To Do List for the Week of 7/11/2023

With the holiday and family plans, I didn't get much done on my To Do List from 6/27, so I skipped writing a post last week.  Even with the extra week, I didn't get everything checked off.  

To Do List for 6/27/2023

1. Just Two Charm Pack Quilts blog hop: Finish assembling rows, start assembling quilt top ✔

2. Diatom: Finish block 9, cut block 10 - progress

3. Wild & Goosey: Make 2 blue or green blocks ✔

4. Chilhowie: Leaders and enders project ✔

So there is progress even though not everything got checked off.  

I'm heading to Texas to help Grad Girl pack and move to a new apartment later this week, so I won't have the weekend to stitch. So next week's list will reflect that. 

To Do List for 7/11/2023

1.  Just Two Charm Pack Quilts blog hop (Meadow Mist Designs): Finish assembling the quilt top.  

I've cut the border strips, so all that's left is to sew the rows together and add the borders.  If I can get that done before my trip I'll be happy even if nothing else on the list gets checked off.

2. Wild & Goosey (Bonnie Hunter): 1 red block

I really wanted to add 2 blocks to my list, but I really need to go through my red scraps to add some variety to the blocks. I may get to that this week. It just depends on how far I get on the blog hop project. 

3. Diatom (Quilting Jetgirl): Finish block 9, but block 10

I spent Sunday unstitching the block borders. I got them partially reassembled.  For some reason block 9 is just not going together as quickly as the others did.  

4. Chilhowie (Bonnie Hunter): Leaders and enders

The hourglass blocks for block 6 are finished, so now it's time to stitch up the HSTs.  Those should go pretty quickly.  

5. Butterfly Medallion embroidery: Travel project

I took my sewing machine last time I visited Grad Girl, but the intent of this trip is to help her pack, clean the old apartment, clean the new apartment, and unpack. So there won't be as much down time as my last trip. So I'll take some handwork to do in the evenings. 

Linking up with The Quilt Schmilt: For the Love of Fabric for To Do Tuesday.  

Before I sign off today, I want to thank My Guy for sticking it out for 31 years.  It's not been perfect, but it's always been full of love.  

Week 41: Stitching Stuff

It's almost the middle of October.  The last two weeks have gone by pretty quickly.  It's getting darker earlier and cooler in the evenings. Getting in an evening walk means getting that in when I'm normally heading to the sewing room.  The change in seasons is the hardest time to keep up the sewing room (and exercise) habits as you have to rearrange your schedule to fit in the new normal.  So far so good on that front for me. Does your sewing time change with the seasons?  

If I head straight up the stairs after our walk, it's not hard to get into the stitching groove.  So far I've navigated the season change pretty well on the sewing front.  

15 minute days/week = 7/7 days
15 minute days/October = 12/12 days
15 minute days/2019 = 257/285 days
Success rate = 90.18%

My goal for 2019 was to manage 15 minutes of stitching time at least 90% of the time. I'm meeting that goal at the moment. I'm not sure how easy that's going to be staying at that level this week. I'm not going to be home at all on Monday, and maybe not Tuesday either.  The plan is to work in some handwork, time allowing.  

In terms of the stash report, there's nothing out at all. The projects under the needle this week have either already had the fabric counted, or it's mystery stuff that I don't count till the blocks are assembled.  So at some point, I'll have a bunch out.  

In the non-stitching stuff category, we met up with the Scientist in Training yesterday and checked out The Gathering Place in Tulsa.  The park is just over a year old and has been generating a lot of buzz.  If you've got kids, it's a great place to spend an afternoon. Apparently the SIT is still kid enough to enough some of the activities. 

The park runs along the river just south of downtown.  It's a wonderful place to just walk and check out nature. 

There's also some fun places to hang out like the Boathouse, which has the coolest lighting. 

It was a fun afternoon.  If you are ever in Tulsa, OK, you should definitely put this place on your "to visit" list. 

So how did your stitchy week work out? 

1. Meloney 2. Julie in GA 3. Chrisknits

4. DawnyK 5. Amanda 6. Shasta @ High Road Quilter

7. Christina's Handicrafts

Powered by... Mister Linky's Magical Widgets.

