Butterflies and Angels: Vacation 2018

Wishing everyone in the United States a safe and reflective Memorial Day.  We drove home yesterday, in part to avoid the end of the holiday weekend traffic and so we'd have one day to recuperate from vacation before heading back to work.  We had a fun vacation, though it was shorter than usual.  The Scientist in Training is heading back for summer school this year and My Guy has business trips in the works, so we didn't have a big window for scheduling things this year.   

Most of my stitching time this week was spent on one of my long term travel projects, the butterfly medallion panel.  I spent most of the week working on butterfly number 3 (out of 9 on the panel).

I keep planning to work on this while we are home, but I never remember to pull it out of it's case (hence all the folds and wrinkles).  

Since we got home early Sunday afternoon, I was able to get a good start on the laundry, then go spend the evening in my sewing room.  All the rows of the Christmas Angels quilt are now sewn together. 

Getting this to the finished flimsy stage is my OMG for May.  The plan is to spend most of today in the sewing room.  My Guy is off on a 70 mile bike ride and the SIT has plans with friends.  So I'll have the house to myself for most of the morning.  Hopefully I can get the center all sewn together, finish the pieced border, plus add the two strip borders before the end of May.  

That's all the quilty stuff for this post, so you can stop here if that's what you stopped by to see.  You can read on if you are interested in seeing a few vacation photos.  

Due to the changing dates of My Guy's business trips we opted for a close to home vacation this year.  We spent some time in Missouri Wine Country to start. 

A little wine is always a great way to start vacation. Stone Hill is one of our favorite wineries and we can highly recommend both the wines and their Vintage Restaurant. It's a must visit any time we are in the area. 

We spent the rest of our vacation in the St. Louis area.  Doing the expected things, like visiting the Botanical Gardens. 

Yes, I have lots and lots of pictures of beautiful flowers, but I really loved these leaves.  They look like someone tried to paint them green.  

My Guy and I are both from Missouri.  We were chagrined to realize a few years ago that the SIT had never seen the Gateway Arch.  It's such an iconic part of the state, we really felt it was remiss of us that we'd never taken her.  So we did that this trip. 

Now she's been there, been up in it, so that's checked off the list.  

We also visited the St. Louis Art Museum, but I don't have any photos from that visit.  It's not hard to guess our next activity from the below photo. 

I was amazed to find out the St. Louis Zoo is free if all you want to do is see the animals.  We had a wonderful time, it really is a great place to spend a morning. Schools in the St. Louis area had classes until Friday.  The zoo was really, really busy the morning we went.  I can't imagine what it will be like this next week.  


Our last outing was a place called The City Museum.  

Yes, that's a school bus hanging out from the 10th floor of the museum.  SIT said the listing for the museum said it was a place containing interactive displays of art.  It really was a cross between an art museum and an amusement park.  We had a lot of fun, but we were all a little sore that night from crawling around the caves and other exhibits.  If you have older kids (tweens and teens) this is a great place for them to burn off any extra energy.  

In between all the site seeing we ate a lot of great food (mostly, there were a couple of questionable meals), My Guy rode his bike on the Katy Trail in the mornings while the SIT and I shopped in Old Town St. Charles. It worked for all of us.  Now to finish off all the accumulated laundry and spend some much needed R&R time in the sewing room.    

Linking up with:
Monday Making
Monday Design Wall  

Week 21 of 2018: Stitching and De-Stashing

This was another week of being mostly AWOL from my personal computer.  The reason is a mix of the good and bad.  The good is that we've been on vacation this week in the exotic state of Missouri.  The bad is that I've had to sign on to the work computer every morning for a couple of hours before we head out for the day's fun stuff.  So my vacation plan of spending my morning coffee time reading emails and blog posts didn't work out so hot this trip.  However, I did just barely get in my 15 minutes of stitching time each day. 

15 minute stitching days/week = 7/7 days
15 minute stitching days/month = 25/26 days
15 minute stitching days/year = 137/146 days
Success rate = 93.84%

How did you do on finding time to stitch this week?  You can link up at the bottom of the post. 

Since all my stitching time while we've been on vacation has been hand work, there's been no fabric out. Conversely, I've avoided adding any fabric this trip, so the stash numbers are unchanged from last week.  But there has been visible progress on the Butterfly Medallion embroidery project.

