Slow Stitching to a Finish

We took a day off on Friday and enjoyed a three day weekend. My Guy was still pretty sore from his bicycle accident the weekend before, so the plan was to just take it easy and hang out at home.  He was feeling much better by the end of the weekend, though he still has some really colorful bruises. 

My goal was to get laundry done and then spend a lot time in the sewing room working on some finishes.  The easiest was to finish reworking some face masks.  

These were some of the first masks I made. The elastic had worn out, so I reconstructed them with a new fabric backing and T-shirt ear loops.  The face mask making is done, at least for a bit. I may make some new Halloween ones, I have some fun novelty fabrics that would make cool masks.  

Most of my sewing room time was spent binge watching British Bake Off while sewing down the binding for the Morewood Mystery.

It was late in the evening before the last stitch was made. 

So this is the only picture I have of the finished quilt, showing that all 4 corners are stitched down.  This was my September One Monthly Goal.  It feels good to meet it with a few days to spare.  

Also linking up with Monday Making and Design Wall Monday. 

Odds and Ends Stitching

The Scientist in Training was home this weekend, she was very content to just hang out with Mom on Saturday. So I got in a fair amount of stitching time, but as we were talking and laughing, I didn't think to take a lot of in progress photos.  

I've been in mask assembly mode.  In addition to making a few new ones this weekend, I reworked a few of the older elastic ones using the pattern we all liked better. 

Mask pattern from Laundry Basket Quilts 

Had you told me a year ago March that I'd still be making masks more than a year later, I'm not sure I would have believed you.  There are  a few more to remake and a couple of colors to add to our current collection so this round of mask making should be over by the end of the month.  

I did more fabric cutting then stitching this weekend. The border strips for Cabins and Fans were cut and assembled.  The first is stitched to the quilt top.

Cabins and Fans, self designed

The second border is pinned and ready for stitching.

Clue 3 for the Macaron Mystery came out last week, but I still wasn't thrilled with all my fabric selections.  The gray and black floral fabric just didn't seem to "go" with the rest.  

I try to pull from the stash for mystery quilts, so I was preparing to just live with the floral when I remembered a set of fabrics that had been purchased to make a black and white quilt.  Those had been kitted up and stored in one of my fabric bins. There were some very nice options in that stash.  The fabric pull for Macaron now looks like this. 

This works so much better to my mind. I cut the first pieces this weekend, which puts this project on my in progress list. It's been over 9 months since my last new start.  Playing with something completely new is going to be fun.   

Linking up with Monday Making and Design Wall Monday.  

Weekend Stitching

The heat continues, not surprising since it's August. Definitely wiser to stay in and stitch then go out and deal with the heat. I spent both weekend afternoons in the sewing room.  On the the to do list was to finish up a few more masks.  

Mask pattern from Laundry Basket Quilts 

This is most of what I planned to make. The darker pink and the multicolor dots on black are for the Scientist in Training.  The dark green and the dark blue at the top are reworked from the first masks I made with elastic.  

This was the original face mask pattern.  My Guy never really liked the elastic in these masks and much prefers the other version with ear loops made from T-shirt strips. This first set of masks were made in April of 2020. Who knew we'd still be wearing masks to work more than a year later?  The weekly epidemiology report for the state of Oklahoma showed a decrease in new cases for last week, hopefully that means we'll see things start to improve.  

All the scrappy butterfly blocks have been framed and are up on the small design wall.

Scrappy Butterflies
Block is available in EQ 8 Block Library

The strips are cut for the 9 patch alternating blocks,  assembling those blocks is the next step for this project.  

Linking up with Monday Making and Design Wall Monday.  

To Do Tuesday for the Week of 8/24/2021

It's been a fast, but productive week.  Last week's To Do List was pretty short and simple, but it still feels good to check off each line.  

To Do List for 8/17/2021

• Cabins and Fans: Work on row 7 ✔
• Scrappy Butterflies: Continue framing blocks ✔
• Unity: Make HSTs for Step 6 as leaders and enders ✔

I'm sticking with the same plan for this week's To Do List,  short and simple. 

