I'm a Wuss and an Avoider...So Here Goes

For the record, I made it through the dentist. A full root canal was required, since when they opened up the tooth, infection ran out. Evidently the infection ran into the root as well, so they did what they had to do. I personally don’t care, as I was sedated. Out cold.

Yes, I am a wuss and get completely sedated for anything more than the 6 month check up. This is how I roll. I have 2 teeth done, #3 is in process and #4 and #5 will be done next spring, which is when I can afford it. This assumes that the last 2 teeth will cooperate with me and not bug me between now and then.

Anyway, now I await the dentist phone call to schedule the follow-up. And to see if it’s really OK that I’m going without antibiotics. I’m OK with no antibiotics, but if I need them to avoid further issues, then by all means, let’s get the show on the road.

We shall see.

Meanwhile on the quilting front…..I have to finish the Mellie swap this weekend without fail. I need to make 120 9-patches by Monday and mail them. I have 80 made. So tonight, I hope to get the swap all ready to be mailed and then handle that tomorrow morning. Too bad I can’t use the Uptown post office due to construction. So off to the main post office I will go.

I also did complete 2 more jeans potholders. This got (rid of) used up 4 log cabin blocks I found and realized they weren’t done because, well, they’re (nasty) homely. So now they’re the fronts and backs of 2 nice potholders that reside in my kitchen.

As you can see, I’m avoiding the QBW topic. Well, let’s just get to it. Today starts Week 34. And because I didn’t make it to Patsy’s my quilty life is all screwed up. And school starts on Monday. So here are my goals, knowing full well that life officially becomes really crazy now.

Mellie swap done
Swap giftie done
Blue quilt squares done (they are being pre-sashed, to use a Dorothy Young term)
Start working on the KitchenAid cover
Quilt curtain panels – at least one

That’s plenty, considering all that needs to be done.

Week 30 done - week 31 abbreviated

07/27/09 – It’s now the beginning of Week 31. On a side note, I certainly hope that all of you have seen the highlights of the fantastic PERFECT game thrown by Buehrle of the White Sox. If you haven’t go read about it right now. I’ll wait.

And now for my progress:

Sandwich curtain panels – I got one long column quilted. It’s a start.
For the barnyard GFG flower, I got the 4th strip on and have started on the fifth.
For the 2 books goal, I did start Walden. Like only 3 pages, but I started.
No meatless meals this week.
Wannabees RR – Ute – Nothing done.
Wannabees RR – Julie – Halfway done. I have tried to progress twice and screwed up twice.
60 Mellie blocks – I have 40 done and am working on the next 10. I need to buy some more fabrics.

Since I am headed up to Patsy’s this Thursday, I’m cutting off Week 31 on Thursday morning. Week 31 goals:

Quilt one curtain panel.
Pack for Patsy’s.
Start DH’s 401k – Go through the big basket of paperwork and find what I need.
Pass CPCU 530 – Study through chapter 7.
Use up 100 yards in 2009 – There’s some yardage in the sandwiched pile. See if the Christmas BRB can be sandwiched this week as well.
Communicate with my DH’s grandma once a month – When I’m going through that big basket of paperwork, I will also pull out all of Renee’s school photos so that I can get those mailers ready as well.
Unrelated: Renew CPA Registration!!!! This only comes up once every 3 years and it’s due 09/30/09, so I thought I’d put it on here just in case.
Wannabees RR – Ute – started
Wannabees RR – Julie – mailed
60 Mellie blocks – 40 done – get to 60 done

Week 30

07/20/09 – I just realized by reading the 07/07 post, that the goal was to have a meatless dinner tonight and well, the stew meat is already in the crock pot. Whoops.

We’re now somewhere in Week 30, and I have enjoyed and relaxed over these past 10 days or so. While Ted and Renee were both at various overnight events, I had a really bad 4 day migraine, but once that subsided (which is when Ted came home), I did start getting some things accomplished. Not all on my 101 list, but things nonetheless.

And now for my progress:

Sandwich curtain panels – Done! They are sitting upstairs near the sewing machine that can handle that heavy duty quilting.

