat Eighths, which I've never seen, or maybe noticed before at other places. I bought a few colors to help finish the clamshell wallhanging and used a couple to add to my dwindling supply of half square triangles for the Depression Blocks. I bought a couple of yards of pretty fabrics, just because I wanted them, a ruler set, and a glue stick. I used enough of the Fat Eighths that the remainder went into the scrap basket. I quit counting my stash sometime in June, the same time I took a leave of absence from quilting, but I never started recording it again. One of my goals for 2019 is to have my entire stash unpacked (there are still boxes of fabric here and there), and start working on reducing the total as well as tracking how much I add and use for the year. For now, just the amounts for this week and month:
Added this week: 2.50 yards
Used this week: .50 yards
Total gain this week: 2.00 yards
Total loss for December .25 yards
Making weekly goals is really helping me keep on track. My goals for last week were:
Make at least 10 blocks for Depression Blocks quilt. (I made 12.)
Finish piecing Black and White Starburst. (I finished paper piecing.)
Cut fabric for scrappy EPP stars.
Cut fabric for white EPP stars.
Make two rows of Puppy and Rabbit wallhanging. (Instead, I took off the row I had made and redid it.)
Cut 14 strips for blue and green fabric basket. (I only made 4.)
My goals for next week:
1. Make 11 Depression Blocks.
2. Cut fabric and templates for clamshell wallhanging.
3. Cut fabric for white EPP stars.
4. Cut 14 strips for blue and green fabric basket.
That's enough for the coming week. I probably need to do a little Christmas shopping and a lot of cleaning too.
I didn't work on this wallhanging much this week. I made some paper pieces to square it off, and prior to taking a picture this morning, I noticed one corner was put in wrong. I had to rip it out and make a new piece. I also found that while I prefer using paper to secure the fabric to the smaller paper pieces before stitching, I much prefer a temporary glue for the larger pieces. I hope to finish this to the flimsy stage next week.
I have quilt blocks on the design board and Hubby is chomping at the bit to do a little construction on that wall, so my plans are to finish those blocks as quickly as I can (and they are going slowly) and get the blocks back into a project box until January. I'll have plenty of handwork to keep my busy until I can get my design wall back up.
I thought I would expand on the English paper piecing with some clam shells. They aren't as travel friendly as the other EPP I've done. In fact, they aren't travel friendly at all. But, they are fun to make and I think the finished wall hanging will make two little boys happy. I need to get busy on it. I was recently reminded that Christmas is only 15 days from now. Eeek!
Linking to: Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts Monday Making at LoveLaughQuilt Main Crush Monday at Cooking up Quilts. She doesn't have a post up yet. Moving it Forward Monday at Em's Scrapbag
If you want to see more linky parties, or click on the button for their blog, look near the bottom on my right sidebar.
I thought I did pretty good this week, great in fact, until I looked at my numbers. Then, I wondered what I did all week when I thought I was making progress.
I'll start with my goals this week.
Finish the backing for Gairden Walk (It didn't take long.)
Make binding for Gairden Walk
Make at least 10 blocks for Depression Blocks (I made 11 but thought I'd make much more.)
Rip seams on varigated EPP stars
Cut fabric for scrappy EPP stars
Cut fabric for white EPP stars
Cut strips for blue and green fabric basket (I should have specified a number. I only cut two.)
I also did some EPP, but still, looking at the accumulated stitching, it doesn't seem like I did much. I think I spent more time looking for scraps that would work in the Depression Block quilt than I actually did cutting, pressing, and stitching. I'm also running out of room on my design wall and I need to make three more rows. I don't want to start stitching the rows together because I'm afraid the newer blocks will stand out too much. I'd rather spread them out among the other blocks which were all made from the same group of fabrics and I have very few of those fabric scraps now.
Susan asked what size squares I started with. I answered her comment, but I'm going to put it here too in case anyone else wants to know.
I had a question (after I finished all the blocks) asking what size I made these blocks. I started with 4-1/4 inch squares and made the quick 1/2 square blocks.