To Do List for 8/24/2021

Cabins and Fans: Finish row 7, work on row 8

Cabins and Fans, self designed

The row is almost assembled, I still need to cut the sashing piece between row 7 and 8, but the second half of the center is just about finished. There are 3 borders left to add, those always take loner than I think.  Even so,  I'm hoping this project can go out for quilting next month.  

Scrappy Butterflies:  Finish framing butterfly blocks

Unity:  Make HSTs for step 6 as leaders and enders

Face masks: Make a few to replace worn out masks

There are bits and pieces of all the projects on this week's To Do List all pinned and ready for stitching sitting by the sewing machine. Hopefully I'll have time tonight to stitch this set and prep another to sew Wednesday night.  

Linking up with ChrisKnits for To Do Tuesday.     

More This and That Stitching

We had a low key weekend.  Mostly stayed in to avoid the heat. It is a typical August in Oklahoma weather wise.  Staying in to stitch is just better for one's health when it's that hot outside.  

We are back to mandatory masking where we both work.  With infections continuing to increase, we'll be wearing masks for a few more months, at least till Halloween. I made a few new ones to replace the masks made with elastic, the t-shirt ear loops are much more comfortable.  

Mask pattern from Laundry Basket Quilts 

The other sewing activity was to frame the Scrappy Butterfly blocks

Scrappy Butterflies
Block is available in EQ 8 Block Library

Just over halfway finished with this step.  I also cut some strips and started assembling the strip sets for the 9 patch setting blocks.  Those should start showing up on the design wall this week.  

There was also a little progress on the next UFO on my quilt plan, Chocolate Marshmallows.  This project has been on the UFO list for awhile because I couldn't come up with a setting that used the fabric yardage left over from the blocks. 

 

Chocolate Marshmallows
pattern by Amanda Bergamin
of Sea Breeze Quilts

I really like the dark brown rather than the pink as the borders, but I don't have enough of the brown fabric left.  A bit of on line shopping yielded a tone on tone brown that should make a good substitute. 

It's not an exact match, but it won't be right next to the roses print, so it should work nicely as a frame for the sampler blocks.  Chocolate Marshmallows will be next up on the to do list once Cabin and Fans is ready to go out for quilting.  

Linking up with Monday Making and Design Wall Monday.  Have a great week.  

A Bit of This and That

I'm definitely not ready for Monday, sometimes weekends just aren't long enough.  The Scientist in Training came home for the weekend. Classes start up tomorrow. She wanted to get in one more trip home before homework ramps up.  

I didn't get in much stitching time.  My allergies were in full force Saturday, so a long nap took the place of an afternoon in the sewing room. Necessary errands and other housekeeping chores kept me out of the sewing room till late afternoon on Sunday.  The first order of business was to make some new face masks. The governor has signed an order making mask mandates unlawful at public schools and universities in our state, but the SIT's university is recommending them.  The company we work for reestablished mask mandates just over a week ago.  I expect we will be wearing masks through at least Halloween as most of the models show cases increasing through September.  So it seemed worthwhile to make a few new ones.  

Mask pattern from Laundry Basket Quilts 

These three are for the SIT and her roommates.  I started some new ones for My Guy and I, but those aren't finished. 

The first scrappy butterfly block is framed. 

Scrappy Butterflies
Block is available in EQ 8 Block Library

 For some reason, EQ 8 gave me really funky measurements for the strips and I couldn't wrap my head around the math.  So before cutting a bunch of strips, a test run seemed wise.  I'm hoping to make more progress on these blocks this week.  

Linking up with Monday Making and Design Wall Monday. 

Nothing But Stitching

 Weekend's have been busy lately with yard work and family stuff, consequently my sewing room time has been pretty curtailed.  I made up for it this weekend.  Saturday was a nothing but sewing day and Sunday afternoon was reserved for more of the same. 

First thing on the list was to finish off the Halloween face masks requested by the Scientist in Training.

Mask pattern from Laundry Basket Quilts 

The SIT requested one more chemistry themed mask and the butterfly mask is for me. The spider web masks are for me and the SIT, while the skeleton is for My Guy.  The kitty cat is for the SIT's roommate and the zombie's is for one of the SITs high school buddies.  I made a zombie quilt for this buddy as a high school graduation gift and she asked if I had any of the fabric left if I would make her a mask.  These were definitely fun to make.  

