The Best of 2019 at Life In Pieces

As 2019 winds down, I start to look back at the year.  Cheryl over at Meadow Mist Designs encourages a review of the year's blog posts in her 5th "Best of" linky party. 

So here is my Best of 2019 Life in Pieces posts.  

1.  Most Views (615):  November One Monthly Goal - Bordering Twinkle Stars.

Twinkle Stars

Tutorial by Andrea Feldbush of Soscrappy

I'm still working to get the borders on this quilt, but I keep getting side tracked with new projects. Twinkle Stars started as a Rainbow Scrap challenge project. Hopefully it will make it all the way to finished quilt early in 2020. 

2. Most Comments (34):  Finally a Finish

 Sophia's Closet (Vintage Dresses)
block pattern by Charise Randell

Vintage Dresses (Sophia's Closet) is another long time favorite project.  Getting this project to the finish line is one of my biggest accomplishments for 2019.  

3.  My Second Favorite Finish:  Finally A Finish (apparently this is a favorite blog title for 2019 too).  
 

Inverted Star (Second Star to the Right)
 Inverted Star block by Jessica Boschem of Common Threads available from Blueprint 

Inverted Stars is another Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilt that's been a lot of fun to work on.  Adding on the alternating up/down star border was so worth the effort.  Vintage Dresses is my favorite finish, but this quilt is a very close second.  

4.  My Favorite New Project:  Stormy Stuff

Storm at SeaPaper Piecing Class by Carrie Randell (Quilter's Hideaway)

Storm at Sea was a class offered by the local quilt shop. When My Guy saw my planned colors and layout, he said this one should go on our bed when it's done.  So that's the plan. I've still a couple of borders to add to finish this one off. Hopefully that will happen early in 2020.  

5.  Most Linky Party Participants (13): Week 3 of 2019

The 15 Minutes to Stitch linky party goes live every Sunday.  Since 2011 it's been one of my weekly goals to stitch for at least 15 minutes each day. It helps me keep my projects moving. The linky party started in later 2011, but I stopped it in 2012 or 2013 due to lack of interest.  In 2017, there was enough interest in the concept to start up a new linky party.  The plan is to continue the linky party in 2020.  

That's my top 5 for 2019.  You can see more "Best Of's" over at Meadow Mist Designs.  

Weekend Stitching: How's it Going?

Weekend's are definitely too short.  March was too short. April marks the start of the second quarter of 2019.  One fourth of the year is already over.  There's still three quarters of the year left. Seems like a good time to check on how well I'm doing with those lofty quilty goals outlined in this post for the 2019 Planning Party.  

First goal was UFO reduction.  The strategy for 2019 was to pick and prioritize 12 quilts.  I'd start with #1 on the list and work on it till it was done and then move on to #2.  So how's that working?  

Inverted Star was a finished flimsy at the beginning of the year, it needed a backing made and prepping for quilting.  

The binding was finished in March.  

Inverted Star (Second Star to the Right)
 Inverted Star block by Jessica Boschem of Common Threads available from Blueprint 

Setting by Kate, Started January 1, 2014, Finished March 11, 2019

The Christmas Mystery Quilt (HO HO HO) was the second quilt on the list.  It also needed a backing made and prepping for quilting.  My Guy also insisted that the nutcracker was too creepy, it needed a face stitched in.  

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

Those things got done.  The quilting is done, the binding and labels made.  The label's been pinned in place, I hope to start stitching on the binding tonight. This one should be finished by the end of April

Number three on my list was another Christmas quilt.  

This project needed borders added before it was ready for backing and prepping. 

 Christmas Angels
Pattern by Kate

The borders are done, the backing made and prepping for quilting happened was finished last night.  It's ready to go out for quilting.  

So projects are moving along, slowly, but they are moving.  All three of these projects were on my list for the 2019 Finish Along.  

My last two ambitions were on finding time to stitch and to sew from the stash.  I've managed to find stitching time 86 out of the 90 days so far this year.  That's not shabby at all.  Both new projects started this year, the Daisy Chain Mystery.

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

and the Storm at Sea quilt

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

were made with stash fabrics.  I've added a bit of new fabric, but first quarter ended with more out of the stash then into the stash. 

So first quarter's been pretty good.  I'd probably do better at finishing projects if I'd quit starting new projects, but what's the fun in that?  

Hope your year has been productive. Linking up with the normal Monday linky parties and the 2019 First Quarter Finish Along when it's posted.  


Design Wall Monday
2019 First Quarter Finish Along

Weekend Stitching: Finally a Finish

Spring finally made an appearance this weekend.  Temperatures hit the high 60's with lots of sun.  Even better, it's spring break time so the Scientist in Training made it back to town Friday evening in time for dinner.  This is her first trip home since the start of spring semester. It's been nice to have her home, though she's spent most of Saturday crashed out on the couch and then most of Saturday evening working on homework. She'll be home all week, so we've got plans for some fun stuff.  Consequently stitching may or may not happen a few days this week. 

