To Do Tuesday for 4/27/2021

Work continues to be really busy, which means I've been staying later than I like.  That has impacted my sewing time. It's just hard to get in more than 15 minutes when I don't get home till almost 7.  It's a good thing I went with an easy to do list for last week.  

Weekly To Do List for 4/20/2021

• Morewood Mystery: Work on adding borders ✔
• Cabins and Fans: Continue assembling blocks ✔
• Unity: Makes HSTs for clue 6 as leaders and enders ✔

Most of my progress happened over the weekend, I didn't get a whole lot done during the week.  I don't see things changing much at work this week, so the to do list will be pretty similar to last week's. I'm focusing on just moving projects along.  

Weekly To Do List for 4/27/2021

Morewood Mystery: Continue adding borders

Morewood Mystery by Cheryl of Meadow Mist Designs

The first white border is done and I've started on the first teal border.  The second strip is pinned on ready for stitching. Fingers crossed I've got time to make that happen tonight. Two more borders to go after this one.  I'll be happy if I can get border 2 sewn on and border 3 at least started. 

   

Cabins and Fans: Continue assembling blocks/quilt top

Cabins and Fans, self designed

Row two is under construction.  Now that I've got the quilt math and  all the sewing instructions worked out, this project is starting to move along a bit quicker.  It's been fun to work with all these colorful blocks.

Unity: Continue making HSTs for step 6

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

Still lots of HSTs to make for these star blocks.  Once I finish this block, I'll have half the blocks needed for border strip 3 for step 7.  Progress has been slow, but at least there has been progress. 

So not an exciting list, pretty much the same as last week. Grassy Creek is on the way back from being quilted. Hopefully that will show up sometime this week so that next week's focus will be on getting it bound so I'll have finish number 2 for 2021 early in May.  

Linking up with ChrisKnits for To Do Tuesday.  Good luck with your stitching plans for the week

Playing with Rainbows

It was a beautiful weekend, though both days were really windy.  I'm not sure where the time went, Saturday is a bit of a blur.  I did spend some time in the sewing room working on the Morewood Mystery project, as well as working on April's One Monthly Goal.  Since work has been so nuts this year, I picked an easy to accomplish task for this month; make a start on assembling the Cabins and Fans UFO.  It was slow going initially as there was some quilt math to take care of.  It's an on point setting, so I had to work out the setting and corner triangles.  But I navigated that successfully and now have a few blocks with sashing up on the design wall. 

 Cabins and Fans, self designed

 

The quilt math is working out so far.  I'm happy with how the blocks are coming together.  Still a ways to go before this will be a finished quilt top, but it's at least headed in the right direction. This should be finish number 4 (or number 5 depending on how Unity progresses) for 2021.  The rest of the rainbow colored units, red-violet, blue, green and teal, are all still in the project box. Those colors won't show up till I get to the next few rows.     

Linking up with the April One Monthly Goal, Monday Making and Design Wall Monday.  Have a great week and happy stitching.   

Stitching Time: Week 17 of 2021

The week was mostly wet and cold, with a dusting of snow on Tuesday.  So it wasn't a nice week for getting out, going to work and coming home.  Friday, I ended up leaving work early with a killer headache and a low grade fever.  Thankfully I felt much better on Saturday after making a very early night of it on Friday. The headache wasn't very conductive to stitching time, so I'm a day short this week. 

• 15 minute days/week = 6/7 days
• 15 minute days/Apr = 20/24 days
• 15 minute days/2021 = 107/114 days
• Success rate = 93.86%

This is the third week this month with just 6 out of 7 days of stitching time. Still I'm making progress on many projects,  so I'm doing OK on that front.  Some weeks getting in 7 days in the sewing room is just unrealistic.  This month has 3 such weeks. I can hope that May will be better, but that's not likely.  Hopefully you've been able to fit in some good stitching time this week. 

The weather wasn't wonderful this week, so I picked up some pretty roses to brighten up the dining room table.  

They looked to be a deeper yellow in the store, they didn't look so dark once I got them home. Still, they are lovely.   It's been nice to have roses on the table for dinner each night, even if dinner is often just sandwiches.  