Stash Stuff for Week 36 of 2017

My good intentions backfired yesterday.  I did get to some of the yard work, but paid for it the rest of the day.  After about 3 hours of cleaning up the front flower beds, I just couldn't take it anymore.  Spent the rest of the day in bed with a sinus headache.  There's still a bit left to do outside, but I'll wait till next weekend (and defintely pre-dose with some Benadryl before beginning work).

I did get some stitching done late in the evening, which was good as that produced the only fabric going out this week. 

Fabric used this week: 0.18 yards
Fabric used year to date: 46.72 yards

You'd think there would be more going out as I managed at least 15 minutes of stitching every day this week for a yearly total of 225 out of 252 days (89.3% success rate).  But most of the time was spent prepping and cutting pieces for the Scientist in Training's Geek Chic quilt and making a start on the piecing for the Magnolia Mystery.  I won't be showing any progress on Geek Chic, I found out over the weekend that the SIT was planning to follow my blog so she could keep up with what was going on at home while she was off at college.  She promised not to look at last week's post, but now she knows she's getting a quilt for Christmas.  

It was fun having the SIT around last weekend.  This is my favorite photo from the weekend. 

I love the geeky T-shirt with the butterfly wings.  Quite the fashion statement as always.  

Linking up with Quiltpaintcreate for this week's stash report.  

Weekend Stitching: A Little Handwork, A lot of Walking

Since we were on vacation all last week, there's not been a lot of time in the sewing room.  I did take some hand work along for the ride and made some good progress on that. 

I only work on this project when we are away from home, so I'm not sure when it will get finished.  At any rate it's nice to have something to stitch on in the evenings while we are winding down from vacation activities like 5 mile hikes.  

I did spend some time on my OMG for July.  The July UFO is my Scrappy Coffee Cups blocks made as part of the 2012 Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  These blocks haven't been made into a quilt because I was out of the white background fabric and couldn't figure out how to set them without additional fabric.  I did a bit of playing in EQ over the last few days.  I tried a scrappy border and just didn't like it.  After playing around with borders and such, here's the most likely possibility. 

  Scrappy Coffee Cups
Block patterns from Karen F. Srebro and Janet McCarroll
published in Block Magic and Block Magic Too by Nancy Johnson-Srebro

It's not that different then what I started with, but the sashing is narrower.  Plus I've added two borders of white tone on tone.  Hopefully there is another white tone on tone in the stash that reads the same as the background fabric for the blocks.  Since it won't be right up against the blocks, it shouldn't be as noticeable that it's not the exact same fabric.  The actual color of the sashing and borders will be determined by what is in the stash.  I really like the blue borders, but My Guy likes green.  This is going to be his recliner cuddle quilt.  I'm going to stick with tone on tone fabrics for the borders no matter what color they end up being. 

On a completely unrelated note.  Twenty five years ago on July 11th, we said our I do's.  Happy anniversary My Guy!  

Looking forward to the next 25!

Linking up for:
Main Crush Monday
Monday Making
Monday Design Wall

2016 Rainbow Scrap Challenge - Getting Educated

The biggest accomplishment this week was surviving a full five days of work.  It's amazing how hard that is after having two weeks off.  Well, maybe that wasn't the biggest accomplishment this week.  Yesterday was Drama Teen's 17th birthday.  She didn't mention till Thursday night that she really wanted cookies and cream cupcakes from the bakery downtown. I had planned to do an ice cream cake, as that's been her favorite.  Thankfully the bakery had a few cookie and cream left when we went by at lunch yesterday.  She was happily surprised when dessert was served.  

Mom messed up by not having any candles in the house, but Drama Teen was happy to make do with a long fireplace match.  Hard to believe she's only got one more year of high school.  

With all the celebrating last night, there wasn't much time in the sewing room,  This year's Rainbow Scrap Challenge project is taking a bit of preparation before I can start sewing.  I finally got the patterns printed to size, selected the two Vintage Dresses to make this month, and picked out the fabrics. 

