A Bit of Progress

Thankfully it was a slow down, relaxing at home weekend.  Work has been nuts and will likely continue that way till the end of the first week in December.  So I took the opportunity this weekend to not only catch up on laundry, but on a couple of design wall projects as well. 

Getting the pieced borders on Twinkle Stars has proved more difficult than I anticipated. The left border had to be taken off and the sections re-stitched with narrower seams to match the seams in the top.  There were a few places where there were obvious pleats in the top. Letting out the seams eliminated the pleats.  I started with narrower seams on the right and top borders, adjusting them as necessary when pinning the borders on.  It was a slow process, but the borders will lay flat.  

Twinkle Stars

Tutorial by Andrea Feldbush of Soscrappy

  
The bottom border isn't completely sewn together yet, but it's close.  Getting this quilt to the finished flimsy stage is the one monthly goal for November.  Hopefully the final, plain white border won't take as long as the pieced border did to finish off. 

The 2019 Christmas Mystery Quilt is up on the small design wall. 

2019 Christmas Mystery
designed by Carrie Randall (Quilter's Hideaway)

The mittens block was finished about 30 minutes before class on Saturday.  The last clue, along with the final layout, was given at the class on Saturday.  I've picked out the sashing fabric, and the two border fabrics. 

The dark green with the gold stars is the sashing fabric, the white with the red and green stars is the small inner border and the red and gold stars is the outer border.  The finished flimsy is due at class next Saturday.  Not sure I'll get that far, but I'll try.  

So that covers what's up on both design walls.  You can see what else in the works by checking out the Monday Making and Monday Design Wall linky parties.  

Week 46 of 2019: Stitching Stuff

The heavy winter coat came out of the hallway closet for the first time this year.  The cold and windy most days this week made it a nice week to stay in and stitch.  Unfortunately, the end of year stuff at work hasn't slowed down yet, so there were a few nights where it was just eat, get in my 15 minutes of stitching time and go to bed.  Hopefully fitting in at least 15 minutes of stitching time was a breeze for you this week. 

Having a wide variety of things going on in the sewing room makes it a lot easier to find something that you can work on for 15 minutes. Shopping the stash for a new project was my chosen as my "only have 15 minutes activity" a couple of nights last week.  With that I was able to maintain a perfect week on finding the time to play with fabric. 

15 minute days/week = 7/7 days
15 minute days/November = 16/16 days
15 minute days/2019 = 289/320 days
Success rate = 90.31%

So it was a good week on that front.  My stash usage is dismal at the moment, so I'm only writing a stash report once a month.  I've got a few mystery projects in the works and that fabric doesn't get counted out till I start assembling the quilt, so at some point, my numbers will look much better.  

So how did you do at fitting in stitching time this week?   

To Do Tuesday - Not a Total Loss

Work is in overdrive, so there have been a few long days the last couple of weeks.  Add in a trip to see the Scientist in Training over the weekend and the end result was not a lot of sewing room time. Consequently,  the To Do list from last week is a bit sad. 

Weekly To Do List for the Week of 11/5/2019

1. Twinkle Stars - Piece left side border - progress
2. Finish Clue 4 of the 2019 Christmas Mystery ✔ 
3. Storm at Sea - Cut border strips and assemble - no progress

One check mark out of three isn't so bad. And there was progress on the Twinkle Stars border.  This week is proving to be even more nuts than last, but at least we'll be home over the weekend.  So here's the list for this week. 

Weekly To Do List for Week of 11/12/19

1. Twinkle Stars pieced border - Finish the pieced borders and get them attached. 

Twinkle Stars

Tutorial by Andrea Feldbush of Soscrappy

This may not be doable, so we'll call this the stretch goal for the week. 

2.  Finish Clue 5 of the 2019 Christmas Mystery

2019 Christmas Mystery
designed by Carrie Randall (Quilter's Hideaway)

Clues one through four are all finished.  Just one block this week, so that should be doable. 

3.  Pick out fabrics for Alycia Quilts - Quiltygirl Winter Quilt a Long and finish clue one which should be released tomorrow. She promises that it will take only one hour a week and can be done as a leader and ender project.  Not that I need another project, but Alycia's quilt a longs have produced some really cool quilts and I never play along.  I definitely have the stash for it, so might as well get the fabric out of the closet and into another UFO. At least it will have a purpose.  

That's my list for this next week.  Linking up with Home Sewn By Us To Do Tuesday Linky #14. Fingers crossed there are more check list on my to do list this week. Good luck with your weekly to do list. 

Contemplating Frolic

It was a gorgeous weekend weather wise and an enjoyable one cause we got to hang out with the Scientist in Training. My Guy has been pretty much house bound the last 4 weeks as he's been recovering from surgery. He definitely needed the change of scenery.  

A trip out of town over the weekend coupled with a few late nights at work, meant I didn't get much more than 15 minutes of stitching in a few nights.  So not that much has changed on the design wall.  After we got back last night I played catch up on the 2019 Christmas Mystery blocks. 

2019 Christmas Mystery
designed by Carrie Randall (Quilter's Hideaway)

  
Clue 4 is almost done and I need to pick the fabrics for clue 5.  

Bonnie Hunter released the fabric requirements for Frolic on Halloween.  I've never gotten the paint chips, I just shop the stash to see what can be pulled together out of what I've already got.  That proved to be pretty easy.  The last decision to make is am I sticking with the light neutral Bonnie is using or do I go off palette and go with black? 

What do you think, white or black?  The blue bonnet fabric was in the stash and will likely be the backing for this project. I'm going to start with half the blocks and decide how big to go after the reveal. There's enough of each fabric to make the full size version should I want to.  

That's it for me this week.  Linking up with Monday Making and Monday Design Wall.  

Week 45 of 2019: Stitching Stuff

It's been a beautiful weekend, lots of warm sunshine. Hard to believe the forecast tomorrow is for cold with snow showers. We took advantage of the good weather to pay the Scientist in Training a visit.  So my 15 minutes of stitching the last few days has been of the hand variety, but that still counts.  

Work has been a bit of a zoo, so I've worked late a few nights the last week. It was a struggle a couple of nights to make the climb to the sewing room, but it happened.  

15 minute days/week = 7/7 days
15 minute days/November = 9/9 days
15 minute days/2019 = 282/313 days
Success rate = 90.10%

After last week, I'm back to meeting my goal of stitching 90% of the time in 2019.  Hopefully I can stay on track with this goal from here on out. 

You can scroll to the bottom of the post to link up. Up next are a few photos to show off what a beautiful fall day it was. 

There were still a few pops of color in all the brown. 

And a few butterflies out and about looking for that last hit of nectar. 

  

So how did your stitchy week go? 

1. Julie in GA 2. karen 3. Meloney

4. Shasta @ High Road Quilter 5. Chrisknits 6. Amanda

7. DawnyK 8. Christina's Handicrafts

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