March NewFO

I can't believe it's already the end of March.  Though I am ready to see the end of the winter cold and the beginning of the spring blooms.  However, once it warms up, my sewing time is going to take a hit because we've got some around the house stuff that needs to get done once we get temperatures warm enough that we can work outside.  But we are not there yet, so I can still focus on ongoing projects, all of which have deadlines.  Even so, I took a 3 day break from all the ongoing stuff to play with a new project.  On my NewFO list for 2013 is a Scrappy Butterfly quilt.  I've seen this butterfly block in a couple of spots before and it turns out that EQ has it in it's library.  

The patterns that I've seen which use this block are all based on template piecing, not one of my strongest skills.  So I used EQs founding piecing option to print the block out so it could be paper pieced.  I also printed out the template version of the block, so I could use those to cut out the fabric pieces pretty close to the the right size for paper piecing.  This is a whole new approach for me, so it seemed wise to test out this process on a trial block and make all the mistakes on something I wasn't compelled to fix if it didn't work out.  

Having managed to get the first section pieced, I was feeling pretty good about the process.  I did have to unsew a few pieces as they didn't line up properly, but I got a good handle on how to position the pieces.  After an additional bit of fiddling here and there, I finished the test block. 

Not bad for a first effort.  I'm glad I did the test block, it helped me work out the process.  I felt confident enough to cut into the background fabric chosen for the project and make the first butterfly for the quilt.  There was only one bit of unsewing due to poor alignment. In short order the first butterfly for the quilt was finished. 

Not bad for a second try and definitely easier then using the templates alone.  The back ground fabric is a very pale blue with a lot of white, it looks a bit like clouds, just the look I wanted for the butterflies.  The antennae will be added via embroidery before the blocks are assembled into a quilt.  The final layout of this quilt is still on the drawing board, so the number of blocks needed is still up in the air.  I've tried a straight row layout and that looks too static.  Something will eventually work out.  Till then, I'm planning on making at least 12 blocks, one for each monthly color chosen for Soscrappy's Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  Now I'm only 2 months behind.  

Check out more NewFOs and add one yourself to be eligable for the giveway over at Cat Patches.  This month's prize is definitely the cat's meow!  

Stash Report - Week 13

We are heading off to church in a bit.  Drama Teen had a visit from the Easter Bunny via special request.  I asked if her if she was too old for the Easter Bunny. Her response, "Mom it's the only day of the year I get to eat candy for breakfast, I'm not giving that up without a fight".  So she still enough of a kid to enjoy those small pleasures.

Moving on to the stash report.  No backs this week, but there was still enough sewing going on to result in a small amount of outgoing stash.  

Used last week: 1.44 yards

Added last week:  0 yards

Used for 2013: 22.74 yards

Added for 2013:  49.25 yards

Net stashed for 2013:  26.51 yards

Since this is the end of the first quarter, I took a look at my stash management stats.  I quadrupled my fabric usage between this year and last year at this time.  I've been tracking my stash usage since 2010 and the year to date numbers for this year are double what I used in 2010 and 2011.  So in terms of using stash, 2013 has started off as a record year.  

Though I'm in the red, the stash enhancement number isn't as red as it has been in previous years.  For 2013, the incoming year to date number is half what it was in 2012.  So less in, more out for this year compared to last year.  That's at least a step in the right direction.  

For more stash reports, check out the links over at Patchwork Times.   

15 Minute Challenge - March Wrap Up

It's the last Tuesday in March, the end of the 1st quarter of 2013.  At work, the end of the quarter is time to reassess progress (or the lack of) on this year's goals.  I didn't have any specific goals for the 15 Minute Challenge this year, other than to just keep trying to work in 15 minutes of sewing each day.  Looking back at my weekly reports,   there have been 74 days out of the last 84 days that I've found some time to sew.  That's better than the 69 days I managed last year for the same time period. 

Today also ends this month's Fostering Creativity theme of "Talk about your quilting".  Most quilting bloggers do this pretty routinely. We share our projects, our problems, look for advice on everything from sticky piecing problems to asking for naming ideas for our quilts.  Overall we are a pretty commutative group, there's even a scholarly article out there that suggests that the quilting blog community is a great model for building an learning on-line environment for other areas.  

