Weekend Stitching - The Last Butterfly

It was a relaxing weekend.  The only have to do was to sit with Drama Teen so she could finish out her college applications that required a submission fee.  Getting into college has certainly changed since I started XX years ago.  

Some time was spent cleaning up the sewing room a bit. But I still managed to get in quite a bit of stitching.  All the square in a square blocks for Bejeweled are done.

That's all 72 of them.  The first set of strip blocks are also finished.  I ran out of room on the little design wall so those got moved over to share the big design wall with Blooms and Butterflies. 

I completed the last butterfly block for Blooms and Butterflies then decided that was enough fun in the sewing room for one day.  Tonight I should get the butterflies and the alternate blocks laid out so stitching can start on the borders.  

Since November is almost here, I did give some thought to what November's One Monthly Goal should be.  With that in mind, I made some progress on making the label for Zombies in Paris and got started on squaring it up.  The other option is to get Poinsettias sent out for quilting, which means getting the backing assembled.  I've got a day or two to think about my choice.  

Linking up with
Main Crush Monday
Monday Making
Design Wall Monday

Stash Report for Week 44 of 2016

Wow, just one more day in October.  It always seems like the last part of the year goes a lot faster than the first part of the year.  Supposedly we've fixed how long a second is, but it sure doesn't seem that way by the time October rolls around.  I'm not ready for the holiday season and it's just about here! 

For some reason, it was just hard to get into the sewing room this week.  I didn't do so hot on making time to stitch. 

Days in the sewing room this week:  4 out of 7 days
Days in October 25 out of 29 days
Days in 2016: 240 out of 303 days

Thankfully I spent all of last Sunday in the sewing room or the stash report would be pretty anemic.  

Used last week:  0.85 yards
Used year to date:  50.62 yards
Added year to date:  47.59 yards
Net used in 2016:  3.03 yards

Whoohoo on 50 yards out for the year!  I've only surpassed that mark twice in the last 7 years.  Not sure I'll have a record year for stash usage, but I'll be close.  So that's good news for this year.  Plus I've managed to stay in the black for most of the year.  So I'm pretty happy with my stash busting efforts for 2016.

I'm linking up with Patchwork Times for this weeks stash report.   Signing off on this week's stash report with a shot of yesterday's sunrise.  The light this time of year is so pretty.   

October Let's Book It - Strips and Squares

The end of the October is almost here and Sharon of Vrooman's Quilts has this month's Let's Book it Challenge linky party started.  I'm a bit behind in my blog reading (Internet issues this week), so I completely missed that she'd posted till late this morning.  

After two years of working on the same challenge project, last month I got to start on a new let's book it project finally.  The project is Bejeweled from this book by Susan Guzman.  

I'm not making the cover quilt, but one of the other fun projects called Bejeweled.  I don't have a lot of it done, just some parts and pieces up on the design wall. 

The 36 teal square in a square blocks are done and just 12 more of the pink ones to finish up.  I've also got a start on the first set of strips.  I'm hoping these fabrics all work and play together in the final project.  Not too much more and I'll be able to start working on various sections of the quilt.  Since this quilt has to be done by May, it's on the fast track.  

You can see more Let's Book it projects over at Vrooman's Quilts.  

Rainbow Scrap Challenge - Mellow Yellow, Maybe

A weekend with no plans is always a good weekend.  Laundry will need some attention, but other than that, no have to dos.  Well not quite, we do need candy for Halloween night, so Drama Teen and I will need to venture out for that sometime today.  So I'm hopeful of spending some quality time in the sewing room today.  

I can finally report that Vintage Dresses is all caught up for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  The second yellow dress was finished last night. 

 Vintage Dresses by Charise Randell

I love the pink rose print, it made a very simple, but sweet little dress.  Something one could wear to a garden or tea party.  I've always wanted to do one of those fancy tea parties, but Drama Teen being the Tom Boy that she is refuses to even consider attending such a fussy affair. 

Here's both yellow dresses. 

