Weekend Stitching: Mystery Sewing

Hard to believe it's the last day of 2018.  I'm hoping to spend a good part of it in the sewing room as I've not really had a chance to do that yet.  I've been tackling the closets while My Guy has been dealing with the decluttering the kitchen cabinets, so it's been a productive holiday break.  

I did get in a solid afternoon of stitching yesterday.  The focus was clues 5 and 6 of Good Fortune. 

I'm hoping to make more progress today.  Bonnie's been known to post the reveal on New Year's Day, so I'd like to have enough pieces to get a few blocks made right off the bat.  

I'm able to concentrate on Good Fortune because this month's One Monthly Goal is finished.  The binding was finished as of last Friday.

Boo! (Halloween Mystery)
designed by Carrie Randall (Quilter's Hideaway)
Started  September 8, 2018, Finished December 28, 2018

This was a fun and quick project that used up some odds and ends from the stash.  The bats got crystal button eyes cause My Guy said they needed something. 

Those worked out pretty well. Trudy add some fun details during the quilting. 

A spiderweb in the corner complete with spider.  

And pumpkins in the last border that show up much clearer on the back. 

I didn't have enough of the jack-o-lanterns fabric for the whole back so pieced in that yellow strip, which isn't quilt so pale in real life. 

And the label's been stitched down too.  

Boo! is finish number 4 for 2018.  Since this project was started in 2018, it's not on the UFO list, so that number didn't go down. But getting it finished means it won't go on the list. So it's all good.  Boo! was one of the quilts on my 2018 Finish Along List.  So I'll be linking up when Q4 FAL Link UP opens in January.   

It was a bit odd working on a Halloween quilt over the Christmas holiday.  But now it's all finished and ready to use for next Halloween. 

I'm hoping to end and begin 2019 in the sewing room.  Wishing everyone a very Happy New Year with lots of new projects, finishes, and dwindling UFO lists.  

Linking up with:
UFO Busting
Monday Making
Design Wall Monday
One Monthly Goal
Bonnie Hunter 

Week 52 of 2018: Stitching and Stashing

It's the last Sunday of 2018.  Just one more day and we'll be in 2019.  I'm ready and not ready at the same time.  The new year will bring new challenges, of which I have mixed feelings about.  But as it's still the last Sunday in 2018, the only challenge we need to focus on today is how easy (or how impossible) it was to find those few minutes of sanity stitching each day.  

I did pretty well at finding time for some hand stitching most days of the holiday. 

15 minutes stitching days/week = 6/7 days
15 minutes stitching days/Dec = 23/29 days
15 minutes stitching days 2018 = 337/363
Success rate = 92.84%

I came down with a nasty, nasty cold Christmas day, complete with fever.  There was one day I felt too crummy to do much of anything but sit in the recliner and sleep.  But even with that lapse, I should still make my goal of finding time to stitch more than 90% of the time in 2018.   Mr. Linky is waiting at the end of the post if you want to share how your stitching week went. 

The response to the 15 minutes to stitch has been pretty consistent this year, so I am going to continue the weekly link ups for 2019.  Next year's button is already there to the right.  

I tried to set this year's button up with a code so you could grab it for your blog, but Flicker addresses no longer work and I'm not sure I want to add another photo sharing site to my list. So for now you'll just have to save the button as a photo and use it that way.  

The stash report this week is pretty easy, there was a lot of hand stitching, but not much time in the sewing room. 

Fabric used this week = 0 yards
Fabric used in 2018 = 42.17 yards
More in than out for 2018

I'm disappointed to not meet my goal on fabric usage this year, the hope was to use 100 yards.  I'm still trying to work out how an increase in stitching time doesn't translate to an increase in fabric usage and finishes.  Maybe the key is sewing machine time, hand work and computer are often my fall backs if I'm on the road or just really do not have time to make it up the stairs.  So maybe there was more of that type of stitching time than sewing machine time.  Still it wasn't a bad year, I moved a number of projects along the path to completion.  There should be a good number of finishes this year as a result.  Linking up with QuiltPaintCreate for the weekly stash report.  