While the SIT was napping there was time to finally get photos of my first finish for 2019.  

 Inverted Star (Second Star to the Right)
 Inverted Star block by Jessica Boschem of Common Threads available from Blueprint 

Setting by Kate, Started January 1, 2014, Finished March 11, 2019

Inverted Star (aka Second Star to the Right) is now finished!  I'm really happy with how this quilt turned out.  The Inverted Star blocks were my 2014 Rainbow Scrap Challenge Project.  The Sawtooth Stars were stitched as part of my 2017 RSC projects.  So it took a while to get this one done, but the extra effort was definitely worth it.  

  
Trudy did a wonderful job with the quilting.  I've haven't washed this one yet, but it's going to have lots of wonderful texture once it's out of the dryer.  Here's how it looks from the back. 

The backing is an older Connecting Threads line that I ordered when it was on sale. It's as bright as the front is.  

The borders were quilted with simple loops. I didn't have enough of the white used for the Inverted Star blocks to make the borders so I had to use another white from the stash.  They match well enough that you have to look hard even when you are up close to notice that the quilt uses two different tone on tone whites.  

The label has been posted on the blog before, but just to wrap it all up, here's the rough copy.  The SIT wrote a very nice note for her writing buddy.  The quilt was intended as as college graduation present, but the SIT decided to wait till Christmas to gift this one. There's a quilt in progress for the other writing buddy in her group. That quilt is on the list to finish before the end of the year, so she'll be able to gift both quilts at the same time.  

So one finish in the books and a second one almost finished.  Not a bad start to 2019.  Linking up with Monday Making, Monday Design Wall, and Main Crush Monday.  I'll also be linking up with the First Quarter 2019 Finish Along once that is posted. 

Weekend Stitching: Contemplating the March One Monthly Goal

We ended up with about an inch of snow on the ground yesterday and bitterly cold temps. With the wind chill it feels like -7 F outside this morning.  Schools are out today, not because of bad roads, but because it's too cold to have the kids standing out at the bus stop.  It would be a good day to continue stitching in my warm sewing room, but work is not canceled.  Bummer. 

Hard to believe it's March with the temps being so low, usually we've warmed up by this point.  Warm or not, it's still a new month, so it's time to decide on a new One Monthly Goal.  

The 2019 stitching strategy is to keep working on those quilts closest to being finished rather than moving on to a new UFO each month.  So I've been trying to pick a one monthly goal that's doable, but moves a project closer to finished. There are actually three project closing in on finished, any one of those would be a good choice for this month. 

Inverted Star is in the binding stage.

I've just about to turn corner number three on this project, so it's likely this one will get done even if it's not the one monthly goal.

The Christmas Mystery Quilt is back from the quilter and it needs binding.  I've started evaluating fabric options for that. There's this striped left over from a previous holiday quilt. 

Or this red.

I don't have enough of the red used in the sashing to make a binding with, but this red is pretty close.  The other option would be a dark green, but I didn't get that far into the stash options yesterday. 

The last possibility for the March One Monthly Goal would be to get the Christmas Angels quilt cleaned up, pressed, and sent out for quilting.  The back is pieced, cleaned up, pressed and already packaged for shipment. 

So I just need to get the top ready to go.  Prepping for quilting is the step I tend to stall on.  I don't mind doing the back, but the finished flimsy always takes longer.  

Christmas Angels
Pattern by Kate

If I make it my One Monthly Goal, it's more likely to get done.  The other two will probably get done without any extra prompting. So that's my OMG for March, get Christmas Angels prepped and shipped out for quilting. 

Linking up with the Elm Street Quilts for the March OMG and the other usual Monday linky parties, Monday Making, Main Crush Monday and Monday Design Wall.        

Week 8 of 2019: Stitching and De-Stashing

It's been a busy weekend.  We judged the senior division at the District Science Fair yesterday. After that we hit the road to pay the SIT a visit. She was supposed to come home this weekend, but her homework load and test schedule wasn't cooperating.  Finding time to stitch with all that going on has been a bit of a challenge. 

So it wasn't a perfect week on the stitching front, but it wasn't all bad. 

15 minutes stitching days/week = 6/7 days
15 minutes stitching days/Feb = 22/23 days
15 minutes stitching days/2019 = 51/54 days
Success Rate = 94.44%

Some weeks there are just days you can't fit in that 15 minutes of playing with fabric.  Hopefully your week was better on that front. You can share how your stitchy week went at the end of the post.    

