Final Friday

Yep, it’s the last Friday of the year. And it’s a nice long weekend.

Goals:

Jeanne’s Diamonds – I have finished all the pieces for this top, and was at the clue where you put the top together when I noted that I really wanted an alternate block in the place where all the negative space blocks were. So I made those last night. But somewhere I cut some fabric both the wrong width and length, so I just stopped sewing at all last night. It was a wise move. So for this weekend I want to have the top finished. I also want to make a mini of this one and finish it, so I can hang the mini on my cube wall under my name plate.

Orca Bay – I know that Step 7 came out today and Step 8 will come out Sunday, but right now my goal is to get caught up. For Step 2, I have 12 done. For Step 4, I have 6 done. For Step 5, I have 200 done (Step 3 included). For Step 6, I have 20 done (Step 1 included). So I’ve done as Bonnie requested and worked a bit on each step as it came out. However, this weekend my goals are to finish Steps 5 and 6, and also the 100 extra units in Step 7 that use leftover Step 5 parts. Any string blocks that I get done will be considered a bonus at this stage of the game!

NYE Mystery – I’ll download the clues and that’s about all right now. We shall see.

January UFO – I’m eager for Judy to pull the number so I know what choices I have! Since a roll of batting is out of the question until late March, I have reviewed each box and there’s enough in each box let me finish stuff without having to worry about my lack of batting. So that’s good. More machine quilting, which may be bad in the short run, but overall, it’s good. So back to the topic – when the number is pulled, I’ll get going this weekend.

IT feels so good to be back in a crafty mood. It had been gone way too long.

2012 UFOs - Read 'Em and Weep

My UFO list for 2012 seems confusing. I have decided to store 4 UFOs per box and I have 6 boxes. So if a month is between 7 and 12, I will just subtract 6 from the number chosen and work from that box. I would love nothing more than to finish a UFO every 2 weeks. That would clear out some backlog. I have more UFOs than fabric, so that’s really how the stashbusting needs to happen. And yes, while 4 * 6 = 24, it would make 26 UFOs to finish one every 2 weeks. So I’m carrying Bonnie Hunter’s Orca Bay and Dorothy Young’s Jeanne’s Diamonds forward as the other 2 UFOs.

So without further adieu, this is how I came up with my 26 UFOs that I claimed to Ellen…All are quilts unless noted. LCRR stands for Log Cabin Round Robin.

Box 1

1a Thimbles BOM – A BOM, with an extra block made so I can set on point. Civil War fabrics. Status: Blocks completed.

1b Christmas 2 BOM – I took the instructions for 2 different BOMs I was in and made another block in Christmas fabrics. I need to make the 25th block and set them on point. Status: Most blocks completed.

1c Seaside Rose Sweatshirt – A jacket covered in the Seaside Rose line, with the jacket coming from a sweatshirt. Status: In pieces.

1d Red Strings – Red string blocks and die-cut hearts come together for a cuddle quilt. Status: In pieces.

Box 2

2a Chiclets Table Runner – I made a 4 block rectangular runner that I want to hang on my cube wall. Status: Flimsy.

2b Huge Fence Rail – I made a bunch of these fence rail blocks which are only 3 rails each, but the rails are each 3.5 inches. I want to make this into a quilt and donate it onward. Status: Most blocks completed.

2c 16 String Blocks – Just like it sounds, I have 16 string blocks done. I want to make some more, make a quilt and donate it onward. Status: Most blocks completed.

2d Yellow LCRR – I made this for my DD. Status: Blocks completed.

Box 3

3a Carpenter’s Wheel – A Dorothy Young pattern. Status: Flimsy.

3b Dear Jane LCRR – Log cabin blocks done with a Dear Jane block in the middle. Status: Blocks completed.

3c Easter Carrie Nation – A Dorothy Young pattern. Status: Flimsy.

3d My Blue Heaven – A Bonnie Hunter pattern. I hate the quilting I’ve done on it. Status: Needs to have quilting frogged and redone.

Box 4

4a Diamond Shapes – Die-cut diamonds and no focus. Status: In pieces.

4b Valentines – Lots of nickel charm packs in this one. Status: Most blocks completed.

4c Purse Pack – A package of fun and different fabrics that I bought. Status: In pieces.

