Week 7 Sewing Linkups

To-Do Tuesday

I completely forgot about To Do Tuesday! So while there are still a few hours left of Tuesday, here's a quick update. It has not been a good week, and I could just let the goals from last week ride the wheel until next Tuesday, but what fun is that?

Last Week:

1. Cut twenty-one yellow triangles and twenty-one blue triangles or rip out from spare blocks.
Technically, I did this, but as I said Sunday, I have to do it all over.

2. Choose blue, or maybe white fabric for outer border and inner triangles.
Got that, along with the backing fabric.

3. Repair wall behind cutting table.
Not done well, but at least it is sealed up again. Now I probably have to paint the whole wall though.

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

5. Set up embroidery machine table.
I set up a table and played with the machine a little. It is making a funny noise and I hope it's just a vibration because the table isn't very sturdy.

6. Cut remaining blue scraps into usable pieces.
I want to try another blue string block so I need to wait before cutting too much.
❌ 7. Sort green scraps into strips and squares.

❌ 8. Find stash of finished hexagons.

❌ 9. Put away Christmas decorations.

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

❌ 11. Reorganize my UFO boxes.

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If I do one of my next goals, I'll be pretty happy because we are taking a short trip and I am not planning on taking any sewing with me.

Next Week:

1. Cut twenty-one yellow triangles and twenty-one blue triangles and forty-two white triangles.

2. Paint the repaired wall.

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

7. Sort green scraps into strips and squares.

8. Find stash of finished hexagons.

9. Put away Christmas decorations.

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

11. Reorganize my UFO boxes.

Y'all have a good week!

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Design Wall Monday

Beat me with a wet selvage, because Glory Be is getting the better of me. I made a test strip of triangles, pinned it to the quilt, and it fit perfectly. So I cut 85 triangles out of the border fabrics, and started sewing them together. At the end of the day, I started pinning it to the quilt, and something was very, very wrong. The triangles were too big. I remeasured and somehow I had cut them all 1/4 inch too big on the bias side. An aha moment when I realized the triangles in the quilt were sewn 1/4 inch on one side of the diagonal line drawn across the square. The next day, I started ripping all the triangles apart, and cut 1/4 inch off a few of them and put them back together. Once again I pinned them to the quilt and this time they were too small. Argh! I pulled out some scraps and carefully measured the triangles in the quilt and made a new template. I cut ten out of scrap fabric and sewed them together and put them on the quilt. They fit perfectly. Apparently, when I was cutting the first triangles, I picked up a different triangle template and made most of them using it. I don't really know why they didn't work when I cut them down. But now I had the right template and was ready to start over, except for one little big problem: I had used all of my matching fabric.

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Sunday Stash

After all the ripping out, my carpal tunnel was throbbing and kept me awake most of the night, so I gave it the next day off. I thought about going to some fabric stores to find fabrics that would blend, if not match, but it was cold and the wind was a steady 30mph, so I just did nothing. I don't remember when I bought the fabric, but it was in 2021 or before, so I knew I wouldn't match it. But the next day, I started with the nearest town and went to Walmart and Hobby Lobby, just in case. Then, I moved on to the next town where there is a Joann Fabrics. There, I found a beige fabric that will work with the one in the quilt and a dark blue that is either exactly like the one in the quilt, or very close. They must have been having a sale, because the fabric was $3.99 per yard. It was twice that at Hobby Lobby. I was disappointed that I had to buy fabric already this year, but pleased at the price. Now wish me luck when I cut it. First I had to prewash it and starch it, bless all those diagonals.

And my Sunday Stash report looks like this:

2023 STASH TOTALS
Added Feb 12-18                       3.50 yards
Added year to date                     3.50 yards Used Feb 12-18                              0 yards
Used year to date                       6.50 yards
Net used in 2023 3.00 yards

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Stitching Stuff

I spent one day playing around with my embroidery machine and one day making shopping bags though I didn't finish any of them. I'd like to make some that will stand up on their own, but still fold for easy storage. I also spent a day mending, which is my very least favorite thing to do, but it had to be done. Can't have Hubby walking around with a ripped jacket and he loves that jacket. While I spent some time cutting and stitching this week, I have almost nothing to show for it. It was that kind of week.

My 15 Minutes to Stitch update looks like this:

15 Minute Challenge for 2023:
Feb 12-18                       5 of 7 days
2023 Total                  32 of 49 days
65% success rate