Pushing Daisies

 The first Monday of the new year means back to work after two weeks of nothing much but a bit of around the house spiffing up and lots of stitching time.  I can't say I'm ready to go back, but working does support my fabric habit, so back I'll go this morning. Thankfully this week is light on meetings so I'll time to deal with left over 2020 stuff and get a handle on the 2021 stuff.    

There was some good progress in the sewing room over the holiday break. I was able to sneak in one more finish before the new year.  

The Daisy Chain mystery quilt was labeled and bound on 12/30. The pattern is from the 2019 Little Bunny Quilts quilt along.

The fabrics, except for the background and black border, are all left overs from another project. Hence the name.

The backing is a black, red and beige stripe that caught my eye many years ago, but doesn't really suit the style of quilts I make now.  It was a perfect match to the quilt top. 

  

 

Trudy did the quilting in gold. 

The curly swirls make me think if the wind. I wasn't sure the quilt would ever make it back from being quilting. The package was shipped priority the first week of December, but didn't show up here till just before Christmas. 

Odds and Ends doesn't have a home as yet.  I usually donate a quilt to the auction sponsored by the organization that provides trained service dogs to veterans. The Scientist in Training's roommate has trained service dogs since she was in high school. With the pandemic there was no auction this year.  So unless this quilt finds a new home, it will likely go to that cause next year. 

Odds and Ends was my 7th finish for 2020. That ties my record for quilt finishes in a year. I'm hoping to build on the momentum from last year and finish eight quilts this year.  

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

To Do Tuesday for the Week of 12/29/2020

Last week was one of holiday preparations and celebrations. We had a very nice and relaxed Christmas. There wasn't much time for sewing, but I reduced last week's to do list to account for that. 

Weekly To Do List (12/22/2020)

• Daisy Chain: Make binding, trim quilt ✔
• Grassy Creek: Start clues 4 and 5 - progress
• Unity: Finish clue 5, start clues 6 and 7 ✔

Two out of three isn't bad for what turned out to be a pretty busy week.  Even though there's not a check mark, there was still progress on Grassy Creek, which is always the goal each week. 

I'm on vacation this week. We are taking care of a few odds and ends around the house while we are off, but I'm still planning to get in some good stitching time most days.  Here's this week's To Do List:

Weekly To Do List (12/29/2020) 

Daisy Chain: Finish hand stitching binding

Last week's to do was to trim the quilt and make the binding.  I forgot that the label needed to be made as well.  That got done and the binding was sewn to the quilt.  The goal is finish the hand stitching before Friday.  If I can manage that, Daisy Chain will be the seventh and last finish for 2020.

Red, White and Blue Stars: Make backing

This red, white and blue stripe was in the project box to use as the back. I'll probably stick with it as I don't think there is anything else in the stash that would be more appropriate.  Getting the backing made would give me a good start on next year's first finish.

Grassy Creek: Work on clues 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, start clues 6 and 7

I'm still behind on Grassy Creek.  I've started cutting the pieces for clue 5, but didn't get any sewn. But there has been reasonable progress on Clues 1, 2, 3 and 4. I won't get completely caught up this week, but there will be good progress. I should have the components to make the first block whenever we get to that clue.  

Unity: Continue working on clues 6 and 7

The block I'm using for clue 7 is different than Bonnie's version.  I just didn't like how my fabrics worked in it, plus my version has much fewer HSTs. Hopefully that means this block will go together a bit faster.  There are just 8 clues for Unity, so I'm getting close to the end on this project.  Still it will probably take a few weeks to finish all the blocks for clue 7.  

That's my last To Do List for 2020 that will carry me into 2021. Good luck with your end of the year to do's.  Linking up with Tuesday To Do over at Home Sewn by Us.

To Do Tuesday for the Week of 12/22/2020

It's that time of year where the days just seem to fly by.  I've been on vacation since last Friday, but I still have to check my work email and deal with any problems that come up. I've been trying to keep that to a minimum.  We've been hanging out, going for walks (the weather has been really nice for December) and I've been stitching a bit.  Not as much as I had planned, but I'm getting in a few hours each day.  There was good progress on last week's To Do List. 