4d St. Pat’s LCRR – Making this one for the month of March of course. Status: Blocks completed.

Box 5

5a Snowmen – I swapped 12” snowmen blocks a while ago and also some snow FQs. Status: Flimsy.

5b Australia FQs – I received these in a secret santa type box and I need to finish this project and donate it. Status: In pieces.

5c Bricks & Stepping Stones – I started these blocks trying to make 10 per color of Judy Laquidara’s 2011 Monochromatic challenge. Status: Some blocks completed.

5d Watermelon – A Dorothy Young pattern. Status: Sandwiched.

Box 6

6a Bird Crewel – A piece of needlepoint needing some finishing. Status: In pieces.

6b Beau’s – I swapped with Nancy , Near Philadelphia for the Miss Mellie quilt and Ashley’s quilt. It only makes sense that I bring everything together for a huge quilt called Beau’s quilt. Status: Most blocks completed.

6c Dog Bandannas – I have many bandannas from my dog and a friend’s. Status: In pieces.

6d Black & White BOM – The BOM won’t finish until July, but when it’s done it will be finished in blue and hopefully go to DD. Status: Some blocks completed.

Bonus UFOs

25 Orca Bay – The Bonnie Hunter 2011 Christmas mystery. Status: In pieces.

26 Jeanne’s Diamonds – The Dorothy Young 2011 Christmas mystery. Status: In pieces.

Homework – Yes, I do also assign myself monthly homework. So for each month, I plan to make/do…

12 Chiclets blocks
4 Old Navy Flag shirts
8 String QAYG blocks

And that is more than enough to do for 2012. I desperately need to order a roll of batting! It feels good to be enthused about quilting again and to have some semblance of a plan.

Addendum: I'm going to track my additional costs of finishing these UFOs. I wonder what that will be this upcoming year....

Weekend Update

Despite having a huge migraine for part of the weekend, I did spend some time sewing.

I did indeed go through my entire set of scraps from the yellow log cabin and pulled out all of the leftovers. I made 350+ inches of binding and sewed them all together on the bias, so all of those triangles are now in the scrap bucket. Any other 2.5 inch logs were cut up the middle and thrown in the yellow strings ice cream bucket. Well, by that point, I might as well just cut the foundation papers and go.

And I’m so glad I did; it was the mindless sewing in the near-dark I could do with a migraine. I got 6 of them done, 6 black ones and a whole bunch of HSTs that had been previously cut out. I’m now out of pre-cut units, but I got far despite the migraine, which is good. I still have 2.0 green strips cut, so more HSTs until those run out. Then I can cut more greens and keep working on QSTs.

One day I’ll be caught up. But for now, I’ve got every step underway.

Actual Sewing - Can You Believe It?

I sewed yesterday for a little bit. I actually cleaned up my cutting table for 15 minutes first. I was so excited, as I found a packet of 80 die-cut hearts that I have been looking for, plus I unearthed my quilter’s reference book. You know the one – it has how to set on point and how many triangles will you need and cut them this way, etc. I was quite glad to see that again.

We’re trying to move back our small family room sofa so that there is more floor space for the PS3 Move that we have. My cutting table butts up against the sofa, so the cutting table has to move so that we can move the sofa. So it will move to where the ironing board is. The ironing board will go away and so I need an ironing pad. A series of bookcases are also going to be moved in all of this, so it’s just a boatload of crazy. We want it done soon, so that we can enjoy the Move, but it is not a requirement for us to host Christmas.

We are hosting Ted’s mother’s side, who are all very forgiving people when it comes to housework. That is right up my alley.

In detailed Orca Bay news, I am using green where Bonnie is using black. So I am taking out 5 hunks of green fabric at a time and cutting 1.5 strips and 2.0 strips, and then of course the corresponding neutrals. Someone did point out that the HSTs for Old Tobacco Road (OTR) were the same size as these, so I’m cutting more 2.0 strips and just piecing those HSTs like crazy and dumping them in an ice cream bucket. Once I get all the QSTs made and counted, etc, I will go back and start pressing and counting all of the HSTs. I want to knock out the OTR ones at the same time and since I have a king sized bed, I want like double the amount of HSTs. So basically I just need to make 1200 HSTs and life will be good. See why I’m not even counting them at this point? I have 22 QSTs sewn and many halves sewn.