Finish the green GFG flower – Done! I just decided (while waiting for my health meter to recharge on a video game – don’t laugh, OK?) to sew it together and call it a day.

Finish strips on the barnyard flower – Done! They are hanging at work outside my cube. There are 9 strips to a flower and I am sewing the fourth one on. I sew this flower at lunch.

Find the 2 books I want to read – Haven’t started to read. Walden is one and I still have not made it to the library. I may just read this Star Trek book that Ted gave me to read.

2 meatless meals – Half-Done! Got one done on 07/07. Total is 2 down and 7 to go.

Wannabees RR – Ute – Nothing done.

Wannabees RR – Julie – Halfway done. I have 4 pieced boarders to add and then they need a coordinating border to go with. That is all I can write – Julie reads this blog!!!

60 Mellie blocks – I have 40 done and am working on the next 10.

Review Ted’s CD purchases – Only 4 CD’s left. Ted bought Thriller while at ALA. It seemed like a good idea, with all the hoopla and such. So now we need 3.

Pay $120 to the student loan – this has not been happening.

Candles – Researched some supplies.

And lastly my goals for the time between now and Friday morning:

101 goals:

GFG Barnyard Flower – finish the fourth strip and attach the fifth.
The 2 books – Try to read twice this week on Thoreau.
Start DH’s 401k – Go through the big basket of paperwork and find what I need.
Pass CPCU 530 – Study through chapter 5.
Use up 100 yards in 2009 – There’s some yardage in the sandwiched pile. See if the Christmas BRB can be sandwiched this week as well.
Communicate with my DH’s grandma once a month – When I’m going through that big basket of paperwork, I will also pull out all of Renee’s school photos so that I can get those mailers ready as well.
Unrelated: Renew CPA Registration!!!! This only comes up once every 3 years and it’s due 09/30/09, so I thought I’d put it on here just in case.
Wannabees RR – Ute – started
Wannabees RR – Julie – mailed
60 Mellie blocks – 40 done – get to 60 done

Week 29? 30? Bueller?

I’m not so sure what week it is, but here are my goals. I’m making this list to get me all the way to July 17. I am considering the July 17 to be the start of week 30 (to get myself back on track).

Sandwich curtain panels
Finish the green GFG flower
Finish strips on the barnyard flower
Find the 2 books I want to read
2 meatless meals

And here are some more goals:
Wannabees RR – Ute
Wannabees RR – Julie
60 Mellie blocks

And my progress from last week:

Review Ted’s CD purchases – I did check with him and nothing else has been purchased besides the Genesis packs. So we need to buy 4 more.

Pay $120 to the student loan – this has not been happening. It is very possible that I will not make this one by Ted’s 40th, but sometime in his 40th year.

Sandwich curtain panels – I actually got one panel sewn, so the process is beginning.

Finish the green GFG flower – I have only one white strip to sew on.

Finish strips on the barnyard flower – all done and waiting in my cube to go.

Find the 2 books I want to read – I actually have some thoughts on this. One is Walden by Thoreau. My sister gave me some other ideas.

Potholders – completed and given to my sister.

Ted and DD will be gone for a while, with everyone back under one roof on Friday, July 17, late that night. So I plan to get lots of annoying things done during that time.

Week 27

It’s week 27, and here are my goals:

Review Ted’s CD purchases
Pay $120 to the student loan
Sandwich curtain panels
Finish the green GFG flower
Finish strips on the barnyard flower
Find the 2 books I want to read.

And here are some more goals:
Wannabees RR - Ute
Potholders
20 Mellie blocks

And my progress from last week:

I did nothing on my list. I’m not surprised, with class winding down. Actually getting my MBA is on my 101 list, and by finishing this class, I am now halfway done with my MBA, which is an achievement, at least in my book. Tonight is Relay for Life and so part of my weekend is booked, but we’ll figure it out.

Week 26 Goals

I’m going to make my 101 week match my quilting week for sake of my mental health. So for the week that starts 06/19 (week 26), here are my 101 goals:

Review Ted’s CD purchases
Pay $120 to the student loan
Sandwich curtain panels
Finish the green GFG flower - brought it home for the weekend

And here are some more goals:
Wannabees RR
Potholders - started last night
20 Mellie blocks
Finish FIL 440, another class toward the MBA

Week 24 Goals

So now we’ll try for 2 posts in one day.