But after I made a few, I noticed there was too much of a color pattern, so I just started cutting the fabric into triangles that were 4-1/4 inch on the short sides. Then I could mix the colors better and avoid having the same colors touching. I wish I had made the original triangles 4-1/2 inch though. By the time I finished the blocks, some of the fabrics had frayed and in some there was no way to cut off the frayed edge when I squared the block. After squaring each half square block, they were 3-1/2 inches, which became 3 inch when sewn into the block. The finished block contained sixteen half square blocks and made a twelve inch block.
My goals for the coming week:
1. Make at least 10 blocks for Depression Blocks quilt.
2. Finish piecing Black and White Starburst.
3. Cut fabric for scrappy EPP stars.
4. Cut fabric for white EPP stars.
5. Make two rows of Puppy and Rabbit wallhanging.
6. Cut 14 strips for blue and green fabric basket.
On the good side, I sewed 7 out of 7 days this week, which puts my weekly and monthly percentages at 100%, but only raised my yearly percentage from 41% to 42%. Big whoop.
Another yawner is my stash report. I haven't added anything to my stash, but I haven't used anything either. Using scraps doesn't do much for stash busting. With any luck, I'll finish the Black and White Starburst and use a tiny bit of fabric for the backing and binding.
That's it for me this week. Nothing notable, at least nothing that has to do with sewing. I've been cleaning my mother-in-law's apartment and would have spent the weekend cleaning there if it hadn't been raining. I don't think she ever cleaned her windows and I wonder if we have to do that to get her deposit back. The inside isn't difficult, but there are roses in front of all the windows which would make it difficult, not to mention the mud. It's been too long since we rented anything with deposit; I can't remember the requirements. We rented a duplex from a friend in 2016-2017, but the windows there were so dirty, I had to clean them in order to see outside. I didn't bother to clean them again when we moved out a few months later.
I'm linking to the usual parties, or I will tomorrow after they are posted:
If you want to see more linky parties, or click on the button for their blog, look near the bottom on my right sidebar. 15 Minute Challenge at Life in Pieces Oh Scrap! at Quilting is More Fun than Housework Sunday Stash at QuiltPaintCreate
I've been practicing stitching by feel. Since black is so hard for me to see, it seemed a good choice to practice on. I have trouble getting started, but once I have the first stitch in place, I can sew down a side pretty well. My paper pieces are made of cardstock and it's pretty easy to pinch the sides of the diamonds between thumb and forefinger and feel the edges and then stitch between my fingertips and then inch down the side as I stitch.
I'm not sure what I'll do with this star now, but I think I'll make it into a mini wall hanging. I've only got a couple of small scraps of the black and white fabric, so it can't get any bigger, at least with these colors.
I just saw that I've already posted about this. I think my memory must be slipping along with my mother-in-law's. I'm not ready to be her roomie though. I hope. So I'm sorry to bore you with this again, but the post is already written, so I'm going to leave it.
This is the top, finished several years ago. I called it Gairden Walk because the magazine said the idea for the pattern came from a Scottish garden.
I had finished the backing, all except one corner. My excuse at the time was that I would finish the corner when I put in the label, but the truth was that I ran out of fabric and needed time to find more. But I never did find more of the same fabrics and then I didn't know what to do, so I just stuck it in a box to finish "someday" when I could figure out how to make it work with the scraps I still had. Now that I'm trying to finish as much as I can so I don't leave boxes and boxes of unfinished quilt tops for my kids to deal with, I decided to finish this backing and move the project to the "send out" stage. So this week I pieced together some scraps to make more piano keys for the border, finished the back, and made the binding.
Last week, I spent several days packing up mother-in-law's apartment, and Hubby and I moved all the boxes over here. Our attic space was already crammed with our stuff, leaving just enough room for me to have a cutting table and my sewing machine on one side, and Hubby's desk on the other side. But there are still boxes of her stuff that need to go up there, so my sewing space is about to get much smaller. I just hope I have enough room to work on bigger quilt tops. I am really ready to get the sheetrock done in the main house so we can start unpacking the attic.
Yesterday afternoon was spent cleaning her apartment so we can get her deposit back. I barely made a dent in it, but I did the hardest stuff first. We hope to sell the remaining furniture this weekend, so I can really clean next week. In the meantime, it's raining, and I want to start sewing on those Depression Blocks! The past few days, I've been practicing my blind stitching. Or should I call it unseeing sewing.