On the finishing a quilt front, the binding is now sewn to the front of Storm at Sea. 

The binding is made from two fabrics. The dark blue will be on the front and the light blue will be turned to the back.  Storm at Sea is going on our bed, so My Guy has to like it. He really wanted the dark blue to be on the front of the quilt. I didn't have enough of it left to make all of the binding, hence the decision to make the dual fabric binding.  That was a lot more work than the typical one fabric binding.  SAS is a big quilt to start with. So having to assemble two strip sets, stitch them together and then press the seam, then the pressing in half took a lot more time than normal.  It's going to pay off, but it took a big chunk of my stitching time this weekend.  

I stared cutting strips to make the sashing for the Red, White and Blue Stars quilt. There wasn't much more progress than that, though I did decide on the block placement. 

I'm really looking forward to getting these blocks into a finished quilt top.  The star blocks are some of my favorites. Fingers crossed that the sashing fabric works well and I still like the project once it's all stitched together. 

That's the progress for last week. Linking up with Monday Making and Design Wall Monday.    

Not a Lot of Stitching Going On

 It was a long weekend for us. We took Friday off so we could get some things done around the house. We had an appointment with a locksmith in the morning to fix two doors with broken locks. In the afternoon it was the heating and air guy to check the furnaces for any CO leaks or other issues to ensure we can safely run the furnaces when it finally gets that cold.  There was some house cleaning and other necessary activities going on as well. Then the Scientist in Training made an appearance.  She's just finished her first round of tests and came home to relax and hang out.  There was as trip to Tulsa to get necessary items we can't get here in town and on Sunday an early birthday celebration for My Guy.  So it was a busy weekend with less stitching time than normal. 

I finished the September Clue of the Morewood Mystery. 

The October clue should come out Thursday. So I'm caught up for the moment.  

My Guy and the SIT have requested Halloween themed face masks to wear next month.  

Mask pattern from Laundry Basket Quilts 

I made a start on those.  The dancing skeletons is pretty fun, that one is for My Guy. The spider webs are for the SIT and I.  

That's it on the stitching front for this last week.  Linking up with Monday Making and Design Wall Monday.  

Mysteries and Masks

 It's been a nice weekend. On the warmer end of the spectrum, but the sewing room was cool.  The Scientist in Training heads back to college today. School doesn't start till next Monday, but she's got some things to do before classes kick off.  She kept me company in the sewing room Sunday as I finished off the set of masks she requested.  

Mask pattern from Laundry Basket Quilts 

The red one is for the SIT, the newspaper print for one of her friends from the school paper and the rest are for her roommate.  

The rest of my stitching time was split between the two latest Bonnie Hunter Mystery quilts.  The pieced borders for Frolic are finished.

Frolic, 2019 Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt

The pieced borders turned out nicely.  Just one narrow black border left to add, then Frolic will be a finished flimsy.  I might just get this one done before this year's mystery starts. 

There was good progress on the other mystery, Unity.  I finished the last sawtooth star last night.  

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

I need to sew the last few stars together and then that length of pieced border will be ready to stitch on. I'm almost finished with step 3, finally! 

That's what I've been doing in the sewing room. Linking up with Monday Making.  

Pieces of Progress

It was a pretty typical weekend. Other than the grocery store and trips out to pick up take out for dinner, we didn't go any where.  You'd think I'd get more sewing done, but it's been harder for me to get myself moving towards the sewing room some afternoons.  We do more hanging out after lunch these days.

I did get in some sewing time, but there's not really much to show, most everything is just pieces at that moment.  Unity is the only project up on the design walls.

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

Border strip 3 is half finished.  I'm hoping step 4 goes faster than step 3 or I'll never finish this project!  

Masks were also on the agenda for this weekend.  

Mask pattern from Laundry Basket Quilts 

Two for me, one for My Guy, one for the SIT and one for a friend at work.  My Guy likes the t-shirt ear loops and asked that I make him a few more to replace some of the early masks with elastic that aren't very comfortable.  The SIT will have to wear one anytime she's on campus this fall, so she was asking for a few more for those weeks she doesn't get to laundry. 

