May - One Third Done

It’s one-third of the way through May and I have an update of course.

I have slowly started studying insurance, which is a drag.  I have also starting cleaning out the upstairs of my house, which is also a drag.  Bear with me.

On the sewing front, it’s also been slow going.  Part of it is because I am tired.  The weather shift has been hard on me and my migraines and so we are increasing medicine dosages and the like and it takes time to adapt to all of that.  Fortunately my most alert and productive hours are at work, as they should be.  I just wish I had a few at home as well.

The following two quilts are done done.

X’s and O’s blue boy

Blue D9P

I have started the sew down the binding on Easy Street.  I ran out of bobbin thread on the last quilting pass for the pink boxy stars.  Always the way.  So today when I get home from work, I will load up that bobbin, finish the quilting and I will not quit tonight until the binding is attached, and the quilt and the handsewing bag are in the car for tomorrow.  We are doing Mother’s Day tomorrow, so that means a trip to Chicagoland.  Plenty of handsewing time.

Saturday I am gone all day and Sunday technically should be mine, but there is insurance to study.  So I guess my Sunday goals are to wrap up all 3 baby quilts as gifts so they can be delivered on Monday, do 2 BOMs (just picked up those blocks) and the Thimbles top.  Once the Thimbles top is done, I can use those scraps to make the 9-patches for the Sister’s Choice blocks. 

Edited:  This was written on Friday and now it's Sunday.  I'm not done sewing down the binding because I had to be the driver instead of the passenger.  So I am doing that today, along with some cooking. I love to cook and am making 3 things I love and there will be leftovers for the week.

May the Fourth be with You

Yep, it's May 4 and that means it's Star Wars Day.  I was debating which order to watch the movies in, and after I saw the quip that tomorrow is the Revenge of the Fifth, then I know that the order would be the theatrical release.  We watched A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back and The Return of the Jedi today, and tonight we are going to see Iron Man 3 not in 3D (3D does not agree with us).  Tomorrow will be Phantom Menace, The Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.  This is great fun.

I have had one finish this month - X's and O's blue boy at 48 inches square.  I have 30 more inches of binding on the blue D9P and that will be done.  Then the pink boxy stars is up and then Easy Street.  I'm watching Project Runway while I stitch and since the season is over, I am able to watch one episode per day and get through the whole season quickly.

I was working in my sewing space today during Ep IV and Ep VI.  I sorted through some thread donations, did 3 BOM blocks (due tomorrow), and did the remainder of the 4-patches for the Bricks & Stepping Stones matchstick units I need to complete.  Believe it or not, those darn 4-patches drive me nuts!  So I am glad that is done.

Tomorrow I hope to finish up pink boxy stars so it can be ready for handsewing and then do the 3 BOM blocks that I pick up tomorrow.  I don't know what else I might do; I may clean and organize.

I found another top and backing that just needs to be sandwiched and quilted.  Guess I'll try to get that to the binding stage this month, just like Orca Bay....

May Goals

On to May.

I have a lot of goals for May, my main two being the upstairs of my house and the next insurance exam.  The story of my life.  But of course I have sewing goals.

I have 4 that will be done done this month.  Considering I am aiming for completing 12 UFO’s this year and I already have 4 done, this will double my total quickly.  It should also put me at about 46 yards for the 100 dash from stash, which is right about where I should be.  I wanted 2 more UFO finishes by the 4^th of July and now I will have at least 4.

Easy Street

X’s and O’s blue boy

Blue D9P

Pink Boxy Stars

Other goals:

Thimbles BOM – finish top to flimsy stage; the back will be a Sister’s Choice flimsy.

Sister’s Choice – will use the Thimbles BOM to figure out how many Sister’s choice blocks I need.  For May, make all 9 patches, which I think is 49, last time I checked my math.

Orca Bay – the last seam is giving me fits.  Don’t even ask.  I would like this to the binding stage.

Bricks & Stepping Stones – finish the blocks.  This is harder than it seems.

Beau’s – make the center, which is the huge 25-patch, the coping border, the inner box (with the column units), the next coping border and the first round of Mellie’s quilt blocks around the outside. Also make more 9 patches and HST’s as needed.

Homework – I am woefully behind in homework, so I will try to ease back into it.  Since I have so many 9 patches to make, those will be my leader-enders for a while. 

LCRR blocks – done and mailed in May.

Just Takes 2 (JT2) – There are 4 Tuesdays in May which normally would mean 8 blocks, so let’s aim for 12.  We get as far as we go.

BOMs – I have 5 that I do.  3 are caught up. 1 is one month behind and the other is not so hot.  The goal for May is the get the first 4 caught up and maintained and do one third of the work on the one I am behind.

I am away from home 8 weeknights this upcoming month, plus one night is our anniversary, so we hope to do something fun.  I should be able to block and tackle this list pretty well if I am diligent.

April Update

Y’know, April has not turned out sewing-wise so far as I had hoped! 