Wishing you a very Happy New Year.  Here's Mr. Linky so you can share how your 2018 is wrapping up on the stitching front. 

1. Julie in GA 2. Marti 3. Meloney

4. maggie f 5. Aileen 6. Shasta

7. Mary-Kay 8. Christina's Handicrafts

Powered by... Mister Linky's Magical Widgets.

2019 Quilting Ambitions

It's that time of year to assess how 2018 went on the quilty front and what quilty aspirations should there be for 2019.  Yvonne of Quilting Jet Girl is hosting her annual Planning Party to encourage some goal setting for the upcoming year.  

For 2019 I've decide not so much on a set of goals as on a set of strategies to help me manage my sewing time.  

1.  Use a quilt plan.  My sewing time can be pretty limited so it's helpful if I've made decisions about what projects are my focus for the year.  Last year I played along with the American Patchwork and Quilting's UFO Challenge.  I'm going to do that again this year, but rather than follow the numbers drawn each month, I have a prioritized list.  I'm starting with number one and working on each project till it hits completion.  That strategy worked well for me in 2017 when I finished 7 quilts.  We'll see if that pans out for 2019. This year's complete quilt plan is posted here, but here's the condensed version.

2.  Work in 15 minutes of stitching time each day.  My definition of stitching time is anything that moves a project towards completion.  So that means working in EQ on layout options, designing labels, and selecting fabrics. The weekly stitching report and linky party that goes live each Sunday will continue in 2019.  

3.  Sew from the stash.  I'm not setting expectations for fabric usage or for fabric purchases for 2019.  There are three mystery quilt programs scheduled by the local quilt shop.  Those are great projects to use up existing stash, plus Bonnie Hunter's 2019 mystery and hopefully a new mystery from Meadow Mist Designs will round out new projects that use stash fabrics.  I've decided on Bonnie Hunter's Wild and Goosey blocks as this year's Rainbow Scrap Challenge Project.  I have lots of scraps that need to find their way into blocks.  

So that's my approach to 2019. Defined goals with metrics have not been working for me, I'm hoping the strategic approach will give me a good basis to make progress with.  Good luck with your ambitions for 2019.  

Life In Pieces: The Best of 2018

Hard to believe Christmas is over and the end of the year is less than a week away.  It's the time of year for reflection.  Cheryl of Meadow Mist Designs makes reflection fun by hosting her "Best of 2018" Linky Party.

What constitutes "best" is up to the blogger.  So here's my top 5 from 2018.

1. Largest Number of Views (427), A Little of This and That. That post highlighted the first assembled blocks from Bonnie Hunter's 2017 mystery, On Ringo Lake.

2. Most Comments (28), Stars and Stars.  The post showed the finished Red, White and Blue Star blocks that is currently my oldest UFO.

3.  My favorite quilt finished in 2018, Chain Reaction.  This quilt was made for the Scientist in Training to use in her dorm room. She loves it and I really loved making it.  

4. My favorite quilt started in 2018, The Christmas Mystery Quilt.  This quilt was the second mystery quilt along offered by the local quilt shop.  This one was so much fun and I'm really happy with how it turned out.  Now it just needs a backing so I can maybe get it finished to enjoy next Christmas. 

5.  Most requested tutorial, How to Make Quilt Labels.  The most common question that shows up in comments on the blog is how do I make my quilt labels.  So I put together a tutorial on the basic process. 

That's my top 5 for 2018.  Now I'm off to check out more top 5s over at Meadow Mist Designs.  

Happy and Bright Wishes

Wishing you and yours all the best this holiday season.

Weekend Stitching: Holiday Stitching?

Merry Christmas Eve!  We are hanging out with family today, doing a bit of cooking and a lot of laughing.  Unfortunately part of the family has to work today, so we won't see them till tonight.  I have plans for some handwork while we all visit, that will be about it for stitching today.  