I've been able to grab a few minutes of stitching while I'm waiting for everyone else to finish getting ready before we head out in the morning's and just a bit before bed at night. Those stolen minutes can really add up.  Linking up with Slow Stitching Sunday.  I'm hoping to get back to my sewing room this afternoon once I've taken the top off the mountain of laundry we came home with.  It's nice to get home with a couple of days to spare before going back to work. I'll need them to rest up from vacation.  

If you'd like to share your adventures in finding time to stitch, please link up below. 

1. Julie in GA 2. Melissa G 3. MartiDIY

4. maggie f 5. di 6. Aileen K

7. Shasta 8. Christina's Handicrafts

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Odds and Ends From One of Those Weeks

Do you ever wake up on Monday and wonder what happened to the weekend?  Or for that matter what happened to all of last week?  I've been pretty much AWOL from my personal computer as I seemed to be stuck like glue to the work computer the last week.  It's mid-year review season at work, couple with with the need to wrap up some projects and it's just been completely insane.  So there hasn't been a lot of responding to email and blog reading the last week, so I hope you'll forgive me for being so far behind.  I will catch up eventually.  

The sewing room hasn't seen too much of me the last week either, so there's not much progress there. I did find a few minutes here and there to contemplate the final borders for Vintage Dresses.  I think I'm about there.  Now to decide on the final color, pink or blue. 

  

 Vintage Dresses blocks by Charise Randell, Setting by Kate

I may change the corners so the colored borders better mimic the frames around each block. It's a lot of borders, but I like the 3-D effect you get by moving from lighter to darker from the center of the quilt.  Now that I've got a plan, hopefully there will be some time in the sewing room soon to see if I've got the fabrics to make either one of these color schemes work. 

The Scientist in Training has been home for just a little bit over a week.  She hadn't seen the final version of the her Geek Chic quilt.  To say she loves it is a bit of an understatement, it's become her go to quilt for relaxing.  

 Yes, the SIT has been treating herself to massive doses of Pokeman on the DS and while binge watching Netflix.  It's OK, she made A's in everything but calculus.  (There have been a few breaks for laundry, doing dishes and volunteering at the local animal shelter.)  

I never shared the final name for what's been called around the house as the SITs chem quilt.  Here's the label, minus Mom's message. 

She loves it.  That's the best thank you. 

Linking up with:
Main Crush Monday
Monday Making
Monday Design Wall

Week 20 of 2018: Stitching and Stashing Stuff

It's been a stormy weekend so far in my part of the country.  It is May, so that's kinda par for the course this time of year.  Life has been crazy busy, work especially, so this week's stash report is going to be lack luster, but the stitching report isn't so bad. 

I could have probably found more time to stitch, but after putting in a few 12 hour days this week, finding the energy to do much more was a challenge. 

Days with stitching time this week:  6 out of 7 days
Days with stitching time this month:  18 out of 19 days
Days with stitching time this year:  130 out of 139 days
Success rate:  93.53%

There was just one evening that I was so brain dead that playing with any type of sharp item would have been a mistake. Hopefully your week went much smoother.  Please scroll to the bottom of the post to find the 15 minute stitching challenge link up. 

The stash report is pretty dismal.  There was absolutely no fabric going out this week.  On the good side, none came in either. 

Fabric used this week:  0 y
Fabric used in 2018:  23.00 y
Fabric added in 2018:  7.25 y
Net fabric out for 2018:  15.75 y

Linking up with Quiltpaintcreate for this week's stash report. 

One reason there is no fabric out is my stitching time this week was mainly handwork.

I've gotten a good start on the third butterfly in the panel.  This was an easy project to pick up and do a bit before heading to bed. Unfortunately this week is going to be busy as well, so I think there's more hand work in my immediate future.  Linking up with Slow Stitching Sunday this week.  

Hopefully you've had a successful week on both the stitching and the stash busting fronts.  You can link up here and share how your week of stitching went (or didn't as the case may be).  

1. Julie in GA 2. MartiDIY 3. di 4. CathieJ

5. Susanne 6. maggie f 7. Aileen K 8. Shasta

9. Shasta 10. Christina's Handicrafts 11. Deana

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Weekend Stitching: More Christmas in May

Hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day.  I certainly did.  My family gave me a day in the sewing room, along with a very nice home cooked dinner. 