I am using black where Bonnie is using blue, so I did cut out 18 foundation papers and started sewing those as the leaders and enders for when I chain-piece all the cut green pieces. I just add a strip to every block I’ve started and make sure the last thing through the needle is a new string block. These are going very quickly. I have not been able to find any black strings so far in my scrap bags, so I am cutting strips from black hunks of fabric.

I am using yellow where Bonnie is using red, and of course since I work, I haven’t started those yet. I don’t think I can have 4 steps going at once. So these will just have to wait. I did just finish an all yellow log cabin, so I have tons and tons of leftover strips that I will use. I will sort through all of my bags and pull them all. The first goal will be to see if the strip is 2.5 inches. If so, and it’s long enough, it will go into the pieced binding. Once I have 350 inches of binding or if the strip doesn’t meet the binding qualifications, I’ll go ahead and use it as a string.

My weekend is already a bit crazy, but that’s OK. The goal right now is to finish the QSTs while sewing on steps 2 and 3.

As for Christmas, I have two small gifties to make for a pair of sisters that are the nieces of a friend of mine. That will be something fun to do next week.

Folding Optional

As we are now in what I am calling the 4 Long Weeks, this week and perhaps the rest have been dubbed Folding Optional. We are literally gone every weekend or we are hosting. One or the other. So since I don’t have the weekends to do laundry, I’m doing it during the week, thanks to the wonderful timer capability on my lovely LG washer. I set one load up to go off at like 4.30 in the morning. I throw it in the dryer as I get up in the morning (I get up about an hour before I actually start moving – it’s called coffee) (and Facebook, truth be told). Then I set up another load to go off at about 5pm and I can throw that one in the dyer when we get home at about 6pm. If I’m feeling super-industrious, I throw another load in that I switch out as I head out for bed.

Everything ends up in laundry baskets. Folding is truly optional right now. There’s nothing I can do about it and I could fold, but then I would be doing housework all the time and not resting, which is really not a very good thing. So, yeah, grab your stuff from the laundry basket.

Keeping this quilty: I am now up to 22 QSTs – 10%! And I sewed some HSTs and left them chained together and dumped them into an ice cream tub. No string blocks at all; I went through 2 bags of scraps yesterday and some of my cutting table and no black strings or scraps showed up.

Bear Down

Yesterday we went to the Bears game. While the game itself was atrocious, there are a few things that I try to notice each time we go.

The classiest piece of Bears-wear that I noticed belonged to a gentleman in the row in front of me. He was wearing a navy fedora with a discreet GSH on the brim. For those of you old enough to understand this, it was the same style hat Papa Bear Halas wore on the sidelines. It was impressive.

I also take note of jersey sightings. I myself wear 34 Walter Payton – can’t go wrong with Sweetness. I did spot the usual amount of 54 Brian Urlacher and 90 Julius Peppers and of course 23 Devin Hester. Some 1985 throwbacks included 45 Gary Fencik (2 of them!) and 72 William Perry. I also saw one that nearly broke my heart – 57 Olin Kreutz, sadly traded away before the season started. There were 51 Dick Butkus or course. But the best by far was 3 Bronko Nagurski. That is downright old school and as they say in The Incredibles, the old school is the best school.

Gary is a guy who sits in our section and for the second year in a row, he was absent. However, his daughter was there (they have the same smile), and I’m here to tell you that 6 beers by the end of the third quarter is not cute. You were spilling your beer and generally looking like a fool. Please, be classy.

And last, but not least, the guy behind me had a cowbell. He’s lucky to still be alive.

To keep this quilty, I have done one QST for Orca Bay . Count ‘em, one.

Gearing Up and Winding Down

Well, I've decided to try metal bobbins in Ed to see if it helps, as the machine came back to me with a metal bobbin in it. That seems to mitigate the problem. I've also messed with the tension more than I ever care to.

I now need to find a sewing machine repair place nearby.

I did indeed finish up my swap and get it mailed. I found the pattern that I needed for 2 little gifties I need to make. My BOM is up to date. So I've started Orca Bay, with green where the black goes, so it's a Green Bay and not an Orca Bay!

