2020 Non-Planning Quilting Goals

Non-Planning? Is there such a thing as planning to not have a plan? I think so.

2019 was an especially odd year in a string of odd years. For years, I happily collected fabrics and patterns, planning someday to get it all done. But as my eyes continued to deteriorate last year, I started to realize that I will NEVER use all the fabric I have, and quite possibly never finish all the quilts I have started. It doesn't help that we are still working on the house and most of my sewing room stuff is in the attic, still boxed up somewhere. I thought I had all my fabric unpacked when I came across two more boxes yesterday, and there is probably more.

My goal for the remainder of 2019 is to clear out a workable sewing space in the attic.

My goals for 2020 are:

1. Have a stay-at-home quilting weekend just for me. Hubby takes his hunting trips, so this is my equivalent and I have some catching up to do. I am going to start New Year's Day and the following day. No cooking, no cleaning, no running errands, no helping Hubby with whatever project he has going. Just me, my sewing, and a full fridge.

2. Finish UFO's as I find them, and work on them until they are finished. My quilting weekends should help with that.

3. Do something every day that moves a project forward, whether it takes 5 minutes or 30 minutes, and whether it is actual sewing, or buying batting, or oiling the sewing machine so it can keep sewing.

Even though these aren't specific goals like most quilter's make when they plan the upcoming year, I am going to link to Quilting Jet Girl's 2020 Planning Party.

Another Sunday Stitching Report Slides By

Happy Mother's Day everyone!

I didn't post any reports last Sunday. It was a bad week for me, both mentally and physically and I could barely function for three days, and then the weekend was a bust, so I only sewed two days. This week was better, but still very busy with appointments and working on the house. The good news is that almost all my latest test results are within normal range. Just barely, but I'll take it. I should be feeling terrific but I'm not quite there yet.

My stash report has changed, not because I have used or bought any fabric, but because I opened a box and found that I had padded something with a few yards of fabric. Instead of adding it in as an addition this week, I added it to the beginning stash total, so I can keep track of actual new fabric added this year.

I worked on my cross-stitch project for a few days and managed to get in 15 minutes each time, but as slow as that is, there isn't much to show for it. Still, it helps keep me motivated.

We have a break from the rain today and tomorrow and then it is supposed to start again Tuesday, so Tuesday might be a good day for some marathon sewing.

As usual, I am linking to:
15 Minutes to Stitch at Life in Pieces
Sunday Stash at QuiltPaintCreat

Sunday Stitching Report Time

I'm glad I didn't set my sights on a 90% success rate with my stitching this year. My weekends are just not meant for sewing, at least not yet. Friday afternoon Hubby installed another door and trim, and I continued filling nail holes, painting and staining. Blech! Yesterday, we made two trips to our last storage unit and brought home our refrigerator, freezer, two cabinets, loveseat, three mattresses, and five chairs. It nearly killed me and I didn't even do any of the really heavy lifting.

When I was fifty and our youngest daughter moved to college and our oldest to her first apartment, we schlepped furniture, appliances, and umpteen boxes up multiple flights of stairs, down long halls, and around tight corners, and I declared it was the last time I would ever do any moving. Then, oldest moved to another apartment, and we did it all over again, and again, and again. And each time, I said it was the last time I was ever going to be part of a moving crew.

When we sold our house, we hired movers and it was wonderful. They moved stuff to storage and the rest into our rented duplex. But for a reason that neither of us can remember now, they didn't move everything, one being the loveseat. The double recliner loveseat. It weighs like a million pounds and most of the weight is on whichever end I pick up. We had minimal furniture at the duplex, and no appliances, so it was pretty easy to move it all here ourselves. But when we started talking about getting the stuff out of storage, I told Hubby that I wasn't going to do it. Not. Going. To. Do. It. Let's find a couple of all brawn, some brain, YOUNG!, guys to move this stuff because I am just too old to be moving furniture. Do you know how hard it is to find anyone who is willing to move things? Boy, you say move a freezer, and click, you are talking to a dead air. I would welcome some brawn, no brain, and arthritic, as long as I didn't have to do it, but as you know from reading above, it was me.