Vintage Dresses by Charise Randell

After looking at the minimal directions, I decided to educate myself a bit more about paper piecing.  The only project in my repertoire was really simple, nothing like these dresses.  There's a Craftsy class on paper piecing by Carol Doak in my library that I haven't had time to watch yet.  So I'm go to watch a bit of that before I get started on the piecing.  Hopefully that will save me some grief and unsewing down the road.  

That's all the rainbow scrap stitching I've managed this week.  You can find some pretty, blue scrappy projects linked up to Soscrappy. 

Back and Not Back

Hard to believe it's been 3 weeks plus since I last posted.  I'm hoping to get back to normal for at least a couple of weeks before the work madness starts up again.  There's been pretty much no progress at all in the sewing room since my last post.  Deadlines at work had me going in early and working late, so there wasn't any time to stitch.  

The reason for all the overtime was so I could take some vacation time.  I did take vacation, but still ended up working about half the first week we were gone.  That actually wasn't so bad because the first week of vacation was for Drama Teen.  She and I went to Florida so she could take part in a creative writing class. While she was in class, I was taking care of work stuff. 

The class was hosted by one of girls that DT met when she took an online creative writing class through Duke University back in the summer of 2012.  There were 6 of them from the class that got along so well, that they found a way to meet up online a couple of times a month (Yes, after 4 years, they still meet regularly).  Not all the girls were able to make the class, but she got to meet and spend time with two of the girls during this trip.  

It wasn't all work and no play.  Even I put up my paperwork and computer for a couple of days of fun in the sun. 

My tootsies made a few tentative steps into the ocean. DT went the total immersion approach.  

She had the best time hanging out with her writing buddies and playing in the ocean.  

That was week one of vacation.  From Florida, DT and I flew to Maine to meet up with My Guy for a family vacation.  I'm still going through all the pictures from that part of vacation.  I'll have some to share later this week when I hope to also have some stitching stuff to share as well.  I did find a few quilt shops in Maine.  Did I break my 6 month fabric fast? You'll have to read tomorrow's stash report to find out.  

I've been slowly catching up on everyone's blog.  As of this morning, I'm just a week behind.  I've been reading but not commenting on the older posts. Hopefully I'll be all caught up on that front  by the end of the weekend.  

Mother's Day and A Stash Report

Happy Mother's Day to all Mom's.   

My family is pretty good to me not only on Mother's Day but pretty much all year long.  So on this Mother's Day I thought it was only right to thank them for all the support they give me. Here's my top 10 thanks to my family.  (If you are here only for the stash report, you can scroll on to the bottom of the post).  

10.  Thanks My Guy for picking up Drama Teen with 10 minutes notice because my boss scheduled a meeting at the last minute.

  

9.  Thanks Drama Teen for hanging out with such a fun group of girls, it makes it easy to let you all hang at the house. (I also worry less since they are also a responsible and smart group of girls)  

8.  Thanks My Guy for making coffee each morning, I'm definitely a better person after that first cup.

7.  Thanks My Guy for making my favorite scones just about anytime I ask.  

6.  Thanks Drama Teen for supporting my quilting habit by finding deserving teachers and friends that need a quilt.      

5.  Thanks Drama Teen for posing for one more picture so I have something to post on the blog.  

4. Thanks My Guy for never saying anything when that 4th box of fabric (in a week) shows up on the doorstep.  

3.  Thanks My Guy and Drama Teen for always being honest about what's hanging on the design wall, including your suggestions that maybe I just need to start over.  

2.  Thanks My Guy for always asking "Do you want to stop?" anytime we see a quilt shop when we are traveling.  

1.  Thanks Drama Teen for sending to my sewing room with the words "You'll feel better if you go sew."  anytime I'm angry or frustrated.   And then leaving me alone long enough for me to regain my sanity.  

I'm so lucky to have such a supportive family.  

If you were looking for the stash report, here it is. 

Used last week:  0.32 yards
Used in May:  0.32 yards
Used year to date:  12.97 yarsd
Purchased year to date:  0 yards

Have a lovely Sunday.  You can check out more stash reports over at Judy's Patchwork Times.

