Week 26 of 2019: Stitching and Stashing

Summer is definitely here. It's not quite scorching out yet, but we are definitely getting there.  It was a good week to take refuge in the coolness of the sewing room. That made it easy to get in some good stretches of stitching time this week.  Did you have an easy time finding your way to your sewing room for some stitching time this week?

I didn't have to bring work home this week, which made for a productive week in the sewing room. 

15 minute days/week = 7/7 days
15 minute days/June = 21/29 days
15 minute days/2019 = 157/180 days
Success rate = 87.22%

I'm not doing as well as I'd like with the success rate, but life happens.  There are still 6 months of 2019 left, so I hope to get back on track before the end of the year. 

The stash management isn't going so well either this year.  I gave into temptation last week and added a bit of fabric. It was all on sale is my only defense.  

Fabric out this week = 0.11 yards
Fabric out for 2019 = 27.92 yards
More fabric in than out

There are three quilts that are close to becoming finished flimsies, so hopefully making the backs reverse the tide to more out than in. 

Besides stitching, I have been playing around with the camera just a bit. The late spring wildflowers are starting to fade, but they still drew a number of butterflies this week.  

A Gulf Fritillary getting dinner from a Black Eyed Susan

I'm hoping to get in some good stitching time this week.  How did last week week go for you?  

1. Pack Rat With a Plan 2. karen 3. Chrisknits

4. Julie in GA 5. MaryR @Urban Quilter 6. di

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

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Wrapping up the June One Monthly Goal

It's been pretty much a do nothing Saturday.  We woke up and found three college girls asleep in the living room. The Scientist in training was home for the first time since summer semester started. This was the first chance since Christmas that the high school girlfriend pack has been able to meet up. So that meant I couldn't do too much of anything around the house. Which was 100% OK with me.  Work was just weird and wired this week, I was ready for a day of down time. 

It's the next to last day of June, which means it's past time to finish up this month's One Monthly Goal. 

My June goal was to finish off the Christmas Angels quilt. Actually, stitching down the binding got done last night, but I had to wait till we had good lighting in the library to get the final photos. Even with good daylight, the colors look a bit flat.  It really is much brighter in person.  

Christmas Angels (Heavenly Hosts)
Pattern by Kate
Started July 6, 2013, Finished June 29, 2019 

 Looking at the starting and finishing dates, almost exactly six years from when I started cutting the fabrics to when I finished the binding. 

Trudy's quilting is always gorgeous.  It's hard to tell in the photo but the thread is actually a gold color and has just a bit of shimmer to it.  Very festive, without screaming Christmas. 

Christmas Angels was number three on the 2019 Quilt Plan, which was supposed to have been finished in March.  Better late than never.  The last two finishes have been Christmas quilts.  So I'll have one for me to decorate and one for my SIL to use this holiday season.  

Linking up with Elm Street Quilts for the June One Monthly Goal. This is finish #3 for 2019 and takes the UFO count down by one, so it seems like a good fit to also link up with Tish's Adventures in Wonderland's  UFO Busting post. Christmas Angels was also on my Second Quarter 2019 Finish Along list. So I'll be linking up with the 2019 Finish Along - Second Quarter when that post comes out next week.  

Bordering on Finishes

Yesterday was dreary and rainy.  Perfect for spending some significant time in the sewing room.  The word of the day was borders.  I'm on the last border for Vintage Dresses.  It's too big to go up on the design wall now, so no photos.  It would be nice if I was looking for backing fabric for that project by next weekend.  Storm at Sea has one border strip sewn on, with the second strip cut to size and ready to pin before stitching. 

The only non-border sewing this weekend was on the Daisy Chain Mystery quilt. 

 Daisy Chain Mystery
2019 Little Bunny Quilts Mystery
by Alison of Honey, Bunny & Doll Designs

All the rows are sewn together.  Is it a finished flimsy?  The plan was to add a couple of borders if there as enough fabric left over.  There's enough of one tan, but not of the red or the black paisley.  So would a coordinated print work?  