It’s OK.  I had another insurance exam and I will continue to have them in even-numbered months.  So I guess that helps me set expectations until I’m done with them.  I also have the urgent to deep clean again and really declutter.  What I have learned that if I leave the machine I quilt on set up on my kitchen table with quilts ready to be quilted, I alternate 15 minutes of cleaning with 15 of sewing and I get a lot done.  That is how I got through studying for this last exam and now Easy Street is done being quilted.  So I am just going to go on a quilting jag for a while and not worry about piecing except for BOMs where I have to show them my progress.  Don’t worry; in the heat of the summer I will be in my basement piecing non-stop.

So yeah.  I’ll do what I can.  Only one thing got done on my list and that is the Blue Boxy Stars.  It’s done done.

What did get done:

Easy Street – binding is attached.

X’s and O’s blue boy – binding is attached.

Not on the list:

Blue D9P – binding is attached.  When found, this one was just a flimsy.

Pink Boxy Stars – under the quilting needle.  When found, this one was just a flimsy.

And the deep cleaning has begun.

April Goals

On to Q2!  I have high hopes for Q2 in lots of areas of my life and so sewing may take a back seat.  If I can get to the 4^th of July with 2 more UFO finishes I will be pleased.  But of course I want more than that!

Quilts to be done done:

Bricks & Stepping Stones – for a wedding gift.

Sunrise Point

X’s and O’s blue boy

Blue Boxy Stars

BOM jacket – I have a completed BOM that I think would make a lovely jacket.  I want to wear it for a conference on April 18, so I best get cracking!

Projects to work on:

Thimbles BOM -  finish top without borders.  I am making this reversible with a Sister’s Choice.

Sister’s Choice – I can finally start new things!  I will use the Thimbles BOM to figure out how many Sister’s choice blocks I need.  For April, make all 9 patches.

Orca Bay – quilt this.

Beau’s – make the center, which is the huge 25-patch, the coping border, the inner box (with the column units), the next coping border and the first round of Mellie’s quilt blocks around the outside.

Homework.  Since the strings blocks are all done, there’s some shifting here.  That’s fine; keeps me interested.

5 LCRR blocks – I did nothing on these and so I have 15 to do.  Finish and mail these.

Just Takes 2 (JT2) – To complete April’s pdf’s, I would have also assembled one quadrant of the quilt, but not be as far block-wise.  We shall see if I also get through block 36.

Color Challenge Sampler – moving this to BOM status, because that is what it is.

Yellow Log Cabin / LCRR – Frogging 4 blocks would be good.

Batik Weed Whacker – Part of the Pay It Forward (PIF) challenge.  Blocks are started; I just want it done.  This month, all the blocks.

Hopscotch – complete the top.

BOMs – These I’m caught up on. Easy to maintain.

And I need 2 wall hangings for an event on April 21.

Now of course, that I see the list I’ve made for myself, I am indeed nutso.  I’d be lucky to complete this by the end of June, much less the end of April.  But a girl can dream!

March Wrap-Up

So March is at an end and so is Lent.  I’ll get back to my Lenten challenge in another post, so for this post, I’ll talk about me and my March goals.

The following were quilted and bound:

Easy Street Mini

Easter Carrie Nation

Easter Carrie Nation Mini

String Blocks (down in the homework section)

Here’s the status on these 3 that didn’t make it.  At the beginning of March, Ted decided that he wanted to build his 5,000 piece Tower of London Lego set.  I really didn’t mind, and he and Renee each did a tower and they did it together.  However, such a set takes over the kitchen table.  So besides having nowhere to eat for about 3 weeks, I also had nowhere to quilt either.  I tried to quilt using my little Janome Jem, but sadly the large needle broke off and fell into the machine.  IT fell to the floor so its sews just fine, but now I am leery of trying that little adventure again.  So these 2 are exactly as they were on February 28: sandwiched and waiting patiently.

Easy Street

X’s and O’s Blue Boy quilt (unearthed while cleaning)

However on Easter I was able to get some quilting in, so Blue Boxy Stars is almost completed with its quilting. 

I also had 2 quilts in progress.  Orca Bay has its rows put together and only needs a coping border and the pieced border to go.  Whoo hoo – this was a long one!  Beau’s quilt had the goal of having the columns done.  I’ve changed the design once again and I plan to use the column units in a different way, but I did indeed make all the column units I could with the parts that I had from the swap.  I call these two projects successful for March.

Then there’s the homework.  This I was more than 50% successful with.

5 LCRR blocks – I did nothing on these and so I have 15 to do. 

Just Takes 2 (JT2) – I am caught up through March’s pdf’s.  This was no small task.

String Blocks – This was FINISHED!  Done done!

Color Challenge Sampler – Completed February and March so I am up to date.

Yellow Log Cabin / LCRR – Oh, I did nothing at all.

BOMs – These I’m caught up on. Easy to maintain.

Yarn efforts – I made progress on all 3 projects.  I see the finish line approaching for all 3 of them, so that helps.

And I didn’t need the table runner, so I didn’t make it.

So overall, I had 4 finishes, 3 of which were UFOs.  I also had a UFO finish in January, so I am ahead of the pace by 1 UFO, if I am aiming for 1 per month.  This is a good thing. 

