Stitching Time: Week 9 of 2021

This week went really quickly.  All of last week's meetings got moved to this week, so I didn't do much else this week. If I wasn't in a meeting, I was getting ready for a meeting. That also meant we were late getting home a few nights this week.  I just barely managed my 15 minutes of stitching time a couple of evenings.

• 15 minute days/week = 7/7 days
• 15 minute days/Feb = 27/27 days
• 15 minute days/2021 = 56/58 days
• Success rate = 96.55%

Still I managed to fit in some sewing room stuff every evening. Every little bit does add up.  I finished the designing and printing the label for the Red, White and Blue Stars quilt.  That set me up to get the label pinned to the quilt so I could sew it on with the binding.  I've just started hand stitching the binding to the back. 

Red, White and Blue Stars, setting self designed

So I'll definitely be doing some slow stitching later today on that binding.  It's been awhile since I've linked up with Kathy's Quilts for Slow Stitching Sunday.  

So how was your stitchy week? Did you get in lots of stitching time or did it seem as if life conspired against you so you did everything but that?

1. DesertSky Quilting 2. Julie in GA 3. Chrisknits 4. karen 5. Ivani

6. Meloney 7. Sherrie 8. Quilting Gail 9. Dq at Dreamworthyquilts 10. Amanda

11. Shasta @ High Road 12. Carol Andrews 13. Jennifer in Indy

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February One Monthly Goal Completed

Yesterday was a stay at home and sew day.  The first thing on my list was getting my February One Monthly Goal completed. 

The plan for this month was to get my version of Grassy Creek, the 2020 Bonnie Hunter Mystery quilt, assembled.  That got done pretty early on during my sewing day. 

Grassy Creek, the 2020 Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt

My deep red looks more brown than red in this photo.  I'm really happy with how my version came together. I had already decided not to add the borders from Bonnie's version. After playing in EQ a bit, I've worked out the borders I want to add. Fingers crossed Grassy Creek will be a finished flimsy in March.  

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

To Do Tuesday for 02/23/2021

Hard to believe it's been a week and it's time for a new to do list.  With all the disruption to normal life my sense of time is a bit warped. After four days of working from home, it was getting hard to remember what day of the week it was.  I can't say there was more stitching time last week, but there was enough to check off most of my to do list. 

Weekly To Do List for 02/16/2021

• Grassy Creek: Assemble rows and pieced borders - progress
• Morewood Mystery: Continue to assemble Block B's ✔
• Unity: Make HSTs for clue 6 as leader and ender ✔

I didn't quite finish off getting Grassy Creek sewn together.  I was going to finish the last of the stitching last night, but the Scientist in Training called for a bit of a catch up as she hadn't called over the weekend due to homework overload. Even so,  two out of three, with significant progress on the third is a really good week. Here's the plan for this week. 

Weekly To Do List for 02/23/2021

Red, White and Blue Stars: Make binding, label, trim quilt, stitch to front. 

Red, White and Blue Stars, self designed

This project showed up in the mail yesterday.  Trudy did a beautiful job with the quilting. I'll show off more of that when I do the final glamour shots.  I'm going to use the red on white print that's in the sashing for the binding.  The plan is to trim the quilt, make the binding, print the label and get the binding sewn to the top of the quilt.  I'll probably be able to start hand stitching it to the back, but even though this is a small lap quilt, I'm not going to get that finished this week. 

Grassy Creek: Finish assembling top, decide on borders

Grassy Greek, the 2020 Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt

All that is left is to sew the bottom pieced border to the top.  Adding borders comes next.  I've not made up my mind on what those borders will be at this point. I need to play in EQ a bit more to see what I can work out.  But I'm close to having a finished quilt top. 

Morewood Mystery: Continue assembling Block B's

Morewood Mystery by Cheryl of Meadow Mist Designs

I'm just about half way done with the Block B's.  RWB Stars and Grassy Creek are the priority projects for now, so there probably won't be a lot of progress on these blocks, but the goal is to just keep it moving.  Once Grassy Creek is off to be quilted, Morewood is my next focus project.  

Unity: Continue to make HSTs for step 6 as leaders and enders

Unity, 2020 Bonnie Hunter Sew-In-Place Quilt Along

Only three blocks for the second border strip are finished. I've got a lot of HSTs still to make to finish off the remaining three border strips. I've got a nice pile of HSTs to make blocks with now, so maybe the block assembly will speed up a bit. Still this is my leader and ender project, so just keeping it moving is the goal.  