Since the morning was taken up with laundry (necessary in order to have clothes for work this week), it ended up just being an afternoon in the sewing room. The time was spent mainly on getting the Christmas Angels quilt all sewn together.  

The top three rows are completely assembeled. I've gotten a good start on finishing up the blocks needed for the first border.  The right hand border is under construction.  So this project is moving right along.  It should be a finished flimsy by the end of the month, which is good as it's my May OMG project.  

Linking up with:
Monday Making
Monday Design Wall 

Week 19 of 2018: Stitching and De-Stashing

Happy Mother's Day to everyone.  My Guy made my favorite chocolate scones this morning, so I got a great start to my Mother's Day.  My plan for the day is to catch up on the email and blog reading, then sew for the rest of the day.  Before I get to that though, it's time to look at how last week went on the stitching and de-stashing front. 

Finding time to stitch was a challenge this week.  We moved the Scientist in Training out of the dorm, then she and I had a short girls weekend with my mother, sister and niece.  We had a great time, but it left me scrambling to fit in a few minutes of stitching each day.

Days with stitching time this week:  7 out of 7 days
Days with stitching time this month:  12 out of 12 days  
Day with stitching time this year:  124 out of 132 days
Success rate:  93.94%

The goal is to find time to stitch more than 90% of the time. So far so good for 2018.

The stash report is going OK as well.  My sister and I did make one quilt shop run during our girls weekend.  I limited myself to just a few fat quarters and a few patterns.  

I really like the Cottage Blossoms mini, Rainy Monday is a candidate for a quilt for my bed. But I have to get My Guy's approval for that.  Here's the damage:

Fabric used this week:  0.49 y
Fabric used in 2018:  23.00 y
Fabric added in 2018:  7.25 y
Net fabric out for 2018:  15.75 y

I allowed myself 5 yards a quarter for 2018, so I'm still on track with my stash busting goals for the year. 

Linking up with Quiltpaintcreate for the weekly stash report.  You can link up below for the weekly stitching time report.  

1. MartiDIY 2. Meloney

3. Aileen K 4. Shasta

5. Christina's Handicrafts 6. Deana

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Rainbow Scrap Challenge: Not in the Pink Yet

My Mother's Day started on Thursday this week.  We moved the Scientist In Training (and her BFF) out of their dorm rooms.  Then the SIT and I took off for a very short girls weekend with my mom and sister.  There's been a shopping expedition, lots of eating out and a boatload of laughter so far.  This morning the plan is for Krispy Kreme, a quilt shop excursion and then lunch. The SIT and I will head home after that. 

So there's not been a lot of stitching this week as I've been sleeping in hotel rooms since Wednesday.  There are plans for a Mom's Day of nothing but stitching.  I'm looking forward to that.  The pink scraps will definitely find their way to the cutting table.  I'm looking forward to making the next set of scrappy blocks. All the yellow Squared Away blocks were finished before I left home on Wednesday. 

    

The middle one is edging more towards orange, but it's a nice contrast to the other tow.  I couldn't resist putting all the blocks back up on the design wall to see how well they played with each other. 

  Squared Away Sampler designed by Mari (The Academic Quilter)

This is the first time I've made a sampler with different background fabrics. I'm not sure I like it.  The goal was to use up the different background scraps that were just sitting around the sewing room. I'm trying to reserve judgement till all the blocks are done and the final setting has been decided on. 

That's it for my scrappy stitching this week.  I hoping I'll have at least one pink block to share next week.  Linking up with Soscrappy today and with Quilting is More Fun Than Housework on Sunday. 

Weekend Stitching: Christmas in May?

It was a beautiful weekend, spring is definitely here.  We worked outside most of Saturday morning (and are still feeling it this morning).  Sunday morning was housework with a heavy dose of sewing room time in the afternoon.  The plan was to get all of the Vintage Dress blocks sewn together.  That got done, now to figure out what to do for the border. 