Most of this month's creativity discussion centered on how to ask for and how to give criticism.  The biggest take home messages for me for the month were:

• Know what kind of input you want and ask for that specifically
• It's OK to want your ego stroked. 
• Remember that you are the most important critic
• Feedback should only be given when asked for
• Feedback should address something that can be changed
• Feedback works best when it's specific and descriptive

The last seven days went pretty well as far as stitching goes. 

I did manage to get in 15 minutes of sewing/embroidery time each day out of the last seven days.  It was hard over the weekend to find some time to stitch since we were doing family stuff, but the embroidery was something I could pull out and work on for a few minutes while everyone was getting ready to go.  I didn't actually start the Butterfly quilt, but did finish the test block last night (sorry no photo, I forgot to take one).  I'm glad I did a test block, I had to make a few adjustments to the stitching order and I learned a lot about fabric placement.  I'm not sure I'll ever do a lot of foundation piecing, but it is nice to know how to do it should I feel the need again.  

How did you do this week?  This month?  This quarter?  Are you finding time to stitch or are there other distractions keeping you from getting to the sewing room.  

1. Lesley A 2. Marti

3. Susanne 4. Amanda

5. Kate @katiemaequilts

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Design Wall Monday - March 25th

Drama Teen heads back to school today and I head back to work, Spring Break is over.  We took a long weekend, did some driving  and hanging out in places we usually don't.  It was a relaxing weekend.   Not a lot of sewing in it, though I did get some hand stitching done on the panel for the Medallion quilt while we were just hanging out.  

The Sofa Quilt went out for quilting on Tuesday, which left me with two projects up on the design wall.  Both need to be done by the end of May.  I picked the easiest one to finish first and made some good progress on both the blocks and getting the sashing done.  

OSU Quilt
Pattern is A Day at the Spa
Designed by Carolyn S. Vagts
found in the February 2013 issue of Quilter's World

Just 7 more blocks to make and the borders before this one will be ready for the back and quilting.  The blocks I can probably finish this week, but not the borders.  Those always take longer to add than I anticipate.  

April kicks off next Monday and I've not yet started my new project for March.  I was going to start on Vienna Stars, then decided I didn't like the pattern all that much.  I'm working on a new design that uses the fabrics I purchased for it, but I'm still fine turning that project.  So I bumped up another project that is on my list, the scrappy butterfly quilt.  The original pattern uses templates, which I usually don't have a lot of luck with, my blocks usually end up wonky.  So I'm going to use the templates to help cut the pieces to the right sizes, but paper piece the block.  

So I studied a few references, watched a couple of tutorials, grabbed a few scraps and started on a test block to work out the kinks.  So far, so good.  I did have to unpick the second seam, I didn't get the third piece aligned properly, so it didn't look right when it was pressed back. Part one of the block is done, just 3 more sections to piece and then it will be time to see if it all works together.  

That's it for my design space this week.  Linking up with Patchwork Times, hop over to her blog to see other design spaces.  

Slow Sunday Stitching - Slow Going

It's been awhile since I've linked up with Kathy's Quilts for Slow Stitching Sunday.  Checking back, the last post was in January.  If I compare photos, there really hasn't been a whole lot of progress.  

January 2013

March 2013

One upper wing is almost finished.  I love how the finished wing looks, but it's slow going doing the embroidery because there are so many thread changes to get that beautiful definition.  To make more regular progress, I'd need to schedule some time in the week to work on it.  Right now it's my "car riding, no sewing machine" project, so it's not getting a lot of routine attention.  I have 3 quilts with a May deadline, but once those are done, maybe one evening a week can be dedicated to hand stitching.  

Stash Report - Week 12

Life was good this weekend.  Today is the last day of Drama Teen's Spring Break.  However, as she pointed out, the next 2 weeks are only 4 days each as she is out of school for Good Friday and Easter Monday.  So two weeks of just 4 days where actual school attendance is required. She's going to take it hard when she has to go for 5 days running.   

Spring Break has been a laid back one for us this year.  My Guy had a commitment last week that kept him out of the office for 4 days, so he couldn't take off much time this week.  Add in that our original plans got snowed on, literally, we ended up just driving a bit to places where we've never been before.  That included a couple of new to me quilt shops.  One is known for it's black and white prints, something that is almost completely absent in my stash. 

