Getting It Done Jan 2013

Judy over at Patchwork Times has taken the UFO per month concept to a new place.  Let's list 4 things we want to get done.  It could just be a step of a quilt or a finish; it doesn't matter.  It's about accountability to each other.

So here are my 4:

Three of mine deal with Bonnie Hunter Quiltville quilts; the last is a log cabin.  I only desire to get each one to the point where the binding is attached.  I'll do the handwork when I get there.  All 4 enter 2013 as UFOs.

1.  Easy Street.  As I write this, we are awaiting the last step.

2.  Orca Bay, which I call Green Bay.  This one is lying in pieces, in bins and baskets, all over my sewing area.

3.  Old Tobacco Road, which I call The Three Sisters.  I have shrunken this by 25% in piece size and I am only doing 3 rows of crops instead of 5, and it's not as long, etc.  Right now I hope to finish the top tonight.  I have 3+ hours left to do so!

4.  Yellow log cabin.  The top is half assembled.  Ugh.  I just need to finish it off.

Pray for snow days for both school and work!

Days 6, 7 and 8

On the sixth, seventh and eighth days of Shutdown, my true love gave to me....

...an insane desire to finish this project!  Boxing Day measures 61 * 69 and busted 6.32 yards of fabric.

After finishing the Christmas 2 BOM quilt, I was bound and determined to get rid of my Christmas fabrics.  I mean, I wanted them G O N E.  So I spent the week before Christmas going through all of those scraps and cutting as many 2" strips as a I could (I had a fair amount already cut up from a project from 2011).  On December 23rd I started attaching the strips in a QAYG fashion.  I went as far as I could with the strips I had.  When I ran out of the various random pieces I had, I was done.  The width was determined by the yardage I got for the back, which is a funky pink retro pink and white holiday fabric, which is very complimentary to the pink ornament fabric in the top.  Yesterday I finished the strips and today I did the binding while my DD has a friend over.  Both girls gave it a thumbs-up.

Face it, this is ugly-cute.  I can't bear to part with it.  And yes, there are still scraps left, but I am done for this year.

So far this shutdown, I have busted about 30 yards of fabric and 2 items on my UFO list.  I don't know if I will get any more finishes in this year, but if that's all that happens here on Shutdown, it was not bad.

And to those who have asked about the Christmas 2 BOM quilt and the extra point, Ellen did contact me, confirmed my math and gave me the extra point.

Meanwhile, my DD is conspiring for a sleepover!

Days 4 and 5

On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...

..a workday of quilting because it was Christmas Eve.  I worked a lot on my Christmas UFO, plus I started sewing a new quilt that evening.

On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...

...a finish!  This UFO entitled Christmas 2 BOM used up 9.33 yards of fabric and it's 80 inches square.

This quilt of course has a story.  Way back when we still lived in Brookfield, I did 2 different BOMs at 2 different shops.  Each month, I also made the block out of my Christmas stash, which was made up of remnants and deep sales at Joann's, etc.  Of course, one set of blocks finished at 9 and the other at 10.  And to do this setting, I needed the 25th block.  Then we moved and it languished.

I decided this fall that this was it.  It had to be done.  So I drug it out, sashed the blocks to make them all the same size, made the 25th block, set the whole nightmare together and then did the inner border.  I then worked my butt off on that outer pieced border; some of those rectangles are crumb blocks!  

And then I got stumped after Thanksgiving on how to quilt it.  No joke it sat there giving me the stink eye (one person said it was looking at me askance and I said it was looking at me like o.O).  Anyway, I asked my DH what to do and he said (because he values his marriage and my sanity) to just do some diagonal lines.  I fought this thing.  Putting 80 inches on point through the DSM is like 120 inches and that is no small feat!  After it was quilted, my DH did explain that he felt that the quilt could have standed some beautiful quilting in the setting triangles and borders, but he knew I was at my wit's end.  He's a smart guy, that Ted of mine.

Anyway, on Christmas Eve I attached the binding and on Christmas Day I handsewed the binding down while watching a lot of Harry Potter movies.  A Christmas quilt ready on Christmas - a Christmas miracle, according to a friend of mine!

Enjoy!

On the Second Day of Shutdown...

On the second day of shutdown, my true love gave to me....

...a late post.  Sorry about that.  Yesterday was a travel day to and from family.  But in all sincerity, here's Saturday's item:

...A finished St. Pat's quilt!

Years ago I was in a round robin that made the blocks.  I finally made the top, pieced the back and here is the finished quilt.  Please excuse my bedroom; it's the only spot to take a pic of a quilt this big!  St. Pat's is a meaningful day in our family; my oldest nephew was born on St. Pat's.  