I've decided that each week, I will do each step plus 50 from step 1. That will keep the sewing sane.

I've also started revamping the sewing area, which is being done in conjunction with the revamp of the family room (all of us have our hobbies in the family room - it's a zoo). Ted and I talked it through and we have a plan. Now to work the plan.

Today I've started project restock the deep freeze, and so off I go to package up 5 packets of pork chops bought in bulk today.

Machine Woes

There are 4 machines in my life (actually 6, but the other 2 don't have names...).

Old Betsy is up at Kim's.
Ed has just arrived back to me after Kim had him serviced at some place on Harlem that someone swore was wonderful.
Ruby is my Janome Gem that I dropped off today for servicing.
And Edd (yes, it's an Ed thing - points if you get the reference) is in the garage.

Since I just dropped off Ruby today, I've been using Ed. And man is Ed a mess. It's like he was never serviced. He has 22 stitches - now only 2 work. And this evening tension problems decided to rear their ugly heads.

As Flo would say on Good Times - damn damn damn.

It's Almost Here!

Tomorrow starts the Orca Bay mystery! See the button on my sidebar?

The Two Word Fax

If you have ever followed the career of a guy named Michael Jordan, he returned to basketball after the death of his father with a two word fax: "I'm back."

And all of Chicagoland rejoiced. (And the west side really rejoiced; the economic benefit was tremendous!)

And with that, here I am. My quilting mojo has returned. I have rejoined stashbusters. Life is good.

Zzzzz

I is so tired.

Bad grammar and all, I am just so tired. I have no idea why. Life is good. Work is good. I'm getting my mojo back for a few things.

Maybe it's the swimming. We swam tonight.

Off to bed.....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Analysis Paralysis

OMG I am nearly the worst blogger out there. Sorry.

I’m suffering from a few mental blocks, which are coming from various sources.

One was a cutdown someone made to me at work. It was so biting, I actually stopped mid-sentence. But it gave me pause to see why he made the comment so I am working on my professional persona (my brand, if you will) right now. That was really hard to process and really knocked me down. On a related note, another cutdown from someone in Girl Scouts wounded me so deep (the words personal attack apply for this one), I took basically a whole year off of Girl Scouts to rediscover my niche. I have found the niche and am working toward actively volunteering again. So yeah, some big hits to the psyche in the past 12 months…

Another mental block is the block of too much. I have too many UFOs out in my workspace. I need to go to my workspace and clean it out and leave 1, count ‘em, 1 UFO out there to finish. If I could finish a few things, I would feel better. If my workspace was clean, I’d feel better.

Which leads to a bigger issue, which is my inspection of my house post-degree and post-recovery from the degree. My house is a disaster. Not a DCFS disaster, but you know, a disaster. My eyes have been opened to the dust that collects on all of the white wood trim in our whole house (it came that way – I don’t believe in painting wood). Opened to the front powder room’s ruined walls from little kid fingerprints and misfires of the soap dispenser. Opened to many, many annoying things. All of which can be fixed and all of which I can fix and all of which is so overwhelming I can’t do anything.

And then there are deadlines. I have a swap that has gone terribly wrong and it is not a one night fix to right the ship. I had a present for my dad that needed to be completed by his birthday, and no, I cannot rest assured that his birthday will be here next year; he has outlived his own father and every day is a gift. So yeah, I dropped everything to finish my dad’s afghan. I love crochet, by the way.

My mini-garden also need some love, but the heat index has been like 115, so I will cut myself some slack on this one.

So where am I? I’ll repeat a line from above: All of which can be fixed and all of which I can fix and all of which is so overwhelming I can’t do anything. I have analysis paralysis. I know I do.

So I need to snap out of it.

But first I have unexpected houseguests coming tomorrow. I really don’t mind; I do not spend enough time with these folks, and so it is well worth it. She is not a judgmental person when it comes to housecleaning and so that helps. But I am doing some housecleaning because I can and I will feel better if I do. But again, it doesn’t get me any closer to quilting. Wednesday, the guests are here and Thursday I have promised a long-overdue date with my DD at the mall. She has ever so patiently waited, and really, I just need to go and enjoy her.