An Unplanned Break

Life happens.  It's happened a lot over the last three weeks.  It's not all been crazy, hectic work schedules.  There has been some relaxing family time away from home in there as well.  But both the much needed family time and the crazy work schedule have kept me off the computer and out of the sewing room for several weeks.  I could have worked around the planned family time, but when I ended up with an unexpected project at work with a looming deadline, something had to give.  I'm still in the thick of things with the project at work, so I'll be scarce for another couple of weeks.  

I've not had much of a chance to enjoy the beautiful spring weather, but I did take a break for Easter weekend.  We visited My Guy's family and went for a lazy walk on the family farm last Saturday.  The daffodils were thick and oh so pretty.  

I do hope to catch up with a few blogs as well as spend a bit of time in the sewing room this weekend.  Hopefully that will translate into something worthy to post about next week.  Have a wonderful weekend.  

Tuesday Archives - Original Patterns

It's Tuesday so it's time for the Tuesday Archives over at Val's Quilting Studio.  

The topic this week is "original patterns by you".  Before I could pick a quilt to highlight, I had to ask what is an "original pattern"?  Is that a quilt made without following a pattern published by some one else?  For it to count as a pattern does it have to be published some where?   Since Val didn't give more particulars, I'm going to highlight the first quilt I made on my own with out using any type of pattern.  It's another project that I can't find posted elsewhere on the blog.  

When Drama Teen was just a little thing, she developed a liking of stuffed tigers. She has quite the collection.  Her favorite was a white tiger she named Siberian.  

Drama Teen when she was just a kiddo of  7 or 8 with Siberian who was "stealing" breakfast

Siberian pretty much went everywhere with her.  Siberian even flew to Washington State with us on vacation one year.  She was quite happy to reside in the overhead compartment during the flight, much to the delight of several younger flyers seated near us.  

I was fortunate enough to attend the Houston quilt festival in 2005. During the festival, a fat quarter packet with several tiger prints caught my eye.   Those fat quarters just had to come home with me. DT (aka Kiddo) absolutely needed a tiger quilt for Christmas.    I really wanted to let the tigers take center stage so the idea of using simple squares came from that.  One early problem was that one of the fat quarters only had enough tigers in it to make two squares.  So I took pictures of some of her stuffed tigers, including Siberian, and printed those onto fabric.  From that Kiddo's Tigers Quilt came to be.

Tigers designed by Kate

DT loved that the quilt included her tigers on it, especially Siberian.  At the time it was the perfect size for her to cuddle under on the couch.  She has since outgrown it, so it sits in the closet waiting for the next little one.  

It's certainly not a perfect quilt.  I had to piece one of the tigers to have enough to make a full square.  But at age 6 Drama Teen wasn't the quilt critic she is now, the fabric photos were the coolest thing to her.   It was a fun quilt to make.  I really enjoyed figuring out how to use the fabrics to the best advantage.  Credit for the setting fabric choices has to be given to one of the ladies who worked at the local quilt shop.  She suggested the orange fabric for the sashing and the black fabric in the border.  I had my doubts as they just didn't seem like the fabrics to use for a 6 year old.  But they were exactly right.

That's my blast from the past for this week.  You can check out more archival posts over at Val's Quilting Studio.  

Stash Report - Week 10

Yesterday was a nice relaxing day.  Drama Teen showed up about noon yesterday after spending a few days at State Science Fair.

She was a bit down, she didn't place again this year.  This was the third time she had qualified to attend the state competition.  Which is an achievement in itself.  She really wants a state medal, so she's already plotting next year's strategy.  

With Drama Teen out of the house for a few nights, I had a bit more time than normal and managed to make it into the sewing room a couple of evenings.  Plus I claimed yesterday as a "personal sewing retreat".  So there is a bit going out this week. 

Used last week:  0.69 yards
Added last week:  0 yards

Used in 2014:  4.87 yards
Added in 2014:  33.5 yards

Net stashed for 2014: 28.63 yards

Nothing in for the week, which is always a good thing.  I did push a few buttons yesterday and ordered a few fat quarters of teal and brown, both are colors that I just don't have much of in the stash. That will probably show up in the stash report next week.  