While we were loading the freezer into the pickup, another pickup pulling a U-Haul trailer drove past us on the way to their storage unit, and the young man driving paused to ask if Hubby wanted help. Hubby thanked them, but said no, we could get it; while behind his back, I was nodding yes, yes, yes! But with the help of a dolly, Hubby loaded the refrigerator and freezer, with guidance from me and then it was time for the loveseat which wouldn't fit on a dolly. Just about that time, the truck and U-Haul came back by and this time Hubby asked if they would help him move the loveseat. Not one, but two, strong, young men and a young woman hopped out of the truck to help. One of them helped Hubby and they easily picked up the loveseat and put it on our trailer.

It turned out that one of the young men and the young woman were married and had just sold their house. They were moving everything into storage while they built their barndominium. The young man wanted to get a ham radio, so he and Hubby talked radio for awhile, and they will probably come out to visit us soon. Isn't it funny how things work out sometimes?

I thought I must have remembered the weight of the loveseat incorrectly, so was prepared to pick up my end of the loveseat when we got home. But the young man must have reinserted the lead weights into the end after he set it down, because I couldn't budge it. We got the moving straps out, and I still couldn't lift it, and of course Hubby thought it was because I wasn't lifting right. It wouldn't have mattered if I had lifted right, left, or upside down; I couldn't lift it. Hubby finally slid it off the trailer into the garage, and we used sliders to get it into the house. By the way, those moving straps are the best things EVER for moving heavy things that aren't too wide.

We have to get the last few things out of storage today, and then we can end that expense. And word to the wise, for the length of time we have had all this stuff in storage, we could have bought all new appliances and furniture. But we thought it wouldn't only be for a few months. Seems like I've said that before. So no sewing today unless one of us throws out a back or drops a cabinet on a foot.

My reports don't show it, but I finally made some progress on the Depression Block Quilt. This is such a busy quilt that I think I am going to do simple straight line quilting on it. Now I have to decide whether to finish it for the RV or the house. If it is for the RV, I have to cut the corners. Decisions, decisions.

I'm joining the usual Sunday linkups:
15 Minutes to Stitch at Life in Pieces
Sunday Stash at QuiltPaintCreate

Sewing Reports on a Lovely Easter

Happy Easter everyone! I hope your day is beautiful and filled with joy. My girls are far away but my brother-in-law and his wife are coming for an unexpected visit. After I post this, I need to get busy. I had hoped for an afternoon of sewing, but yesterday's glorious weather found us working outside, so today we need to catch up on our house project. Yesterday, I was going to mark some flowers for collecting seed, but people were parked on the street waiting for me to leave so they could take pictures of their kids in our flowers, so I held off because there will probably be more people stopping by today. The bluebonnets are really past their peak, but they still look okay. So far, it's a little hazy outside, but it's supposed to clear and be a sunny, if windy, day.

This has not been a good sewing week, I'm afraid. Weekends are for physical labor, and even though Hubby was supposed to be on holiday Friday, he spent half the day catching up on paperwork, and so did I. A couple of our doctors' offices have been bought by a major hospital chain and the new bills are severely lacking in detail. It's really hard to match them to the right explanation of benefits from the insurance company. I found a mistake, my mistake, that will get us a nice refund; I just hope it isn't a huge hassle getting it back.

I'm joining the usual Sunday linky parties:
15 Minutes to Stitch at Life in Pieces
Sunday Stash at QuiltPaintCreate

Weekly Sewing Reports for Week 15 of 2019

In the past week, we have had some crazy weather. Last weekend and again this weekend, it rained. One local friend said her gauge read three inches. Monday was a beautiful day with clear blue sky, very little wind, and a comfortable temperature in the upper 70's. I wanted nothing more than to be outside, walking among the flowers, but I had a doctor's appointment right in the middle of the day. The next two days bordered on hot, with highs near 90. Then, it began cooling again, and last night was downright nippy. It reminds me of my parent's house when mom went through menopause. When dad was out, the house was freezing, but when he came home, he turned off the air conditioner and then the house warmed up and then became hot and stuffy. But when mom noticed the air conditioner was off, she turned it back on and dialed it down again. Spring is a lot like Mother Nature going through menopause, right down to the howling mood swings.

I bought a set of sheets to use for backing and pillowcases, and decided to count that as fabric for my stash, just like I would have if I had bought it as cut fabric. Not only did it break my no-buying streak, but it made my stash percentage go up. Hopefully, I can use those sheets this week and get that number back down.