And then this Friday I will collapse. Because I have been on the road for 7 weekends straight. Seriously. I have considered it a victory that I have not dipped into savings for these 7 weeks. Now I haven’t necessarily added to savings either, but I have made do, and that was the point. But yeah, a messy house in need of deep cleaning, deadlines, travel, mental health repair, crafts – I’m tired. And I am not waking up to an alarm clock on Saturday. I’m going back to bed after my body gets me up and resting more. I just do not care.

And then I will tackle things, one bite at a time.

16 years

16 years ago today, at 3.30pm, a tiny company that employed me for over 2 years was purchased by a large, rising, shooting star in its industry. A friend of mine remembered receiving the phone call from the limousine from our CFO telling her to go ahead and cut checks and pay bills; our accounts were now backed by the large corporation.

And then she and I stayed and ran a million dollar check run. Later on, we would run million dollar checks.

Before I left that company 4 and a half years later, it had been purchased again – the guppy had swallowed a whale. And my time was done, as I figured it would be, in my 30th year, and so off I went, riding off into the sunset as the system I supported was decommissioned.

Within 2 years of that, the guppy went bankrupt. And then the guppy went to jail. Within 4 more years, the company was acquired again. The brand name died, never to live again.

So today I touched base with my friend. She has stayed in the industry, even on the same street, doing her thing. I’ve changed industries 4 times, and job functions 10 times in that time span. We talked about how much of our personal history relates back to this one pivotal day. Today at lunch with my husband, we talked of this same day, and its relation to our history. June 30, 1995 was a day for the ages.

Back at it

Well, I am happy to report that since my last post, I feel less worse. While that means I’m not 100% (for example, today I woke up with a sore throat), I am at least functioning better. So I am just going to embrace that and move on with it. I do know that I was consuming a fair amount of soda, and when I figured out that the soda was contributing to my malaise, I went cold turkey. This is not easy, folks. I puffy-heart love soda. I would give my right arm for a Coke. It’s really that hard. And really that necessary for me to give up all carbonation. I told both Ted and Renee that I was giving up soda, as warning all people that are hosting various events I need to attend. I’m going with water only, and milk if I want it. This switch alone has made me feel better, although my coffee consumption is up to replace the lost caffeine.

OK, on to crafty things. I did a cupcake block swap with a yahoo group and I’m waiting for the blocks to return. This was a fusible appliqué only swap; we can sew down using whatever method works for us. I made extra blocks so that I can make a bigger quilt when the come back. I cannot wait!

Otherwise I’m working on yarn gifts for both a birthday and Father’s Day that are coming up here in June. I don’t know what I will work on this weekend, but I’ll figure something out. Believe it or not, I’m in the mood to clean my room this weekend – declutter, switch the wardrobe seasons and prepare the side of my bed with various handwork projects for those few minutes before bed.

What is it about May?

This is the third May in a row that I just feel lousy. I have no idea what is going on! I feel like diverticulitis is coming back, yet again, I'm tired and sluggish all the time and the migraines keep flirting with me. Mentally, I have a great disposition and the switch in assignments at work is a good thing, but man, I am just TOAST.

I have purchased many things to get this garden going and I just can't move. Well, the non-stop rain today is not helping, that is for sure, but still!

Ted is home from his trip and that does help, but I seriously did nothing more than dishes while he was gone and now the laundry has piled up, my room is a disaster because I let Renee hang out in there while Ted was gone, I have sewing to do, I have Girl Scouts to do and I have gardening to do.

Meanwhile, all I want to do is lie around and watch TV!

1 week

What a difference a week makes.

AS I figured, I am much happier in my new role. Not everyone is happy about it, but I will get results and that is what is needed right now. The displaced party isn't very happy either, but neither would I be if the roles were reversed.

Today I ran to Home Depot and bought 3 big pots and 3 bags of soil. I got some starter plants this week from my farmer's sister, and so they need to get going. Renee and I will get some of that done today. There's more gardening to be done, but that will get done over the next 2 weeks. This is all I plan on doing today. I buy only for what I plan to do that day and that is all. That may seem inefficient, but I know myself and that is what I gotta do!

Last night, I did get 10 stars machine appliqued on to their white squares. Today I hope to do the BOM block and some swap blocks. I'm in two different swaps and I need to get these done.