I used to post that my quilting week began on Friday, whenever work was done. Using that, tomorrow at 12:15 starts Week 24. Anything I get done tonight, I’m counting towards it.

Thursday night
Cut and wash curtain panel backing
Piece the 2 panels (rows are done – just piece the rows)
Look at Ute’s RR

Friday night
Sandwich the 2 curtain panels
Pictures!
Kim’s potholders
Ute’s RR

The weekend
Finish Ute’s RR
Do the zigzag quilting on the curtain panels and the chiclet quilt

I have no idea what I can get done next week during the week, so we will just manage with this.

Week 19 report and Week 20 goals

Last night, I had illusions of grandeur of sewing a storm. Not exactly.

I did watch last week’s and this’ week’s Grey’s Anatomy, so that’s nice. While I did not sew a stitch, I did continue cutting. I started cutting my yellow milk crate. I also cut some WOC strips so I can start cutting blades for the pinwheel blocks for the P&P quilt. I did cut 24 pinwheels of blades and I’m still not done with blue. Such is life.

So week 19 did not have a UFO finish, and while I am bummed by that, I have to remind myself that this mini-challenge is not meant to frustrate me. I had hoped to have a quilt to bind while at my sister’s, but that did not happen. So I will bring my GFG bag with me and hope to get a flower worked on. That would still be progress, just on a different goal.

So Week 20 has the following goals:

Cut yellow milk crate
Finish first lasagna quilt to the hand sewing portion of binding
Brownie top all done
Sandwich other lasagna top
Sandwich baby boy quilt top
Cut into pink and brown milk crate
Sew all cut pinwheels
1 bobbin FMQ on the Jackson quilt

That would have me doing something on all 6 remaining UFOs in this challenge.

Tonight’s goals:
Finish cutting the yellow milk crate.
Cut all pinwheels blades out from all of the 3.5” strips I’ve cut. This would be blue, orange and yellow blades.
Square up Brownie blocks, so they are ready for their next logs.

Week 18 report and Week 19 goals

UFO #2 – Sheri’s quilt

Goals for Week 19:
Progress, progress, progress
Each night:
Sandwich a quilt – there are 3
Quilt for one bobbin or one hour, whichever is shorter
Finish Brownies top
Attach binding to one quilt
Continue cutting blue and orange milk crate
Start cutting the yellow milk crate

There is not a lot of piecing this upcoming week, but I have a lot of weekends in the car for the next few weeks, so I am trying to quilts quilted and bindings attached for whipping down in the car or while visiting with families. 6 of the UFOs in this mini challenge were already pieced, so quilting is what needs to be done, so let’s just get to it.

I will lose one night due to dental work, so we shall see how this all goes.

Week 17 ends and 18 begins

Just a quick update. I tried to sew more binding down last night after class (while watching Survivor on tivo) and the new medication I’m on put me right to sleep. Well, so much for that!

Goal is to work on that tonight and over the weekend and get it to the Kinko’s by Monday for shipment. We should be good to go.

Week 17 finish:

Little Red Mat - 1/8

Week 18 goals:

Finish Sheri’s quilt
Process blue and orange milk crate (please note that this involves several things, as noted before)
Brownies quilt – progress
Start OC step 2
Start OC step 3
Kit step 1b for Kim
Kit step 2a for Kim
Kit step 2b for Kim

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.

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.

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.

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.

Week 10 wrap-up / National Quilting Day update

OK, I’m a few days late, but what can I say? We had a busy weekend up in greater Chicagoland, so this is the first time I’ve been able to post.

I did finish my Bargello Bowl quilt. It turned out to be 58 x 70 and it was just darling. I made it for the fundraiser organized by my co-worker. Their goal was $10k and they raised $20k, so it was a huge success! And that was my National Quilting Day.

No other sewing to speak of.

Week 11 goals:
10 string blocks
3 bags for the quilts at work.

It’s not much, but I need to get some serious study time in as well.