I wish there was a tutorial on youtube, but if there is, I'm not using the right keywords to find it. My sense of feel is just not that sensitive, but I think it may be possible. I'll show you an example in a few days.
I posted my linky parties below, but for those of you who aren't really interested in linky parties, I want to tell you more about the post at Powered by Quilting. She has the cutest little binding babies. It looks like a wood thread spool with a head on top, but it has a slit through the middle of the spool to keep the binding from slipping when winding onto the spool. It looks like it comes in several sizes, and if it is a spool size, maybe it will fit on a thread rack. I can't tell. But in any case, Sherry wound her binding onto the spool to keep it safe and secure. Lately, I've been making a lot of binding for future use, so I think this is the neatest thing I've seen lately. I might have to dig out the binding I've made and stuffed into the box with flimsies and backings, and do it up right.
On a sad note, my local quilt shop is closing down. The owner wants to concentrate on long arm quilting so she is selling her fabrics and notions. There be no more quick runs to her store when I need the perfect fabric to complete a project. The closest place to buy fabric for me will be twenty miles away now. Rain permitting, I am going to go over there today to stock up on some threads and see if she has a couple of rulers I've been looking for. In the last year, our little town has lost a good cafe, the only feed store, and now the only quilt store, all of them truly needed.
Last January, I decided that my December OMG (that's One Monthly Goal) was going to be Summer Crossroads, started in 2016. What I didn't realize in January was that our already crowded upstairs would become even more crowded when we moved all of my mother-in-law's belongings up there too. Now it's wall to wall boxes, bags, lamps, and other items to trip over. Finding Summer Crossroads, even neatly stacked in project boxes, is just not going to happen. Instead, I decided to work on the first project box I could reach. In that box was Gairden Walk and Depression Blocks. My goals for December are to finish making all the blocks for a queen size quilt for Depression Blocks and to finish piecing the border and making binding for Gairden Walk.
Yesterday afternoon, I finished the border for the backing of Gairden Walk and wish I had finished it when I originally made it. I never found any more matching fabrics, and had to piece scraps to finish. I'm also going to have to make the binding out of smaller pieces than I would like, but that seems to be what is left of this fabric.
On my design wall are the blocks I have made so far. I need 56 completed blocks and already have 22, so I think I can complete this goal even missing several sewing days over the holidays.
Thursday, my daughter and her boys came to visit for a few days. After a busy weekend, made busier by two boys who never stop moving, they left yesterday after the Christmas parade. Hubby went straight to his recliner, turned on a football game, and promptly fell asleep. Not being much of a napper, I started sewing. I finished the Floating Stars quilt, or at least finished it to the flimsy stage. I don't have anywhere to lay out a quilt right now, so quilting it will have to wait awhile. I also feel like I am running out of time to finish UFOs and would like to get as many as possible to the flimsy stage while I can. I did find backing fabric for the stars quilt and made six yards of Susie's magic binding; then I packed everything away.
I can't tell if the photo is in focus. If it's not, sorry about that. I'll get Hubby to help me with it later.
Finishing this top and pulling the backing and binding fabric out of my stash meant that I used a bit of fabric this week. I also had to buy a yard to finish the borders, but used 3/4 of that. So while I don't have a formal report, here it is:
Fabric bought this week: 1 yard
Fabric used this week: 3-1/4 yards
Total loss: 2-1/4 yards
I sewed 7 out of 7 days this week too. Evenings are still my productive time. So my sewing report reads:
I like that December percentage. lol
Goals for this week:
1. Finish the backing for Gairden Walk
2. Make binding for Gairden Walk
3. Make at least 10 blocks for Depression Blocks
4. Rip seams on varigated EPP stars
5. Cut fabric for scrappy EPP stars
6. Cut fabric for white EPP stars
7. Cut strips for blue and green fabric basket
Borders are always the hard part for me. I think I auditioned all the fabric in my stash this weekend and what I finally decided I liked was the red and a darker outer border. At first I was going to use the solid gray you can see in one photo below. But when I put the half stars on it, I didn't like the look at all. With the darker borders, my eye was immediately drawn to the center design. With smaller stars in the border, it all seemed cluttered and disjointed. Without the smaller stars in the border, I'm definitely going to use more stars in the center design, and now I am looking at those options.