Between all the gift wrapping, card addressing, and house cleaning there wasn't a lot of time spent in the sewing room this weekend.  I did get some holiday stitching done, Halloween stitching, not Christmas.  

My Guy said the bats needed eyes, so I found some crystal buttons that add just a bit of sparkle and hopefully help those bats look more like bats.  I've turned the second corner on getting the binding stitched, so there should be one more finish before the end of 2018. 

The only progress on the Good Fortune clue #5 was to get the instructions printed out and a decision made on how I'm going to make the blocks.  I'll get back to that on Wednesday after our holiday celebrations with the family are over. 

Wishing everyone a joy filled week.  

Linking up with:
Monday Design Wall
Monday Making
Tish's UFO Busting

Week 51 of 2018: Stashing and Stitching

Our frantic preparations for the holiday came to a climax yesterday.  As of midnight, all the gifts are wrapped, Christmas cards sent and laundry done.  All managed with a bit of stitching time worked in as things were moving along.  How did you do at getting in some stitching time along with your holiday preparations?

I did much better this week on working in a few minutes to stitch here and there. 

15 minutes stitching days/week = 7/7 days
15 minutes stitching days/December = 17/22 days
15 minutes stitching days/2018 = 331/356 days
Success rate = 92.98%

I'm still on track to end my year with a better than 90% success rate with stitching every day.  Just one more week and it will be time to start fresh with a new year. 

I managed to get the binding sewn to the front of the Halloween Mystery quilt while the Scientist in Training was wrapping gifts (my cutting table doubles as gift wrap central during the holidays)

I've turned one corner and are quickly closing in on the next. It does seem to be a bit strange to be stitching on a Halloween quilt during the Christmas holiday season, but getting it finished now, means it will be ready for next fall.  Linking up with Kathy Quilts for slow stitching Sunday.  There will be more slow stitching today for sure. 

The only fabric out this week was the binding for the Halloween Mystery. 

Fabric used this week = 0.29 yards
Fabric used in 2018 = 42.17 yards
More in than out for 2018

I'm way off my fabric usage goal for the year. Hopefully 2019 will be a better year on the stash management front.  Linking up Quiltpaintcreate for the weekly stash report.  

So how did your stitching week go? 

1. Meloney 2. Marti

3. Shasta 4. Christina's Handicrafts

Powered by... Mister Linky's Magical Widgets.

The 2019 Quilt Plan

The year is winding down, so it's just natural that we start to think of what's the plan for next year.  Well at least it's natural for me to do that, I'm a planner.  Plus American Patchwork & Quilting has kicked off their 2019 UFO Challenge.  

Deciding what's on the quilt plan is my first step in setting the quilty ambitions for the next year.  So here's my list UFO list for 2019

For the 2018 challenge, a new number was picked each month and that was the quilt I worked on.  My problem with this system is that it's very rare that I finish a quilt in a month.  In 2017, the finished quilt list included 7 quilts, some of which were started from scratch.  In 2018, the finished list has only 4 on it.  Looking back, in 2017 I stuck to my quilt plan, finishing the first quilt in the list before moving on to the second quilt on the list.  I'm going back to that strategy in 2019. 

In picking the quilts for the list, I started with the quilts closest to being finished, then from oldest to newest.  Here's the quilts for this year.

That takes care of the UFO part of the 2019 plan.  Now for the new project part of the plan.  I tend to do a pretty good job of finishing off my starts each year (well maybe not the Bonnie Hunter mysteries).  But what's the fun in not starting a bit of new stuff? 

1.  Rainbow Scrap Project:  Wild and Goosey blocks
2.  Meadow Mist Designs Mystery
3   Bonnie Hunter 2019 Mystery
4.  Quilter's Hideaway mystery series
      a.  Patriotic (May to July)
      b.  Autumn (Sept/Oct)
      c.  Christmas (November)

That's six new starts.  Hopefully I can finish 7 quilts so the quilt list will go down by at least one.  