• Frolic: Finish stitching down the binding ✔
• Morewood Mystery: Continue to work on the Dec. clue ✔
• Grassy Creek:  Start clues 3 and 4 - progress
• Unity: Finish step 5 - progress

Only half the list is checked off, but there was good progress on the entire list. One of those checks was a finish, so it really was a good week. With Christmas just a few days away, there won't be as much time for stitching this week, so I'm going to pare down the To Do List a bit. 

Daisy Chain: Make binding and trim quilt

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

Daisy Chain showed up in the mail a full 10 days after Trudy had mailed it back. I was beginning to wonder if I'd ever see it again. The quilting looks great.  I'm going to bind it in the same black that's in the last border.  But first I need to make the binding and trim up the quilt.  If I can get that done this week, then hopefully I'll have time to stitch on the binding and do all the hand stitching before the end of the year.  So Daisy Chain will either be my last finish for 2020 (#7) or my first finish of 2021. 

Unity: Finish Step 5, Start Step 6 and 7

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

The bottom border is all stitched together, it just needs to be stitched to the rest of the quilt.  That should get done today.  Step 6 is making a bunch of HSTs and Step 7 is making the block for the final full round. I'm not making the same block that Bonnie used for round 6, so I won't need as many HSTs, so hopefully the blocks will go together faster.    

Grassy Creek:  Start clues 4 and 5, keep working on previous clues

Grassy Greek, the 2020 Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt

I'm not doing a great job of keeping up with Grassy Creek.  I'm only making half the blocks to start. Even with that, I'm way, way behind.  I made a start on clue 3, but didn't even print out clue 4.  Hopefully, I'll have more stitching time after the holiday and I can make better progress.  

That's my To Do List for the next few days.  I may get done more than I think, but we'll see. Linking up with Roseanne and Sue for To Do Tuesday. 

Have a very happy holiday season! 

Last Push for My 2020 PhD

I've been following along with Quilting Gail's 2020 PHD. 

The goal is to finish 12 UFOs, plus finish any quilts you start during the year (other then quilt alongs that won't finish before the end of the year). I'm not going to finish 12 quilts this year and I'm probably not going to finish the one quilt I started that doesn't carry over to next year.  Here's my report card so far this year. 

There's one more finish on the list and one more new start.  But Grassy Creek, Bonnie Hunter's 2020 mystery, won't finish till next year so I don't have to worry about getting that one done by the end of the month. Same with the Morewood Mystery, it won't finish till next spring. 

The one new finish is the 2019 Christmas Mystery quilt. 

That brings my total finishes to five.  

Frolic is next up on the to be finished list. 

Frolic, 2019 Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt

The quilt is trimmed, label made and assembling the binding strips is in progress.  So getting in a sixth finish is really likely.  

Daisy Chain was mailed out to be quilted the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and didn't get delivered to Trudy till yesterday. 

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

I'm not sure if this one will make it back in time for me to finish it this year.  The label is mostly done, I just need to know if it's a this month or next year finish before I can finalize the label.  I haven't decided on the binding yet. If I can decide on that, I could make the binding and then be ready to go when it does come back.  

Red, White and Blue Stars become a finished quilt top last month. 

Red, White and Blue Stars, Self Designed

I still need to piece the backing.  This one may get sent out for quilting before the end of the year, but it's too late to get it finished for this year.  

I've made good progress on Unity. 

2020 Bonnie Hunter Sew-In-Place Quilt Along

The first flying geese border is almost assembled.  But there's one more flying geese border to make and then one more full round of blocks, plus one more top and bottom border.  I'm not going to get all of those done before the end of the month.  But at least I've kept this one moving. 

Only three new projects started this year compared to the seven new starts for last year is an improvement. I finished four quilts last year and have already finished five for this year.  So my UFO numbers will go down for the year rather than up as they did last year as I've finished more than I started. I need a few more years of that to whittle down my UFO list to something more manageable.  I'll be playing along with the 2021 PHD in hopes of that. 