That's my progress for the week.  Hope your week was more productive.  Linking up with Monday Making and Design Wall Monday.   

The Midyear Review for 2020 Quilting Ambitions

I finished the last of my midyear reviews with my direct reports at work yesterday.   The purpose of the midyear review is to make sure you are on track with your goals. If you are not on track, it helps to identify the obstacles or changes in priorities and adjust accordingly. Also it's a good opportunity to celebrate your successes. It's just natural for me to apply what we do at work to the quilty part of my life.  Back in December I set my 2020 Quilting Ambitions as part of Quilting Jetgirl's 2020 Planning Party.  Here's how things are going at the mid year mark.  

2020 Ambition #1:  Finish 12 Quilts in 2020

Only two finishes so far this year, as my PHD in 2020 report shows.

  

 Twinkle Stars, block Tutorial by Angela Feldbush of Soscrappy and 

Stripes from the 2019 Quiltygirl Winter Quilt Along

Twinkle Stars and The Winter Quilt Along are it so far.  But only one new start so far this year.  So I'm doing much better about not chasing squirrels, which is hopefully helping me do a better job of focusing on moving the existing projects to finishes.  

Though not finishes yet, there's been really good progress on three other projects so far this year.  

Frolic, 2019 Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt

The 2019 Bonnie Hunter Mystery didn't finish up until about mid January.  So it's gone from having three blocks finished to finishing and assembling the quilt center.  I've started on the borders. 

Mosaic Mystery Quilt from Cheryl at Meadow Mist Designs

The Mosaic Mystery Quilt along finished up in early January as well.  It's progressed from a set of blocks on the design wall to just needing the binding.  This should be finish number three in a matter of days. Almost perfect timing as this year's Meadow Mist Designs Morewood Mystery kicked off with the fabric requirements this week.  I don't count a quilt as started until I start cutting the fabrics, so I still have time to finish this one before I actually start this year's (which was on my 2020 quilt plan as a planned new start). 

Storm at Sea, Paper Piecing Class by Carrie Randell (Quilter's Hideaway),
Setting self designed

Storm at Sea just needed the last three borders at the end of last year. But I got side tracked with too many mystery quilt alongs and new projects, so Storm at Sea got put aside.  All the borders are on and it's a finished quilt top.  I'm still searching for the extra wide backing that I think was ordered. Several blog buddies have suggested checking my receipts or order records to see if I actually ordered it. That's the part of the plan next week, before I get too deep into clean up plans. (I'd so much rather stitch on my staycation).   

So in review, I'm really likely to get these three to the finished stage this year, for a total of 5 finishes.  There are two quilts that just need borders, backings and quilting to be finished this year.  I think those two are likely to make it to the finish line for a total of 7 finishes for 2020. That would tie my best year for finishes.  That may be as good as it gets this year. Which would be pretty awesome, even if it doesn't meet my goal.    

2020 Ambition #2: Host 15 Minutes to Stitch, Work in 15 minutes of stitching time 85% of days in 2020

With a full time job and a family, it's easy to let my stitching time fall victim to all the other things going on in my life.  But working in regular stretches of stitching time is crucial to maintaining some semblance of sanity in today's madness.  Hence the goal to work in just 15 minutes of stitching time most days.  Up till this year my goal was to work in that time every day, but I finally realized that was adding to the stresses I was trying to get away from. So for this year,  my goal is to stitch 85% of the time (or at least 6 days a week). Year to date, my success rate is 87.5%.  So I'm doing well on that front.

As far as hosting the weekly 15 Minutes to Stitch linky party, there have been 25 posted link ups for the 26 weeks of 2020 so far.  I missed hosting a link up the Sunday after our company decided to close all office locations and have everyone work from home due to Covid 19.  That first week of working from home was so stressful, I couldn't summon the words for a post.  Not that things have gotten any less stressful on that front, but at least we have more knowledge on prevention and treatment. Plus we've gone back to work in the office under very stringent face mask and social distancing requirements. Which is actually much easier to manage than working from home.     

