Sugar Pie

Began and finished January 2023.

Week 1 Sewing Linkups

To-Do Tuesday

I wasn't going to make any goals for awhile, but I've been exposed to covid and it looks like I won't be leaving the house for at least five days, so here we go!

This Week:

1. Keeping it simple, I want to finish Sugar Pie. 

Since I can't go shopping for binding or backing, I'll have to take my chances with something from my stash. Batting could be a problem.

2. This isn't quilting related, but I want, no, I need to get my Christmas decorations put away.

3. Make Sugar Pie pattern into a QAYG while the instructions are still fresh in my mind.

4. Finish my Book Club book. Where the Forest Meets the Stars by Glendy Vanderah.

Sooo good!

5. Don't get Covid. 

Maybe this one should be Number 1.


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Design Wall Monday

On Sunday afternoon, Sugar Pie became a finished flimsy. The pattern didn't include yardage for binding or backing and I really think it would look best with the binding fabric to be the same as the outer border. I doubt I can find any more, but will visit some local stores and see if it is still current. I had exactly one yard of the red and just have a few scraps left now.

This quilt went together quickly. The designer at Fabric Cafe made it easy with strip piecing and then cutting all the smaller strips at one time which really saved time. And that made chain piecing easy too. Doing the piecing this way didn't allow for any errors though and I would have liked some of the narrower strips to be wider so I could square up between sashing strips. As it was, each block was a little small on at least one side. I used to quilt with a friend who couldn't see well and her seam allowances ranged from 1/8" to 3/8", her blocks were never square, and yet, her quilts always looked fine. This quilt is like that. It's good enough, and I've decided that is going to be my mantra from now on. There is no use beating myself up about seam allowances or miscuts that I can't see. It's really freeing to accept imperfection.

Now I wonder if this pattern could be made into a Quilt as You Go with just a little tweaking. If I have three more one yard cuts that look good together, I'm going to try it.


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Sunday Stash

My stash report looks a little better. I started a 3 yard quilt called Sugar Pie and quickly used that from my stash. There were very few scraps left too, which was a bit unfortunate as it turned out, but at least didn't add to my scrap box.

2023 STASH TOTALS
Used Jan 1-7                 3 yards
Used year to date          3 yards
Added Jan 1-7                0 yards
Added year to date         0 yards
Net used in 2023 3 yards



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Stitching Stuff

I started sewing again this week and it feels good to be back to it again. As I sewed and settled back into my space, I started wondering if I should track and set a goal for Kate's 15 Minutes to Stitch challenge. Prior to last year, I can see that my sewing pattern is to sew mainly in cooler weather while outside activities take up more time in warmer weather. So how to make an attainable goal that reflects that schedule? The usual goal of 15 minutes per day for the entire year results in a 50% or less success rate which mentally translates to FAIL. Or do I aim for a 50% success rate, which mean I have achieved 100% success? That doesn't really work either.

I'll give it more thought, but for now, I'll report in the traditional method. I was hoping for 7 out of 7 days, but Hubby and I got the flu for Christmas and it was worse than the Covid we had last year and I lost a day for that and another day taking Mia to a veterinary ophthalmologist. Other than veterinary hospitals, I never knew there were specialists. Just when we thought our lives were going to get less complicated.

15 Minute Challenge for 2023:
Jan 1-7                  5 of 7 days
2023 Total             5 of 7 days
71% success rate

I Feel Like Rip Van Winkle

If you read my other blog, you already know why my blog snoozed for a year. It wasn't just my blog; I didn't sew a single stitch on a single quilt. I thought I didn't sew a single stitch on anything, but looking back at the blog this week showed me that I made the big mouse toy for Smokey before our lives turned upside down. After that day, I didn't set foot in my sewing space for a year.

When I finally ventured up there this week, it was like one of those sci-fi movies where someone walks into a dust covered abandoned house. There were cobwebs hanging from the lights, some patterns and fabrics laid out on my cutting table, and a package of new cutting blades laying beside it. I discovered that I had also started a smaller mouse toy for Smokey and it just needed to have one more piece sewed on to be finished. I was probably going to come up the next day, put filler in the mouse, and finish it. I never would have left my sewing machine uncovered for a year if I had thought about it at all. But I wasn't thinking about sewing, at least not for the first six months. After that, it just wasn't a priority.

I cleaned my tables and knocked the dust off the cloth pieces that seemed to be in progress. And then I held my breath and turned on my sewing machine. It didn't hold the dust against me and ran like the trooper it is. I finished the mouse and tried to find out where the other pieces came from. I didn't find a pattern or any larger pieces of fabric, so set them aside.

Then I tried to decide if I wanted to continue sewing or just shut it all down. On the shut it down side of the list, a strong argument was turning the space into a bedroom for the grandsons when they visit. A second was not having the constant mess of projects and thread on the floor. So I surprised myself by deciding to keep plugging away at the UFO list. But I need some new quilt projects from time to time to keep the motivation going.

Today, I started a new quilt, a 3 yard quilt called Sugar Pie.  Here's a teaser of the progress.  It's going together pretty fast, which is just the motivation I need.

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