Of course there were butterfly prints that had to come home with me, as well as a couple of other beauties.  

The second shop is known for it's brights, my all time favorite fabrics.  Add in that fabric on the bolt was $2 off, I couldn't resist bringing home a few yards of those either.

The pinks didn't photograph too well, but the two on the end are a lot brighter pinks than they appear to be in the photo.  Needless to say the stash report took a pretty big hit.  

Used last week:  5.49 yards
Added last week:  17.5 yards

Used for 2013:  21.3 yards
Added for 2013:  49.25 yards

Net stashed for 2013:  27.95 yards

It's not there wasn't a bunch out this week, it's just that more came in.  I still have three quilts that need backs before May.  Maybe I can still get back to the black if I swear off all quilt shops for the next few months.  

That's it for my stash report this week.  Hopefully, I can find the will to get firmly back on the "no buy" wagon this week.  To see how well everyone else is doing with stash management, check out Judy's Patchwork Times.  

Favorite Things Friday - Spring Break

It's still Friday where I am, just barely.  I'm late posting today because we're on Spring Break, or actually I should say Drama Teen is.  My Guy and I just decided to take a couple of days of vacation to hang out with her.  No reason she should get to have all that fun without us.  

Today was really just about hanging out together.  We all ate breakfast out, then jumped back in the car and drove around for a while.  It's not really spring-like at the moment, the highs were only in the 40's.  So coffee seemed like a really good idea.  So we found a new to us coffee place and ventured inside.  

I like how my latte cup matched the table cloth.  The music was good, so much so that DT sang along to almost every song.  An amazing feat really considering she was playing her game boy, which probably hadn't seen the light of day for 2 or 3 years.

DT enjoys the occasional latte, but always checks with me to be sure that they won't stunt her growth (she's still hoping to make it to 5'7").  

After coffee, we wandered over to the book store and wasted spent some time drooling over the quilting magazines (well that was just me), DT picked out some meaningful literature  (a movie ?), while My Guy picked up a new book on baking bread to replace the one he had finished reading at the coffee shop.  

Needless to say a good day was had by all.  Which any given week is always a favorite thing.  

If you haven't already checked out all favorite things over at Quilting in My Pyjamas, you should do that pronto.  That's where I'm headed once I get this posted. 

15 Minute Challenge - How to Say it - Part 2

Thanks for all the well wishes from yesterday. I am feeling better, but not yet 100%.  After all the rushing the last 2 weeks, being short on sleep and carrying higher levels of stress it's not surprising that I ended up out of commission for a couple of days.  I spent most of yesterday either asleep in the recliner or back in bed.  Antihistamines will do that to me.  But I'm recovered enough to head back to work today.  

In addition to finding time to sew this year, I'm looking for ways to improve my creativity.  The fostering creativity theme for February is to "talk about your quilting".  Last week was all about how to ask for feedback.  This week will continue that topic with a few comments about providing feedback.  Some things to consider about offering supportive feedback include:

• Be given with the interest of the person in mind, supportive not destructive.
• Be given when asked for, not spontaneously.
• Be descriptive.  Not "I don't like the fabric", but instead "that fabric muddies the pattern"
• Be specific. 
• Addresses something that can actually be changed.
• Is not personal.
• Use the "sandwich technique".  Start with something you like, then address the item to be critiqued, then finish with something else you like.

Check out Constructive Criticism and Constructive Criticism and Advice for more on supportive feedback.  

This was actually a really quiet week, finding a few minutes to sew each day wasn't hard, though anything compared to the previous week would have seemed like a break.  

After managing only 4 days last week, I'm back to 7 days this week.  The Sofa Quilt is going to Trudy for quilting and I've decided the OSU quilt will be the next in line to finish up.  The parts for it are all cut out and it's such easy construction that it won't take long.  I found the backing fabric for it in my stash last night, so that project is coming together nicely.  

How did you do this week on finding time to sew?  

1. Lesley A 2. Susanne

3. Julie in GA 4. Thea

5. Amanda

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Design Wall Monday- March 18th

It was a nice quiet weekend, so sewing happened on Saturday.  Not so much on Sunday as whatever is going on with my sinuses has given me a fever, a hacking cough, a sore throat, and a bit of dizziness.  I'm hoping the Bendryl kicks in soon, not that it makes me feel a great deal better, but I can at least sleep.  