So I'm officially caught up after 6 months of being behind a month. This year, Angela is giving us November and December to actually finish our quilts.  This quilt has already been claimed by DT for one of her friends that is graduating from college in 2018.  To be honest, it's perfect for her.  If I stop with the blocks I have, the quilt's not quite big enough to cuddle under.  My original plan needs 5 more blocks.  After playing around in EQ, I've decided it really needs the additional blocks.  I've not used magenta or black yet so I'll add blocks with those colors.  Not sure what I'm going to do about the 5th dress.  I've got some rainbow prints in my scarp stash, so that's a possibility.  Here's the most likely setting as of now. 

The blocks will get moved around a bit, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with the colored frame around each block. I've stuck a plain border on there for now, but I'm contemplating some changes there too.  It's a good starting point though. 

Linking up with Socrappy for the end of the regular season for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  On Sunday I'll be checking out the links for Oh Scrap over at Quilting is More Fun Than Housework.

A Finish for the October One Monthly Goal

Normally I post on Monday and sometimes on Wednesday but this week we've had intermittent Internet issues, so I've not been able to get a post drafted.  Those issues seemed to be resolved, so hopefully I'll get this post written before we have to head off to work.  

It's the end of another month.  Which means it's time to report on the October One Monthly Goal.

The plan for October was to bind Allietare, the Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt from last year.  Bonnie just posted the fabric requirements for this year's mystery, En Provence.  I really wanted to have Allietarer finished before starting on this year's mystery.   Trudy finished the quilting several months ago.  I just hadn't taken the time to get the binding made,  attached and sewn to to the back.  

This is where I was last Friday.  Only about 10 inches of hand stitching left.  This is also a good shot of the striped backing fabric.  I was afraid it would be a bit overwhelming, but it's actually not.  

The stripe actually looks pretty subtle when you stand back a bit. Here's the finished front.

Allietare
 Bonnie Hunter's 2015 Mystery Quil
Started November 27, 2015, Finished October 23, 2016

The binding is the darker blue from the center.  It makes a nice frame for the rest of the quilt.  The patriotic colors worked so well with this pattern.  This is my favorite Bonnie Hunter Mystery to date. 

Since Allietare is being donated to QOV, Trudy kept with a patriotic theme and quilted a star in a star pattern over the whole quilt.  

Now I can start the 2016 Bonnie Hunter mystery with minimal guilt.  I say minimal because Celtic Solstice, Bonnie's 2013 mystery, is still in pieces somewhere in my sewing room.  With the graduation quilts taking center stage this year and early next year, it's not likely to get finished any time soon.  At least the 2014 and 2015 mystery quilts have been finished. 

This is the 10th month I've participated in the One Monthly Goal challenge over at Red Letter Quilts.  I've met 9 of my 10 goals so far this year, so the extra push has really helped me move projects along.  Hard to believe it's almost time to come up with November's goal. 

In addition to linking up with Heidi for October's Monthly Goal, I'm linking up with Finish It Up Friday and Can I Get a Whoop, Whoop.  

Have a great weekend!  

Slow Stitching and a Stash Report for Week 43 of 2016

Is it really week 43 of 2016?  As I typed this blog title, my mind was in complete denial.  It really can't be that late in the year can it?  But since we've only got one week left in October, I suppose that's really where we are.  I'm so not ready for the end of another year!  

I was playing with the idea of a solo sewing retreat today.  With all the holiday stuff coming up, this may be my last chance for one till after the holidays.  So that settles it, I'm going to go play for the day.  First on the list is to finish off the binding on Allietare. 

This is all I've got left to go on hand stitching the binding.  I would have finished up last night, but it was getting late.  This won't take long at all.  Then I can claim my third finish for the year.  

Spending the day in my sewing room should help me recover from what this week's mail brought.  

Some very pretty blue half yard cuts arrived from last month's give away for the Shadow Box Mini Blog Hop sponsored by Janice who blogs at Color Creating and Quilting.  No plans for these three pieces, but I'm sure they'll get used in one of my scrappy projects for next year.   