That's the list for this week. I'm close to a finished project and a finished quilt top, with good progress on two other projects. So not a bad year so far.  Linking up with Chris Knits for this week's Tuesday to Do.  Good luck with your list for the week.  

The Other Mystery

Most of the snow had melted by yesterday afternoon. It was pretty while it lasted, but I certainly don't miss the bone chilling cold that came with the snow.  It was still mostly dreary weather this weekend, though we never got the rain that was forecast.  It was still good sewing room weather.  

Grassy Creek is still my focus project, but it's been the subject of my design wall post for the last couple of weeks.  So time to switch it up and highlight the other mystery quilt that's taken over the smaller design wall. 

Morewood Mystery by Cheryl of Meadow Mist Designs

Block B is still being assembled at the sewing machines.  I'm just one short of being half way done with that part of the mystery.  Morewood won't take as long to stitch together as Grassy Greek, the blocks are much bigger and there is no sashing.  So I'm hopeful of having two quilts ready for quilting before the end of first quarter.  

Linking up with Monday Making and Design Wall Monday.  Happy stitching this week. 

Stitching Time: Week 8 of 2021

What a week!  Major deep freeze here with lots of snow.  It wasn't usual winter weather, especially for this time of year. But it can and does get really cold here some winters, so Oklahoma is better prepared than Texas. We had power and heat during the worst of it. Hopefully that's the worst of the cold stuff for 2021.  

We worked from home most of the week.  My work day isn't any shorter, but I do get my commute time back when we don't go in to the office. But I do tend to work later when I'm home, so it tends to balance out. Still it was a good week as far as working in some stitching time each day. 

• 15 minute days/week = 7/7 days
• 15 minute days/Feb = 20/20 days
• 15 minute days/2021 = 49/51 days
• Success rate = 96.08%

I've only missed two days of stitching time this year so far.  I'm making good progress on projects as a result of getting in at least a few minutes a day. So it's been a good year for me on the stitching front so far. You can link up at the bottom of the post to share how you've been doing on working in some play time with needle and thread. 

I posted back in January about the Scientist in Training deciding to give embroidery a try. She was looking for something to help her relax with when school gets to be too crazy.  School's been crazy, so she's been attempting to relax a lot.  Look at what she's been working on. 

The Scientist in Training's Embroidery Projects

She's been using YouTube videos to learn any new stitches needed to complete a kit. Though she wants me to help her figure out how to make the  tassels needed to finish off the gray, white and green project. But she's done such a good job on all of these while surviving year 4 of her chemistry program.  She's been getting in her 15 minutes most days, it's how she winds down so she can go to bed.  

That's it for me this week.  How was your stitchy week? 

1. Ivani 2. Julie in GA 3. maggie f 4. Chris in Canada 5. Marti 6. Chrisknits

7. karen 8. Meloney 9. Shasta @ High Road 10. Andree at Quilting & Learning 11. Sherrie 12. DawnyK

13. Amanda 14. Quilting Gail 15. DesertSky Quilting 16. Dq at Dreamworthyquilts 17. Carol Andrews

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To Do Tuesday for 2/16/2021

It snowed more yesterday and stayed really cold. Pretty much the same as the rest of the midwest. We've been lucky so far to avoid the rolling black outs that have affected large areas of Texas. Offices are closed again today, so it will be another virtual office day.  I suspect the rolling black outs have more to do with the office closure then the state of the roads. 

Moving on to the the stitching stuff. It's time review last week's to do list and decide what's on this week's.  Chris of Chris Knits and Sews is taking over the hosting duties for the regular link up.  Thank you Chris.  And a big thank you to Roseanne and Sue of Home Sewn by Us for starting this weekly linky party.  Making a to do list has been a big help in keeping the focus on finishing off a few UFOs.  My to do list for last week looks much like the week before. 

Weekly To Do for 02/09/2021

• Grassy Creek: Assemble blocks ✔
• Morewood Mystery: Continue making Block B ✔
• Unity: Make HSTs for clue 6 as leader and enders ✔

Keeping my list short and focused means it wasn't too hard to check off three of three.  Focusing on just a few projects has been paying off in progress towards a finish, but it does make for rather dull to do lists as mine have stayed pretty much the same for the last few weeks.  Though it has forced me to get a bit creative with my sewing room photography so I'm not showing the exact same thing each week.  Here's this week's list.  

Weekly To Do for 02/16/2021

Grassy Creek: Assemble quilt top

Grassy Creek, the 2020 Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt

Several of the rows are sewn together.  The top half of the quilt top is pinned together and sitting by the sewing machine. There is still one more row of blocks and one more sashing strip to stitch together.  Plus the pieced borders need to be sewn and then attached. But I think all of that is doable over the next week.   

