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 

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.

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.  

November Plans - The One Monthly Goal

The One Monthly Goal hasn't gone so well for me this year. I've gone from being wildly successful with OMGs the previous two years, to missing the mark more often then not this year.  Due in part to trying to finish a UFO each month and then not having the stitching time to do it.  Work has been a bit more nuts this year than the previous two.  So the key to being successful is not being over ambitious when setting my November One Monthly Goal. 

So what's likely to get done?  We'll have a lot of family stuff the week of Thanksgiving, so I won't have as much time to stitch as normal that week.  And we have some commitments this weekend that will impact my stitching time.  So the goal for this month needs to be a pretty small one.  There are two projects in the queue that are closed to being finished.  The first is the Halloween Mystery quilt (BOO!).  

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

It needs a label and the binding pieced then sewn down. That's doable.  

The second and probably higher priority is to get Inverted Star finished.  

Inverted Star block by Jessica Boschem of Common Threads
available from Craftsy as a free download, setting by Kate

It needs a backing pieced and then both have to be prepped so it can go out for quilting.  Piecing the backing is probably doable.  Cleaning off the loose threads from the back of the top and getting it all pressed is going to take some time.  That's going to be a tall order when I've got two weekends with limited sewing room time.  

So looking at the time available, I'm going to go for getting a back pieced for Inverted Star as my one monthly goal.  If I can get it prepped for quilting and out the door even better.  But I honestly do not think I'll get that far.

Linking up at Elm Street Quilts for the November One Monthly Goal.