Here are the left overs from the fabric pull.  I like the tan, but I'm not sure about the rose print.  Since I'm working on borders for two other quilts, maybe I'll just leave this pinned up to the design wall and see how I feel about it by the end of the week.  There might be enough of the red or black paisley for a very narrow border and then end with a tan border. But there's not enough of the tan for a very wide border.   I should probably check the yardage of all the left overs to see what's possible on that front.  

Linking up with Monday Design Wall, and Monday Making.  Then I'll finish my coffee and try to get caught up with email and blog reading before heading into the office. Fingers crossed that the work crazy stuff is over and work will stay at work this week.  

Week 25 of 2019: Stitching Stuff

We are just a week shy of being half way through 2019.  Can you believe that?  I'm definitely not as far along with the UFO list as I'd hoped to be.  Unfortunately, finding stitching time has been harder this year than it was last year.  Some days finding even just 15 minutes has been difficult. 

This week was another rough one on the work front.  Work had to come home two nights so I could finish off the midyear reviews.  That didn't leave much time/energy to fit in some stitching time those evenings.  Here's the damage for the week. 

15 minute days/week =  5/7 days
15 minute days/June = 14/22 days
15 minute days/2019 = 150/173 days
Success Rate = 86.71%

My goal for 2019 was to work towards a 90% success rate.  I have half the year to see if I can recover that.

My lack of stitching time shows up in stash report too. 

Fabric out this week = 0.15 yards
Fabric out for 2019 = 27.29 yards

There are three projects in the current rotation that need borders, Vintage Dresses, Storm at Sea and Daisy Chain.  So in the near future each quilt will need a backing. That should really help with the stash numbers over the next couple of months.  

So how did your stitchy week go? 

1. Chrisknits 2. Pack Rat With a Plan 3. karen

4. Julie in GA 5. Mary-Kay 6. Meloney

7. Angie in SoCal 8. DawnyK 9. Amanda

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Bits and Pieces of Stitching

Last week was busy.  Work took over a few mornings and evenings so I could meet a project deadline.  We spent the first part of the weekend carrying our old couch into and out of  a rental truck for transport to the Scientist in Training's new apartment. The couch is 20 plus years old and after all those years of being the prime location for TV watching and sleep overs, it's showing it's age.  But the SIT gets a reduction in rent if they provide their own furniture and as she pointed out, the price is right if it's free. After wrestling the couch into it's new home, we stayed for the weekend to hang out and help out with a few odds and ends that needed to be done.  So there's not much to show on the stitching front. 

The one monthly goal is to get the binding on Christmas Angels. 

   

The hand stitching has almost reached the end of the first side. This quilt is 80" square, so it's not going to be a quick finish. The greens are really much brighter and prettier then shows in the photo.  They look really gray under the light in my sewing room. 

There's not much up on the design wall to look at.  I'm working on the borders for Vintage Dresses and Storm at Sea.

These parts and pieces are pinned and ready for me to get back to stitching tonight.

I'm hoping this week is better on the stitching front. Work is still going to be nuts, it's midyear review time.  Maybe I'll pencil in a sew day for next weekend, I could definitely use a sanity break.

Week 24 of Stashing and Stitching

We all have those weeks were things don't go to plan.  That's been this week for me.  Deadlines at work, family plans and health issues have kept me off the home computer and out of the sewing room.  Fitting in even just 15 minutes was more of a challenge than I could manage a few days this week. Hopefully your efforts to fit in a bit of stitching time went much better than mine did.

Here's the damage.

15 minute days/week = 3/7 days
15 minute days/June = 9/15 days
15 minute days/2019 = 145/166 days
Success Rate = 87.35%

It was just one of the weeks where things just conspired against me.  Too much time on the computer to finish a report aggravated my neck issues, so in order to get over that, no home computer or sewing time.  There are just weeks like that.

On the stash front, I made up for my enforced no stitching time by adding to the stash.  Thankfully the muscle strain has healed, so I expect to get in some good stitching time this afternoon. That should keep me from making any additional stash additions.  

So how was your stitchy week?  