I didn't have a 100% stitching week, but not bad. After moving rocks and mowing Friday evening, I was too achy and itchy to do anything except take a Benedryl and conk out. I don't know which plant it was that got to me, but I hope I'm not becoming sensitive to poison ivy. But I got a lot of stitching in last night, so the day off didn't stop my momentum.

I'm joining the usual Sunday linky parties:
Sunday Stash at QuiltPaintCreate
15 Minutes to Stitch at Life in Pieces

Sewing Reports for Week 14 of 2019

Thank you to those who have commiserated over my computer problems. Unfortunately, the keyboard glitch continues. From everything I've read, that is a common Asus problem. I told the computer repair owner that I had been thinking of getting a new computer, until I used Hubby's new HP laptop a few times. It feels so flimsy. She agreed and said the only way to get a good laptop now was to get one of the high end ones. Either that or rebuild an older one. So, as annoying as the keyboard thing is, I guess I'll keep this one until it crashes.

I have had a very good week, and not just sewing, although that was good too. Since early 2016, I have been seeing a retina specialist on a regular basis. First it was every few weeks, than every month, every three months, etc. At Friday's appointment, he told me there has been no change with my retina or macula, and I don't have to see him again for a year. A year! I also feel that my thyroid eye disease is going into remission, or maybe already in remission. I haven't noticed any worsening in almost a month. I'm hopeful that the swelling and protrusion will go down on their own so I don't have to have orbital decompression surgery. It will be nice to have a life without thinking about this all the time.

Work on the house is moving right along. I need to be out there right now staining trim, something I don't enjoy but don't hate either. It's not as bad as painting, which I also need to do. Because Hubby is out there working alone right now, I'm going to get right to the reports, which haven't changed much. Another good week of stitching, and I have decided to buy a set of sheets to back my Depression Block quilt. Hubby likes the feel of the higher thread count, especially on pillowcases. I'm just not sure how to include that yardage in my count. Any ideas?

Linking to:
15 Minutes to Stitch at Life in Pieces
Sunday Stash at QuiltPaintCreate

One Monthly Goal April 2019

It's that time of month when quilters around the blogosphere are setting a goal for the month. I was going to skip it this month since I haven't accomplished any quilting to speak of in a month or two. I haven't even glanced at my sewing machine when I picked my way past it to dig something out of a box. But I've been craving some quilting time lately, mainly while I'm doing something tedious like filling upteen nail holes, staining trim with sixty pieces yet to go, or caulking, caulking, caulking.

Still, I thought I might set a modest goal, something small and attainable that I can do between house projects or when a contractor is here and I need to be out of the way. I don't have the clean space to lay out fabric to piece a quilt backing, but I can skip forward to pillow cases for the Depression Block Quilt.

 Meager as it is, my goal for April is to make one pillow case.  Yes, that's right.  Just one, and I'm only 50% positive I can get one done.

 The hard part is going to finding fabric. With such a busy quilt, fabric with too much pattern will clash rather than harmonize. I thought I had a fabric in my stash that would work, and it does look ok, but it's too yellow for the tan in the 5th wheel. It looks like I am going to have to break down and buy some fabric. It's either that, or put this UFO on the back burner again.

Linking to:
April Goal Setting at One Monthly Goal

Sunday Reports Week 12

My computer is acting up, so I am going to keep this brief. It hasn't been a good week on the sewing front, or any front for that matter. Hopefully, next week will be better, but then again....

I think my computer will go to the shop tomorrow. I hope I have it out by the end of the week. If not, I'll see if I can post on Hubby's computer.

Linking to:

15 Minutes of Stitching at Life in Pieces
Sunday Stash at QuiltPaintCreate

It's Time for Sunday Sewing Reports for Week 11

Hubby was gone all week and I planned to get so much done, or at least so much more than I actually did. It was an enjoyable week, eating what I wanted to eat and when I wanted to eat it - that's always a treat. Watching chick flicks every evening while I sewed. But the downside was the loneliness and I was happy to see him pull into the driveway on Friday evening.

One thing I planned to do, but didn't do, was work on my OMG quilt project. I just never made it upstairs. After working in the house all day, I just wanted to relax in front of those chick flicks at night. So no fabric used this week. I don't know why I even bother to put this report on here each week since it hasn't changed since the first of the year. I kept up my yearly success rate with my cross stitch project and was happy to see it come back up with regular stitching.