I did manage to finish getting all the borders on The Sofa Quilt on Saturday.  

Pattern is Nicole's Sofa Quilt by Judy Laquidara

(available here)

I think the last border needed to be a bit wider, but I was fabric limited there, so it stayed at the pattern's suggested 3.5 inches. I love how this project turned out.  I'll probably change the name (Sorry Judy) to better suit the person who is getting this quilt.  

The back was pieced yesterday before I started feeling so bad that I had to quit sewing.  Now it's all ready to go out for quilting.  This will be finish number 2 for the year.  I'm still working on sewing down the binding on Evening Star which should be finish number 1. Not much progress on any of the other projects, as I was concentrating on getting this project done and out the door.  

I did give myself permission to start a new project since The Sofa Quilt made it to the flimsy stage.  I pulled out the Vienna Stars pattern (from Calico Carriage) and all the collected fabrics.  

 


It's been a few years (at least 6) since I bought the pattern and the fabric.  I'm not sure I still like the pattern.  I may choose to make a different star pattern with these fabrics.  I'll play around in EQ a bit to see what direction I want to take this project.  

That's it for my design wall this week.  Check out what's posted over at Patchwork Times to see what pretties others are working on.  

Stash Report - Week 11

So far it's been a slow and quiet weekend.  Something very welcome after the madness of last weekend.  The only down side is that my sinuses aren't happy.  It's been warm enough that some of the trees and shrubs are starting to put out buds.  I ran a low grade fever all day yesterday and have coughed so much it hurts.  It's supposed to rain today, hopefully that will knock the pollen levels down some.  

The advantage of quiet weekends is that I can get some significant time in the sewing room.  The 6 borders for The Sofa Quilt are all attached, which accounted for most of the yardage out this week.  

Used last week:  1.40 yards
Added last week: 0 yards

Used for 2013: 15.81 yards
Added for 2013:  31.75 yards

Net stashed for 2013:  15.94 yards

I hope to get the back pieced for The Sofa Quilt today.  That will  definitely help move the totals towards the black.  If I get that back done, I'm giving myself permission to start a new project.  That's definitely something to look forward to.  

For more stash reports check out the other links at Patchwork Times.  

Favorite Things Friday - The Weekend

Thursday night and counting in my part of the world.  One more work day in the week and then it's the -

On the calendar for this weekend is -

Which means, I should be able to do a lot of -

That's definitely a favorite thing.  

For more fab faves, check out Quilting in My Pyjamas.  

15 Minute Challenge - How to Say It

My mantra since last Friday has been just hang on, once this week is over life will slow down.  Unfortunately, I'm not sure my grip is going to hold out.  I woke up with a killer headache this morning, I'm hoping the Advil will knock it back to bearable so I end up with more than gibberish in this post.  Which should be all about finding 15 precious minutes each day to sew,  



as well as, exploring March's fostering creativity theme of "talk about your quilting".  Most of us don't have a problem talking about our quilting, for most of us it's the reason our blogs came into existence.  We want to share our newest projects with people who appreciate the effort and maybe get some feedback or get help with a problem we are having (or think we have).  How do you ask for feedback, otherwise known as constructive criticism?  Here's a few suggestions:

• Be honest with yourself about why you are asking for feedback. Are you looking for validation (ego stroking) or do you really desire input?  There is nothing wrong with wanting your ego stroked.  Just think about which you really want and write your post with that goal in mind.  
• Think about the audience from which you want feedback.  If you don't want input from the entire blog sphere, you can get email contacts from most blog profiles and just use email notes to a few trusted or knowledgeable individuals.  Choose at least 3 critics.  If you hear the same thought from two of the three, there may be some validity to the point. 
• Design the feedback process.  What kind of feedback do you want?  Do you want an overall critique or do you just want some input on a specific part?  Are you comfortable with having people comment on the blog post or would you be more comfortable with a critique that was sent directly to your email?  
• Acknowledge and deal with the emotional side of getting feedback.  Don't act on any feedback for a couple of days (that includes holding off on any emails you might be tempted to send).  Some feedback, can hurt, even though that wasn't the intention of the giver.  Give yourself some time to work through the hurt and try to reach a point where you can be objective about the feedback.  
• Consult the most important critic, yourself.  Sort through the feedback for what is the most useful to you.  No matter how valid a criticism is, if it conflicts with your vision of the project or the goal in question, feel free to ignore it.  In the end you have to decide what works for you.  