Hope you've been able to stitch at least some this week. Please link up below to share what've you've been up to with needle and thread.  

1. Chrisknits 2. Julie in GA 3. Ivani 4. karen 5. Chris in Canada

6. Marti 7. Meloney 8. maggie f 9. Shasta @ High Road 10. katie z.

11. Sherrie 12. Quilting Gail 13. amanda 14. Dq at Dreamworthyquilts

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To Do Tuesday for 4/20/2021

It was such a pretty day yesterday, all the way up to 70 F.  Hard to believe we have more than a 80% chance of snow today.  It's been a very atypical spring weather wise, much cooler and wetter than normal. That's been good for my to do list. It's much nicer to play with thread and fabric in the sewing room than to brave the elements and tackle some much needed yard work.  

Weekly To Do List for 4/13/2021

• Morewood Mystery: Finish sewing blocks together ✔
• Cabins and Fans: Start assembling blocks ✔
• Unity: Make HSTS for clue 6 as leader and enders ✔

The big accomplishment was getting Morewood all stitched together.  I forget how time consuming pinning and stitching rows together can be.  This week's list doesn't look much different. 

Weekly To Do List for 4/20/2021

Morewood Mystery: Add borders

Just one more long strip and the first border will be done. So just three more to go. Borders always take longer than I plan for, but hopefully I can get the next three added this week.  

Cabins and Fans: Continue assembling the blocks. 

The papers have to be removed from each fan to add the sashing pieces. I'm doing that as I assemble. Sitting and taking all the papers off before I start just didn't appeal.  Since I've been focusing on getting Morewood finished, I didn't get very far on the assembly. To be fair I needed to confirm the measurements for all the sashing pieces before I could start cutting those. There are half blocks that need sashing too, so my quilt math got a bit of a work out before assembly actually started.  

Unity: Continue making HSTs for step 6 as leader and enders

Before I can make any more HSTs or blocks, I needed to cut a few more pieces.  I'm on border three of four for step 7.  There are still a lot of HSTs to be made.  At this rate, Unity is likely to be my leaders and enders project for most of the year. 

That's my stitching plan for the week.  Linking up with ChrisKnits for To Do Tuesday.  Good luck with your to do list for the week.

Mostly Morewood

There is snow in the forecast for this week. I guess Mother Nature isn't ready to be done with winter yet.  It looks to be a weird week on the weather front.  Thankfully it was a nice weekend. We were able to meet up with the Scientist in Training for lunch and a chilly walk in park on Saturday. I got in one whole day of dedicated sewing time on Friday.  Though it doesn't seem like there was much progress.  

Morewood Mystery by Cheryl of Meadow Mist Designs

All the Morewood blocks are now stitched together.  That was most of my sewing time on Friday. Pinning and sewing those long seams does seem to take more time than I think it should.  When I went to EQ to check the border dimensions to start cutting the border strips I realized the proposed borders really didn't work for me.  So back to EQ8 where I finally came up with this version.  

The first white border is in the works.  I'll need to cut the strips for the first light teal border tonight.  

Linking up with Monday Making and Monday Design Wall. Wish I could grab a second cup of coffee and check out more link ups, but it's time to get ready for work.  

Stitching Time: Week 16 of 2021

Life is good when you can take Friday off and you have the house to yourself.  It meant a full day of stitching to kick off the weekend. I was definitely ready for a day off after the madness that has been work the last couple of weeks.  I was doing so well till we were late getting home one night (4:30 PM phone calls with the West Coast tend to not end at 5 PM CT). 

• 15 minute days/week = 6/7 days
• 15 minute days/Apr = 14/17 days
• 15 minute days/2021 = 101/107 days

Not a perfect week on the stitching front, but some weeks are just going to be that way.  It was nice to have a whole day on Friday to play in the sewing room while it was cold and rainy outside. Did you have a smooth week on the stitching front?  You can link up and share how your week went at the end of the post. 

We did venture out on Saturday for a meet up with the Scientist in Training. She's got lab reports and exams next week, so a trip home wasn't in the cards. We grabbed lunch, ran a few errands and then took a bit of walk around one of the beautiful parks in Tulsa.  