This quilt is 72 x 90, and I did it all by myself.  It busted 9.56 yards from stash.

For the First Day of Shutdown....

Welcome to the 12 Days of Shutdown!  I have ambitious goals for these 12 days, which include busting a total of 56.07 yards.  I am a woman on a mission.

Shutdown is when the university my DH works closes down for 7 days during the holiday season.  I mean everything shuts down.  Everything.  My initial goal was to have that entire time off and be home with my family, but this project I am on at work will not permit that.  I will have to work some time here and there, some of it in the office and some of it at home.  But my 12 Days of Shutdown plans are not deterred!

For the first day of shutdown, my true love gave to me….

A finished 30s Barn Raising quilt.  Pattern is by Michelle at http://mychellem.blogspot.com/ and the pattern is at the http://www.modabakeshop.com/.  This measures 60 inches square and busted 5.42 yards of fabric.  This quilt will go into inventory; it has not yet revealed its owner to me. 

Here’s the story behind this quilt.  A few years ago, my sister asked me about old timey fabrics so that a friend of hers could repair a family quilt.  She and I went on to the Fat Quarter Shop website and looked at styles of fabrics.  My sister Kim determined that her friend needed 30s fabrics for the repairs and that nickels would be fine.  So we ordered 2 packets of Aunt Grace nickels and some 20s nickels as well.  I had them shipped to Kim; Kim gave them to the friend and we both thought that was that.

Fast forward 5 years and Kim comes to my house and hands me her stash.  It was overwhelming her, which means, by stashbuster definitions, it needs to be managed.  She chose to manage it by giving it to me.  It was one garbage bag.  (Comparatively, I have a room or more.)  In there were the nickels, with only 2 used.  I asked Kim about it and she said the friend just gave them back. 

So I chose to make this quilt with these nickels.  The white also came from Kim’s stash.  I only needed to buy the back and the binding.  I don’t have an affinity for 30s fabrics and thus I don’t have any stash of them, so it was a necessary buy.  Nearly every nickel was used; I have a few 2.5” blocks left and those will go into a project that needs a lot of those.

So after the orthodontist today (she’s getting them put on), I hope to continue cutting and preparing for my Boxing Day quilt and some other things.  I left work early yesterday to beat the weather and I made it with 15 minutes to spare before the horribleness set in.  So Renee and I watched a lot of Harry Potter.  She made bead necklaces for a craft fair at school today while I went through an enormous bag of Christmas scraps.  I have plans for the Boxing Day quilt using the scraps, so I was cutting lots of 2 inch strips.  Whatever scraps are left are being put into a littler bag for Christmas crumbs.  I cannot wait to be done with Christmas fabrics!  I cannot believe they have stretched this far; 2 bed sized quilt tops have already been made with them, and Boxing Day will be lap sized and Christmas crumbs will be whatever it turns out to be. 

4 Weeks Left

I did make more progress this week.  I went ahead and finished the St. Pat's LCRR, which is twin-sized.  I also finished 2 BOM blocks, Step 3 of Easy Street and another 25% of Step 1 of Easy Street.  I also worked on quilting the Christmas 2 BOM some more.

So this week I am out 2 nights in a row and then home for 3.  I am also hosting the Schwitzner Sibling Christmas on 12/16, so I have to food shop, present shop and clean my house.  I have given up on my house; I just need to let it go.  Lon g story there, but I need to let it go.

So the goals for this week are to sew 2 short seams on the yellow LCRR during Downton Abbey tonight, and finish quilting this Christmas quilt.  I would like to attach some yellow rows on the LCRR plus finish the BOM blocks plus do the BOM block due on the 15th plus do some work on my interpretation of Old Tobacco Road.  No idea how this is happening.

All of this will come together during the 12 Days of Shutdown.....

5 weeks left

Well, I did accomplish quite a lot this past week.

As of last Friday:

1.  The 30s quilt is done done.
2.  Binding was started on the St. Pat's quilt.
3.  A quarter of the quilting was done on the Christmas 2 BOM quilt.

And the weekend:

1. A lot of binding done on the St. Pat's quilt (Downton Abbey!).
2. A BOM block completed and another cut out.
3. Easy Street step 2 done and a quarter of Step 1 done.

Of course I have goals for the week.  I have one night of meetings, and I'd like to slip away for an evening this week and see Lincoln.  So I have a few goals to get through the week.

By Friday night:

1. Finish the St. Pat's binding.
2. Finish the last 3 BOM blocks.
3. Finish Step 1 for Easy Street.
4. Attach the next row on the yellow LCRR.
5. More quilting on the Christmas 2 BOM.