To Do List for the Week of 11/28/2023

I'm still in recovery mode from Thanksgiving. We spent the holiday in Texas with Grad Girl. We had a lot of fun, but that drive back is just long.  We didn't get back till early evening yesterday.  At least this trip, My Guy and I could share the driving duties.  Even so, it's a long day in the car. 

Because of the holiday and our trip, last week's to do list was really simple.  

To Do List for 11/14/2023

1. Butterfly Medallion: Take a few stitches ✔

2. Enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday ✔

Keeping it simple was the right thing to do.  I enjoyed the hand stitching and the family time.  This week's to do list is definitely going to be longer.  It's really too long, so I've got some hard decisions to make this week of what to put back in the project box for a bit.

To Do List for 11/28/2023

1. Indigo Way (Bonnie Hunter): Start on clues 1 and 2

The fabrics this time were really easy to pick. I'm sticking with Bonnie's color palette this year.  The white is a recent Connecting Threads purchase, the two blues and the red have been in the stash for awhile.  The red has a copyright date of 2002 on it.  The navy with the moon and stars probably dates from about the same time.  Since we were in Texas for the holiday, I've not started on clue 1 yet. That will change today.  Clue 2 will be out Friday, so I have some making up to do.  Thankfully, I'll start with just half the number of pieces, fingers crossed I can keep up  that way. 

2. Malted Mystery (Meadow Mist Designs):  Finish clue 5

I've finished one set of HSTs and have started on the second set.  Clue 6 will come out next week. I've got a lot to do before then.  

3. Scrappy Butterflies (self designed): Sew back together

All the panels are cut, they just need to be sewn together.  Once I've finished that, I'm going to set this one aside till after Christmas.  All it will need is the final prep before it goes out for quilting. Fingers crossed this one will be my first finish in 2024. 

4. Rhododendron Mystery (Bonnie Hunter): Work on pieced borders

 

I've started stitching the flying geese together, but have a long way to go on those.  My thought is to just keep this one moving. If I can finish the pieced border, then it can come off the design wall.  

5. Wild and Goosey (Bonnie Hunter): Finish the orange blocks in progress

I'll finish the 2 orange blocks that are in progress. Then Wild and Goosey will get put away for at least December.  The plan is to bring it back as my 2024 RSC project. 

6.  Chilhowie Mystery (Bonnie Hunter):  Leaders and enders project

I'll keep chipping away at this one for a bit yet. Hopefully I can finish all the blocks during this year's BH mystery. 

7. Fabric organization: Cut/sort scraps and press fabrics

I've made a good start on cleaning up the sewing room. Fingers crossed I can keep it up this month. 

That's my list for this week. It's definitely ambitious. Linking up with The Quilt Schmilt: For the Love of Fabric for To Do Tuesday.  

A Change of Pace

For those in the US, I hope you had a wonderful holiday and that everyone else had a wonderful weekend.  We ate a lot last week.  Both Grad Girl and My Guy are incredible cooks. I did my part with chocolate pie, pistachio salad and brownies, all family favorites. I really need to get with my exercise program over the next few weeks so I can endure a repeat round of feasting at Christmas.  

I did get some time in the sewing room before leaving it for holiday prep and hanging out time with Grad Girl.  But I don't have much to show for it. I didn't sew for several days and then spent most of the weekend working on my long term embroidery panel.  

I finished off butterfly #4 and made a start on the next set of vines in the block one down from the butterfly.  I've been working on this butterfly since before October of 2021, so it was definitely past time to get this part of the embroidery finished. At some point the plan is make this piece into a quilt.   

I can't show what Grad Girl was working on becuase she's doing Christmas presents, but she finished off her previous embroidery project just before the Thanksgiving holiday. 

This is one where she traced the design and came up with her own stitches.  It's really cool looking.  I think the plan for this one is to frame it for display in her apartment.  

That's all I have to show for my time with needle and thread this week. Linking up with Monday Design Wall, Patchwork & Quilts, and Slow Stitching Sunday.  

Stitching Stuff: Week 46 of 2023

Hard to believe that Thanksgiving is over and we are into the Christmas season already. With it being a holiday week, I tempered my expectations of getting in much stitching time. However, Grad Girl and I did manage a few sitting and stitching sessions over the holiday weekend. 

• 15 minute days/week = 4/7 days
• 15 minute days/Nov = 20/25 days
• 15 minute days/2023 = 278/329 days
• Success rate = 84.5%

At least I stitched more days than I didn't this week.  I'm still over my 75% stitching goal for the year, so I'm going to be happy with my efforts.  

In spite of the holiday, I did manage to get in just a bit of sewing room clean up, though not as much as I'd been doing. I actually made a little progress with the #1 scrap bag.  

The top photo is before, the bottom is after. Hard to tell there is much difference, but the fabrics at the top of the bag are different now.  

Some fabric also disappeared from the to be pressed bin.

After four weeks I'm about half way through the bin.  It's harder going now that I've taken care of all the fat quarters. The yardage that was pressed included one 3 yard, one 4 yard and one 8 yard length of fabric.  Dealing with anything longer than 4 yards is tough when it comes to pressing and then folding.  The 8 yard length took a good hour to finish.  I'd so much rather sew, but it will be nice the next time I go looking for a dark background to have that black fabric pressed and ready to use. 

Did you get any stitching time in over the holiday?  

Happy Thanksgiving

 

To Do List for the Week of 11/20/2023

I'm really not ready for it to be Thanksgiving.  But now it's just a few days away.  Maybe that's what motivated me this week, I definitely made a dent in my rather long to do list. 

 

To Do List for the Week of 11/14/2023

1. Malted Mystery: Finish clue 4, start clue 5 ✔

2. Scrappy Butterflies: Prep fabrics, design back, cut back ✔

3. Rhododendron: Finish sewing sashing and blocks, start borders ✔

4.  Wild and Goosey: Make 2 orange blocks ✔

5.  Chilhowie : Leaders and enders project ✔

6.  Fabric organization: Cut/sort scraps, press yardage ✔

Very surprised to check off the entire list from last week.  Projects are definitely moving along. Though it may be slower going from here on out due to commitments during this holiday season.  My plan is to just enjoy whatever time I have in the sewing room and be happy with any progress. 

We'll have lots of family stuff going on the next few days so this week's list is going to be pretty simple. 

To Do List for the Week of 11/20/2023

1.  Butterfly Medallion: Take a few stitches. 

I've not worked on this since Christmas last year.  If I can find a good place to sit and stitch while we are visiting maybe I can make some good progress on this panel.  

2.  Enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday with my family

So it's a really simple list for next week.  But some weeks you just need simple. I'm sure next week's list will be just as long, if not longer, than last week's list. Linking up with The Quilt Schmilt: For the Love of Fabric for To Do Tuesday. For those in the US, have a very Happy Thanksgiving!