Life In Pieces: February 2019

Monday, February 25, 2019

Weekend Stitching: Moving Things Along

This weekend just flew by. We judged Science Fair Saturday morning, then headed out of town to see the Scientist in Training. She's a bit slammed with homework and exams, so couldn't come home this weekend. So we took her out to dinner on Saturday night and then to brunch on Sunday before we headed back. It was a quick trip, but a good one. She'll be home for spring break in about 3 weeks.

We were off work Friday, so I spent as much time as I could in the sewing room, it was too cold and rainy to do much else. By mid Friday afternoon, I'd finished my February One Monthly Goal.

The plan for February was to get all the borders on the Christmas Angels quilt.

Christmas Angels
Pattern by Kate

All those borders are now in place, Christmas Angels is a finished flimsy. I'm really happy with how this quilt turned out, though the photo's not great. I just didn't have time to get a good one with all the other stuff going on this weekend. It's easier to see that the dark fabric is green from the right side of the photo. Here's a close up that shows the fabrics better.

The quilt has not been pressed yet, so please ignore all the wrinkles.

The backing fabrics have been selected from the stash, a piecing plan worked out, the fabrics cut to size and stitching started. So I should have a back ready before next weekend. Then comes the not fun step of cleaning up the loose threads and pressing both the flimsy and the back. My least favorite step of the process. Even so, I'm hoping to have this project sent off to be quilted before mid-March.

That's it for me this week. Linking up with:

Sunday, February 24, 2019

Week 8 of 2019: Stitching and De-Stashing

It's been a busy weekend. We judged the senior division at the District Science Fair yesterday. After that we hit the road to pay the SIT a visit. She was supposed to come home this weekend, but her homework load and test schedule wasn't cooperating. Finding time to stitch with all that going on has been a bit of a challenge.

So it wasn't a perfect week on the stitching front, but it wasn't all bad.

15 minutes stitching days/week = 6/7 days
15 minutes stitching days/Feb = 22/23 days
15 minutes stitching days/2019 = 51/54 days
Success Rate = 94.44%

Some weeks there are just days you can't fit in that 15 minutes of playing with fabric. Hopefully your week was better on that front. You can share how your stitchy week went at the end of the post.

The stash report shows a nice chunk of fabric out for the week (at least for me anyway).

Fabric out this week = 1.36 yards
Fabric out in 2019 = 10.31 yards
More out than in for 2019

I'm back in the black with more fabric used than added to the stash. Part of that was the final borders for Christmas Angels. Now it needs a back pieced, so next week should be a good one too on the stash front. You can find more stash reports over at Quiltpaintcreate.

The other bit of fabric out for the week was the binding for Inverted Star.

Sewing the binding to the front of the quilt happened Friday and I even got a start on the hand stitching it on the back. I'm hoping to get back to some more slow stitching this afternoon during the NASCAR race. You can check out more slow stitching over at Kathy's Quilts.

Overall it was a really good week. The Christmas Mystery Quilt is on the way back from being quilted, Christmas Angels is a finished flimsy and Inverted Star is well on it's way to being finished. Not bad progress for week 8.

So how successful were you on the time management front this week?

1. Chrisknits
2. Meloney
3. maggie f

4. Marti
5. Shasta
6. Amanda

7. Deana
8. Christina's Handicrafts

Tuesday, February 19, 2019

Daisy Chain Mystery Quilt Along - Ready to Stitch

I'm a fan of mysteries in any medium; books, movies and quilt alongs. Some mysteries start off with a bang, others start off quietly allowing you to get to know the characters as the mystery unfolds. Mystery quilt alongs have that slow build, first you develop your characters (select your fabrics) and then you begin the character development (cutting those fabrics). Alison released the cutting instructions for the Daisy Chain Mystery Quilt Along yesterday.

I'm making the throw sized quilt so it didn't take me too long to develop my cast for the mystery.

The beige in the upper left is my setting, the black paisley is the protagonist, the red check is the foil and the tan/brown fabrics are the rest of the supporting cast. Alison suggested not cutting all your coordinating strips so you can select which colors you want to use as you go along. I have two coordinating prints that I'm not sure how they will work with the rest of the quilt.

I didn't cut either of these. I'm waiting to see how those supporting fabrics are used and if they really blend with the rest of the fabrics. I may end up using the rose print as a border if it doesn't end up as a coordinate in the quilt. Another thing to like about mystery quilt alongs is that you can choose your own ending.