And I'm studying insurance. Don't ask, but on Thursday, it will be done.

Juju

At 2:16pm last Friday, an email went out at my work. It changes my role in a project from one that I struggle with success to one where I can be a success.

This changes everything. Bad juju to good juju. Dreading going to wanting to go. (Caveat: I love my job, but it's project work, and we all don't love every project we're on.)

I wonder if I am the test case for the axiom: If you need something done, give it to a busy person. I envision my productivity going way up in many areas of my life. All because of this change.

And quilting? Watch out!

Today I finished a fashion scarf, crocheted with the half-double crochet stitch using pink satin ribbon. I think the hdc is my most favorite stitch, if there is such a thing.

Still a little impatient

I'm still waiting on that last package. I have to admit that I'm impatient. :-)

I didn't any more sewing done than the hour I did on Thursday's very bad day. I wish I got more in this weekend. It just didn't happen. Oh well. I'm not going to stress about it.

More importantly, I got out and walked both weekend days. My work is hosting a 5k in the community in 5 weeks. I've decided to train (ha ha ha) to walk it. It takes 7 laps around the local park to do 5k. I figured out that if I add a lap every 5 days, I can walk the distance nonstop by the time of the 5k. After walking all over DC (they don't call it Capitol Hill for nothing!!!!), I don't want to lose whatever conditioning I obtained. And believe it or not, I did obtain a wee little bit.

And I sold a baby quilt at our Relay For Life craft fair. And a crocheted towel. $33 total!

So this week, I have no meetings at night. I have an insurance exam to study for, and I of course want to move forward with both spring planting and spring cleaning, but sewing will just need to happen.

Impatient

A watched mailbox never receives packages.

I ordered fabric for my BOM from 3 different quilt shops. I have received notification that all 3 have shipped. I also received notification that my monthly recurring charge from Keepsake Quilting has been assessed. So now I’m waiting for these 4 packages! The anticipation!

Stay tuned.

Yep, I Did It!

I did indeed go downstairs yesterday and clean out my quilting area. DD and I watched an episode of Survivor on the Tivo while she played Wizards 101 on the PC and I cleaned up. She helped me with getting underneath things, as little block pieces had escaped into little nooks and crannies everywhere.

I put the RRCB (Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville fame) in one bag, and put everything else into another bag. Then I made a pile of the stuff that I listed yesterday and I'll just work on that pile.

I forgot one small thing. Judy over at Patchwork Times is doing a monochromatic challenge and I'm doing my own twist on it. For whatever color she pulls for the month, I'm trying to do 10 matchsticks from Bonnie's Bricks and Stepping Stones pattern. Then by year end I'll have 120 matchsticks ready to be set into a quilt, plus I already have a few extra in the storage place. It will make a nice charity/donation quilt of some sort.

I also ordered the KS Troubles fabric I need for my Buck a Block BOM.

I also went ahead and went to the LQS yesterday with DD in tow. I bought 2 FQ for me, 2 for her, 2.5 yards from the sale room and 6 skeins of yarn from the sale room. Here's where everything is going to go:

2 FQ for me will go toward the Sisters Choice pattern (I already have 2 FQ and will buy 2 each month) for the 9 patches.

The 2.5 yards from the sale room is an 1850's pink that will be the corners to make the stars for the Sisters Choice blocks.

(Lest you wonder, I ordered a package of 2.5" CW shirting strips a while back. That's the rest of the Sisters Choice block fabric.)

DD will take her 2 FQ and do whatever. We'll most likely figure out what whatever is this summer.

The blue fuzzy yarn will become a fashion scarf. I think I may knit this one.
The pink satin ribbon will become a fashion scarf. I most likely will knit this one.
The pink/lavender/white matte ribbon will become a fashion scarf and I have started to crochet that with hdc stitches.

And I've spent enough money and now I'm organized. Today I go to the quilt show and then study more insurance. (I know, I just don't stop with the education thing. Even my boss gives me shit about it.)

Clutter

Well, it’s been 2 months since I’ve updated. Whoops. I get mad at other bloggers who don’t u[date and then here I go, not updating. Well, that serves me right.