1. Pack Rat With a Plan 2. Julie in GA 3. karen 4. Chrisknits

5. Meloney 6. MaryR @Urban Quilter 7. DawnyK 8. Amanda

9. Shasta 10. Christina's Handicrafts

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Odds and Ends Stitching

It was a nice quiet weekend. The Scientist in Training is settling into her new apartment back at school.  So in one way it was just way too quiet. These days it seems we just get used to having her around and then she's gone again.  I'm aware this will get worse going forward, so I'll enjoy having her just two hours away while it lasts.  

There's not much on the design walls at the moment.  I've made a good start on the square in a square blocks for the Storm at Sea pieced border.

I need 18 of these blocks, so I'm just over one third of the way there. 

There's another border in the works for Vintage Dresses. 

The quilt looks unfinished with out the last two borders, so I'm stitching the strips for the last colored border. 

The One Monthly Goal is to get Christmas Angels bound.  The binding is made, the quilt is trimmed up and I made a start on attaching the binding. 

Only one side is sewn to the front, so three more left to go.  

It certainly seems like slow going, but one project is close to a finish and three more are close to being finished flimsies. Really not bad progress for being not quite halfway through the year.  That would suggest at least four more finishes are possible for 2019.  Fingers crossed on that becoming a reality.  Linking up with the usual Monday show and tell linkies:  Monday Making, Design Wall Monday, and Main Crush Monday.   

Week 23 of 2019: Stitching and De-Stashing

Weekends go so fast. I'm not ready for it to be Sunday.  At least I'll have this afternoon to play with my sewing machine and get in a bit more than 15 minutes of stitching time. 

It wasn't one of my better weeks for working in stitching time.  Being out of the office for a few days, put me behind enough that a bit of overtime was required to get back on track. Consequently, the stitching time suffered a bit. 

15 minute days/week = 5/7 days
15 minute days/June = 6/8 days
15 minute days/2019 = 142/159 days
Success rate = 89.31%

I'm a bit off track on my success rate, hopefully I'll get back on track this week.  How did you do at working in stitching time?  You can link up and share at the end of this post. 

The stash report is a bit anemic this week.

Fabric out this week = 0.06 yards
Fabric out for 2019 = 26.59 yards
More out than in for 2019 

At least there was nothing new coming in.  Linking up with Quiltpaintcreate for the weekly stash report. 

We were in Colorado last weekend.  It had been very wet and cool here in Oklahoma prior to our trip.  The rain hasn't stopped, but it has warmed up.  The wildflowers are finally starting to bloom.  The Black Eyed Susans are blooming profusely now. 

I've not had a chance to get out for a walk to see what else is blooming.  Hopefully that will happen this next week, along with some dedicated stitching time.  

So how are you doing at finding some stitching time each day? 

1. Pack Rat With a Plan 2. karen 3. Julie in GA

4. Meloney 5. Chrisknits 6. DawnyK

7. Amanda 8. Christina's Handicrafts

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The June To Do List

Wow, already one week into June!  Since we were in Colorado the first few days, it's taken a bit to get back into the groove at home  The Scientist in Training headed back to school last night. So the house feels pretty empty.  I've been playing catch up with work stuff, so there hasn't been much computer or sewing time since we got back.  I hadn't given much thought to this month's quilty to do list or to what is June's One Monthly Goal.

Only two quilts have come off the quilt plan for the year.  Next on that list is Christmas Angels.

Christmas Angels
Pattern by Kate

It's back from quilting, so it just needs to be bound.  That's definitely my June One Monthly Goal. 

But there's some other things that should really be on the to do list.  Number 4 on the 2019 Quilt Plan is Vintage Dresses.  I stopped at 4 of the 6 borders that were planned, trying to decide if it needs the last two or if I should just stop.  It's getting pretty big with just the 4.  Sorry no photos on the progress for this one.  I'm hoping to make a decision on the borders and get the backing made so this project can go out for quilting before the end of the month. 

Two new projects have been started this year and to finish off my PHD, both should be finished by years end.  The first is Storm at Sea.  It's all sewn together and I've started working on the pieced border blocks. Here's the current plan.  