More of the large stars,
Or the smaller stars.
It's funny how taking a couple of pictures and being able to look at them together helps me see things I didn't see before. After looking at these pictures, it's plain to me which one I should use. Do you see it too?
And of course, now I need to buy a different fabric for the outer border.
It was challenging to get any sewing time in this week. My mother-in-law was taken to the hospital Tuesday, and this time it was real. She's been the boy who cried wolf so many times that it has become hard to tell when something is really wrong. I'm glad she was at the nursing home so they could make the call. We're still trying to empty her apartment too and Hubby and I stayed late a few days this week packing and hauling her stuff to our attic so it will be here when she decides she wants it in her room at the home.
Meanwhile, there was a little Thanksgiving prep, a little cleaning, and a little sewing. We had plans for a working weekend here at the house - move part of a wall and finish insulating. But mother-in-law was released from the hospital Friday and Hubby had to wait a long time for the paperwork, then take her to lunch, run by her apartment, and then to the nursing home before he came home. Needless to say, we didn't get any work done on our house, but I got a lot of sewing done while he was gone.
Below is what I worked on this week, and if I cared about percentages, I spent 86% of the week sewing, and I'm at 79% for the month.
To my stash, I added more than I used this week. I bought some batiks to make some adult bib scarfs for mother-in-law. I haven't drafted a plan yet so I hope they turn out to be useful.
Added to stash 1.50 yards Used .25 yards
Gain to stash 1.25 yards
If you recall, I got a wild hair last week to do something with the EPP stars I've been making for a year or more. As if I don't have enough projects going on, right? I should be finishing a UFO. But this will be a fast project, and I'm telling myself it will be an easy Christmas gift too. This week I finished appliqueing the stars onto blocks and this morning, I joined the blocks and rows to finish the quilt center. It's a gray day today, so even with a flash, these pictures are too dark. Sorry about that.
The center looks a little sparse at the moment. I made some smaller star segments to use on the border but wondered what it would look like to have small stars mixed with the larger ones. I think it's too busy, but then I like simple. I'm also not sure I have anymore paisley-ish scraps to make any more. What do you think?
It was a cold, gray weekend, which turned out to be perfect for getting stuff done around here. After having a standoff with Hubby about insulation, we both compromised and I cut while he hung it, and we got all the walls finished Saturday. Sunday afternoon, I was able to get in a few hours at the cutting table and sewing machine. After arranging and rearranging several times, I was able to finish only three blocks. But it should go faster now that I have a system and more of the star tips tacked under. Now I'm trying to decide if I want a secondary block in the corners or just have floating stars.
This was a good week. I have gotten into a steady pattern of stitching and am especially enjoying unwinding in the evening with some handwork in front of the tv. As a result, I've sewn every day this week. I haven't kept up with my stitching reports after not stitching anything for such a long time, so I won't try to update it for the rest of this year. I know my percentage is so low that it would be discouraging.
I'll just say that this week is 7 out of 7 days, or 100%. Yay! The bad news is that I didn't start stitching at the beginning of the month, so my monthly average is only 76%.
I've completed a few more stars and bought some fabric that I think will work as a background block for all of them. I was going to use a light green with tiny boxes, but then took Kate's suggestion (Life in Pieces) and looked at some grays and really liked one of them. I also bought a couple of fat quarters for a little color variety. So yes, I added to the stash this week, but I've already used all of it, so it's all good.
Fabric in this week: 1.5 yards
Fabric out this week 1.5 yards
I'll see about bringing my stash report up to date in the next week or two.
English paper piecing used to be relaxing, but this week it has been taxing. I don't know if it is my eyes, poor lighting, or my fabric color choices, but it has been a struggle to sew the black stars with black thread this week even with my magnifying glass. I have to finish one more black star and then I'm not starting any more of them.
As I've been making these, I have been trying to decide whether I want to join them in the traditional manner, or try something different that I can do with the sewing machine. I'm leaning toward the sewing machine after this week.