Here's how the stash report stands now:

Used last week:  0.55 yards
Used year to date:  49.77 yards
Added year to date:  47.59 yards
Net used in 2016:  2.17 yards

I'm still in the black for the year.  My goal is to just use more than I add, so I'm still good on that front.  There are plans for binding one more quilt and making the backing for another, so there should be another big jump in stash going out in the next few weeks.  

I did pretty well on finding time to stitch this week, though I ended up snubbing the sewing room for a good book on Monday. But having extra time to sew on Thursday and Friday made up for my lapse there. 

Days in the sewing room this week:  6 out of 7 days
Days in October:  21 out of 22 days
Days in 2016:  236 out of 296 days

I'm going to check out who's doing Slow Stitching Sunday and follow up on a few Stash Reports before my self-imposed exile to the sewing room.  Have a great Sunday.  

Rainbow Scrap Challenge: Catching Up

It's amazing how much more one can get done with just a couple of extra sewing hours per day.  We took off Thursday and Friday this week, mainly to run errands and take care of a few things before winter sets in.  My car has had its check up and the furnaces got theirs yesterday.  It took an hour at the post office to get the passports off to the State Department, but it's done.  We got home in the early afternoon each day so there was some time left over for stitching. 

For a change I was actually working on blocks for the current month's color.  That business trip in March really put me behind, but last week I finally got caught up.  So Tuesday evening it was time to select the blocks and fabrics for October's dresses. 

The rose print on the right is going to be really pretty.  I'm hoping there is enough contrast in the yellows for the dress on the right.  The dark fabric for the belt is really a dark blue not black.  

With the extra time in the sewing room this week it wasn't hard to finish off the first yellow dress. 

 Vintage Dresses by Charise Randell

This isn't the best photo, the lighting in the sewing room isn't great at 10 PM.  The belt is actually dark blue not black.  I'm happy that the subtle pattern showed up on the main print and that there is good contrast with the yellow chosen for the pleats. It's an elegant little dress to add to the collection.  

That's it for me this week.  You can see more sunny yellow blocks over at Soscrappy. I'll also be linking up with Oh Scrap when it's posted on Sunday.   

Weekend Stitching: Blocks and Butterflies

Definitely not ready for Monday.   Thankfully this is a short week.  Fall break starts on Thursday and we are taking off work.  I'm hopeful of getting in some good stitching time at least one day of our long weekend.  Thursday is errands (cars to the shop, send in our paperwork for passports, etc).  Other than that, I'm not sure what's on the agenda.  So I just have to get through Wednesday!

Not much stitching happened on Saturday, but that changed on Sunday.  Not that you can see much has changed on the design wall.  I've got a good start on the second set of Economy blocks for Bejeweled.

Just two more of the pinky/purply blocks and I'll be half way done with that set of blocks.  

I've also finished a couple of more butterflies for the Blooms and Butterflies border.

Bloom block by Lea Brummett, setting by Kate

The third border needs 22 butterflies, so there are still 7 left to make.  Three of those seven butterflies are sitting over at the machine in various stages of assembly.  Those should get finished this week.  I need to cut more of the blue polka dot background pieces before the last four can be started.  

I'm working on stitching down the binding down on Allitare. 

I've turned the second corner.  There should be a finish to show off next week.  

Linking up with
Monday Making
Design Wall Monday

Slow Stitching and a Stash Report

It's been a slow and relaxing weekend.  On Saturday we attended the Tulsa Food Truck Festival.  That was a new experience.  Drama Teen and both ordered pork rib mac and cheese from the Mr. Nice Guys truck. 

It was yummy.  There's a lot of food there, neither of us finished our portions. 

There was some time for some slow stitching before we left and after we got home.  

I should turn the second corner on the binding for Allietare this afternoon.  I love the striped backing and Trudy's quilting looks as good on back as it does on the front.  Getting this project to finished quilt is this month's One Monthly Goal.  It's looking pretty promising that I'll make this month's commitment.  

This week's outgoing stash includes the binding.  Which is a good thing or I'd not have very much in the outgoing column. 

