I remembered!

I gotta do the Brownie quilt for my DD's troop.

That makes 8!

a finish!

I just realized I haven’t posted an update since issuing myself the mini-challenge.

I did indeed complete UFO #1 – the little red mat. It is all done and actually on display (albeit in the wrong month – it’s for February) on the little dresser. YAY! I used my large stipple stencil and FMQ’d it. There are some HUGE toe-catching stitches on it, but I have to start somewhere.

I also quilted all of Sheri’s quilt, which is a twin. I then unpinned it and snipped all the threads last night, which took me well over an hour (so of course I watched 2 tivo’d things). It needs to be trimmed and bound. I do have class tonight, and a doctor’s appointment right after work, so I may or may not get this done. If I could get it trimmed and the binding attached before class, then I can leave it next to my bed at night and work on it as I wind down each night. I want to get his one in the mail on Saturday because her birthday is on the 8th.

Monday night did leave me exhausted. I took a nap when I got home, watched some TV and then ended up going to bed. I do not know how I ended up this tired, but I went with it.

So week 17 showed the little red amt as a finish and week 18 should show Sheri’s quilt as a finish. Other items in consideration are the Hunter quilt, 2 lasagna quilts and the Jackson quilt. That’s 4 more things. That leaves one left to figure out.

Weekend update

Well, it was a pretty productive sewing weekend! Since I cancelled the evil dentist appointment, I had a free bonus weekend. No homework, no dental pain. Well technically I had homework, but I did it all Friday night so it would be out of the way.

I did plan my herb garden in little window boxes that hang over my deck. Of course, tonight is going to be like 30, so I need to bring them in tonight.

On to quilting. I worked toward my mini-goal and actually finished the red mat. Of course, it doesn’t have a label yet; I’m waiting until I have enough finished to warrant using a whole sheet of Printed Treasures. I’m loving Nann’s idea of using a label size from Avery and making the labels that way. So one finish down, and 7 to go.

I also finished the purple pinwheels, which made 25 pinwheels, which is 100 HSTs, which is 200 triangles cut with that EZ angle. I can vouch for the EZ angle. Again, these are for the P&P I’m making for a wedding gift in June.

Nothing else was outstanding from the last milk crate, so I could cross that off the list.

I did quilt Sheri’s quilt in full. Now I need to take out the safety pins, trim the threads, square it up and attach the binding so I can hand whip it down this week. This needs to be in the mail on Saturday.

I hauled some serious butt on the GFG as well. My goal was organization, which was to be to get one flower completely pinned to the hexagons and figure out from the existing partially constructed flowers what I could work on. My goal is one flower per month and 2 hours on the existing mess, so that slowly I can get some stuff done. Once I get 7 flowers all done, I will join them together. I have 3 flowers done.

So during the evening last night, I watched some Star Wars on Spike with DD, and sewed 3 hexes and folded 10 items and did that for 2 hours. All the folding got done and 18 hexes got done, so it was rather productive.

I have an entire laundry basket full of paperwork to go through, so no doubt that will be tonight’s goal. From a sewing point of view, I’m aiming to de-pin and thread trim Sheri’s quilt, do more hexes and find the backing I want to use up for the Brownies quilt. I need to measure it and then lay out the girls’ blocks and see what comes to me.

So what’s left:
Brownies quilt all done
Sheri’s quilt all done
1 bag for work quilts
18 Chiclets blocks

Mini-Challenge

I have a family wedding in 8 weeks. I’ve been doing extra cutting for a Patches & Pinwheels (yet another Bonnie quilt) and even assembling the pinwheels as I go. I’ve figured out that a P&P would be a perfect wedding quilt for this couple, as they are White Sox fans and pinwheels figure prominently on the exploding scoreboard.

So I’ve decided that I will finish (not start!!!) 7 UFO’s between now and then. They may be UFO’s or they may be WHIMM’s, but the goal is getting 7 started things done. So 7 UFO’s and the wedding quilt = 8 quilts.