Not too much has happened in the last 2 months. I have taken and completed a crochet class through the community college. We also took a family vacation to Washington, DC. That was 10 days, 2111.2 miles, 9 states and DC’s worth of togetherness. It was a much-needed vacation. We also sat down and looked at our financial situation and make a plan. Now we’re working the plan. So, life is good.

Quilt-wise, I was off great guns in January and then it all fell apart. One thing that contributed to it was that all of my crafty time was going toward crochet homework, not like that is a bad thing or anything. The other thing was that my DD’s 10th birthday sleepover was in our basement, which is where the sewing area is as well. So everything was boxed willy-nilly and I have no idea what is where. But lastly, and most importantly, I am overwhelmed by all I want to do.

I have quilter’s ADD; don’t we all? Anyway, my mind is going a million miles a minute and frankly I can’t get anything done. When I was in the crochet class, the instructor Kay was also a quilter. She is in the local guild and also uses a local longarmer. Kay’s logic: there are too many quilts to make to be hung up on the quilting part. I bet I have over 50 quilts stuck at the sandwiching stage because I hate it so much! Kay says that this woman does simple pantos, etc, for a very reasonable price per inch and does not charge a minimum. That sounds wonderful to me.

I am going to go to the quilt show this weekend and check out her work and hopefully talk to her or at least get some contact information. I need to get through the backlog of UFOs so I can create in peace.

The other thing I’m going to do is to pack up all my other projects for now. I’m going to leave out the following:

LCRR scrappy
LCRR yellow
Red Hearts
Sisters Choice
Buck a Block

Everything else will go away. I’m overwhelmed when I go down there to sew, so I avoid going down there. So I need to make it inviting to go in there and that is the only thing I can think of to do. The clutter is weighing me down and it’s not even clutter!

So I may not sew a stitch this weekend but if I can make the space more inviting, I will have achieved the world.

Ready for the Weekend!

Not too much this first week of February. I had 1.5 snow days, so in that time, I worked on killing one scrap bag. I made 14 string blocks. I will keep working on those string blocks as time permits so that I can tame the ziploc bags of scraps. I think I have about 14 of those bags. And no, the string blocks did not empty the bag; I was able to force the remaining contents into an existing bag.

So for this SuperBowl weekend of nothingness (I swear I have no interest in the game), I need to figure out what I am working on. Options include: 600 HSTs for RRCB, quilting the XO quilt and finishing that sucker off, the peach LCRR, and/or Ericka’s baby quilt. The apron is a requirement. So that must be done.

Basically I need to have something ready to hand-bind next week while I keep working on cleaning out my tivo. So I am working on knitting two fashion scarves, hopefully a quilt binding and my homework. I start crochet class on Tuesday!

EOM January 2011

Finishes
Carolyn’s quilt – ready to mail, providing the weather will let me go to the PO
WB quilt – into inventory
Second hand clothes in pink – delivered to co-worker who will surprise recipient
Judy’s monochromatic challenge in yellow – 2 pieces, one for home and one for work
Blue 9-patch – into inventory

Total Stash Busted: 17.80 yards

Not too shabby. I am pleased. I completed 5 things, and there were 4 Fridays in January. I’m at +1.

Now on to February.

I just love to plan and did a fair amount of it yesterday afternoon. We’ll see where I end up.

My goals for finishes:
XO blue quilt
GS banner quilt thing
Apron for exchange
Judy’s monochromatic thing
Ericka’s quilt
Blue D9P
Peach LCRR
St. Pat’s LCRR
St. Pat’s dresser mat

My goals for milestones:
Hugs and Kisses – start quilting in sections
D9P – machine quilt one section
RRCB – completed top
Hidden Spools – started
Kill one scrap bag
LCRRs – remain current

Things in waiting
Christmas BRB
Xmas Lights
Henrietta Whiskers BOM

Stay tuned

Now we’re in Part A of week 4. I’m still plugging away on stuff, but a book report for the child looms over us. So we’ll see where we end up on Monday.

Part A Week 3

Let’s see, we’re in Part A of week 3. I’m falling down on posting, but not on quilting.