For more on the ins and outs of stash fabrics, check out Patchwork Times.  

Stash Report - Week 47 of 2013

It's been a slow Sunday so far.  Just sipping coffee and checking out the news.  We spent yesterday at the pool watching Drama Teen do this:

She did actually swim some as well, but we were short timers, so I ended up behind the blocks with a stopwatch and no camera for most of the meet. 

Adding in church and dinner out meant not much stitching happened yesterday.  But black background fabric for the Starburst Quilt Along got washed and pressed in between yesterday's events, so I'm ready to start on those blocks this afternoon.  

And that brings me to this week's stash report.  Starburst needs 5 yards of background fabric.  I really had my heart set on black, but of course, the most I had on hand of any one black fabric was 3 yards.  So I ordered some.  In fact, I ordered 4 different fabrics because it's so hard to tell what will work until you actually see it (black isn't always black).  This is what the UPS guy brought me this week:

The fabric in the upper left is being used for Starburst, the other pieces are going into the stash for other projects.  Thankfully fabric doesn't spoil.  I have several projects that I'd like to make that have black backgrounds, so it will all get used at some point.  However, for the short term, the stash report took another big hit. 

Used last week:  1.01 yards
Added last week:  20 yards

Used for 2013:  63.83 yards
Added for 2013:  255.83 yards

Net stashed for 2013:  192 yards

It's good that I've got some time off this week so I can work on raising the outgoing numbers before the end of the year!  That's it for my stash report.  I'm linking up with Judy over at Patchwork Times.  I need to get laundry going, but then will come the second cup of coffee and a chance to check out who is destashing and who is stashing.  

Catching Up

It's been almost a week since I last posted.  Between Drama Teen's graduation from 8th grade and work deadlines, there just hasn't been time to get on the computer.  When I was home, I was sleeping.  We were so busy with graduation that I completely forgot about the 15 Minute Challenge post this week.  I'll do a catch up post next Tuesday.  

Thanks for all the notes checking up on us after the tornado hit Moore, OK last Monday. We live about 150 miles northeast of that community, but most of my immediate family lives just 20 miles to the north of Moore.  They are all just fine.  My heart goes out to those who lost love ones and those who've lost their homes.  The track of the 1999 tornado was visible from the highway until just recently.  It's the cruelest of fates to have a second F5 follow almost the same track and reopen that old scar.  

There was a tornado, a much smaller one, just south of us Monday. It was close enough to have our downtown offices send people to the shelters.  Drama Teen had walked from school to the company recreation center to work out and texted me that she was heading to the building shelter, which in that building is actually a basement.  It's one of the few in town.  The soil here makes it difficult to build basements, so few homes have them.  We do have a storm shelter in the garage, I blogged about it here.  

We have no plans for this holiday weekend other than to just hang out and catch up on a few things around the house.  Drama Teen's had a busy couple of weeks with finals, 8th grade trip, graduation, last day of school swimming, a sleep over and the end of the year dance.  She finally hit the wall yesterday and was not feeling well.  She slept most of yesterday and was asleep on the couch by 9 last night.  Hopefully she will feel better today when she wakes up.  

Enjoy your weekend!  

Favorite Thing Friday - October 27th

It's not quite Friday in my corner of the world, but it's close.  Maybe by writing my Favorite Thing Friday thing post I'll get a good jump going into the weekend.  After a day spent in meetings, I most definitely need some powerful positive thinking!

Last week was Fall Break for Kiddo.  She had 3 days out of school.  We had great plans for the long weekend, but after a mix up with the volleyball schedule, an unexpected business trip for me and an out of nowhere assignment for My Guy, we weren't sure there would be any plans.  However, we did manage to cobble together a short family trip where we:

Looked at big rocks

Climbed into the big rocks

Checked out one of Jesse James' hideouts.

And photographed the fall foliage.

So the rocky start to Fall Break ended up being a rocky end too.  But in the end we all had a great time. 

That's it for my favorite thing this week.  Check out all the other Friday favorites over at Shay's Quilting in My Pyjamas.