A Google search will net you a whole list of resources.  Here are two I found particularly helpful:

• How to Ask for Feedback (Without it Blowing Up in Your Face)
• Ten Ways to Request and Receive Constructive Criticism

Finding creative time within the framework of last week's schedule proved to be a bit more difficult than I anticipated.  

There were only 4 days last week where I managed to find at least 15 minutes to sew or embroidery.  That's my worst showing for 2013.  However, last week really was a zoo.  Wednesday I had to work late, while Saturday was taken up with volleyball.  Last night Drama Teen had two volleyball practices and by the time I got home, I was just beat.  Hopefully this week will be more more productive.  

So how did you manage your time this week?  Did you fit in some stitching here and there?  Or did your life, like mine, pretty much take over?  

1. Thea 2. Lesley A 3. Marti

4. Amanda 5. Susanne 6. Julie in GA

7. Kate

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Design Wall Monday - March 11th

It was a busy weekend.  Unfortunately, work has also been busy and I ended up working a couple of evenings last week in advance of being out of the office for a few days.  So not a lot of sewing this last week.  But there are a few new blocks up on the design wall.  

The OSU quilt has two new blocks up on the wall.

Pattern is A Day at the SpaDesigned by Carolyn S. Vagts
found in the February 2013 issue of Quilter's World

So that's two of 5 rows done.  I hope to get the between rows sashing added tonight.  

The design wall with the Calico Cat project is also sporting two new blocks.  

Calico Cats
Pattern is Fat Cats from the
The Quilter Magazine (July 2006)
by Lucy A. Fazely and Micheal L. Burns

Block 10 is in progress, so I'm almost half way done with piecing the blocks for this project.  

I'm hopeful that this week will be a bit slower and that I'll get in a bit more stitching than I did last week.  

For more eye candy, check out all the design wall links over at Patchwork Times.  

Stash Report - Week 10

It's been a busy week, with a lot of it spent away from the sewing machine.  Monday evening Drama Teen competed in Battle of the Books, her school took second.  Thursday morning, DT and I headed out with her science teacher and two other students to the State Science Fair.  She didn't place or win any special awards, but this is the second year in a row that her project was selected to go, which is still a pretty special achievement.  Still, DT was a bit disappointed.   Friday night we drove from Ada, OK to Springfield, MO for a volleyball tournament yesterday.  Then we drove home in the rain last night.  Thankfully, that's the busiest weekend we have on the schedule.  We have more volleyball, but nothing else where we have so much in one week.  

Some sewing got done, but not a lot.  I did have some embroidery work that got pulled out for the road trip, but that doesn't use any fabric.  

Used last week:  0.44 yards
Added last week:  11 yards

Used for 2013:  14.41 yards
Added for 2013:  31.75 yards

Net Stashed for 2013:  17.34 yards

More in than out again this week.  I did take advantage of the trip to Ada to visit The Santa Fe Dept Quilt Shop and came home with a few fat quarters.

That's only a yard and a half.  The other 9 and a half yards came from another Connecting Threads order.

The subtle tone on tone stripe and the dark grey geometric go with the Neutral Love fabrics that were reported last week.  After looking at a few quilt patterns I might want to make with that fabric, I realized I needed a bit more contrast, so ordered those two.  On the far right is 6 yards of a tone on tone white.  I've been using a lot of whites in my projects lately and have pretty much depleted that resource in the stash.  A couple yards of that white were in the last order.  I like the feel of the fabric and Connecting Threads prices are low enough that you can get 6 yards of something without spending a small fortune.  After the last two weeks I definitely need to get back to the sewing room so I can tip the balance back to the black.  

That's my report for this week.  For more of the same, check out all the other reports over at Patchwork Times.  

Favorite Things Friday - Unexpected Treats

It's been a busy week and will be a busy weekend.  Still I'm glad it's Friday.  I'm off work today, but I have a few errands that need to be run.  One includes a trip to a quilt shop, so today's post will be a bit short so I can get out the door.  