Linking to:
15 Minutes to Stitch at Life in Pieces
Sunday Stash at QuiltPaintCreate

Sunday Reports for Week 10 of 2019

I don't know about your weather, but ours has run the gamut this week. Freezing for a couple of days, then hot, then high winds and rain, then no wind. Well, no wind one evening. Wind is just a given here, especially this time of year.

I feel better about this week as far as sewing goes. I must have slept funny last Sunday night, and my back has been hurting all week, so I've been sitting more than usual, thus more sewing. I was finally able to get in a full week of sewing, one day was even with the sewing machine. That brought my success rate up above my goal level too. I didn't have any fabric usage though because I just made replacement cloths for my Swiffer mop. So much better than the paper mop pads!

This week I am going to attempt some Ikea kitchen cabinet building. People who have done it say it is harder than other Ikea products, so I am only going to try two. For those of you who have followed my other blog for awhile, I know your eyebrows probably raised when I said Ikea. I know. We did too. We were going to build all our cabinets, but the building has slowed to a crawl again. With Hubby's work and travel schedule, his mother's health, and my eyes, we decided that we would use a mix of Ikea cabinets and custom.

When we were building the closet shelves, I asked Hubby if he would like to have some drawers in the closet for socks, etc. He said yes, then paused, and said, "Wait, do I have to build drawers?" That's when I knew Ikea would make our life easier.

Linking up to the usual linky parties:
15 Minutes of Stitching at Life in Pieces
Sunday Stash at QuiltPaintCreate

March One Monthly Goal

My February One Monthly Goal was to make the backing, binding, and five pillow cases for my Depression Block Quilt. I didn't get one thing done on that list, so it will be my March OMG too. Hubby has another business trip this month and hopefully I won't have to work on the house while he is gone this time.

I will continue to work on my cross stitch project a few evenings a week, but I'd like to put it on the back burner for awhile. One thing I have discovered about myself is that the more projects I have going, the less likely I am to finish any of them. For February, I'd like to concentrate on finishing the Depression Block Quilt.

Linking to:
One Monthly Goal March Link up at Elm Street Quilts

Week 9 Sewing Reports of 2019

What a week! Hubby was on a business trip for a few days and I thought I would get soooo much done. I did get some work done on the closet. Or reworking. Too bad there isn't a woodworking equivalent to a seam ripper. I spent another day with my mother-in-law and one day shopping for tile. That'll eat up a day or two.

With every evening free, I got in quite a bit of cleaning and hand stitching, so my stitching report is back at my goal of 70%. I almost bought some fabric while I was in Waco, but I didn't really have time to go to a fabric store and I wanted to double check my stash before I accidentally bought some of the same colors. So my stash report still hasn't changed.

Linking to:
15 Minutes to Stitch at Life in Pieces
Sunday Stash at QuiltPaintCreate

Commenting on Wordpress Blogs

I still have a problem commenting on Wordpress. I'm sure it's because I once posted my blogs on Wordpress, but I can't understand why NONE of my emails will work so I can comment. This is what happens when I try to comment the normal way.

I fill out the slots with correct information, and click the "Post Comment" button. It takes me to this screen.

Now this is what is odd. I used that email address when I registered at Wordpress, but when I had trouble commenting from Blogger, I removed that email and replaced it with another one not owned by Google or previously used anywhere. But I still couldn't use that original email when I tried to comment on Wordpress blogs. So I tried using a yahoo email which is my alternate email for my Blogger blog.

Click "Post Comment" and again it takes me to that screen.

This is what gets me: "You are being asked to login because marti*****@yahoo.com is used by an account you are not logged into now."

No!  It is NOT being used by an account I am not logged into.  It is being used by my Blogger blog that I AM logged into now.

Then, I created an all new email that couldn't possibly be associated with any blog, but it didn't work either.

So frustrating.  I have googled this problem and haven't got a single hit, so apparently, this is just my problem.  If you have or have had this problem and solved it, please post the solution in the comments.  Until then, I will use noreply-comment@blogger.com as that is the only thing that seems to allow me to post a comment.

Week 8 Sewing Reports of 2019

I haven't been doing a lot of stitching lately. Between sitting with my mother-in-law and working on the house, and trying to keep up with cooking and cleaning, my days are pretty full.