The stash report shows a nice chunk of fabric out for the week (at least for me anyway).  

Fabric out this week = 1.36 yards
Fabric out in 2019 = 10.31 yards
More out than in for 2019

I'm back in the black with more fabric used than added to the stash. Part of that was the final borders for Christmas Angels. Now it needs a back pieced, so next week should be a good one too on the stash front.  You can find more stash reports over at Quiltpaintcreate. 

The other bit of fabric out for the week was the binding for Inverted Star.  

Sewing the binding to the front of the quilt happened Friday and I even got a start on the hand stitching it on the back.  I'm hoping to get back to some more slow stitching this afternoon during the NASCAR race.  You can check out more slow stitching over at Kathy's Quilts.  

Overall it was a really good week.  The Christmas Mystery Quilt is on the way back from being quilted, Christmas Angels is a finished flimsy and Inverted Star is well on it's way to being finished.  Not bad progress for week 8.  

So how successful were you on the time management front this week?

1. Chrisknits 2. Meloney 3. maggie f

4. Marti 5. Shasta 6. Amanda

7. Deana 8. Christina's Handicrafts

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Weekend Stitching: What's Next, The Down Side of Multi-Tasking

We talked with the Scientist in Training last night.  She said she was really sad at how fast Sunday came this week.  The semester is going so fast, but yet the weeks seem to drag.  Yep, that's how I'm feeling about this winter.  Half way through February, but boy getting from Monday to Friday at work has been a chore!  

It was nice to spend some quality time in the sewing room over the weekend.  By Sunday though, I realized it was time to stop and take stock of what each project needed to keep moving it towards a finish. 

First up was Inverted Star.  The SIT finally wrote a message for the label.  So that got printed up, rinsed and laid out to dry.  So it should be ready to use today.  Next step was to figure out what to use for the binding. 

Since the quilt is for on of the SITs buddies, I let her choose.  She went with the darker blue. 

The binding strips are all cut and I've started sewing them together.  

The Christmas Mystery quilt finally made it to the post office last week (between work and the weather, that wasn't an easy task). Trudy is now contemplating how to quilt it.  I need to finish the label, so it's ready to go when the quilt comes back in another week or so.  

The last round of borders is going on Christmas Angels. The quilt has gotten too big to photograph on the design wall so no photos.  Just two more strips and it will be a finished flimsy.  So it's time to raid the stash for a backing fabric.  

The stack of Good Fortune blocks is growing.

Good Fortune, 2018 Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt

I was contemplating changing the layout to a 5 x 7 block setting with sashing to help the black blend in.  If I do that, the border blocks which have already been made won't fit right.  I don't have enough blocks for the 5 X 7 setting, so for now I'll make enough blocks for that setting and then reassess.  I really need to play with the potential borders in EQ so I know how many blocks to make and where I'm going with this project so it doesn't stall.  


Next up was to figure out where I'm going with On Ringo Lake, my leaders and enders project.  

On Ringo Lake
Bonnie Hunter 2017 Mystery Quilt

I've got 22 blocks finished.  I need 32 for my on point layout.  I have all the nine patches needed for the centers, but need more flying geese and HSTs.  I need to cut the fabric to finish those remaining 10 blocks.  I also still need to make all the sashing pieces too.  There was a stack of black squares that had been cut to the wrong size for the flying geese.  Those were trimmed up to use on the sashing strips.  I'll stitch on the sashing pieces till I get a chance to cut a bit more fabric to finish the blocks. 

Hopefully if I stick to my new to do list, there will be a couple of finishes to celebrate soon.  Linking up with:

Monday Making
Monday Design Wall

February One Monthly Goal - Still Dithering

Tomorrow is the 7th of February and I've yet to choose a One Monthly Goal for February. 

I'm having a hard time deciding between three different goals. 

1.  Inverted Star is quilted and just needs to have the label completed, the binding made and then sewn on.  Here's the Scientist in Training approved label. 

Unfortunately, the SIT is studying for her Organic I exam on Friday this week, so it's not likely I'll get anything from her before the weekend.  But then she has a physics test and a differential equations test the following week, so I may not get anything out of her till the end of the month.  Maybe it's best to decide on what to use for the binding, get that made, but not try to get this one completely done by the end of the month.  So what else is on the list as a potential OMG?  

2.  Christmas Angels needs the borders added, backing made and to be prepped for quilting. 

Christmas Angels, Pattern by Kate

It's been crazy at work, plus it's a short month.  I could probably get the borders added by the end of the month, but not the backing and the prepping.  Or I could go completely off script for February's OMG.  

3.  Get all the pieces cut for a new mystery quilt along over at Little Bunny Quilts. 

The cutting instructions come out the 18th, so I'd still have time to get that done by the end of the month. But the push for this year was to focus on the older quilts on the UFO list.  So hmmm.  