Now that both those lists are drafted, it's time to decide on my other quilty ambitions for 2019.  How are you plans for 2019 coming along?

Edited 1/1/2019:  I'm also planning on participating in Quilting Gail's PHD in 2019. Not sure I can finish all my planned starts in 2019, but I'm hoping to make some significant headway on the UFOs.  

Weekend Stitching - Mysteries of Christmas Past

Stitching time was pretty much nonexistent this last week.  Between playing catch up on special projects at work, Christmas shopping and wrapping presents, my stitching time has been pretty limited.  I'm using a single fabric for Good Fortune's Clue 4, so not much to show off there.  The plan is to find out where clue 4 fits in and see how my color choice of black works with the other pieces.  If it doesn't work, I can change it out.  So for now, I'm not going to cut those rectangles.  

So while there is no progress to show on Good Fortune, it's been a while since I posted about the current leader and ender project. 

On Ringo Lake, Bonnie Hunter 2017 Mystery Quilt

I'm up to 18 blocks for On Ringo Lake, last year's mystery.  I need 32 blocks for an on point setting and 35 for a straight setting.  So I'm close to half way.  There is a growing stack of block parts over at the sewing machine, so there should be some more blocks going up on the wall soon.  Hopefully this one will be ready to assemble when I finish all the block parts for Good Fortune.  

Good Fortune is my sixth Bonnie Hunter Mystery.  Celtic Solstice from 2013 is the only other one that I've started, but not finished.  

Celtic Solstice the 2013 Bonnie Hunter Mystery

This was my first Bonnie Hunter mystery.  I've since learned to keep up with the blocks as a leader and ender project through the next year.  I've finished all the other mysteries that way.  

The 2014 mystery was Grand Illusion.

 Grand Illusion, A Bonnie Hunter Mystery (2014)

This is probably my least favorite of the Bonnie Hunter quilts that I've made.  Next was Allietare in 2015, my favorite finished mystery quilt so far. 

Allietare, The 2015 Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt

Allietare was donated to the Quilts of Valor program, so I'm sure it found a good home.  

My next favorite BH mystery was En Provence from 2016. 

En Provence, A Bonnie Hunter Mystery (2016)

En Provence went to live with my niece and she loves it.  

My holiday vacation starts Thursday afternoon, so I'm looking forward to clue 5 of Good Fortune.  Hopefully we'll start assembling the blocks. 

Linking up with the regular Monday show and tell linky parties.

Monday Making
Monday Design Wall  

Week 50 of 2018: Stitching and De-Stashing

Week 50?  That means just two more weeks left in 2018!  And they will be pretty busy weeks.  The weeks leading up to the Christmas holiday are the most difficult for me to work in stitching time. Is it easier or harder for you to work your 15 minutes of stitching time in the weeks leading up to the holiday?

As suggested above, my week didn't go so well on the stitching front. 

15 minutes stitching days/week = 3/7 days
15 minutes stitching days/December = 10/15 days
15 minutes stitching days/2018 = 324/349 days
Success rate = 92.84%

This week was just really busy. This was the annual "girl's shopping weekend" with my mom, sister, niece and Scientist in Training.  I try to get all my family's gifts wrapped so they can make the trip with me to spare having to haul them with us when we come down for Christmas.  Between trying to get ready and actually being here, there just wasn't a lot of time for stitching and the stash report shows that too. 

Fabric used this week = 0 yards
Fabric used in 2018 = 41.88 yards
More in than out for 2018. 

Even thought the stitching and stash reports took a hit, it's been a fun weekend.  The SIT finished up finals and her last class report Friday, so she was able to join up late Friday afternoon.  She got her chemistry grade last night.  

She got an A, by the skin of her teeth.  If you can't tell, she was very happy with that outcome.  She's still waiting to hear about the grades in physics and calculus.  She's sure she passed all her classes, but not sure if she did that well in those two. 