I've been using one of my Amazon "oops" purchases though. It was sold as a computer light, because the cord plugs into a USB port. I thought this would be a reading light that I could mount beside the bed in the trailer. But it has a clamp instead of a base and won't mount to the shelf the way I wanted. Instead, I clamped it to the cabinet beside my chair and forgot about it. But when I started working on my cross stitch project again, I found it is just perfect.

It's arm bends in any direction so I can adjust it to direct the light just where I need it. When I'm not using it for stitching or reading, I bend the arm over my chairside cabinet. It has several light settings and I can use it as a night light when we're out of the trailer or bright light. And to think, I was so disappointed with it at first that I thought of returning it. Now it's my favorite light.  In the pictures below, the trailer ceiling lights remained the same.  The only difference is the light from the reading light.

Here is the progress I've made so far on my stitching.

Now for the stitching reports. I'm afraid I fell below my 70% success stitching goal and I haven't made any progress on stash reduction. We may have workers here this week, and if so, I'll find a place to sew rather than work on the house and risk being in their way.

Linking to:
15 Minutes to Stitch at Life in Pieces
Sunday Stash at QuiltPaintCreate
Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts

Week 7 Sewing Reports of 2019

It has been a work on the house week, not a work on quilts week. I didn't use any fabric this week, nor did I add any. But I did get in one day with a little hand stitching while sitting with mother-in-law at the nursing home, but the light wasn't good and I when I got home, I had to rip out nearly everything I put in. So in a way, that doesn't even count. I need to load up my EPP (English Paper Piecing) case to do at the nursing home next time. My sewing time success rate dropped to 70%, and I just hope I can keep it from dropping lower. It's a good thing that my sewing goals won't be brought up in a job performance meeting!

Linking to:
15 Minutes to Stitch at Life in Pieces
Sunday Stash at QuiltPaintCreate

2019 Week 6 Sewing Reports

This has been a strange week. The weather can't decide whether it is spring or still winter. The high was 78 on the 6th but didn't get out of the 30's today. With my mother-in-law in the hospital all week, it hasn't been a good week for sewing either. If it weren't for my cross stitch project, I wouldn't have anything to report. Hubby and I also fit in a couple of doctor appointments for ourselves too. Hubby has been dealing with ear and hearing problems for about a year and finally found an ear specialist who did a culture and found that the problem is a bacterial infection. He was prescribed several medications which he has to compound himself to make ear drops, but it seems to be working. Now if he could just hear me when I am telling him I am right about something.

My daily sewing average has dropped a little more, but I'm still over my 70% goal.

I still haven't added to the stash this year, so that is encouraging. I had hoped to show a loss this week but that didn't happen either, so the stash report remains the same.

I think I'm going to add money spent to this report. Since I haven't spent anything in 2019 yet, it should be easy.

I am posting this Saturday night because if we will have to rush out the door in the morning. If I have time in the morning, I will link up to the usual parties. If I don't have time, maybe they will do it for me.

Join me as we try to maintain our daily sewing and our stash at:

15 Minutes to Stitch at Life in Pieces
Sunday Stash at QuiltPaintCreate

February One Monthly Goal

I thought about doing this post last week and then got busy and forgot. I hope I'm not too late.

My goal for February is to make the backing, binding, and five pillow cases for the Depression Block quilt. I don't have a photo at the moment, and I'm really not sure what I would photograph, but I'll see if I can find something tomorrow.

Linking to:
One Monthly Goal February Goal Setting at Elm Street Quilts

Week 5 of 2019 Stitching Reports Sunday

I don't know if I mentioned what a big difference my new glasses made. When looking straight ahead, my double vision is usually corrected. I still have the macular pucker wave and offset blur, but that is so much better than two distinct images. So a big YAY there! I can even use saws again. I know, that has nothing to do with sewing, I just thought I'd throw that in, especially since using the table saw took up more of my time this week than the sewing machine. There were a couple of days I worked on the house from the start of my day to the end of my day, but I did manage to get in five days of sewing this week. I'm behind on my goals, but maybe I'll catch up soon.

I'm still above my goal of 70% sewing for the year too.

Nothing has changed with my stash, but I hope to work on a quilt back tomorrow, so my report will finally show a change next Sunday.

Linking to:
15 Minutes to Stitch at Life in Pieces