It's been awhile, but I finally got back into the swing of stitching every day, or at least every day that I was home. For me, it was hand stitching this week. I printed more diamond paper shapes and used some scraps, and then stitched a few diamonds and put a few stars together. The black thread on black fabric nearly killed me, but I did it - until I ran out of thread. Then I had to switch to just making more pieces.
I'm happy to report that I stitched 6 out of 7 days this week. I had weekend plans and wasn't able to do any stitching Saturday. I hope I can continue stitching, but I'd like to use the sewing machine next week.
This weekend was my annual spa day with friends. These are friends I have known since junior high and beyond. One friend even goes back to first grade! I met one friend Friday afternoon and went on with her to another friend's house where everyone was to meet. When we went out to eat Friday night, they all surprised me with birthday cards! We spent Saturday morning at the spa being massaged and pampered. Then on to lunch, and an indoor craft bazaar. I bought a gift for the grands and thought of buying a sign for our barn, but it wasn't quite right and was way too expensive. So I got out of there with most of my money. Another dinner out and then back to our host's home for a chilly evening around the firepit with everyone wrapped in quilts and feet propped on the edge of the pit. We talk and laugh so much that it's hard to part company even for sleep. All too soon, it was time to leave after a late breakfast this morning.
Neither of my sewing reports have changed since last week, but you wouldn't know that because I didn't post it last week. lol
Last week, my daughter came to visit and she brought the two boys she is adopting. They were into everything and it was busy and stressful. I think both of us were exhausted when they left. Do you know how you childproof a construction site? Don't let children in! But Brownie wanted to see the place so we did the best we could trying to keep the boys safe.
For the last two weeks, I didn't buy, bring in, or unpack any new fabric, so those numbers haven't changed at all. In the sewing challenge, I didn't do anything last week either. I didn't even go upstairs. We're on the every other night mowing schedule again and on my off night, I am just staying cool inside. The week before though, I sewed for four out of seven days.
Not sewing all week, my success rate dropped to 64% and my stash total remained the same at 378.50 yards.
If you are one who likes Wordpress better than Blogger, I am having a problem editing Wordpress and I haven't checked to see if the comments are broken too. Let me know if you have a problem please.
Even though I have nothing to add, I'm going to link anyway. One of my 2018 resolutions was to keep up with these two linkys this year.
Check out these two blogs to see what other people have really accomplished. 15 Minute Challenge at Life in Pieces Sunday Stash at QuiltPaintCreate
Disorder is like a weed - if you don't keep it under control, it will take over. Sunday afternoon, I noticed that it had completely overtaken my cutting table in the form of scraps. So I took everything off the design board and started working on a new project to tame the scraps. If you can guess what this is going to be, you win a gold star!
One down, five to go. It's amazing how long it takes to piece strips together, especially when the strips are pieced as well. I spent at least five hours cutting and stitching and I only finished this and made a few strips for the next one. I decided to use the first yellow scrap I came to, no matter how small and I pieced those together until they made a strip a little over 24 inches long. I am going to FMQ this one, but the rest of them will be quilt as you go stitch and flip.
And the big news of the day? The HVAC guy is here right now finishing the air conditioner! I might be able to sew in a cool room this afternoon!
Yesterday was the last day of net neutrality. I know a lot of people are happy to see it go and others are upset. I am, well, neutral. I hope it doesn't change our internet service or our blogging world.
I should have done this post yesterday but we were on the go all day. We took lunch to mother-in-law for her 91st birthday and then brother-in-law and his family came down. Last night, we spiffed up and went to The Majestic Theater in Dallas to see Guys and Dolls. It was really good and we really enjoyed it except the seating killed our backs. We were a little late getting there so I didn't get any pictures of us or the theater. Hubby took a picture of the last cast call but I haven't seen it yet. We got home after midnight and needless to say, I didn't get up early, not that I ever do.
So on with the reports! I had a pretty good week in the attic, considering the heat and the a/c working going on up there. I am reporting seven days sewing, but it was the bare minimum fifteen minutes most of the time. I am happy to report that the a/c is now installed; the next step is getting a professional to make the last connection. I can't wait!
For the 15 Minute Challenge, I stitched 7 out of 7 days this week.