I'm hoping to get in some stitching time this afternoon.  You can link up below with how well you did this week.  Hopefully, lots better than I did. 

1. Julie in GA 2. Shasta

3. Marti 4. Mary-Kay

5. maggie f 6. Christina's Handicrafts

Powered by... Mister Linky's Magical Widgets.

Weekend Stitching: Mystery Stitching

This was one of those weekends where I'm glad to go back to work so I can rest.  We discovered mice in the house the Sunday after Thanksgiving. They were all caught in pretty short order, but not till after they had made a nest in the recyclables.  We pitched all that, but we kept catching whiffs of mouse all over the kitchen, living room and library.  So we did some deep cleaning this weekend.  We moved furniture, Mr. Cleaned the wood floor and baseboards in the kitchen, then steam cleaned the carpets in the living room and library.  I think we got all the smelling residues they left.  

The deep cleaning didn't leave a lot of time and energy for stitching this weekend but I got a bit done.  The last two borders were added to the Christmas Mystery quilt.

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

This was such a fun project.   I plan to hand embroider eyes and a mustache on the nutcracker before the quilt gets sent out for quilting.  I'm not going to get that done before Christmas unfortunately.  But I'm planning to get this one ready to go to out for quilting before the end of the year.  

The only other stitching that got done this weekend was on Bonnie Hunter's Good Fortune mystery.  I worked out a procedure to get both the half chevron block and the HSTs from the green rectangle and neutral squares using one of my rulers and Bonnie's instructions.  

I didn't get very far, but at least all the neutral squares are cut, so all that's left is to stitch up my quota.  

Holiday preparations are going to suck up a lot of my evening time this week.  So I'm not sure how much I'll get done.  I need to bind one quilt that's intended as a Christmas gift, so my plan is to spend my 15 minutes each evening getting that done. That may be all the sewing I can fit in this week.  

Linking up with

Bonnie Hunter's Clue 3 linky party
Monday Making
Design Wall Monday

Week 49 of 2018: Stitching and De-Stashing

This is the time of year where the to do list really does exceed the hours in a day.  If I could take work off the list, I might actually have a chance to get somewhere.  But as I need the income to support my quilting habits (and keep the Scientist In Training in college), that's probably not happening anytime soon.  Sometimes you have to get creative to work in those 15 minutes of stitching time each day. 

It was not a bad week on the stitching front. 

15 minutes stitching days/week = 6/7 days
15 minutes stitching days/December = 7/8 days
15 minutes stitching days 2018 = 321/342 days
Success rate = 93.86%

We had a holiday party to attend last Friday and I just wasn't able to work in any stitching time for the day.  Still, I'm over 90% for the year and that's the goal.  So still on track.  Though finding time to stitch is going to get more challenging as the month goes on.  You can share how well you are managing to find some stitching time this holiday season at the bottom of the post. 

There was just a bit of fabric out this week as the final borders were added to the Christmas Mystery quilt.

Fabric used this week = 0.69 yards
Fabric used in 2018 = 41.88 yards
More in than out for 2018. 

Stash busting just didn't happen for 2018.  I'm hoping that 2019 will be better.  

Linking up with Quiltpaintcreate for the stash report.  You can link up below to share how well you did at finding time to stitch.  

1. maggie f 2. Connie 3. Marti

4. Meloney 5. Shasta 6. Julie in GA

7. Christina's Handicrafts 8. Kathleen Mary 9. Aileen

Powered by... Mister Linky's Magical Widgets.

Stitching Plans for December 2018 - The One Monthly Goal

The first week of December is almost done.  This time of year the days seem to pass at warp speed with lots of extra things on the to do list for many of us.  One item on my to do list is to decide what is December's One Monthly Goal. 

I've not done very well this year in meeting my OMG, a measly 36% success rate, versus a combined 88% success rate for my 2016 and 2017 OMG efforts.  What's even more head scratching, is that I'm sewing more.  So where's the disconnect?  Something to contemplate as I try to decide on my quilty ambitions for 2019.  