Like any good mystery, I can't wait to see what's next. It's two more weeks till clue three, so you've got plenty of time to catch up. The Daisy Chain Mystery fabric requirements are posted here. I hope you'll play along because it's fun to see how different settings and characters affect the end result.

Monday, February 18, 2019

Weekend Stitching: What's Next, The Down Side of Multi-Tasking

We talked with the Scientist in Training last night. She said she was really sad at how fast Sunday came this week. The semester is going so fast, but yet the weeks seem to drag. Yep, that's how I'm feeling about this winter. Half way through February, but boy getting from Monday to Friday at work has been a chore!

It was nice to spend some quality time in the sewing room over the weekend. By Sunday though, I realized it was time to stop and take stock of what each project needed to keep moving it towards a finish.

First up was Inverted Star. The SIT finally wrote a message for the label. So that got printed up, rinsed and laid out to dry. So it should be ready to use today. Next step was to figure out what to use for the binding.

Since the quilt is for on of the SITs buddies, I let her choose. She went with the darker blue.

The binding strips are all cut and I've started sewing them together.

The Christmas Mystery quilt finally made it to the post office last week (between work and the weather, that wasn't an easy task). Trudy is now contemplating how to quilt it. I need to finish the label, so it's ready to go when the quilt comes back in another week or so.

The last round of borders is going on Christmas Angels. The quilt has gotten too big to photograph on the design wall so no photos. Just two more strips and it will be a finished flimsy. So it's time to raid the stash for a backing fabric.

The stack of Good Fortune blocks is growing.

Good Fortune, 2018 Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt

I was contemplating changing the layout to a 5 x 7 block setting with sashing to help the black blend in. If I do that, the border blocks which have already been made won't fit right. I don't have enough blocks for the 5 X 7 setting, so for now I'll make enough blocks for that setting and then reassess. I really need to play with the potential borders in EQ so I know how many blocks to make and where I'm going with this project so it doesn't stall.

Next up was to figure out where I'm going with On Ringo Lake, my leaders and enders project.

On Ringo Lake
Bonnie Hunter 2017 Mystery Quilt

I've got 22 blocks finished. I need 32 for my on point layout. I have all the nine patches needed for the centers, but need more flying geese and HSTs. I need to cut the fabric to finish those remaining 10 blocks. I also still need to make all the sashing pieces too. There was a stack of black squares that had been cut to the wrong size for the flying geese. Those were trimmed up to use on the sashing strips. I'll stitch on the sashing pieces till I get a chance to cut a bit more fabric to finish the blocks.

Hopefully if I stick to my new to do list, there will be a couple of finishes to celebrate soon. Linking up with:

Monday Making
Monday Design Wall

Sunday, February 17, 2019

Week 7 of 2019: Stitching and De-Stashing

February is half over, hopefully that means that winter is on it's way out. Though you certainly wouldn't know it based on the weather. I'm ready to be done with the ice, it took us 15 minutes to clean off the car so we could get home on Friday. On the plus side, this is perfect stitching weather. Not much better than hanging out with a warm iron and the sewing machine on those icy days. Have you been able to take advantage of the weather to get in some good stitching time?

My stitching week was pretty good.

15 minutes stitching days/week = 7/7 days
15 minutes stitching days/Feb = 16/16 days
15 minutes stitching days/2019 = 45/47 days
Success Rate = 95.74%

You can link up at the bottom of the post to share how well you did at working stitching time into your day.

My other weekly quilty metric is going in the right direction.

Fabric out this week = 0.80 yards
Fabric out in 2019 = 8.95 yards
More in than out for 2019

I'm slowing recovering from the fabric purchase last month. Another week or so and I should be back to more out than in. That's the goal this year, to use more than I buy. Linking up with Quiltpaintcreate for the weekly stash report.

The only sign of spring around here are the flowers My Guy sent me for Valentine's Day.

I've enjoyed the pop of color. It's been pretty dreary the past few days.

So how's it going in your sewing room?

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

4. Marti
5. Shasta
6. Meloney F

7. di
8. Amanda
9. Christina's Handicrafts

Monday, February 11, 2019

Weekend Stitching: Steady Progress

It was a good weekend to stay in and sew, which is pretty much what I did. British Baking on Netflix and a few cups of coffee, made for some very relaxing stitching time.