Yearly, my numbers are 107 out of 160 days.
So my success rate is 67%.
I have started a new project that I can't share yet. It is a Christmas gift and in the off chance the recipient still looks at my blog, I don't want to ruin the surprise. But, because of it, I had to buy some fabric, and I have to buy more in the next week or two. It looks like I used a half yard, but that's misleading. I needed a two big pieces out of two fat quarters, and the remains of each quarter were put into the scrap bucket.
That brings me to my stash report.
Fabric in this week is 2.5 yards
Fabric out was only 1 yard.
1.5 yards was added to my stash,
Bringing total stash up to 378.50 yards.
The above report shows all the fabric that has been added to my stash cabinet this year, including fabric that I've unpacked or been given, less all the amount I've used or given away. The actual amount bought this year is 30.25 yards and the actual amount used is 35.75. Next year, I need to come up with a better way to keep up with my numbers.
You know I've been making Disappearing Four Patch blocks. I've got it on the design wall and the more I look at it, the more I just don't quite like it. There was something wrong but I couldn't put my finger on it, until I looked at one of the pictures I had taken. Then, the offending block jumped out at me. It's the yellow. Yellow just doesn't fit with my color scheme.
Before I threw it into my scrap bucket, I wondered what it would like turned on point.
Not bad. Then, I wondered what it would look like if it was square but the X still went from corner to corner. So I lopped off the points.
And I liked it!
I deconstructed it to see how to make it, and the easiest way was to make an hourglass block and then cut it like the D4P. I thought I had created something brand new. But a quick search showed that someone had already thought of this design, and she called it Arrowhead. I was bummed. Then I found her instructions and they weren't anything like mine, a little more difficult I thought. I was un-bummed.
I found one very similar called Disappearing Four Patch with a Twist. It was made from a four patch which was then cut up on the diagonal so had an hourglass in the center instead of a four patch, and pieced triangles. Cute and easy to make, but not like my block.
I started making a few, taking pictures and making notes, and then I decided to google "Arrowhead" instead of Disappearing Four Patch, Disappearing Hourglass, or Disappearing Half Square Triangle. And that's when I found it. Someone had made one exactly like mine. I was back to being bummed. But not bummed enough to quit making them. I am making them out of bright fabrics, totally out of my comfort zone. Here is one of them.
If you want the instructions, you can find them here. Or you can just make an hourglass block, and cut it like a Disappearing Four Patch. The only thing I would add to the instructions I just linked is to starch your fabric before cutting it. It will keep the triangles from stretching on the bias.
On now to Scrappy Saturday. I've caught up with my May RSC blocks and made one June block. And here is where I have a problem. I don't have aqua or turquoise fabrics other than the three I used on that block. (I used the wrong side of one of them to make my fourth fabric.) Not in my scrap bucket and not in my stash. I don't want to buy anymore fabric right now so this may be it for June.
The top row is in shadow; those are really medium blue blocks.
On the few days this week that I did any stitching at all, I worked on the Ferris Wheel blocks. I used the last white center yesterday and I'm not sure where I got it. I think it may have been Kona White, so I'll check at the LQS tuesday.
I decided to add on to this post instead of starting a new one for the piddly amount of sewing I did this week. I didn't add or substract any fabric from my stash, and I only sewed three days this week, and that was on the EPP Ferris Wheel. I didn't keep track of my time either because there was so much stopping for this and that.
Since we goofed off yesterday, this will be an afternoon of work, and I am sooooo sunburned from yesterday! Have a good week everyone.
Summer has been here for awhile. It seems that pretty spring weather is only here for a few weeks and then the heat sets in. Summer brings different chores, keeping newly planted shrubs alive, working the garden, and once again, daily mowing. It doesn't leave much time or energy for sewing, and lately I've been working on EPP in front of the tv in the evening.
Today's temperature at 5:00 PM was 98F with a heat index that felt like 106F.
I'm melting!
I'd love to say that my goal is to finish this quilt by the end of June. But it's hot, and I need to be realistic, so my goal is to cut all my fabrics, make all the first four patch blocks, and finish fifteen D4P blocks.