All that aside, I need to figure out what's the goal for this month.  Turns out that's a pretty easy decision.  It would be nice to get one more finish this year and the only project that's going to happen with is the Halloween Mystery quilt. 

Halloween Mystery designed by Carrie Randall (Quilter's Hideaway)

The label is made. 

But the binding hasn't been cut and assembled yet.  I've also purchased some buttons to add eyes to the bats, in hopes that makes them a bit more identifiable.  The Halloween Mystery quilt is supposed to be a Christmas gift, so that's added incentive to get it finished.  Hopefully, getting this project to finished quilt is a goal that I can manage.  

Linking up with Elm Street Quilts for the December One Monthly Goal.  

Weekend Stitching: More Good Fortune

This is one of those Monday's where I wake up and wonder what happened to the weekend.  Mostly due to the annual shopping marathon we did yesterday.  We start early and try to get done before the crowds get really bad.  Now most of the Christmas shopping is done.  There are still a few odds and ends I need to pick up, but I can pick those up here in town or get them when I go shopping with my sister later this month.  

What little stitching time I had on Sunday was dedicated to making a start on clue 2 of Bonnie Hunter's Good Fortune mystery. 

The marathon shopping left me so wiped out that after finishing this set I was at the point that more stitching would probably be accompanied by as much un-stitching so I quit.  But so far I'm happy with my fabric selections.  The blue fabric has been in the stash for years. The color is not a true blue but looks more teal when compared to other blues, so I've had a hard time finding a project it works in.  It's working out great in Good Fortune. 

Saturday was the Christmas Mystery Reveal day at the quilt shop.  So I spent most of Friday night and Saturday morning trying to get the borders completed.  I did manage to get the first round of borders on before the show and tell.  It was so cool to see all the different versions of the mystery. I came home and tried really hard to get the final border on so my Christmas Mystery would be a finished flimsy, before I dived full on into Good Fortune. As I was getting ready to cut the last border it became apparent that the fabric was directional.  So it took a bit of careful prep and calculations to get all I needed out of the limited yardage I had left.  So all that got sewn on was the two sides.

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

The poinsettias fabric has been in the stash forever, so it was good to see it move into a project.  The blocks, other than the background, are all made from scraps and leftovers.  The red sashing is another well aged stash fabric.  That's my justification for making mystery quilts, they have to use only stash fabrics and left overs.  I'm really happy with how this quilt turned out.  The shop announced that next year, the plan is to do a patriotic mystery in May, a fall themed mystery in September/October and another Christmas mystery in December.  I definetly see more mystery in my sewing room next year.  

Linking up with Bonnie Hunter's Monday Good Fortune linky as well as the usual Monday show and tell linky parties.

Monday Making
Monday Design Wall
Main Crush Monday

Week 48 of Stashing and Stitching

The year is winding down fast, hard to believe it's already December.  Well maybe not so hard to believe that if you are outside. It's cold!  Definitely great weather to be spending time with a warm iron in your sewing space or with a quilt on your lap to get in your 15 minutes of stitching time.  

In spite of the weird and wacky week we've had, I did pretty well on finding time to stitch a bit each day. 

15 minutes stitching days/week = 7/7 days
15 minutes stitching days/November = 29/30 days
15 minutes stitching days/December = 1/1 days
15 minutes stitching days 2018 = 315/335
Success rate = 94.03%

It's been a good year on the finding time to stitch front, but December is my most challenging month.  Looking at my trends, I usually end up with stitching time half for 14 to 17 days during this month.  Maybe I'll do better this year.  You can share how well you did at finding time to stitch at the bottom of the post. 

Finding time to stitch has gone really well this year, but it's not jacked up the stash report as I had hoped.  

Fabric used this week = 1.02 yards
Fabric used in 2018 = 41.19 yards
More in then out for 2018

A few quilts just need borders and backing before they are ready to go out for quilting.  Maybe I can make that happen when I'm off after the Christmas.  But it's going to be a busy month till then.  Linking up with Quiltpaintcreate for the weekly stash report. 