The azaleas were blooming big time.  

The deep pink ones are my favorites. 

The Dogwoods were still blooming. So pretty!  

The SIT found a pile of petals to sit and play in.  It was a really nice afternoon, but too short as she needed to get back to her lab work.   

How was your stitchy week?  

1. Julie in GA 2. Chrisknits 3. maggie f 4. Shasta @ High Road

5. Sherrie 6. karen 7. Meloney 8. DonnaleeQ

9. Quilting Gail 10. DawnyK 11. Amanda 12. Carol

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To Do Tuesday for 4/13/2021

This last week was much more sedate and productive than the previous week.  My Guy and I had mild reactions to our second dose of the COVID vaccine.  Though I was a lot more fuzzy brained and tired on Friday then I realized at the time.  Taxes are done and My Guy is almost done checking over them. There was even some significant stitching time during the week resulting in a completely checked off To Do List.  

Weekly To Do List for 04/06/21

• Grassy Creek: Press and clean up quilt top ✔
• Morewood Mystery: Continue to assemble quilt top ✔
• Unity: Make HSTs or clue 6 as leader and ender ✔

Grassy Creek was also packaged up and mailed out for quilting.  That definitely feels good.  It was a productive week on multiple fronts. Hopefully this week will be as good.  

Weekly To Do List for 04/13/21

Morewood Mystery: Finish assembling quilt top

Morewood Mystery by Cheryl of Meadow Mist Designs

All that's left is to finish sewing the middle two rows of blocks, then attach the rows.  If I can get that far, the top can come off the design wall while I add borders making room for the blocks for the new quilt on this week's list. 

Cabin and Fans: Start assembling the quilt top

Cabins and Fans, self designed

I found the project box and then located the black background fabric, so I'm ready to make a start on assembling these blocks. These are paper pieced and I've not pulled the papers off the backs as yet. I'll do that as I assemble the blocks.  I'm excited to play with these blocks again.  These were my Rainbow Scrap Challenge project for 2017. I should probably explain the name a bit. I usually stumble at figuring out how to assemble my RSC blocks, so for this project I  wanted to decide on the layout before I started making the blocks.  The original plan was to combine these fan blocks with log cabin blocks, but then I came up with a layout using just the fan blocks that was THE QUILT to make.  But by that point all my files were labeled as Cabins and Fans, so the name stuck.

Unity: Continue making HSTs for step 6

Two borders finished, two borders left to make. So there are still a lot of HSTs to make as my leaders and enders project. My plan had been to bump Unity up to my "primary" focus project once Morewood was finished. We'll see how far along I've gotten with the assembling the Fan blocks, I may keep Unity as the leaders and enders project for a while longer.  So long as it's progressing, I'm happy.      

Those are my plans for any sewing time I have this week.  Linking up with ChrisKnits for this week's To Do Tuesday linky party.

Just Stitching Stuff

It was a quiet, but busy weekend. Taxes are finished, with some time left to play in the sewing room.  Getting Grassy Creek cleaned up and pressed was the first priority. 

The yellow and gray fabrics frayed a bit, so there were lots of loose threads to remove from the back.    

Once that was done, I could go stitch a bit at the machine. 

Morewood Mystery by Cheryl of Meadow Mist Designs

The top and bottom two rows of the Morewood Mystery quilt are completely assembled, but I'm still working on stitching the blocks together in the middle two rows.  I am going to add simple strip borders, but haven't decided on the colors yet.  

So far this is my favorite color combination.  I need to lay it out with the actual fabrics to see if I still like it.  My dark teal has white flowers dotted in here and there, so that might not work well.  We'll see.  

That's it for my weekend stitching. You can check out more stitching stuff over at Monday Making and Design Wall Monday.  

Stitching Time: Week 15 of 2021

 

First off, my apologies for not getting a 15 Minutes to Stitch post up for week 14.  Week 14 really was just a rotten week on  number of fronts and I just couldn't face either the sewing room or the blog.  So please feel free to report on both week 14 and 15 for this week. 

I struggled this week to get my 15 minutes every day this week. 