OK, then 8 UFO’s between now and then.

Week 16's a bust, so on to Week 17

OK, it was a quilting week off. I rested this week and took a test this week, so those were some necessary and meaningful uses of my time in my opinion. However, I am getting cranky and need to sew, so I will get at it today after work. I’m done today at 1:15 and although I have homework for my group project due tonight, I can sew and do homework in the same room and just switch off.

As usual, my quilting list for week 17 is far longer than will actually get done, but I gotta dream big!

Week 17
Brownies quilt all done
Sheri’s quilt all done
Purple pinwheels
Finish anything else from last milk crate
GFG organization
Mycala’s gift
Red dresser mat
1 bag for work quilts
18 Chiclets blocks

Please note this really doesn’t include any OC stuff. I have been doing OC stuff and cutting more and more milk crates up, but not getting through some of the items on the list. They’ve been carried forward over and over. So it’s time to work on some of that. Catching up on OC will not be hard.

Plus I have 2 birthdays coming up and I need to handle those things, as they are timely.

Well, it’s not exactly been a quilty week so far. I have a strong feeling that nothing will get done in a quilting vein at all this week and I’m not going to beat myself up over it!

On other fronts, I have a test in one class tomorrow night and the dishwasher installation is Friday afternoon, so those are 2 things I must prepare for.

Week 16 goals

For Week 16:

Brownies quilt
Mycala’s gift
Process blue and orange milk crate
25 4 patches OC
24 step 1 CC
24 step 2 CC
Sew up 3.5” P&P strips
Sew up 2” P&P strips into 2’s (need 4’s)
Finish red dresser mat
6 Chiclets blocks
Sheri quilt – progress
Prep 1 GFG block
OC step 2 blocks – up to 100 if possible

It’s going to be hard to get stuff done, but I continue to aim big.

Back to work – it’s crazy-busy.

Sunday report

It was also a pretty productive Sunday as well. I got through the red pinwheels and cut our all the HSTs for the purple pinwheels. 20 step 1 CC blocks also got done. That leaves me pretty far on the weekly list. We’ll see how much I get done during the week. I also got the heart block done for Sonya, so I need to pop that in the mail.

A great Saturday

Yesterday’s quilting went pretty well. I got as far as I could on my OC. Since I want to be scrappy, I have to wait for other milk crates to be done. So 75 4 patches are done and 75 2 patches are done.

All the 2” P&P are sewn.

20 step 1 blocks are done for the CC.

I started the 20 step 2 blocks for CC and the red pinwheels for P&P. Everything is in the process of assembly, but my back gave out at like 8:30, so I went ahead and stopped for the evening.

My SIL and I mis-communicated about the date for her son’s communion. It was Saturday and I had emailed her to confirm it was Sunday and she did indeed confirm it was Sunday. So now that we’ve missed it, I’m home all today too. So after I go count cash at church all morning, I can come home and sew.

Today’s goals include Sonya’s heart block, finishing the 20 step 2 blocks, finishing the red pinwheels and cutting the purple HSTs for the purple pinwheels. Next goals would be prepping the GFG hexes and the 6 Chiclets blocks.

Successful Friday

What a good kickoff to Week 15.

I came home at like 3:30, and started cutting the next milk crate, which is full of reds and purples. It took 1 hour to cut up the crate and another 1 each for the scrap bags, for a total of like 3 hours of cutting. That was hard on the back.

However, I had a lot to show for it, which is great. My 2.5” strip bag is 100% full, so it will be time to start another bag. I didn’t even cut any of these – I just took them out of the scrap bags. I already sewed all the 2” strips together for the P&P, but I did not worry about making any strip sets of 4 strips or any sub cutting. The 3.5” strips are half done. I sub cut all the red strips with the WOC strips with my EZ angle. Those are for the P&P pinwheels.

Today’s goals are prepping the GFG hexes for tomorrow’s road trip, sewing all of the pinwheels together, 20 step 1 and step 2 CC blocks and some 4 patches for the OC. OMG, I will be sewing all day. The weather’s due to be crappy, so that’s OK, but I do need to do some housework and homework too.

