To Do Tuesday

My computer has miraculously come back to life! It is behaving normally, or as normal as it was ten days ago, connecting to the internet, and not making too much noise. Even if it is just for a short time, I am thankful I got to get back on it and load all my photos and files onto a flash drive and save my bookmarks to a file. I think I was mourning the loss of my bookmarks as much as anything. I had kind of forgotten about it, but looking for a picture of a quilt on my blog, I found a post where I said I spilled a whole glass of (unsweet) tea on my laptop in 2018. I bet that is the reason behind all of the problems I've had in the last year. Or most of them. Since it was fairly new, the keyboard randomly stopped working and the only fix was restarting. My new computer should be here next week. I can't wait!

On to my sewing room lists. This is what I have done in the last week.

✔ Finish ruler quilting pinwheel blocks
✔ Join the blocks into rows
✔ Make scarf pattern for daughter and scan it into folder
X Finish borders for Scottish Sun

I thought I would be sick of Scrappy Pinwheel after the quilting and joining the rows and want a diversion. But I was motivated to keep working on it and get it finished, so I scrapped the Scottish Sun goal and stayed with the pinwheels, joining all the rows and then started working on borders. What is the main part of a quilt (without the borders) called anyway? I want to call it the body of the quilt, but that doesn't seem very quilty.

I am stymied by the borders and the size of the quilt. I had intended for this to be a "recliner" quilt, about 48"x72". Without borders, this is 44"x55" and I am thinking of putting these borders only on the top and bottom. Putting them on the sides would make it 57" wide, which could make it get caught in the recliner footrest lever. This quilt is for a man who has an electric lift chair recliner and I've never seen one of those operate so don't know what width would be appropriate.

I also did some quilting on the border yesterday and when I stuck it on the wall last night and backed off to take a picture, I noticed I had placed it upside down. But for some reason, I think it works better this way. On the wall here, the border should be at the end but I didn't feel like getting out the stepstool to put it in the right place.

Border as I originally planned

New goals for February 23, 2021

• Make another border for Scrappy Pinwheels
• Decide whether to make side borders
• Finish quilting borders and attach
• Make and attach label
• Make and attach binding

Linking to:
Tuesday To Do at ChrisKnits

Sewing Sunday Week 8

I've been working on the Scrappy Pinwheel this week and have all the blocks put together. Today, I played around with a border idea. I haven't decided if I like it though. I think a border with alternating strips of red, white, and red again would look good, but I don't have any reds and buying fabric defeats the purpose of using up scraps, so this is my second choice. Borders are always my stumbling block.



My February One Monthly Goal was to have all the blocks quilted, and that is done.  Yay!  Now I just remember to link this to the OMG linkup when it is posted.

Between this and cross-stitch, I sewed every day this week. Hubby doesn't have excel on this laptop, so I don't know what that does to my yearly success percentage.

I used 3/4 yard of fabric this week finishing the scarf bibs and didn't add any fabric. My totals for the year are Fabric In: 0, Fabric Out: 10.25 yards.

Linking to:
Oh Scrap! at Quilting is More Fun than Housework
15 Minutes to Stitch at Life in Pieces
Sunday Stash at QuiltPaintCreate
Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

To Do Tuesday

To Do Tuedays has moved. Starting today, it will be hosted by Chrisknits. Thank you again Chris for taking over so To Do Tuesdays can continue.

First, let me show you how I did with last week's goals.

Last weeks goals are done!

✔ Make 6 more scarf bibs.

I'm really pleased with my new design. It covers the lap better than the ones I made my mother-in-law and I think it will be more versatile. When I made two for my mother-in-law, she had just moved into the nursing home, but was still mobile enough to get around with her walker and she still enjoyed going out to eat. I think those were the only times she used the scarf bibs I made her, and she liked to tie them around her neck like a scarf. These will do that too.

✔ Finish quilting Jacob's Ladder.

I showed this yesterday, but here is a link if you missed it.

✔ Rip out stitching from extra pinwheel block so I can reuse the backing
✔ Use that backing to quilt the eNNxtra square in a square block.

Not only did I get everything on my list done, I got all the square in a square blocks quilted and made a start on the ruler quilting on the pinwheel blocks. Now I need to think of some new goals.

New goals for February 16, 2021

• Finish ruler quilting pinwheel blocks
• Join the blocks into rows
• Make scarf pattern for daughter and scan it into folder
• Finish borders for Scottish Sun

Linking to:
To Do Tuesday at ChrisKnits

P.S. I wrote and posted this last night but Chris hadn't posted the party yet. When I got up this morning and grabbed the computer, our internet is down. I'm hotspotting off my phone long enough to link up, but then getting off. I hope to visit all the links as soon as I have internet again.

Design Wall Monday

This will be short. Because of this cold spell (the local weatherpeople have dubbed it the once-in-a-lifetime-deep-freeze) we are having rolling blackouts. Our mini-splits have completely given up trying to produce heat and we are moving to the bedroom with a portable heater for now. All the highways are iced over so Hubby is trying to work from home today. If the power goes out for more than 15 minutes, we'll move to the RV with propane. I sure wish we had thought to fill the water tank in it when we put it back in the garage. We haven't had running water since yesterday.

Here's what the Scrappy Pinwheel looks like today.