Drama Teen had State Science Fair this week.  And though it's a bit of work, she really enjoys the time she gets to spend with her science teacher and with friends from the other schools in the area.  It's hard for me to complain about the effort involved in getting her packed and out the door when she brings me back my own treat bag.

Inside this  goody bag are a whole bunch of these little bites of bliss.

There were also some caramel ones, but DT was very helpful in making sure they tasted just right.  Not to worry, Mom got a taste or two of those as well.  

Bedre Fine Chocolates are owned and operated by the Chickasaw Nation.  The chocolates are produced right here in Oklahoma.  They are certainly melt in mouth wonderful. I actually prefer their chocolate covered chips, but I'm certainly not going to pass up any of their tasty offerings.  

That's my favorite thing this week.  Check out other favorites over at Quilting in My Pyjamas.  

March - 2013 The Year of Finished Projects

The first Thursday in March is here, so it's time to hook up with Lynn over at Never too hot to stitch to report on progress for - 



February was a short month and my goals may have been a bit ambitious.  Here's what gone done and what didn't.  

1.  Scrappy Stars

• make 5 more blocks               Done

2.  Evening Star

• make binding                         Done
• attach binding to quilt             Done
• hand sew binding to back

3.  The Sofa Quilt

• sew all the blocks together     Done
• add borders                           2 of 6 borders done
• make backing
• ship off for quilting

4.  Calico Cats

• make 18 cat blocks               5 blocks completed

5.  OSU Quilt (NewFO)

• decide on pattern                  Done
• cut fabrics                            Done
• make first block                   Done

So I finished goals 1 and 5 and made progress on all the other goals. Making 18 cat blocks was probably a bit optimistic, as was getting The Sofa Quilt finished and out the door for quilting.  Not a bad month overall, especially since it's the shortest month.  

For March, I need to pick up speed on a few of these quilts as they need to be finished by mid May. 

March 2013 Goals
1.  Evening Star

• hand stitch binding to back

2.  The Sofa Quilt

• add borders
• make backing
• ship off for quilting

3.  Sweet Treats

• sew the blocks and sashing together
• add borders
• make backing
• ship off for quilting

4.  Calico Cats

• Make 13 blocks

5.  OSU Quilt 

• Make 17 blocks

That's a pretty ambitious list, but these are the 5 quilts that need to be done by May.  Thankfully only one volleyball tournament this month.  

15 Minute Challenge - Talk About It

It's March.  It's the last month in first quarter, we'll be one quarter of the way finished with 2013 by the end of the month.  I'm pretty pleased with how I'm doing on fitting in time to sew.  Some nights, like last night, it's just 15 minutes because that's all I can fit in.  Other days it's several hours.  It's paid off, I should have one finish this month and for sure one quilt, possibly two ready to quilt by the end of the month.  

The new month also brings a new fostering creativity theme.  For March, we'll be considering " Talk About Your Crafting".   If you have a quilting blog, this is probably something you don't lack in your creative life.  Sharing ideas, discussing problem areas is something that goes on all the time in the blogsphere.  My bucket list is definitely longer since I've started blogging.  I've received useful comments when I've blogged about a decision point I couldn't get past, directed to tutorials in other cases when I needed help.  It's probably safe to say that most of us utilize this aspect of fostering our creativity pretty regularly.  During my research on this topic this scholarly paper by Rhiannon Gainor popped up. If you can get past the first few paragraphs on information theory, her discussion of quilting blogs as a model of how an online community shares and creates information resources is no surprise to most in the quilting community.  Probably our biggest challenge here is being able to find the time to both blog and sew.  For many of us, some weeks one has to pass on one or the other.  

I did pretty well this week on finding at least 15 minutes to sew. 

Though I broke my three week streak of managing to sew for 7 days.  There were only 6 days where I climbed the stairs to the sewing room.  I needed a break, so I spent last Tuesday night in the recliner with a good book I'd been wanting to read. Putting the borders on the Sofa Quilt is getting old.  Adding borders is probably my least favorite part of making a quilt.  That project has 6 borders, I'm about half finished with border number 4.  

How did you do this week on finding some time to stitch each day?  Or did you succumb to the lure of fostering your creativity by cruising around the blogland or Pinterest?  Either way write up how your week went and link up below.  