November One Monthly Goal Complete

Usually we spend the week of Thanksgiving with My Guy's family. Like so many other families this year, we didn't go see extended family and they didn't come see us.  It was just the My Guy, the Scientist in Training and me at dinner today.  We've spent the week at home doing stuff around the house in the mornings, but that's left the afternoons and evenings pretty free for some extra stitching time.  Enough extra time that I was able to get my November One Monthly Goal finished up. 

This month's goal was to get Daisy Chain prepped and shipped out to Trudy for quilting.  The back was prepped last week. 

Most of Tuesday afternoon was spent removing loose threads from the back of the quilt and giving it a good pressing.  

The prepped top and backing was packed up on Wednesday. 

It was mailed Wednesday when I was out making our last run to the grocery store to get a few things we forgot for today's Thanksgiving feast.  Hopefully Trudy has enough time to quilt it and send it back before the Christmas holiday. Daisy Chain will likely be the last finish for 2020. 

Linking up with Elm Street Quilt's end of November OMG. 

To DoTuesday for the Week of 11/24/2020

There wasn't much blogging going on last week.  My schedule was just that nuts. Thankfully this week it's much calmer.  Though I didn't post last week, there was a to do list and I actually didn't do too bad. Thankfully I had the weekend to play catch up on those to dos.  

To Do List for 11/17/2020

• Red, White and Blue Stars: Continue adding borders ✔
• Morewood Mystery: Work on November Clue ✔
• Unity: Add next border, make flying geese - progress 
• Grassy Creek:  Pick fabrics ✔

Check marks on three out four of is pretty good. And there was good progress on the fourth one. It was a good weekend for stitching time. I'm off all this week and it will just be the three of us. My contribution to Thanksgiving dinner will be a chocolate cream pie. So I'm off the hook for a lot of the cooking, which means there should be some good stitching time this week.  

To Do List for 11/24/2020

Daisy Chain: De-thread, press, pack and ship

The back is made, cleaned up, pressed and packaged. Now I just need to do the same to the quilt top. Daisy Chain will probably be my last finish this year.   

Red, White and Blue Stars: Add last border

Red, White and Blue Stars, Setting self designed

The skinny middle border is done. All that's left for this to be a finished quilt top is the last border. I have the backing fabric picked out and that should get made before the end of the year. But I doubt I get much farther than that. This project will probably be my first finish for 2021.  

Morewood Mystery: Finish November clue

Morewood Mystery by Cheryl of Meadow Mist Designs

I'm more that half way finished with the petal blocks and just started on the HSTs. I'd like to get this clue finished before Friday. So I can spend the weekend working on the first clue for new Bonnie Hunter mystery. 

Grassy Creek:  Start Clue 1

The Scientist in Training helped me finalize the fabric pull for Grassy Creek. She really liked this combo better than the fabric pull using the cooler fabrics. I usually don't go with Bonnie's color scheme or stitch with this warm of a color palette, but 2020 is a weird year. Seems fitting that the last project for the year isn't my typical style either. 

Unity: Finish Step 5 border, work on flying geese

2020 Bonnie Hunter Sew-In-Place Quilt Along

Only one more border strip to attach.  But there's still a lot of flying geese to make before step 5 is finished. Those will be my leaders and enders for the next week. 

Good luck with your to do list for the week. Fingers crossed I can make good progress on this week's list.  Linking up with Home Sewn by Us for Tuesday To Do. 

To Do Tuesday for the Week of 11/10/2020

Last week was one of those weeks.  It was hard to focus on much and even the sewing room was not enough of a distraction.  This week is going to be better, just busy. My meeting calendar is pretty packed for the next 2 weeks.  Even with the distractions last week, there was still some good progress on the To Do List.  

To Do List for 11/2/2020

• Christmas Mystery Quilt:  bind ✔
• Daisy Chain: Find a backing fabric ✔
• Red, White &Blue Stars: Add first border - progress
• Unity: Finish Step 4, start step 5 ✔

Definitely a good week on the progress front. Finishing a quilt is always a mood boost. So what's the plan for this week?  

To Do List for 11/10/2020

Daisy Chain:  Make back, prep for quilting

I've worked out the dimensions for the back in the my quilt notebook.  This will be a very simple back to piece, just sewing two lengths of fabric together.  The hardest part is getting the pieces measured and cut accurately.  The plan is to have Daisy Chain ready to ship out for quilting when Frolic comes back.