Used last week: 0.82 yards
Used year to date: 49.22 yards
Added year to date:  46.09 yards
Net used in 2016:  3.13 yards

In spite of a busy week and a one night with a nasty headache, I did manage to get into the sewing room every day this week. 

Days in the sewing room this week:  7 out of 7 days
Days in October:  15 out of 15 days
Days in 2016:  230 out of 289 days

After a bit of laundry this morning, I'll head back to the sewing room this afternoon.  Hopefully to make some more headway on that binding.  

Linking up Kathy's Quilts for Slow Stitching Sunday and with Patchwork Times for the Stash Report.  

Rainbow Scrap Challenge: Really Red this Week

It was one of those weeks at work.  Due to some personnel changes in the office, it seems I'm now one of the "go to" people.  I've had more people in my office the last week than I've had for the previous 6 months.   The week certainly went fast.  I was very glad to reach Friday evening.  Sanity sewing was very necessary last night.  

It was a good night for stitching.  The second red Vintage Dress block is finished. 

 Vintage Dresses by Charise Randell

I love the color combinations, but this one didn't go together as smoothly as some of the other dresses did. I may try to fix a couple of the seams.  It's not as noticeable when you put it up with the other dresses, so I'll wait till quilt assembly before deciding to rip and restitch.  

Here's both dresses using September's color.  

Very bright and fun.  The red and black is really striking, but I like the red, white and blue one just a tad better.  

These two blocks bring the total to 18.  Here's the whole set to date. 

Plans are to add a white border around the blocks to bring them up to a consistent size, then frame each block with the same color as the dress and sash them together.   But before I can get to that point, I need to make my two yellow dresses for this month.  Maybe I'll finally get caught up this month.  

Have a great weekend.  Linking up with SoScrappy for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge and with Quilting is More Fun than Housework for Oh Scrap.   

Weekend Stitching: Butterfly Borders

It was such a pretty weekend here, but there's something in the air that's playing havoc with my sinuses.  I'm not doing too badly, but it's hit Drama Teen pretty hard.  Staying indoors and stitching was definitely wise on my part.  Drama Teen followed suit, but she was working on college applications most of the afternoon.  

The label is made for Allietare and the binding is almost stitched together.  Hopefully I'll get that attached to the front sometime this week and get going on doing the hand stitching it to the back.  Trudy made quick work of the Zombie quilt and it's back ready to be finished.  Maybe I'll actually manage to get in two finishes this month.  

Blooms and Butterflies is moving along. The second border is attached and all the square in a square blocks for the third border are all finished.  But I still need 8 butterfly blocks before the third border is ready for assembly.    

 Blooms and Butterflies
Bloom block by Lea Brummett, setting by Kate

I'm really happy with how this one is coming together.  No firm plans for this project.  But as much as I like it, it's likely to become my new recliner quilt.  We'll see.  

Linking up with:

Main Crush Monday
Monday Making
Design Wall Monday

Stash Report: Week 41 of 2016

We had a front come through on Friday which cooled us off nicely.  It actually feels like fall.  Unfortunately the associated rain didn't do much to reduce the pollen levels.  My sinuses have expressed their displeasure in that fact with a steady sinus headache, which required some extensive napping to dissipate.  So not much sewing yesterday.  I'm hopeful today will be better.  

Even with the sinus headaches, I've done well in getting into the sewing room for at least 15 minutes every day this week.

Days with 15 minutes of stitching this week:  7 out of 7 days
Days in October: 8 out of 8 days
Days in 2016:  223 out of 282 days

At the moment I still have a C in sewing time.  My percentage of days in the sewing room is at 79.1%.  Even so, this is the most I've managed in all the years I've been tracking.  So, I'll take the C.  I have to admit to a bit of jealousy.  Julie over at Julie's Quilts and Costumes has an A (90%) in sewing time.  She does a great job of finding time to sew in spite of what is has been a very hectic late summer for her.  

On the stash front, I'm slowly recovering from all my good luck and stash enhancements in September. 