Morewood Mystery: Continue making Block B's

Morewood Mystery by Cheryl of Meadow Mist Designs

I've only finished 3 of the Morewood Block B's so far. Construction of these blocks should speed up as Grassy Creek comes together. The fabric selection really works for this project, so big sigh of relief there.

Unity: Make HSTs for clue 6 as leaders and enders

Unity, 2020 Bonnie Hunter Sew-In-Place Quilt Along

  

Each block in Clue 7 needs 16 of these HSTs.  I chose a different block for this clue than Bonnie used, so I think I'm safe in sharing a the number of subunits needed. I've only got one border strip done, so still need a lot of these HSTs.  

That's the list for this week. Linking up with Chris Knits and Sews for her first linky party as hostess. If you haven't, you should definitely check out Chris's other posts, she always has some really cool projects in the works. 

Snow Stitching

We spent our Valentines Day bundled up in sweaters with our thickest socks on watching it snow. It was a good day to just hang out in the sewing room.  Work is virtual today, so though I won't get any additional stitching time, at least I don't have to layer up and trudge through the cold. 

I didn't get as much stitching time this weekend as usual.  I spent most of Saturday in Tulsa with the Scientist in Training.  We were supposed to have a girls weekend with my mother, but the forecasted snow pretty much nixed that. Thankfully the roads were clear and it was sunny, but cold.  We were able to sneak in an early lunch with just a bit of necessity shopping before we each had to head home. It was nice to just hang out together for the afternoon.  What sewing time I got this weekend was spent on my one monthly goal. 

Grassy Greek, the 2020 Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt

The goal is to get Grassy Creek assembled into a quilt top. By the time I stopped last night all the blocks, all the sashing pieces and all the border subunits are pieced.  The top and bottom rows of sashing and blocks have been sewn together.  I'm happy with how it's coming together. If I can stay focused, meeting my OMG shouldn't be too hard.  There's still half the month left. 

That's pretty much all I have to show for the week.  Linking up with the weekly show and tell posts:  Monday Making and Monday Design Wall.   

Stitching Time: Week 7 of 2021

It's been a week of  icy roads and icy temperatures.   The office was closed Monday and Tuesday, with delayed start on Wednesday.  That meant I worked virtually the first couple of days, then dressed in layers and hiking boots the rest of the week.  It's snowing outside right now.  We're in the 5 to 8 inches accumulation band.  The temperature is 4 F, with the wind chill the temperature drops to -17 F.  It's colder, with more snow or ice in other places. Definitely stitching weather for many of us.

I did stay in and stitch this week.  

• 15 minute days/week = 7/7 days
• 15 minute days/Feb = 14/14 days
• 15 minute days/2021 = 42/44 days
• Success rate = 95.45%

Between working from home and leaving work right at 5 so I could navigate any icy patches while there was still daylight, it was pretty easy to find time to stitch this week.  I'm betting it's going to be the same this week.  

There were some very "chunky" looking robins hanging around this week. 

They were definitely puffed up in an effort to stay warm.  I probably looked much the same when I was bundled up on my way to work. 

So how did your stitching efforts go this week.  Did the winter weather hurt or help on the stitching front this week?   

1. Ivani 2. Shasta @ High Road 3. Julie in GA 4. karen 5. Chrisknits 6. Marti

7. Andree at Quilting & Learning 8. katie z. 9. Meloney 10. Kathleen 11. DawnyK 12. Chris in Canada

13. amanda 14. DesertSky Quilting 15. Quilting Gail 16. Carol Andrews 17. Dq at Dreamworthyquilts

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To Do Tuesday for 2/9/2021

The freezing drizzle stopped over night, but it's still very, very slick. Offices are closed again today, probably because the parking lots are pretty much ice skating rinks.  Even though offices are closed, I'm still expected to work from home virtually, so I'm still limited to stitching this evening after work.  I'm OK with that and just thankful I don't have to get out in the cold today.  

The To Do List from last week included only three items. All three are in the block making stage, which for the Bonnie Hunter mystery projects can take a bit.   

Weekly To Do For 2/2/2021

• Grassy Creek: Assemble blocks ✔
• Morewood Mystery: Start February clue ✔
• Unity: Make HSTs for clue 6 as leader and ender ✔

There was good progress on all three to do's, but each project still needs quite a bit of work before they are finished quilt tops.  This week's to do list is pretty much the same as last week's. 