Well, off I go! Oh, and we bought a dishwasher last night too.

Week 14 Wrap Up

No quilting last night, but the presentation for class went well and I was able to come home, watch Survivor and then hit my marketing homework. That took some serious time, but now I can quilt with freedom today. I get off work at 2:30 or so, so I can go home and sew for a while (after starting laundry). A list mom from one of my yahoo groups is seriously ill, so I need to make a block and send that through.

Here’s how week 14 shook out:
Done - Go through green ziploc, take out 2.5 strips and process
Done - Kim’s GC packet – 150 2 patches (she needs small steps)
Done - Sew 150 2 patches for OC
Done - Sew up 3.5” P&P strips
Done - Sew up 2” P&P strips into 2’s (need 4’s)
Done - Sew up CC 2” strips – all steps will be involved!
In progress - Finish red dresser mat
Not started - 6 Chiclets blocks
Not started - Sheri quilt – progress

Not too shabby, despite plumbing problems and classes, which included a presentation.

Week 15 goals

Time for some Week 15 goals:

Process red and purple milk crate
Cut another WOC for lights for the 3 Bonnie quilts I’m cutting for
OC 2 patches and then some 4 patches – quantity dependant on what I can get out of the milk crate
Sew up 3.5” P&P strips
Sew up 2” P&P strips into 2’s (need 4’s) – join a few to the greens already done
Sew up CC 2” strips – working on steps 1 and 2, which will make the ring block, which is step 6
Finish red dresser mat
6 Chiclets blocks
Sheri quilt – progress
Heart block for Sonya
Prep 1 GFG block
Sew all colored hexes for GFG

These are some seriously aggressive goals, considering that Sunday I have to count cash at church (8am until noon) and then hop in the car to Chicago for a family thing at 2. If I get all the GFG stuff prepped, I could actually get that whole thing done in the car going back and forth. We shall see.

A little bit here, a little bit there

While waiting for my group work partner to come over to finish our presentation, I did a little quilting. I made a little bag to hold a wall hanging when it’s all rolled up for storage and I continued work on the little red mat. I was able to pick out fabrics to finish it from my stash, added borders and got it sandwiched. It’s basically the size of a large placemat.

I’m thinking of practicing my stippling on it. I bought a large stipple template a few months ago and the pounce with chalk, so I may whip all that out to try it out. My free motion quilting is awful, but hey, you gotta start somewhere.

Tonight class was moved up from 8-10 to 6-8. We also have to give the aforementioned presentation, which is not fun, but it won’t be too bad and it will be over. The only other obligation for this class will be the final. However when I get home, I need to do group work for my other class that must be submitted by midnight. I have no idea if I will get to sew at all.

Plumbing Problems

Those 2 words strike terror in the heart. DD astutely caught the drip into the basement and Ted undid the dishwasher and found the leaky value. So now I await the plumber’s phone call so I can leave work and head home.

On a related note, we are trying to plan a large vacation and I have extensive dental work planned and now this. The Lord provides; the Discover Card people raised our limit by $2000 last week. While I don’t like to use credit, I am OK with it for these types of things. I have a hard time planning for the vacation without having all the money in hand right now to pay for all the pieces.

And on top of this all, I got either a migraine or a sinus headache last night. No sewing got done, but nothing else was urgent, so I was a slug and was OK with it.

Tupperware

Well, no quilting got done yesterday, but I went to a Tupperware party. I bought the cupcake transporter thingy.

Goal for tonight is to clean up my house. It’s in pretty good shape, so it should be a quick tidy. Laundry, folding and then some sewing.

Successful Sunday

What a great Sunday! More fantastic sewing got done.

I did go through the green Ziploc of scraps and half the bag was 2.5" strips, 2" strips or bindings. So I put all of those things in their home, leaving just the scraps.