Used last week:  0.80 yards
Used year to date:  48.40 yards
Added year to date:  46.09 yards
Net used in 2016:  2.31 yards

This is my 7th year of stash tracking.  Another half yard of usage will make this my third best year for stash usage.  If I don't add any more this will be my second best year for limiting stash enhancements. So the over all stash number isn't going down a lot, at least it's not going up.  I'd be pretty happy if the stash stays at steady state for the year.  

I did briefly brave the pollen yesterday afternoon to check out this American Beauty butterfly who was absolutely in love with our lone sunflower. 

American Beauties must taste bad. This flower is on the other side of the fence from our neighbors bird feeder (which is why the sunflowers tend to grow in this spot).  None of the birds looked interested in what I would assume would be a tasty morsel.  

Linking up with Patchwork Times for this week's stash report party. 

Rainbow Scrap Challenge: Not Yellow Yet

We've been watching the weather the last 48 hours.  Having lived 15 miles from the coast as the crow flies when we were in Texas,  we remember hurricane season very well (We were there for Katrina and Rita).  Two of Drama Teen's writing workshop buddies live in Florida.  The one that lives on the coast evacuated and the other that lives in the middle of the state has taken precautions. DT is waiting to hear how both fared after Friday.  Hoping that Angela's family has come through with no damage.

The Rainbow Scrap Challenge color for October is yellow, with highlights of orange.  I'm not there yet, I'm still playing catch up on the red Vintage Dress blocks.  The first is done.  

 Vintage Dresses by Charise Randell

Wouldn't this be a great dress for a 4th of July picnic?  The red, white and blue floral comes from my 30's reproduction stash which has been sitting out while I'm working on Blooms and Butterflies.   It's been fun to pull fabrics from different collections.  There are some Asian prints in the stash I should look at for a future creation.  I still need 6 dresses to have enough for a quilt once I finish the second red block.  Two of those will be yellow dresses.  That will leave 4 left to pick fabrics for.  Then it will be time to figure out how to set all the blocks together.   

Linking up with Soscrappy and Quilting is More Fun than Housework.   

WIPS: Just in Time Stitching

Often life interferes with my ability to keep my stitching plans on track (It's a common problem with various degrees of severity).  My most recent derailer is my day job (it pays for my quilting habit, so I try not to complain too loudly).  Thankfully since the big project launch in August, the job has been mostly on simmer.  Drama Teen isn't playing sports any longer, so we are not running all over the state for volleyball tournaments these days.  Though I think we do have to spend a weekend in November as debate judges.  So you'd think I'd be more on top of my stitching these days.  Not so much it seems.  

However, I did manage to get the steps in the first clue in the Meadow Mist Mystery finished. 

 Meadow Mist quilt along mystery by Cheryl Brickey

Which is really good because clue 2 comes out on Thursday.  I don't think the white fabric was my original choice for a background, but I can't tell from fabric photos taken last month.  It seems a bit stark to me, but hopefully it won't seem that way once more of the mystery blocks are made.  I really like Cheryl's mysteries.  The two I've done have used relatively large pieces, they go together fast so it's easier to stay on track.  It also helps that the clues come out monthly. 

Linking up this week with Let's Bee Social and Needle and Thread Thursday.  

Weekend Stitching: Blooming Borders

It was a very nice weekend.  My Guy had a nice birthday celebration on Saturday and then we had a quiet, relaxing Sunday.  Laundry is caught up for the most part, so I was able to spend Sunday afternoon in the sewing room.  

There was bit of this and a bit of that under the needle this weekend.  The most obvious progress was the addition of the 2nd border to Blooms and Butterflies.

  Blooms and Butterflies
Bloom block by Lea Brummett, setting by Kate

A couple of red squares were finished as well, but that's not as obvious.  The blue on white polka dot border strips are ready to go on next.  Hopefully I'll get some time to stitch tonight. 

There was also some progress on the first set of Bejeweled Economy blocks.  

Bejeweled
From the book "All About Strips" by Susan Guzman

Just 4 more of the teal blocks to finish then I can start on the purple ones.  

In addition to spending some time in the sewing room, I played around a bit with the camera.  The Monarch's are making their way south and they've been keeping us company during dinner. 