Weekly To Do for 2/9/2021

Grassy Creek:  Continue making blocks and assembling rows

Grassy Greek, the 2020 Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt

All the sashing and border subunits are completed, but I still need to assemble 4 blocks. I ran out of the gray/yellow HSTs used in the corners of the block,  So those have been added back to the pile of bits and pieces at the sewing machine.  The goal is to just keep assembly moving along. 

Morewood Mystery:  Continue piecing block B

Morewood Mystery by Cheryl of Meadow Mist Designs

One block B is fully assembled and is up on the design wall with block A.  There's not enough up on the design wall yet to get a sense of the full quilt layout.  I'm really happy with my fabric choices, hopefully I'll like the final quilt just as well.  The plan here is just to keep assembling blocks.  

Unity: Continue making HSTs for Clue 6 as leaders and enders

Unity, 2020 Bonnie Hunter Sew-In-Place Quilt Along

As I get the HSTs finished, I'll make a block for clue 7.  One border strip has been sewn to the top, but with Grassy Creek up on the big design wall, I don't have a good spot to photograph the progress. Again the goal is just a bit of progress each week.  

That's my to do list for this week. Linking up with Home Sewn by Us for To Do Tuesday.  

More of the Same

The first text on my phone this morning is that offices are closed.  We've had light freezing rain since yesterday afternoon.  That just means I'm working from home today. But at least I can do that in jeans and won't have to brave the 20 F temperatures to walk across the parking lot. 

There was a fair amount of stitching time this weekend, though it doesn't look like there was a lot of progress on Grassy Creek. 

Grassy Greek, the 2020 Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt

The top  and bottom 2 rows are all sewn together.  All the border pieces are pieced, though the last one is missing from this photo.  I made half of all the subunits for the mystery. That's worked out well, except for the yellow/gray HSTs that make up the corners of the blocks.  I was short on those, thankfully those could be cut from the left over strips.  The HSTs and two more blocks are under construction at the sewing machine, so the last five blocks should be finished by the end of the week.  I wasn't too sure about these colors, but the more I get done the better I like it.  

Linking up with Monday Making and Design Wall Monday for the weekly show and tell. 

Stitching Time Week 6 of 2021

Week 6 of 2021?  The year seems to be passing pretty quickly, January sped by. It seems that with the first week of February in the past as well, this month seems to be keeping pace. It's a shorter month, so it will go even faster. How's your time table looking? On track with your stitching time each week?  

It wasn't too hard to get in some stitching time each day, even with a few overtime days this week. 

• 15 minute days/week = 7/7 days
• 15 minute days/Jan = 29/31 days
• 15 minute days/Feb = 6/6 days
• 15 minute days/2021 = 35/37
• Success rate = 94.6%

I've only missed 2 days of stitching time this year so far. All the stitching time has helped me move forward with four projects so far this year.  How are you doing at finding stitching time?

1. Julie in GA 2. Ivani 3. Chrisknits 4. maggie f 5. karen 6. martha mumaw

7. Chris in Canada 8. Meloney 9. Shasta @ High Road 10. Kathleen 11. Marti 12. DawnyK

13. Amanda 14. Dq at Dreamworthyquilts 15. Quilting Gail 16. Carol from Quilt Schmilt 17. DesertSky Quilting

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February One Monthly Goal

It's been one of those weeks, absolutely nutty at work.  One of my coworkers described yesterday as "the most Mondayed Friday ever".  I was definitely ready for the weekend so I could catch my breath a bit. In contemplating what was on the agenda for the sewing room I realized that I hadn't yet decided on the One Monthly Goal for February. 

That oversight should definitely be remedied.  As usual there are several options to choose from.  Red, White and Blue Stars is quilted, but it's in transit and not actually here.  Considering it took almost three weeks for the last quilt to make it from Trudy to me, it would probably be wise to choose something else that I can actually work on this weekend.

Of the three active projects at the sewing machine, Grassy Creek is probably the closest to being finished. 

Grassy Creek, The 2020 Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt Along

Half the blocks are made for my pared down version.  All the sashing pieces are made and about half the border pieces are completed.  I still haven't worked out what to do for the final border.  Even so, I should be able to finish piecing all the blocks and sew all bits and pieces together.  So a quilt top without the final border is the goal for February's One Monthly Goal. 

Linking up with Elm Street Quilts.  

PHD in 2021: January Progress

The goal this year, like last year, is to work down the UFO list a bit.  Also like last year, I'm playing along with Quilting's Gail PHD in 2021 as one of my motivators.  