1. Kate 2. Amanda 3. Marti

4. Thea 5. Susanne 6. Julie in GA

7. Lesley A

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Design Wall Monday - March 4th

It was a quiet weekend.  Not much going on, we've been looking at it as the calm before the storm.  The next 2 weeks will be hectic.  This week is Drama Teen's stuff.  Battle of the Books tonight, State Science Fair on Friday and a volleyball tournament on Saturday.  Next week is My Guy's stuff, he took over the organization of an  educational outreach program for 5th graders.  So for three days he'll be doing science demonstrations.  I'll be joining him on the science demos for one day, plus set up next weekend and take down on Thursday.  There probably won't be much sewing going on the next couple of weeks.  

Some sewing happened this weekend.  The 3rd border has been added to the Sofa Quilt and part of border 4 is attached.  This quilt has gotten so big it doesn't like to stay up on the design wall, so no picture this week.  I made quite a bit of progress on the OSU quilt.  

Pattern is A Day at the Spa
Designed by Carolyn S. Vagts
found in the February 2013 issue of Quilter's World

These blocks are pretty quick and easy to make.  I decided to sash as I go.  I don't usually work that way, but since these blocks all look so similar, assembling as I go seems to be the best way to avoid mixing up the blocks. 

That's my design wall for this week.  See more design walls over at Patchwork Times.  

Stash Report - Week 9

The work week was crazy, but the weekend has been a slow one.  Even better, Drama Teen seems to be on mend.  If they had not had a snow day on Tuesday, she would not have missed a day of school. That would be a first since the end of January.  She's been having a lot of problems with respiratory issues since she's had the flu.  My Guy is home after being on the road for most of last week.  The project he was working on is done, so he should be home for a while. 

After such a crazy work week, I decided Saturday was really a day of rest and didn't do much around the house.  I did spend a lot of time in the sewing room.  I can't say fabric is flying into projects, but I've definitely been using more than usual.  Which is good because I pushed a few buttons this week.  I fell in love with a new fabric line over at Connecting Threads.  

I may have plans for this fabric.  I have a friend who is probably going to retire this year and this fabric fits her to a T.  So I'm going to play around in EQ see if I can come up with something for her.  

So here's the damage:

Used last week:  1.88 yards
Added last week:  17 yards

Used for 2013:  13.97 yards
Added for 2013:  20.75 yards

Net stashed for 2013: 6.78 yards

I'm not so far in the hole at this point, that making a single quilt back won't get me out of it.  I'm on border 4 of 6 for the Sofa Quilt, so a pieced back should be in my future.   

I definitely did my part for the economy this week.  Check out the links over at Patchwork Times for more indicators on the economic health of the fabric industry.  

Favorite Things Friday - A Simple Thing

Not that I'd forgotten that it was Friday, I just forgot that it was Favorite Things Friday.  Until I saw Shay's post in Google Reader, I'd not given any thought to writing a post today.  So a few minutes of quiet contemplation were necessary (the caffeine needed to reach my brain) before I could come up with a favorite thing for today.  

I've noticed that word "laundry" has been showing up pretty frequently in my posts lately.  Probably because no matter how crazy our schedule is, a few loads have to be run each week.  Delicate darks so I have work clothes, whites and lights so Drama Teen has school uniforms, greens so My Guy has clothes for work (he really likes green), then jeans and unmentionables.  Laundry is never fun, but my least favorite thing about it is folding T-shirts and matching socks.  I hate matching socks so much that I've been known on occasion to just leave them piled on the dryer and let everyone fend for themselves.  However, Drama Teen has adopted a new fashion statement that has dramatically reduced the sock sorting time, she doesn't wear matching socks anymore.  But since her socks look like this,

  
you don't notice.  You are so blinded by the colors and patterns that your vision doesn't even register the fact that they don't match.  For Christmas DT asked for new socks, the brighter the better.  Grandma certainly obliged.  

No two socks in that package matched, so you couldn't find a pair if you wanted to.  So now, I'm off the hook on matching DT's socks.  No more sorting through a pile of socks looking for a mate (which is more than likely still under her bed anyway).  Now if I could just get My Guy to adopt that fashion statement, I wouldn't have to stand by the window in the laundry room trying to determine if I really have two black socks in my hand or if one them is really dark blue.  

For much more rational favorite things, check out the links over at Quilting in my Pyjamas.