• 15 minute days/week = 6/7 days
• 15 minute days/Apr = 8/10 days
• 15 minute days/2021 = 95/100 days

We got home late one night this week and I just didn't have the energy to climb the stairs for even just a few minutes of stitching time. Hopefully your week was much more productive than mine.  You can link up and share how your stitchy week went at the bottom of the post. 

It is spring and these pretty purple flowers are blooming by our front door.  Unfortunately, I've completely forgotten what they are called.  

The roses have leafed out beautifully, but no rose buds yet. The redbuds are really pretty right now, but I've not had a chance to get any photos of them. I should do that this week before those pretty pink/purple buds give way to the leaves. 

So how was your stitchy week?  

1. Julie in GA 2. karen 3. Meloney 4. DonnaleeQ 5. Shasta @ High Road

6. Chrisknits 7. Sherrie 8. Deb in Canada 9. DawnyK (15) 10. DawnyK (14)

11. dreamworthy quilts 12. Quilting Gail 13. Carol

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PHD in 2021: March Progress

Three months down, nine to go in 2021.  One of my goals is to finish 8 quilts this year, one more than I've ever managed.  I'm hoping Quilting Gail's PHD in 2021 will keep me motivated enough to reach that goal.  

March's report shows a finish, finally! 

So one finish in the bag, seven more to go!  

The binding for the Picnic Quilt (Red, White and Blue Stars) didn't quite get finished before the calendar turned over to March. But the first finish of 2021 came really early in the month.  

No other finishes for the month, but there was good progress on the current list of works in progress. 

Grassy Creek went from assembled blocks to finished quilt top.  The backing has been made and prepped to send out for quilting. The task for April is to get the top pressed and cleaned up so it can go out for quilting.  

All the blocks are finished for the Morewood Mystery.  This month the goal is to get the blocks sewn together and to get the borders attached. 

Border number two for step 7 is assembled for the Bonnie Hunter mystery Unity.  This is the current leaders and enders project. It's moving slowly, but it is coming together.  

That's the progress for March.  Fingers crossed I can get one more quilt out for quilting and another to finished quilt top stage by the end of the month.  

Linking up with Quilting Gail's March PHD in 2021 linky party. 

To Do Tuesday for 04/06/21

It's been a rough week on a couple of fronts.  Consequently, I ended up taking an unscheduled break from the computer and the sewing room. I just couldn't face either over the weekend. So progress on last week's To Do List is pretty pitiful.  

Weekly To Do List for 3/30/2021

• Grassy Creek: Press and clean up quilt top - progress

• Morewood Mystery - Continue to assemble quilt top - no progress

• Unity: Make HSTs for clue 6 as leader and enders - no progress

• Secret Easter Sewing ✔

So only one check mark, some progress on the quilt top clean up and not much else. 

As noted, I did finish my secret Easter sewing.  

The Scientist in Training and her roommate had requested some grocery bags. They've been shopping at one of the grocery stores that has better fruit and veggies, but doesn't offer grocery bags (Or you have to pay for them, I'm not clear on that point).  The floral print with green was my "demo" bag. I wanted to work out all the steps before making the Easter bags.  I used Reversible Tote Bag pattern by Ramona Rose. It's a free download from the Fat Quarter Shop. The two blue bags were filled with candy and each got a Warmies kitty cat, which were really big hits with both girls. (Thank you to Barbara of Cat Patches for sharing these cute heating pads existed). 

So what's the plan for this week. Taxes unfortunately features most prominently as a must do.  We get our second COVID shot later this week. As sick as the SIT got, there may not be much stitching this weekend.  So this week's To Do List is targeted at just making progress.  

To Do List for Week of 4/6/2021

• Grassy Greek:  Finish quilt top pressing and clean up
• Morewood Mystery: Continue assembling quilt top
• Unity: Continue making HSTs for step   

I also hadn't decided on what my April One Monthly goal should be.  Rather than concentrate on what's been on my To Do Lists for the last few months, my April OMG is to start assembling a quilt top from the Cabin and Fans blocks. 

I'm definitely ready to rotate in a new project to the active list.  

Linking up with To Do Tuesday and the April One Monthly Goal linky parties.