I also handled all the 3.5" strips that I cut for the Patches and Pinwheels (P&P). I ran out of cut lights, so the remaining green strips were put into a newly created 3.5" strips Ziploc. Overall, I made 11 A pinwheels and 12 B pinwheels (they spin different ways) in green. That’s like nearly 100 HSTs.

I did also sew the 2" strips together greens and lights for P&P.

I unsewed the bad row on the little red mat and resewed it. So now it’s a teeny topper that needs some borders, etc.

Kim’s kit is ready, except for instructions.

Tomorrow’s goal will be to get Kim’s pack ready for mailing, and the 6 Chiclets. Bonus would be to start to finish the Sheri quilt. I do have a Tupperware party to attend.

Saturday night news flash

A quick Saturday night update:

I did get the 150 2 patches done for my OC. I also sewed as much as I could on the CC with the milk crate strips I had cut. I netted 16 step 1 blocks and 16 step 2 blocks, plus more pieces for variety later on. I also cut 70 of the 150 dark squares needed for Kim’s GC 150 2 patches. So I got a lot done.

Tomorrow’s goal is the green Ziploc and its processing, finishing Kim’s kit so I can mail it to her and maybe the 3.5” strips for the Patches and Pinwheels. Those are all EZ angle units, so lots of cutting and sewing into HSTs and then into pinwheels.

Week 14 and Crushing

I started cutting in earnest last night after my class. I am cutting for 3 quilts, because, well, I am nutso. But you all knew that! All 3 are Bonnie quilts: Patches and Pinwheels, OC and GC, and CC.

I have all my small yardage stash in milk crates by color under my sewing table. I pulled out a crate and got to work. I did greens and a few reds. I only picked really dark values. I cut a 3.5, a 1.5 and 3 2 inchers. One 2 incher went into the GC pile, and another into the OC pile. The 3 other strips all went into their own piles for the other quilts. I then went into the green scrap Ziploc (those really tiny pieces) and busted some stash there too. The only modification I’m making to this milk crate cutting system is to remove all 2.5 strip pieces from the Ziplocs and handle them. I had started cutting for a Boxy Stars, so I can just continue with that.

I also cut up some COC for the P&P and the CC and added them to their respective strip piles. And I did find some solid white, so I cut that up for the OC for now. The whole process only netted 3 strings, which is nice.

I’m so glad someone mentioned cutting the WOF strips in half! I get more variety, but more importantly, stuff is just way less wonky. I cut the white strips in half and started sewing some greens to them for my 4 patches. I didn’t get very far, being tired, but I did cut for an hour.

So this week’s sewing goals (it’s week 14) are:
Go through green ziploc, take out 2.5 strips and process
6 Chiclets blocks
Kim’s GC packet – 150 2 patches (she needs small steps)
Sew 150 2 patches for OC
Sew up 3.5” P&P strips
Sew up 2” P&P strips into 2’s (need 4’s)
Sew up CC 2” strips – all steps will be involved!
Finish red dresser mat
Sheri quilt - progress

It’s a lot to do, but with the sewing area clean, it makes it far more enjoyable to be down there. I will be sewing hard and doing homework hard, as best as I can tell.

Does this count?

I cleaned up my sewing space last night. The cutting board, the machine, the ironing board and all the little places I leave stuff all over the room are all now tidy. I realized I was avoiding sewing and even going into the basement (my sewing room is in our fully finished basement, which is also our family room) because of the mess.

So I stopped worrying about cutting up scraps and just cleaned everything up. Some of it was not so elegant (shove pieces-parts of projects into a really big banker’s box so that least the nuttiness is together), but all the surfaces are clean and dusted. I can start anew.

I am also very excited to read that it will be a full 2 weeks before another clue is posted. I’m nowhere near ready to start sewing, plus I need to cut Kim’s out at the same time. Plus I have 2 tests and one presentation in the next 3 weeks from today, so I pace myself. Grad school continues to kick my butt, but there are only 6 more weeks and then 14 glorious weeks of summertime.

But at least I can set foot in my sewing area again!