Reorganization

The idea of making better sense of my sewing area has been on my mind for quite some time.  As of late, like the past year, I have been a little more free and loose in my purchasing.  I have been, in part, because I have no more daycare payments and for the time being I have no car payments.  While orthodontist payments have started, they pale in comparison to daycare and the cars are hanging in there.  But I want to curb my purchasing just because I can.

I’ve struggled with what frustrates me the most in my area.  I have each color of fabric in its own milk crate under the table; some colors share a milk crate.  Each color also has a ziploc in the crate for small pieces.  This works super-well.  So well, I’ve bought more milk crates!  So this I want to keep.

I have made a fair amount of scrappy quilts, both of the controlled and kitchen-sink varieties.  So the milk crates are getting low on inventory.  And recently, I’ve had to, gasp, buy backs.  So I think I need to start by refilling my milk crates with what I’ve got in the purple Rubbermaid bins in the closet. 

Meanwhile, as projects have finished, I’ve just shoved their scraps in ziploc bags.  I now have at least 20 of those.  These are making me nuts; they are everywhere. 

So step 1 of the grand reorganization is to pull out the milk crates and color bags and replenish.  The first part will be to go through the scrap bags and interfile all those colors back where they belong.  Anything that reads multi-color, belongs to a holiday, batik or Civil War will go somewhere else.  The second part will be to go through the bins and put larger pieces / yardage in the bottoms of the milk crates.  When the milk crates are returned to their home under the table, I will have quite the palette to work from, and that excites me.

I also can say that I will eventually go through the milk crates and the color bags and cut stuff up using my Baby Go.  Cut the value die, cut 2 inch squares, cut some drunkard’s path, cut some strips.  I only have 4 dies and that is more than enough for right now.

The other thing that came up recently is that Judy over at Patchwork Times is hosting a UFO parade in 2 weeks.  This is like a Bring Out Your Dead exercise to me, but when I go through the sewing area to reorganize, I might as well.  Many of those bins have fabric and UFOs in them.  There’s no hiding it. 

So I will go through this exercise as well.  This UFO list will be separate from the one I work from now.  I like having about 30 to choose from right now; that’s more than enough variety to keep me busy.  But the 100+ that will end up on this list both scares me and excites me.  I guess that is good that my UFOs still excite me.  So I will try and be positive. 

One thing I will not tackle is culling the books and magazines.  I will organize the shelf and dust it but not go through it.  That would be too much right now. 

Quickly...and a finish

I did get a finish.  This is a table topper version of a Dorothy Young mystery that I did sometime after Spring 2003 and before Spring 2007, because I know I made the top while living in the house on Cleveland.  Dorothy offers these mystery quilts at Christmas, and I was dealing that Christmas with a small child and the demands of delivering her, in wonderful spirits at all times, to every relative that wanted to see her.  Not fair to her or me (or Ted, lest we forget him).  So after she went down that night, I took this out and made it.  I remember there was a James Bond movie marathon on TV as well to keep me company.  I thought it quite poignant to make an Easter quilt on Christmas.  The large one is halfway bound; it should be done this weekend.

The 6 little things are coasters made from the scraps.  All told, this used 2.60 yards and these of course are mine.

Nothing else really has happened.  I hope to get a lot done between now and Easter night.  Goals include quilting a blue quilt, finishing quilting a blue quilt, getting binding attached to both of those, finishing the big Easter quilt, finishing the Orca Bay top and getting caught up with homework.  Next week is Renee’s spring break and so there is a halt to all things GS.  I get a huge break.  I of course will continue to work on GS things, but I will not have to attend meetings, etc.  The idea of being home each night is lovely.  The 10 Commandments is on TV on the 30^th and even though I have it on DVD, I will watch it on TV.  It is our tradition.  I hope to get to sit and handsew bindings through the whole thing!

It’s good to have goals.

QAYG Strings

Well, here it is.  This is the Quilt As You Go Strings quilt.  I said I had some insights.  Boy do I.

First of all, the block sizes are too large.  These are 12 inch blocks, meaning the center strings had to be over 18 inches long.  I don't have many strings in that length.  The next go around they will be smaller.  I am thinking to have some ready in 10, 8 and even 6 inch sizes.

Secondly, the QAYG method is wonderful.  I like the idea that when the block is stitched, it's done.  It uses up odd batting, weird backs and the like. That's a win.  Again, I will prep several in several sizes.

I also realize I am OK with piecing string blocks onto newsprint but never onto a fabric foundation.  Don't ask; I don't know either.

Thirdly, I am OK with the random colors of this, but I do favor string blocks in all one color.  Bonnie Hunter has so many patterns in string fling that work this way.

Lastly, I can tell I need to work on my joining process.  I do the type where there's a 1 inch strip on the back and a 1.5 inch strip folded over on the top.  Join two blocks together on the back and topstitch on the front.  This is the third quilt I have done it on.  I certainly have room for improvement.

This quilt used 7.40 yards of fabric and measured 71 inches square.  It has not yet revealed its owner to me.

What I have thought about as I discerned these revelations is that I need to sort my scraps.  I am devising a plan for that.  It will take away from sewing time but add to creative time.  Stay tuned.