Here are my goals and my statuses on them:

My goals for finishes in January include -
Carolyn’s quilt – done, need to label and mail
WB quilt – need to trim threads
XO blue quilt – no better
GS banner quilt thing – no better
Christmas BRB – no better
Second hand clothes in pink – for a co-worker who is having a girl – at hand binding stage

My goals for milestones in January include -
Hugs and Kisses – completed top – blocks done
BOM – months 1 and 2 complete; month 6 started – only month 6 started
D9P – next 20 blocks – no better
D9P – machine quilt one section – no better
RRCB – completed top – no better
Xmas Lights – completed top – no better

Plus to add on for the fun of it:
Judy’s monochromatic challenge in yellow – not started
Apron for exchange – not started
Blue 9-patch – at hand binding stage
Henrietta Whiskers BOM

So how to block and tackle with like 11 days left….

Finish goals – Carolyn’s, WB, Second hand clothes, Blue 9-patch, apron, yellow
If I finish all of these things, I would have 6 finishes, 3 of which were UFOs and 3 of which were current year creations.

Everything else I hope to make progress on. If I don’t, I don’t. :-)

Weekend on Progress

I'm working along this weekend, despite sleeping in until 9am this morning. That was luxurious, I assure you.

So I'm working on Second Hand Clothes for a soon-to-arrive baby. The dark pink I had hoped to use in the 9 patches (the fabric that makes the chain) did not want to be found today. So on to plan B I went, which was a yellow with pink flowers on it. AS of this writing I have 12 of the 16 blocks made and 14 of the 25 solid blocks cut.

Meanwhile, I am continuing to work on Hugs and Kisses. I finished Clue 5, which was the remaining 10 O blocks. Then I started on Clue 6, which is a sashing unit. I have 4 more to finish, which I will do while I sew the remaining 4 blocks for the baby quilt.

What I do is alternate which block I'm working on as I sew. So I will sew a seam for the baby quilt, then the mystery, then the baby quilt, etc. It's more intense than leaders and enders, but it does require that I can keep 2 sets of instructions straight. Sometimes I can, and sometimes I can't. Lately, I can!

Last night we watched The Blues Brothers. I bought the DVD for Thanksgiving travels and they never watched it. So Ted and I sat and enjoyed it last night (Renee does not know what she missed!). I finished sewing down the binding on Carolyn's quilt, so I'm moving forward there. It was so fun to watch, it wasn't worth trying to sew on the machine.

Oh and I got a lot of the yellow scraps sorted out of my scrap bags. It's not all of the scraps, but the baggie is full, so I will work with whatever's in there.

Results Part A, Week 1

Well, Part A of the week is over and it did not go as planned. Work, a migraine and Facebook games had an impact in that. I think my games and I will part ways soon. They are really becoming a time-waster, now that I have time to do whatever I want. Something to ponder.

I did finish all the string blocks last night. I thought I didn’t have any neutral strings at all. I still have bits left over! So that went well.

Here’s the status of Part A items:

Clue 5 – O blocks – still incomplete
Yellow scraps – still not sorted
Carolyn’s quilt – still not mailed

This afternoon starts Part B of my week. Because the baby of the co-worker is due to arrive at any minute, that project rotates to the top. So this weekend’s goals:

Second Hand Clothes – as far as I can get it
Clue 5 – O blocks
Yellow scraps
Carolyn’s quilt
WB quilt
XO quilt – mark and quilt white sections

I’m going to take a break from RRCB until Carolyn’s quilt and Second Hand Clothes are done. Since one is nearly done and the other should hopefully go quickly, it shouldn’t be too bad. B needs its threads snipped and then it can go into the inventory pile. I can accomplish that this weekend.

Part A, Week

Well, Happy New Year! I didn’t realize I hadn’t updated. Maybe because I was trying to get some sleep!

Things still going well on the quilty front. Working on the 30 O blocks – 20 are done. Working on string blocks. Working on binding.

Working on cleaning up my house. Oy, that is stressful.

My goals for the Part B of last week were:

Get Carolyn’s quilt to the handwork stage
Finish blue GFG flower
Keep working on Hugs and Kisses
Keep working on RRCB

Everything was accomplished.

Goals for Part A, Week 1:

Mail off Carolyn’s quilt – means it’s done done
Hugs and Kisses – Finish the 30 O blocks
RRCB – Finish the string blocks
Sort out all the yellow scraps

Again, Part A of my week is done on Friday morning. Part B will start on Friday afternoon (when my work week is done).