 Vintage Dresses by Charise Randell

As much as I'd like to be finished with the dresses, I'm beginning to think this one needs pieced borders.  I'm going to play with that idea this week, plus raid the stash to see if there is something that makes a great frame on it's own.  Creating the frames with the sashing took a bit of time, but I really like how it worked out.   

Now that Vintage Dresses is in one piece, I can have the design wall back to play with this month's OMG.  For some reason, the dark green photographs as black when the blocks are up on the design wall. The quilt is really red and green.  

The blocks are all done, but the layout needs to be finalized before I can start stitching the rows together.  This is close to final.  There may some more shuffling around of the angel blocks this evening, but I'm hoping to get a start on sewing the rows together tonight after work.  

Linking up with:
Monday Design Wall
BOMs Away

Week 18 of 2018: Stitching and De-stashing

I'm a bit slow on the get-up-and-go this morning.  We spent a large part of Saturday on garden clean up.  So I'm a bit stiff and sore this morning.  Plus the allergies have kicked in big time. Due to all of the above, I'm just not moving with my normal grace (?) this morning.  So this week's finding time to stitch and stash report is a bit later than normal. 

It was a good week for finding time to stitch, though a few nights it really was just 15 minutes.  But that's better than zero minutes. 

Days with stitching time this week:  7 out of 7 days
Days with stitching this month:  5 out of 5 days
Days with stitching time this year 117 out of 125 days
Success rate:  93.6%

Since most of the stitching has been on the sashing for the Vintage Dress blocks, the stash report is pretty unimpressive.

Fabric used this week:  0.23 y
Fabric used in 2018:  22.51 y
Fabric purchased in 2018:  6 y
Net fabric out for 2018:  16.51y

Still there's more out than in, which is the goal for 2018. Linking up with Quiltpaintcreate for the weekly stash report.  

Since we were out in the yard most of the day yesterday, I had to take photos of the roses which are just about ready to bloom.

We'll have lots of roses in full bloom by next week.  The phlox is just about bloomed out, but still looks pretty.

Lastly, the Mexican Heather has come to life with the warmer temps and sunshine.

I love our Mexican Heather plants.  They sit in full sun all day, but still look pretty well into summer.  Tolerating full Oklahoma sunshine all day is no mean feat, it can be absolutely blistering. 

That's it for me this week.  I'm off to tackle some laundry and figure out what to do with the SITs stuff that came home last weekend. At the moment it's all lying on her bed, which she'll need when she gets home next weekend.  

You can link up your progress (or not) on finding time to stitch below.  

1. Melissa G 2. Meloney 3. MartiDIY 4. Julie in GA

5. Mary-Kay 6. maggie f 7. Aileen K 8. Shasta

9. Emily @ The Darling Dogwood 10. Christina's Handicrafts 11. Deana

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May One Monthly Goal: Storms and Christmas?

We had our first really severe storm of the spring last night.  The one advantage of the cooler weather this year is that we haven't had any tornadoes. Oklahoma usually has about 20% of our annual tornado strikes in April, but there were none last month. May storm season certainly got kicked off with a bang last night.  Lightening struck the tornado siren closest to our house and it went off about 11 PM last night.  At least I now know that the siren will wake me up.  My Guy slept through it.  

Since it is a new month, it's time to decide on what to tackle on the UFO list and link up with the May One Monthly Goal.  

This month's goal is to do a little early Christmas present sewing.  All the blocks are made.

 The final layout has been planned.

The goal is get this project to the finished flimsy stage by the end of the month.  That may be a bit of a challenge as we've got some family stuff planned.  We'll just have to see how it goes.  Any progress would be good.  

The angel quilt will be my number one priority this month, but I can't work on just one project. Here's what else is in the works for May.

1.  Christmas Angels (May OMG)
2.  En Provence - bind
3.  Vintage Dresses - finish to flimsy stage
4.  Magnolia Mystery - prep for quilting
5.  Squared Away - finish yellow blocks
                                finish pink/rose blocks
6.  Inverted Star - finish yellow blocks
                             finish pink/rose blocks
7.  On Ringo Lake - leaders and enders project

It's an ambitious list and not all of it will get done. But I make better progress during the month with a set of ordered priorities. 

Linking up with Patty over at Elm Street Quilts for this month's One Monthly Goal.  Wishing you good luck and ample stitching time to finish your May OMG.