Linking to:
Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts
Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt

Sewing Sunday Week 7

My laptop has been having problems for the last year and it finally gave it up Thursday. The upside is that I have spent more time sewing than being online since then and got quite a bit done. My new laptop won't be delivered until the first week in March, then there is the learning curve, so I may be a bit scarce for awhile.

We are still having unusually cold weather here with freezing rain and ice, and now rolling blackouts. Our part of the country seldom gets snow or ice so aren't equiped to deal with it. We are advised to stay home and off the roads and Hubby and I are doing just that. Thank goodness he can work at home for the next few days until this is gone. Meanwhile, we have learned that everything they say about mini-split heat and air is true. It's great in hot weather and lousy in cold weather. I plan on spending the day upstairs in my sewing area because it is warmer there.

Despite, the computer problems that wasted many hours this week, I got in some stitching every day, finished a quilt, and have made progress on others. I used several yards of fabric this week and wasted a bit too. After carefully making sure I had the fabric facing the right direction and the pattern on it was straight, I cut it out and then noticed that the pattern was upside down. Groan. I'm happy to say that I haven't bought any fabric this year and have managed to find everything I've needed in my stash so far.

Here are my reports for the week. Check out the links under it to see what others are up to.

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

Jacob's Ladder

Began 2003. Finsihed February 2021.

To Do Tuesday #79

Today is the last To Do Tuesday at Home Sewn by Us. Chris from Chrisknits is going to take it up next week, so the lists will continue. Thank you to both Roseanne and Sue for starting it and Chris for continuing it!

I have been quilting Jacob's Ladder this week and that is all I've done except some cross-stitching to relax my shoulder. I wanted to have it finished by now, but dragging that quilt through my sewing machine and holding it up so it doesn't pull the stitches is killing my shoulder and I can only do it for short bits of time. So last week's goals are not done, not a single one.

Repeat Goals for February 9, 2021

• Make six more scarf bibs
• Finish quilting Jacob's Ladder
• Rip out the stitching from one pinwheel block so I can reuse the backing
• Quilt the string block on the new square in a square block

This list may be too ambitious, considering how long it is taking me to quilt Jacob's Ladder. But it's easier to keep up with projects if I don't take it off the list.

Linking to:
To Do Tuesday at Home Sewn by Us

One Monthly Goal for February 2021

I could make this easy and declare that I will finish the Jacob's Ladder quilting. But since I am so close to finishing that, I'll make it harder. I really would like to get the Scrappy Pinwheel blocks off my design wall, so my goal will be to finish the last block and quilt all the blocks. I haven't decided whether I am going to do a border, so will leave that for next month.

Linking to:
One Monthly Goal February at Elm Street Quilts

Sewing Reports for Week 6 of 2021

This was another week of where-did-the-time-go. I did get stitching in every day since Saturday, but just barely. With Hubby taking off next week and needing space in the garage, most of my time has been spent sorting and putting back tools in the tool chest. I'd like to say the coming week will be better, but with him here all week, it is more likely that I will be pressed into service.

The stash report is unchanged, but I'm showing it anyway. I plugged in a few numbers in my spreadsheet and I need use an average of three yards per week to achieve my goal of a 15% reduction by the end of the year. I'll try but I'm not optimistic. The stitching report doesn't look as bad as I thought it would after not sewing last weekend. But the two days were split over two reports so it looks a little better.

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

To Do Tuesday # 78

So much for having a sewing-at-home-retreat this weekend. I accomplished zero sewing this weekend, not even 15 minutes. After saying I will never help someone else move again, there we were Friday morning, schlepping up and down stairs loading our flat trailer and Daughter's car. Then Hubby left for a camping weekend of ham radio and I came home to recouperate. At least I thought I was going to rest. But then I thought since the travel trailer was out of the garage, I would sweep and clean up that bay. It was a mess and took all weekend and into Monday to clean and reorganize. Meanwhile, our flat trailer loaded with all Daughter's stuff is parked in the other bay and that side is quickly turning into a mess. But for now, my aching back and I are ready to sit at a nice, clean, sewing machine and get back to work.

I'm not going to start with a list of all last week's goals I finished, because there are none. Nope, not one. So my list for this week is the same as last week:

Now Goals for Febuary 2, 2021

• Make six more scarf bibs
• Finish quilting Jacob's Ladder
• Rip out the stitching from one pinwheel block so I can reuse the backing
• Quilt the string block on the new square in a square block

Sewing Reports for Week 5 of 2021

Since I was being covered with dust instead of threads this weekend, I didn't have time to make any Sunday sewing reports, so I'll include them here too, even though I'm disappointed to break my sewing streak so early in the year. But life happens and it was bound to happen eventually.

PhD Report for the first month of 2021

If you just look at the charts, it looks like I did nothing. But I am almost finished quilting Jacob's Ladder and Gairden Walk is at the quilter's. She still doesn't have her machine back from the repair shop though. He had started working on it and then got covid, so not telling when she will get it back. Also, there are four quilts ahead of mine to be quilted. Good thing I didn't list this as a finish for January.

Linking to these parties:
To Do Tuesday at Home Sewn by Us
PhD in 2021 at Quilting Gail
15 Minutes to Stitch at Life in Pieces
Sunday Stash at QuiltPaintCreate