Red, White & Blue Stars:  Continue to work on adding borders

 Red, White and Blue Stars, Setting self designed

Two border strips are attached and the next two are cut and ready to add. Hopefully I'll get the first and second borders done this week. The plan is for three borders, but I doubt I get all three done this week. Adding borders always takes longer than I think it should.  

Morewood Mystery:  Make more blocks for November clue

Morewood Mystery by Cheryl of Meadow Mist Designs

November's clue uses pieces from previous clues to make larger units, plus there are more HSTs to make.  I won't get to the HSTs this week. That's OK, I have the whole month to complete this clue.

Unity:  Add next border and make Clue 5 blocks

The next border is a narrow strip of background fabric, so that should go on relatively quickly. The next round of the quilt uses flying geese made from the green, yellow and black fabrics.  I've made a start on the green.  But have a ways to go on getting this clue all finished.  

I've come to appreciate putting together a to do list each week.  Being deliberate about what projects I work on has been a big help in getting projects finished.  Thanks Roseanne for introducing me to the power of a good list.  And thank you for hosting the To Do Tuesday linky party to let us share our successful and not so successful weeks.  

November One Monthly Goal

It's the 7th, the last day to link up at Elm Street Quilts with my One Monthly Goal for November.  

Which project do I pick?  The Christmas Mystery quilt only needs the binding stitched to the back. 

It's a small quilt, so it will definitely get finished this month.  That would be an easy goal. Daisy Chain needs the back pieced, dethreading and a good pressing so it can go out for quilting.

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

I don't mind making the backing, but I always stall out at the prepping step.  So rather than pick the easy finish which I feel is almost cheating, I could use the extra push to get Daisy Chain sent out for quilting this month.  So that's my OMG for this month.  

PHD in 2020 Progress

Just two months left in 2020.  The end of the year always just flies by it seems.  As it's a new month it's time to take stock of the progress towards my 2020 PHD (projects half done)

The tracking sheet has been updated again this month, but this time in the right direction. 

There's another check mark in the finished column. Storm at Sea is finished and has been much appreciated as the new quilt on our bed. 

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

Storm at Sea is finish number 4 for the year.  If you just look at the tracking sheet, the plan to finish stuff doesn't look like it's been working that well. Though I'm not where I'd like to be, the year should get better before it ends.  

The 2019 Christmas quilt is currently in the binding stage. 

I just need to finish sewing the binding to the front and then I can get started on the hand stitching to the back.  This will be finish number 5 for the year. 

Frolic was cleaned up, pressed and shipped out for quilting last month. 

I don't know if it will be back before Thanksgiving our not.  But this should be finish number 6 for the year. 

Daisy Chain needs a backing made. 

I did a quick stash dive and came up with this stripe. This has been in the stash for a while. I know it was purchased in Tulsa several years ago, but it doesn't really fit my current quilting style, but it has the same color tones that are in Daisy Chain so it should make a nice back. So now the back just needs to be stitched up, cleaned up and pressed to be ready for shipping out for quilting. Daisy Chain would be finish number 7 if I make it that far. 

The Red, White and Blue Stars blocks are all sashed and the center of the quilt is all sewn together. 

Red, White and Blue Stars, Setting self designed

The borders should go on this month. This one will likely come down to the wire. It might or might not be a finish in 2020.  If I could pull that off, then it would be finish number 8.  

So though I'm not going to earn my quilty PHD this year, I'm still really happy with all the progress that's been made. You can check out everyone else working towards a PHD this year at this months 2020 PHD Link Up over at Quilting Gail's.  

To Do Tuesday for the Week of 11/03/2020

We are heading out earlier than normal today to get to our polling location when it opens. Even in our small community turn out was high for early voting, so we expect long waits even when the polls first open. 

So I'll need to speed write this week's to do list.  Before I write the new list, I should look at how it went with the previous To Do List. 