This is where I am right now. Six D4P blocks completed. So far, since I haven't had many fabrics in colors I want, I have been cutting each fabric as I make the block. I think that is slowing down the process. If I can locate all the fabrics I need, and get them cut, I can do some chain piecing and speed things up.
I was going to make this quilt seven blocks by 8 blocks, with no borders. But I am making this for our 5th wheel and it has to have a rounded corners on the foot of the bed. The bed in our trailer is on a platform that we have to step up to on each side of the bed. Anything dragging the floor is a trip hazard, so regular corners are out. I don't want to cut the corners on these blocks, so I have decided to put a couple of borders around it, so I can round those instead of the blocks.
This is what it should look like, and this is when I wish I had EQ. Oh well, I cobbled together a design in MSPaint without round corners.
I check my email several times a day, and I had just about decided that this separate blog for stitching was not a good idea because I haven't had a comment since May 24. Then I thought to look in my dashboard at the comments, and there WERE comments! I know I didn't change my notifications but I thought I must have done something when I backed up my main blog to move it here and to wordpress.
But then I checked my barndominium blog, and did a test comment, and didn't get a notification. To check further, I checked another blog I set up when I was trying out a new idea, and it has a yahoo email while this block has microsoft. Nope, no notifications from it either.
If you are having a problem with notifications, would you comment here? And if you are having a problem AND find a solution, would you definitely post that here? I've posted the problem on a blogger support forum but so far no response.
I thought every week this month was going to be my last week of sewing in the attic, but I've managed to suck it up for several days every week. There's just something about sweat dripping down my back and fabric sticking to my sweaty hands that takes the fun out of quilting. I know. I am such a wimp. Though now I do have a better appreciation for women who sewed in factories before air conditioning. Compared to them, I have it made.
But good news is on the horizon. Hubby ordered the first of our air conditioners and it should be here Monday or Tuesday. Best of all, it is for the attic! Why install an a/c in the attic? Well, it will be our experiment with a mini split system. If it works out, we'll put them in our living space downstairs. If not, we'll use it to cool the mechanical space in the attic. I am really excited about it and hope it works as well as we've heard.
Despite my whining, I did get a bit done this week. The Disappearing Four Patch is coming along and I am almost caught up on my RSC blocks. I am making the D4P for our 5th wheel and I'd like it to coordinate with the colors in there. If you've ever been in a travel trailer, they tend to have the same decor throughout. I'd describe the style as monotonous monochromatic. Too much color in a small space would look cluttered, so while these are not the colors I would have chosen, they are easy to live with. Unfortunately, because they are not the colors I would have chosen, I don't have anything in my stash to use and had to buy some fabric. Just when my reduction was looking better than my additions, ba-bam! It's over.
This is the last pink Saturday and I still need to make one more block. I hated to buy fabric for a scrap project, but I just don't have pink scraps, or maybe they are still packed in a box somewhere. Anyway, here are my RSC 2018 blocks, minus two pink blocks. My other photo was too blurry.
I'm working on another scrappy quilt, a Disappearing Four Patch, and the more blocks I make, the less I like it. It may be the colors, but the color scheme of our trailer is mainly tans and browns and I need it to blend. I've used some blues and greens to throw some color into it. I hope it starts looking better to me as it builds.
I talked about pressing the seams of the D4P in other posts. This is how I decided it worked best for me. Some of the seams are pressed to the dark and a two are pressed to the light so they would nest with the seams. Maybe this will help someone someday.
Welcome to my new blog! It seemed to me that the sewing and quilting posts needed to be separated from the rest of my assorted posts. I thought about doing it once before, but didn't have the time to do it then, but I have time now, so we'll see how it goes. Everything else is still at The Next Fifty Years
I started looking at the two Disappearing Four Patch blocks I had completed, and I noticed that I hadn't done the center piece the same. I looked at some finished quilts online and saw that in some the centers were one way and in some they were the other way. And some of them switched the outer pieces as well. So I decided which way I liked it best and ripped out the center in the other block and turned it around.
I know it looks like I haven't gotten much done, and I haven't. I started looking at the string blocks I make as leaders and enders and thought of a new way to put those together, and well, I got completely distracted with that and forgot about the DFP blocks I was supposed to be doing. Please tell me I'm not the only one who does that!