There were three of them hanging about at dinner, but they weren't inclined to pose together.  We picked up a bouquet of flowers on Saturday and I spent some time practicing my macro photography skills.  

The last one is my favorite of the bunch.  

You can find more weekend progress reports over at:

Main Crush Monday
Monday Making
Monday Design Wall

October One Monthly Goal: Catch up on Finishes

Hard to believe it's October already and it's time to decide what to pick as the One Monthly Goal. 

That's been a point of contemplation this week.  Zombies is out for quilting. I expect it to be back sometime this month, but as it's not in the sewing room right now, I don't want to use that as my goal for October.  My quilt plan calls for 9 finishes this year, but I've only got two finishes so far.  Poinsettias needs a back before it can be quilted, but Allietare just needs to be bound.

 Allietare,  Bonnie Hunter's 2015 Mystery Quilt

The fact that Bonnie Hunter usually starts her mystery quilt along in November also puts another check mark next to Allietare as the quilt to finish up this month.  Allietare needs a label made, the excess batting trimmed off, the binding made and then sewn down.  So it's not a slam dunk, but getting this quilt finished this month should be doable.  So that's the plan for October.  It will be nice to have this one finished before Bonnie kicks off this year's mystery. 

You can see what else is planned for October over at Red Letter Quilts.  

Stash Report for Week 40 of 2016

What a difference a week makes.  After a week on steroids and changes to how I use my lap top computer at home, the shoulder pain is gone.  Now I just have to be smarter about my computer time to keep the pain from coming back.

Being pain free made for a good week in the sewing room.  I managed to get in at least 15 minutes each day last week.  

Days with 15 minutes of stitching time this week:  7 out of 7 days
Days in September:  22 out of 30 days
Days in 2016:  216 out of 275

You'd think with all the sewing time there would be a lot going out this week.  Since I'm back working on blocks and not backings or borders, it's dribbles and drabs out this week.

Used last week:  0.66 yards
Used year to date:  47.60 yards
Added this week:  6 yards
Added year to date:  46.09 yards
Net used in 2016:  1.51 yards

I let my fingers do some walking on the Connecting Threads site a bit ago and these pieces from their Enchantment line showed up this week. 

I really like the teal and black piece on the top.  Both of these are very nice blenders which the stash is still a bit short on.  I'm still in the black so no harm done.  No plans for either of these at the moment, though I do have some vague plans for a black and white quilt to be made sometime in the future.  However 2016 and 2017 are the year of the graduation quilts.  No new bucket list items till those four quilts are done.  

You can find more stash reports over at Patchwork Times.

Rainbow Scrap Challenge: From Shades of Gray to Really Red

As usual, I'm ready for the weekend.  The neck and shoulder issues have faded.  I've been free to enjoy the gorgeous autumn temps and beautiful blue skies.  There's just something about the light this time of year, it just makes everything look all golden and shimmery.  Though my sinuses haven't been thrilled with the time of year.  I'm enjoying fall via the windows, all of us are just happier that way. 

I'm still behind on my project for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  The second gray dress from August is done and up on the design wall. 

Vintage Dresses by Charise Randell

Another favorite!  I'm really happy with how this one turned out.  It went pretty fast, this is probably the simplest dress in the set of 4. Both gray dresses are finally done. 

Vintage Dresses by Charise Randell

Both would be nice additions to anyone's closet.  These dresses have been such fun to make this year.  Though the complexity has made it hard to catch up.  Now that I'm done with August's blocks, it's already time for October's blocks.  It's a good thing that Angela is given us some time to catch up at the end of the year.  

The dress patterns and fabrics for September's red blocks have been selected. 

Vintage Dresses by Charise Randell

I should have some fun red dresses to add to the collection in a couple of weeks.  I'm looking forward to checking out what color we'll be using for October.  

Today we are headed to Tulsa to celebrate My Guy's birthday.  

Happy birthday My Guy!  

Linking up with Angela over at Soscrappy for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge and with Cynthia at Quilting is More Fun than Housework.