First on the list was round two of borders for the Christmas Angels quilt.

Christmas Angels, Pattern by Kate

The quilt is really straight, the photo was taken at an odd angle as the quilt has gotten to big to photograph easily. Just one more beige border and it will be time to add the final dark green border. So I'm on track with my February One Monthly Goal.

The Good Fortune blocks had to come down to put up the Angels flimsy.

Good Fortune, 2019 Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt

As the number of blocks on the design wall increase, the better I like it. I've decided to go for a 5 X 7 block layout. So I'm just over half way done with making the blocks.

Lastly, I finished the 4th red Wild and Goosey block.

Modified Wild and Goosey
Based on Bonnie Hunter's pattern in Addicted to Scraps

So I could lay them out to see how one block is going to look. I'm really happy with how these are working out. I need to get started on making some yellow ones this week.

That's pretty much it from the sewing room. I am hoping to take my bonus day off this Friday, but with everything going on at work, that may not happen. Fingers crossed there.

Linking up with:

Monday Making
Main Crush Monday
Monday Design Wall

Sunday, February 10, 2019

Week 6 of 2019: Stitching and De-Stashing

Where did this week go? Friday is the 15th of the month, so we are already almost halfway through February. Work has been definitely unfun the last week, but at least the sciatic nerve pain is almost gone. The challenge with getting in my 15 minutes this week was just having the energy to climb the stairs to the sewing room. How have you been doing on getting in at least 15 minuets to stitch each day?

It wasn't a bad week, but I just met the 15 minutes a couple of nights, bed was just more attractive than staying up and stitching.

15 minutes stitching days/week = 7/7 days
15 minutes stitching days/Feb = 9/9 days
15 minutes stitching days/2019 = 38/40 days
Success Rate = 95%

Even just 15 minutes can add up during the week. You can share how well you did with finding stitching time in your day at the bottom of the post.

There's a bit of stash going out this week.

Fabric out this week = 0.47 yards
Fabric out in 2019 = 8.15 yards
More in than out for 2019

Another week and I should back to more out than in for 2019. Linking up with Quiltpaintcreate for the weekly stash report.

There were a couple of nights where there just wasn't energy to stitch, so I spent some time with EQ working on a setting for the scrappy butterfly blocks. That project is number 9 on my quilt plan for this year, but I'm still not sure how I want to set the blocks yet. Here's my top two options at the moment.

I didn't finish coloring all the flowers in the second mock up, but the flowers would all be scrappy. The blocks in the mock up are just place holders, there is a paper pieced rose from Jikta Designs that would go in those slots. The first design is my favorite so far, but I'm not 100% sold on it, so I keep playing. Hopefully by the time I get to #9 on my list, I'll know how I want to set those blocks.

How successful were you at finding time to stitch this week?

1. Chrisknits
2. maggie f
3. Meloney

4. Marti
5. Mary-Kay
6. Shasta

7. MaryR @Urban Quilter
8. Amanda
9. Deana

Wednesday, February 6, 2019

February One Monthly Goal - Still Dithering

Tomorrow is the 7th of February and I've yet to choose a One Monthly Goal for February.

I'm having a hard time deciding between three different goals.

1. Inverted Star is quilted and just needs to have the label completed, the binding made and then sewn on. Here's the Scientist in Training approved label.

Unfortunately, the SIT is studying for her Organic I exam on Friday this week, so it's not likely I'll get anything from her before the weekend. But then she has a physics test and a differential equations test the following week, so I may not get anything out of her till the end of the month. Maybe it's best to decide on what to use for the binding, get that made, but not try to get this one completely done by the end of the month. So what else is on the list as a potential OMG?

2. Christmas Angels needs the borders added, backing made and to be prepped for quilting.

Christmas Angels, Pattern by Kate

It's been crazy at work, plus it's a short month. I could probably get the borders added by the end of the month, but not the backing and the prepping. Or I could go completely off script for February's OMG.

3. Get all the pieces cut for a new mystery quilt along over at Little Bunny Quilts.

The cutting instructions come out the 18th, so I'd still have time to get that done by the end of the month. But the push for this year was to focus on the older quilts on the UFO list. So hmmm.