Thanks to everyone who regularly links up for the 15 Minutes to Stitch with tales of stitching time or the lack there of.  Many of us have struggled with our sewing mojos this year, understandably so.  Thanks for sharing both the good and the tough in your posts.  I feel a lot less alone and so much more encouraged due to all of you. 

So that's the planned progress for 2020.  Since I work in a service organization, I always encourage my direct reports to leave a space for "unplanned contributions" in their performance agreements because you never know when a customer issue/problem will end up taking over your working life.  I think mask making definitely qualifies as an "unplanned ambition"  this year.  

There are masks for me, My Guy, the Scientist in Training, the SIT's  roommate, the SITs research group, friends, and coworkers in the mix above.  I didn't make any for the local medical community, but I hope that the ones I made and shared will help slow down the spread of the virus.  

In the supervisor training at work there was one lesson that said if an assignment doesn't match up well with the skill and motivation of the individual, it's likely they won't succeed. That's kinda where I'm at with stash management, so I've no ambition on managing that part of my sewing life. 

So overall, not a bad first half of the year.  I didn't expect to get 12 quilts finished this year, I'll be happy with what gets done. But it doesn't hurt to dream big, it pushes to do more than you think you can (at least that's the management theory anyway). Hope you've done well on your quilty ambitions for the year.  Good luck with your plans for the rest of 2020.  The end of the year will be here before you know it (I sincerly hope that 2021 is a much, much better year).  

Linking up with Quilting Gails PHD in 2020 July Status Update and Quilting Jetgirl's 2020 MidYear CheckIn.

A More Work, Less Play Week

Last week wasn't the greatest.  Getting home late from work, sinus headaches, housework and much needed yard work took a big bite out of my stitching time last week. The morning of yard work required allergy medicine and a 2 hour nap to fully recover from the pollen and the heat.  Even getting going at 7:30 AM it was so hot that by 10 AM I really had to quit.  

So not much progress in the sewing room. About the only visible progress was on Frolic.  The last row is assembled.  

                Frolic: Bonnie Hunter 2019 Mystery

The remaining sashing strips are sitting at the sewing machine ready for the last seam to be sewn.  

The only other stitching of note was the completion of 2 more masks. 

  Mask pattern from Laundry Basket Quilts   

These two are for me. I didn't quite have enough to make it through a full week. Now I do.  

That's all from the sewing room this week. Linking up with Design Wall Monday and Main Crush Monday.  

Borders, Blocks and Other Stuff

The Scientist in Training headed back to campus to start her summer research program yesterday afternoon. The house seemed pretty empty after she left.  She'll be back for Father's Day, which really isn't that far off.  But it's going to take me a bit to get used to her not being here.  

The weather has gone from cool and rainy to hot and humid over the last week.  I'm guessing the mold levels are pretty high, as my sinuses haven't been very happy this week.  It wasn't the most productive week ever in the sewing room, but there was some good progress on several fronts.  Three of the four white borders are attached to Storm at Sea.

                                         Storm at Sea:  Quilt self designed

This quilt has gotten so big, it's hard to get a photo of the whole thing.  

There was also some progress on getting Frolic assembled.

                                         Frolic: Bonnie Hunter 2019 Mystery

The last block is almost finished. I'll need to cut more sashing pieces to finish the assembly.  Hopefully Frolic will be ready for borders by next weekend.  

Not much to show on Unity, the flying geese in the step 3 sawtooth stars take some time to make.  Though I did get one star assembled. 

I need over 30 of these little stars for the step 3 border. That's a lot of flying geese.  

Lastly, there was more stitching on face masks.

I really like this bright periodic table fabric. It's probably my favorite of out of all the masks from this weekend. 

                                     Mask pattern from Laundry Basket Quilts                                                           

That's the last of my science/chemistry themed masks. These are all going to work to share with people who haven't had good luck with the surgical masks the company has made available.  I'm hoping the t-shirt loops will be easier on peoples ears. My Guy has really liked his masks made from this pattern.  

That's pretty much my week of stitching.  Linking up with Monday Making, Monday Design Wall and Main Crush Monday.    