In continuing the end of the year is neigh theme,   I've been contemplating 2019 plans, not just what I'm going to work on but how to stay organized and focused on moving projects along.  For me that means tracking progress and generating lists.  Due to a massive computer failure in 2014 where I lost all of my tracking documents, I switched my back up tracking to a paper notebook, a semi-bullet journal if you will.  Artistic I'm not and I have really crappy handwriting, so paper is not my friend.  Paper journals don't really work for me.  A potential new tracking tool was introduced to me at work, Microsoft OneNote. Documents reside in the Cloud so they are accessible to multiple devices.  More importantly, they won't disappear if your computer dies.  Since I have to start using this tool at work, it seemed wise to play around with it at home.  One of the first things I tried was setting up a template for my monthly priority list. 

  
Like a notebook, each tab can have multiple pages.  So in the Priority List tab I have a page for November and December.  I added the photos because that tells me at a glance exactly where it quilt was when I left off working on it.  Under the WIPs tab, I created graphic to track the specific stages that have been completed for a quilt. 

Under the Monthly and Quarterly Goals Tab, there is a list of the monthly OMG and 2018 Finish Along goals. 

Under the Quilt Plan 2019, I've been making notes and playing with what projects go on the list. 

So if you are looking for a way to stay organized and focused, OneNote might be something to play with.  I can access all of this on my phone if I want too.  Which is nice when I'm traveling and don't want to fire up the computer.  

Here's Mr. Linky so you can share how well you are doing at finding time to stitch. 

1. Julie in GA 2. Connie 3. maggie f

4. Marti 5. Shasta 6. Meloney

7. Aileen 8. Kathleen Mary 9. Christina's Handicrafts

Powered by... Mister Linky's Magical Widgets.

November - Where Did It Go and Where I have I Been?

As I was drinking my coffee and checking out a few blogs this morning, it slowly dawned on me that today was the first of December (You think I would have noted the date that is so very helpfully located on the task bar).  I completely missed the November One Monthly Goal Link up.  

Probably just as well it was out of sight, out of mind as there was almost zero progress on my OMG for November.  The plan was to piece a backing for Inverted Star.  The only progress on that front is that I've searched the stash and found the fabric for the backing. It's been blessed by the Scientist in Training.  

But that is as far as I got on the November goal.  

So what did get done last month? The label for the Halloween Mystery Quilt (BOO) is ready to go. 

I'm really happy with how it turned out.  I hope to get the binding made and get this quilt finished off in the next week or so.  Yes I know the label says finished in November and it's already December. That sometimes happens to me where I'm off by a month on my labels.  My logic is that years from now, one month isn't really going to matter much.  

So what did I work on in November?

Christmas Mystery designed by Carrie Randall (Quilter's Hideaway

The blocks for the Christmas Mystery quilt are all finished and sashed.  As soon as I finish this post, I'm heading to the sewing room to finish the borders.  The last class to show off our finishes is this morning, so I'm going to see what I can get done between now and then.  I'm hoping to get this quilt out to Trudy for quilting after Christmas to keep it off the UFO list.  

The other distraction in November was the kick off of Bonnie Hunter's annual mystery quilt.  I really, really don't need another project, but I'm playing along anyway.  I'm up to 20 plus 4-patches, plus have sewn and trimmed two HSTs from clue 2.  What gets done, gets done.  I'm just enjoying the process on this one.  

So ends the 7th month out of 11 that I've not made my OMG goal.  I'm not going to be sad about that, progress was made, just not on what I'd planned.  Not sure what I'm going to do for December.  Crazy will get crazier this month. I have two big projects with December 31st deadlines. Add in the holiday shopping, wrapping and family time, it's not likely I'll have much time to stitch.  I'll pick something, but it's likely to be something really easy.  I'd like to end the year on a high note.