Weekly To Do List for 10/27/2020

• Frolic: Prep quilt for quilting and mail ✔

• Christmas Mystery: Trim quilt, make label and binding ✔

• Red, White & Blue Stars: Continue sashing blocks ✔

• Morewood Mystery: Work on blocks for October's clue ✔

• Unity: Continue with clue 4 HSTS and blocks ✔

Last week I didn't have a single check mark, so this week was definitely much more productive.  Having a day of vacation and a stitching only day is probably the difference between the two lists. So what's the plan for this week? 

Weekly To Do List for 11/03/2020

2019 Christmas Mystery: Bind and finish quilt

The binding is made and ready to go on. I ended up with another two "tone" binding. I really wanted to use the green star fabric that was used for the sashing for the binding as well. But I didn't have enough. So I bit the bullet and made another two fabric binding. It's a handy "how to" to have in the trick bag. This quilt is relatively small, so it shouldn't be too hard to get it finished before it's time to make a new list next week. 

Daisy Chain: Decide on backing fabric(s)

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

Now that Frolic has been sent out for quilting, it's time to get another quilt ready to go out when it comes back.  I finished this quilt top back in September. But it needs a backing, then both will have to be pressed and de-threaded.  That will probably take most of the month.  This project will probably be the last finish for 2020.  

Red, White and Blue Stars: Add first border

This 2002 Mary Engelbreit print was selected as the border fabric for this project long ago.  It's definitely time to use this up and get it out of the stash.  

Unity: Finish Step 4, Start Step 5

The last border for step 4 is almost finished. I've two more friendship stars to assemble before the border can be assembled.  I had hoped to get this project finished before Bonnie's annual mystery came out. That's probably not going to happen.  I briefly contemplated not doing Bonnie's mystery this year, but decided it has the potential to use up some really old stash. I'll make what progress I can on Unity before the new project kicks off after Thanksgiving.  

That's the plan for this week. I have a day of vacation this week, so fingers crossed I can make good progress on this week's list. You can see more Tuesday To Do over at Home Sewn By Us.

Stitching Along

 I was definitely ready for Saturday to get here.  The plan is for a nothing but stitching day to celebrate the end of the work week and the beginning of October.  Just three months left in 2020. Though I will be glad to see the end of this year, there's not much time left to finish my 2020 PHD. 

There is an update to my tracking spreadsheet, but it's not a new check mark in the finished column.  

The Morewood Mystery quilt September clue had me cutting into the fabric to make last months blocks.  I count a quilt started once I cut the fabric, so it had to go onto the tracking sheet as a new start in 2020.

 

This mystery quilt is a planned start, it was part of my 2020 quilt plan.  This quilt along won't end till sometime in 2021, so not finishing this quilt doesn't count against my PHD progress this year

So one addition, but no check offs.  But there's been good progress in the last month, so there's hope for some finishes before the end of the year. 

Storm at Sea is back from being quilted.  Trudy as usual, did a wonderful job with it.  Now I need to make the binding and label, then get them attached to finish off quilt number 4 for the year.  This is my October One Monthly Goal. 

The Christmas Mystery quilt has been sent out for quilting.

It should be back ready for binding before the end of the month.  So it's possible there will be two new check marks in the finished column by November. 

A backing was pieced for Frolic.

The backing and quilt top need to be prepped for quilting. That should happen this month.  So fingers crossed that puts another check mark on the PHD tracking spreadsheet before the end of the year.  

Borders were finally selected and stitched on to the Daisy Chain Mystery Quilt. 

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

Next step is to search the stash for something to back it with. Not sure that will happen this month, but it's on the list.  

Progress on Unity has been slow. 

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

 

I'm still stitching HSTs and making Friendship Star blocks for step 4. 

September saw enough progress to add a new UFO to the "in progress" list.  

Red, White, and Blue stars is my oldest UFO.  The blocks have been made for a while, but I could never decide how to set them.  After a few new stash additions and photo mock ups, I finally ended up sticking with my original fabric choice.  Hopefully this project will be a finished quilt top by the end of the month.   

So no new check marks this month. But it's looking promising that there will be a few added between now and the end of the year.  Linking up with the Quilting Gail for the 2020 PHD Challenge.