So what's my February OMG? I'm going to stick to my plan to focus on getting projects moved off the UFO list. The most doable thing that adheres to the 2019 plan is getting the borders on the Christmas Angels quilt. So that's the goal for Febuary 2019. If I get the backing made, that will be a bonus.

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

Tuesday, February 5, 2019

Daisy Chain Mystery - The Fabric Pull

I love a good mystery, book wise and quilt wise. Alison of Little Bunny Quilts kicked off the Daisy Chain Mystery Quilt Along yesterday. Resistance was futile, I'm in!

The fabric requirements were posted yesterday, everything from baby sized to queen sized. I'm going for the 60" square throw size. Picking fabrics for a mystery is both fun and terrifying. One of my rules for participating in mystery quilts is that all the fabrics have to come from the stash. The pull for this quilt came together pretty quickly.

The beige with white flowers in the upper left corner is my background. The black paisley is the focus fabric, the red check next to it is the accent fabric. All the fabrics across the bottom are the "assorted scraps". I'm not sure I'm going to use all of them, but I have plenty to play with. All but the brown plaid in the lower right are left overs from other quilts. It will be nice to get them out of the stash and into a finished quilt.

Cutting instructions come out on February 18th, so you have plenty of time to raid the stash. Hope you decide to stitch along.

Monday, February 4, 2019

Weekend Stitching: This and That

It was nice to have a slower paced weekend. The Aleve hasn't worked miracles, but I was able to sleep through the night last night and can walk without pain today. Fingers crossed that sciatic nerve problem is in remission for now. Even better, being able to navigate the stairs meant there was actually some progress in the sewing room this weekend.

First off the list was the Christmas Mystery quilt.

The flimsy has been de-threaded and pressed. I need to check out what other boxes are in the attic, this one is a bit big. This mystery quilt should make it to the post office sometime this week.

Now that the Christmas Mystery quilt is ready to go out for quilting and Inverted Star is not yet back from the quilter, it was time to work on number 3 on my 2019 quilt plan, Christmas Angels.

Christmas Angels
Pattern by Kate

The first two side borders are on. I've got the top and bottom border strips ready to go. These skinny red borders will be followed by a beige border and the quilt will be finished off with a dark green border. The borders should get done this month and maybe the backing. Not sure it will get prepped for quilting, but it will definitely be closer to being finished. This quilt was started in 2013, it's definitely time to get it off the UFO list.

I'm still slowly moving along with the Good Fortune blocks.

Good Fortune
2019 Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt

I've decided to reduce the size of this one to 5 blocks by 7 blocks. I've also been playing around in EQ, adding a black or purple sashing helps the incorporate the black into the design better. So I will probably go that route. Not sure what I'm going to do about the borders. I'll cross that bridge when I get there. I do hope to be able to use some of the border blocks that have already been made, but we'll see how that goes when I get that far.

Good Fortune is probably coming off the design wall this month and going inactive as there is a new project waiting in the wings.

The Daisy Chain Mystery Quilt along over at Little Bunny Quilts kicks off today with the posting of the fabric requirements. Alison has hosted a number of quilt alongs and I've always passed, but this one looked like fun.

Now it's time to get ready for work. Bummer. Linking up with the usual Monday linky parties.

Main Crush Monday
Monday Making
Monday Design Wall

Sunday, February 3, 2019

Week 5 of 2019: Stitching and De-Stashing

Thank goodness for weekends. I needed this one. Work has been super stressful, which is probably contributing to the sciatic nerve issues that have slowed me down this week. It's been hard to climb the stairs after work, so my stitching time has been more focused on playing with quilt designs. I can stand at our bar height table and play on the computer. Necessary as sitting has been painful too. How have you been doing with finding 15 minutes to stitch each day this week?

I did manage the sewing room a couple of nights, with that and the design time here's how the week worked out.

15 minutes stitching days/week = 7/7 days

15 minutes stitching days/Jan = 29/31 days

15 minutes stitching days/Feb = 2/2 days

15 minutes stitching days/2019 = 31/33 days

Success Rate = 93.94%

You can link up at the bottom of the post to share how your stitching week went.

A lot of the time in the sewing room was spent prepping The Christmas Mystery quilt for quilting, so what time there was in the sewing room wasn't at the machine. I did get in a bit of actual machine time yesterday.

Fabric out this week = 0.11 yards

Fabric out in 2019 = 7.68 yards

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