Week 10 goals

After spending like 15 minutes typing up my new goals and my Week 10 aspirations directly into the blogger window, when I tried to post, the computer ate it. So now I am back to my tried and true method of writing everything into a Word doc and then copying and pasting into the blogger window. Dang!

Anyway, as I am pretty much mentally (from getting ready for this quilt show) and physically (from the influenza) exhausted, I decided to rethink my approach for getting things done. I’m reaching the point that the weekly to-do list is too stressful and thus nothing is getting done. I also feel that I need to clean out my studio area and only leave one project out at a time, less I get distracted. And then Stashbusters has been discussing some rotation methods on how people get stuff done.

So I percolated all of that for a while, and I’ve decided that I will just start at the top of the QBW list over to the right and work on one item each week and then move on. The first item that needs to be done are some bags for quilts at work. Right now I have them rollup and sitting on my desk, but I’d like them with some sort of protective sleeve on there. Those will be a nice easy finish.

I have decided to put away the Batik Lover’s quilt for the remainder of this school term. I just need a break. It’s a lot of tedious pieces and one of the blocks that was swapped is frankly just wrong compared to what it should have been, so I will redo that one. I just need a break from that quilt.

So I think I will do an item on the list, and then do 10 string blocks. The only real ‘deadline’ that I have is to complete a Bargello Bowl for a fundraiser at work. So this weekend I might clean for 15, sew a panel, clean for 15, cut tubes, etc. The room needs to be tidied and I want to finish this quilt, so this very well may work out just fine.

So that is the new strategy I think. Let’s see how that goes for a while. I really need some finishes and I really need no deadlines.

I did have to dump out my entire blue scrap bag onto my cutting table (for various and sundry reasons). I didn’t repack it; I left it there, figuring I would do some serious cutting of the scraps. I need to cut in earnest for the Carolina Crossroads quilt and I need to think of some other shapes that I need and what quilts I would like in my inventory to just have on hand. Hmmm….

Week 9 wrap up report

Well, it's the end of week 9 and I sewed this week up to driving into work. Our quilt show is this weekend and my quilt is still not done. I have about a yard to whipstitch down and then I need to cut off the bottom and bind that quickly. Then it's off in the car to head north.

We will hang the entire show tonight. I'm doing my 2 volunteer hours tonight, as I have to drop off anyway. The influenza still is around, in the form of fatigue. I did get a hotel room for tonight so I don't even attempt the really long drive home. I did schedule breakfast with a girlfriend for Saturday morning and then I'll drive home.

Week 9 Goals and Ramblings

I’ve taken Leap Day off to get my tetanus shot for grad school and also to take DD for her annual physical, so the rest of the time I hope to quilt like a nut! I really need to in order to make the quilt show, which is a week from tomorrow!

Week 9 Goals:

Crayon quilt done (except for handsewing on back)
Batik Lover’s done (except for extra quilting DH wants)

Friday goal:

All crayons done. 4 are quilted and 5 are not there yet. I need to get the other 4 quilted, cut all crayons to the same size, attach binding to the bottom of each crayon and to the tips of each crayon. I then need to hand sew down these binding pieces. Then I need to add binding down the side of each crayon as single fold binding. Then I need to sew the crayons together, using that long binding. And then hand sew those bindings down (which will most likely happen after the show).

Other stuff:

The Batik Lover’s quilt needs to have the top pieced (halfway done), sandwiched and quilted. I want to see from DH what he wants and do about half of it before adding the binding. I can have it half quilted to his desire in order to hang it in the show.

So overall, my main weekend goal is to have everything together and need handwork. Anything else is gravy. As it is, this is gonna be hard.

Week 8 Report

Goals for this week:
All crayons quilted.
All crayons cut.
Batik Lover’s sandwiched.

After that, I really need to think about which way to go next.

And what I got done…

Orange crayon and black crayon. Not enough, but better than nothing.

My week ended this morning, as my week always begins when my work week ends, and I’ve taken tomorrow off. May I get a lot done tomorrow. DD wants to stay home with me instead of going to daycare, which is fine IF she understands that I have to put the pedal to the metal and get ‘r done.