Frolicking with Unity and Other Stitching Tales

We've been fighting our typical spring battles with the ants and other creatures.  Last night I went to bed and got attacked by what looked like flying ants.  I finally slept on the couch because they kept coming. My Guy slept through the whole thing.  I'll be spraying the baseboards before we leave for work.  Needless to say, I didn't sleep very well. It didn't help that the dishwasher kicked on at about 2 AM.  A rather crappy end to what had been a fairly nice weekend. 

It was a productive weekend in the sewing room. Step 2 of Unity is done!!! 

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

I'm really happy with my fabric choices at this point.  I've already gotten a start on Step 3, but those 4" stars aren't going to go quickly.  I'll just keep plugging along. I have deep admiration for those who can finish a step in a week. That's a lot of stitching!

Frolic is moving along again. 

Frolic, 2019 Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt

The last row of dark blue stars are all sewn together.  The long sashing piece that goes with the row is at the machine. It just needs one more seam.  Both rows should be sewn together by next week.  Soon it will be time to finalize the borders and get those stitched. I may actually get this mystery done before the next one comes out.  

There was also some mask making this weekend.  

Mask pattern from Laundry Basket Quilts

I pulled out my stash of chemistry themed fabrics to make this next set.  These are for some of my co-workers who aren't having a lot of luck with the surgical masks. I still have several more to make, but these four are a good start. 

That's my week of stitching.  Linking up with Monday Making, Design Wall Monday, and Main Crush Monday. 

Back to Stormy Stitching

Hope you've been able to enjoy the Memorial Day weekend.  We didn't make any big plans for the weekend, spending most of it at home, doing this and that. I did get in a good afternoon of stitching yesterday, so there's a bit of progress here and there. 

Unity step 2 is almost finished. 

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

All the borders but the bottom square in a square border are sewn together.  I'm hoping to completely finish step 2 today.  

Now that Mosaic Mystery is off to be quilted, I can start working on the next quilt on the to be finished list. 

Storm at Sea is number 2 on the to be finished list.  When I pulled it off the pile I discovered it's actually farther along than I remembered.  Only three borders left to add rather than four. I got a good start on the next blue border.  

I'm also still making a few masks. I needed one more to have enough to make it through a work week and I'm making a few for friends.  

Mask pattern from Laundry Basket Quilts

The flower one is for me, the OSU one is for a friend.  I hope to get a few more made today.  The plan is for a nothing but sewing day. I've not had one of those for a while. 

That's the progress for this week. Linking up with Monday Making, and Monday Design Wall.  

To Do List for 05/12/2020

It's already been a long week and it's just Tuesday!  I was back at the office yesterday for the first time in about 7 weeks.  It didn't seem weird, I thought it would. I've worked there so long it was like putting on a very well used and comfortable pair of shoes.

On the other hand, checking off the weekly to do list hasn't been as easy.  

Weekly To Do List for 05/05/2020
Mosaic Mystery:  Prep top for quilting- No progress
Frolic: Make 1 light blue block ✔
Unity: Finish Step 2 - Progress 
Face masks:  make 5 ✔

Not a bad week all in all.  Progress on three projects isn't at all shabby.  But no progress on prepping Mosaic Mystery.  I just really wanted to sew this weekend, prepping the top just didn't appeal at all.  So we'll see if I have more of a just get it done attitude this week.  

Weekly To Do List for 05/12/2020
Mosaic Mystery:  Prep top for quilting, package for shipping

Frolic: Make 1 light blue block

I need to cut some more black squares and then I'll have all the bits and pieces needed to assemble this block.  

Unity: Finish Step 2

This has been on m to do list for the last three weeks. I've made a lot of progress, I just need to finish making the square in a square blocks and all the pieces for step 2 will be done.  Hopefully I'll actually get this step done this week. 

Face masks: Make 2 more.

I finished 5 masks last week, but that total include 2 for the Scientist in Training. One was a tester to determine if the smaller size was better for me. The smaller size wasn't a good fit for me, but it fit the SIT perfectly.  So she asked for one more out of chemistry fabric.  Now we have matching masks, but I still need two more to have enough to make it through the work week. I've got both patterns figured out well enough that it's not to hard to stitch one up while working on other projects.  

That's the plan for this week.  Hopefully it will go better than last week's plan.  Linking up with Home Sewn By Us for To Do Tuesday.  Good luck with your weekly to dos.