My plan is to finish the UFOs while limiting new starts.  I've done really well on not starting anything new, but not so hot on finishing anything as yet.  

But there has been really good progress on the four projects highlighted in blue in my tracking chart. 

Red, White and Blue Stars

Red, White and Blue Stars (Picnic Stars) started the year as a finished quilt top. The back was pieced, the two parts were de-threaded and pressed, then packed up and shipped out for quilting.  This project should be on it's way back from the quilter sometime this month.  So fingers crossed this becomes my first finish in February. 

2020 Bonnie Hunter Sew-In-Place Quilt Along

Unity is my current leader and ender project, so progress has been slow.  The blocks for the first border of step 7 are done and sewn into a strip that still needs to be attached to the quilt top. With three borders left, this one is going to be on the list for awhile.  

Morewood Mystery by Cheryl of Meadow Mist Designs

Morewood Mystery shows a lot more progress.  From a pile of subunits at the beginning of the year, a whole set of blocks has been completed.  The final clue comes out today.  It would be nice to get this project to finished quilt top this month, but Grassy Creek may get more attention. 

Grassy Creek, The 2020 Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt Along

From only three subunits started at the beginning of the month, all the sashing parts are finished and just under half the blocks are pieced.  The border pieces are in the process of being pieced as well.  Even a few of the completed rows are in the process of being stitched together.  So really good progress last month.  So this one may become the next finish for 2021.  

One project out for quilting, one with rows ready to stitch together one that's gone from pieces to blocks, with progress on the leaders and enders. Not a bad January.  I hope the momentum carries over to February.  

You can check out all the other PHD candidates over at Quilting Gails January 2021 PHD linky party.    

To Do Tuesday For 2/2/2021

Hard to believe that January is over and it's time to put together the first to do list for February.  The cold and windy weather has made the sewing room an attractive place to hang out the last couple of weeks. So the to do list for last week has a lot of check marks on it.  

Weekly To Do List for 1/26/2021

• Morewood Mystery: Finish making the A Blocks ✔
• Grassy Creek: Continue to make blocks and sashing ✔
• Unity: Make HSTS for Clue 6 as leader and ender ✔

Last week's list was short, but that meant I was able to concentrate on just a few projects to make some really good progress on all of them.  That strategy is going to carry over to this week's list.  

Weekly To Do List for 2/2/2021

Grassy Creek:  Continue making blocks, stitching rows together

Grassy Greek, the 2020 Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt

All the sashing pieces are made, but only about half the blocks are completed.  I'm hoping to finish the blocks this week, as well as make progress on stitching the completed rows together.  The plan is to have a finished quilt top by the end of the month.  As long as work doesn't get crazy, that should be doable. 

Morewood Mystery: Start the February Clue

Morewood Mystery by Cheryl of Meadow Mist Designs

The blocks at the top of the picture went into block A, leaving three subunits that could be part of the February clue.  Looking forward to seeing what's next for this project.  

Unity: Continue making HSTS for Clue 6, blocks for Clue 7

Unity, 2020 Bonnie Hunter Sew-In-Place Quilt Along

The first complete pieced border strip for clue 7 is finished. It needs to be sewn to the top. That should happen sometime this week. So one border down, 3 to go.  Unity is my current leaders and enders project, so it's moving slowly. 

This is pretty much the same list as last week. The plan this year is to focus on just a few projects at a time and see if that moves more projects to the finished column.  It's been slow going so far.  

Linking up with Roseanne and Sue over at Home Sewn by Us for To Do Tuesday.

More Making Mysteries

The weather continues to be cold, dreary and windy.  It's been really easy to just hang out in the sewing room when I'm not at work.  Consequently both design walls are currently covered with blocks.  

Morewood Mystery by Cheryl of Meadow Mist Designs

All the Block A's for Morewoord Mystery are up on the small design wall.  That finishes off the January clue.  I really like the colors/fabrics in these blocks.  The February clue will be out on Thursday, so I'll be ready to make a start on it next weekend.  

Grassy Creek is up on the big design wall. 

Grassy Greek, the 2020 Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt

All the sashing pieces are made.  I'm working on piecing the blocks and border subunits.  The first row of sashing blocks has been sewn together.  I wasn't sure I was going to like Grassy Creek, but now that there's enough up on the design wall to see how the blocks are going to blend together, it's definitely growing on me.  

There's been some good progress on the other Bonnie Hunter mystery, Unity, as well.  But I'm out of design walls, so didn't get any photos of that project.  

Linking up with the regular Monday show and tell posts of Monday Making and Design Wall Monday.