 Storm at Sea
Paper Piecing Class by Carrie Randell (Quilter's Hideaway)

I'm hoping to get the pieced border completed on this project before the end of June.  

The second new project is the Daisy Chain Mystery.

Daisy Chain Mystery
2019 Little Bunny Quilts Mystery
by Alison of Honey, Bunny & Doll Designs

The blocks need to be sewn together and I'm going to add a couple of borders.  I'm just hoping to get all the blocks sewn together this month.  Not sure I'll get any farther than that.  I'm considering adding a border. We'll see how that plays out. 

That's enough for one month.

Design Wall Updates

The typical Monday design wall post is a bit late today.  There just wasn't time this morning to write one. I was busy sitting on suitcases to zip them up so we could catch our flight home. We spent a long weekend looking at scenery like this.  

That's definitely not the view from our dining room window.  We spent an extra long weekend in Colorado hiking, riding trains, 

checking out the old silver mines, 

and the odd optical illusion.

We had a lot of fun. But I'm glad to be home.  Most of my week was spent on hand stitching in the evenings when we were chilling from all the other fun stuff. But before we left for the airport last Wednesday afternoon, I did manage to get all the blocks of the Storm at Sea quilt sewn together.

 Storm at Sea
Paper Piecing Class by Carrie Randell (Quilter's Hideaway)

I've even made start on the pieced border, but there's not much to show on that as yet. 

With all the SAS blocks sewn together, that project could come off the big design wall and the completed blocks from the Daisy Chain Mystery quilt went up.

Daisy Chain Mystery
2019 Little Bunny Quilts Mystery
by Alison of Honey, Bunny & Doll Designs

I'm really happy how the fabric choices worked out. Now to get this sewn into a flimsy so I can link up with Alison's final linky party.  There are some really fun versions already posted there.  

I'm belatedly linking up with Monday Making and the Monday Design Wall.  

Week 22 of 2019: Stitching and Stashing

It's been a slower paced week, thankfully.  It helped that we took time off work and spent the long weekend doing family stuff.  The Scientist in Training heads back to college next Monday. A family vacation didn't fit into her schedule during the break between spring and summer semesters. It's been peaceful and restful, which is what all three of us needed.  I've been stitching as that's my zen space, but I mixed it up a bit for the long weekend. How have you been doing at working in a few minutes of sanity stitching each day?

I did much better at fitting in stitching time this week.

15 minute days/week = 7/7 days

15 minute days/May = 28/31 days

15 minute days/June = 1/1 day

15 minute days/2019 = 137/152 days

Success rate = 90.13%

I'm back up to stitching 90% of the time, that's my goal for 2019.  Hopefully, this month will be slower than last month. It's definitely gotten off to a slower start.  I brought out the long term embroidery project to keep my hands busy while we were just hanging out in the evenings this weekend.

I finished the tan and orange butterfly in the upper right and a bit of greenery.  So the panel is just about one third complete.  This isn't my oldest project, but it's been in the works for seven years.  So this is definitely my slow stitching project for the week.  You can check out other slow stitching projects over at Kathy's Quilts.  

We have been running around a bit this weekend, it hasn't all been just hanging out together in the living room. On one of our excursions, I popped into the quilt shop and came out with a bit of fabric.  

Actually the SIT found this fun rainbow batik.  She thought it would make a nice border for one of my rainbow quilts.  I agreed, so a few yards came home with me. So the stash report took a tiny hit. 

Fabric out this week = 1.01 yards

Fabric out for 2019 = 26.53 yards

Still more out than in for 2019 

So even with my addition, I'm still in the black.  My goal is to use more than I buy in 2019.  So far, so good there. Linking up with Quiltpaintcreate for the stash report.  

So how did your stitchy week work out? 

1. Julie in GA 2. Pack Rat With a Plan 3. karen 4. MaryR @Urban Quilter

5. Chrisknits 6. Mary-Kay 7. di 8. Jennifer in Indy

9. Amanda 10. Shasta 11. DawnyK 12. Christina's Handicrafts

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