So what's my February OMG?   I'm going to stick to my plan to focus on getting projects moved off the UFO list.  The most doable thing that adheres to the 2019 plan is getting the borders on the Christmas Angels quilt. So that's the goal for Febuary 2019.   If I get the backing made, that will be a bonus.  

Linking up with Elm Street Quilts for the February One Monthly Goal.  

Last Monday Check In: One Monthly Goal, PHD, and 2019 Strategy Progress

It's the last Monday in January, seems like a good time to see how my sewing room strategies for 2019 are working.  I really want to move some UFOs off the list this year.  

First up, the January One Monthly Goal was to get Inverted Star sent out for quilting.  

All that got done and the box actually made it to the post office.  It should come back in a couple of weeks.  Fingers crossed this one gets finished before the end of February. 

With Inverted Star sent off, I moved on to the second quilt on this year's UFO Challenge, The Christmas Mystery quilt. 

Mr. Nutcracker got a face and the backing was pieced.  The back has been de-threaded and pressed.  It's ready to be shipped out for quilting.  The next step is to prep the finished flimsy.  That should happen this week.  So there's still a chance this one also gets finished in February.  

In other stitching, I got a start on this year's Rainbow Scrap Challenge Wild and Goosey blocks.

There's been progress on this year's Bonnie Hunter Mystery, Good Fortune. 

Good Fortune, 2019 Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt

I've actually gotten a few more blocks made, but apparently there hasn't been a new photo of that progress.

Lastly, a few more blocks of On Ringo Lake, the current leaders and enders project, have made it to the design wall. 

On Ringo Lake
Bonnie Hunter 2017 Mystery Quilt

There's been good progress this month on multiple fronts, but I've not made much visible progress towards my 2019 PHD.

All my report shows is one new start.  

Fingers crossed there's two off the list by the end of February.  

Linking up with the usual Monday linky parties. 

Monday Making
Main Crush Monday
Monday Design Wall
One Monthly Goal  

Weekend Stitching: Back to the Fun Stuff

It was bitterly cold all weekend.  Perfect weather to just hang out around the house.  Once a few household chores were out of the way, I migrated to the sewing room for the rest of the weekend.  

First on the list was to finish the not fun stuff from last weekend: prepping Inverted Star for quilting.  ✔

It took a couple of hours to finish off the prep work.  I found the right size box in the left over pile from Christmas. The box needs to be taped shut and a label added then it will be ready to mail to Trudy.  Getting Inverted Star shipped out for quilting was my January one monthly goal.  It should go out in the mail tomorrow.  It's nice to get that one checked off before the end of the month. 

Looking at the project plan for this year, next on the list to finish is the Christmas Mystery quilt.  It's not a year old yet, so it's not on the UFO list, but getting it finished will keep it off the list. Since the plan this year is to get in a few finishes, no reason not to pull this project out and figure out what's next for it.   First step was to address the creepy blank face of the nutcracker (which really bugged My Guy). 

Ho Ho Ho (Christmas Mystery)
designed by Carrie Randall (Quilter's Hideaway)

I used dark gray embroidery thread to stitch in a few facial features. I'm happy with how it came out, so is My Guy.  No more creepy, faceless Nutcracker.  

Next step was to figure out the backing fabric and get that pieced.  Most of the quilt was made from scraps and fat quarters, so there wasn't any left over yardage to pick from there. After staring at the various piles in the fabric closet, I came across a green and gold print.  Not a Christmas print, but I think it will work for the back. 

It's got the same green tones as the print used for one of the Dresden Plate blocks.  I'm planning to bind this in either red or dark green.  That backing would work with either.  It didn't take long to piece the backing, this quilt isn't a very large just 52" X 64".  Next step is to give both the flimsy and the back a good press, then clean up the loose threads on both.  I'll probably wait till next weekend to get started on that.  Since this project used a medium gray, I won't have to worry to much about the threads showing through, except in the blocks that use white fabrics.  So hopefully that process will go faster with than it did with Inverted Star.   

That's it for me this week.  Linking up with the usual Monday linky parties:

Main Crush Monday
Monday Making
Monday Design Wall

Weekend Stitching - The Not Fun Stuff

We didn't get the snow, but we certainly got the cold and wet this weekend.  It was a good weekend to not have any place to go. I made good use of the home time this weekend. Mount laundry was scaled, the top of my "business" desk is clear and the floor of the sewing room is thread free. 

I did spend a good amount of time in the sewing room, but there wasn't a lot of stitching going on.  My One Monthly Goal for January is to get Inverted Star ready for quilting and shipped out to Trudy.  That was the reason to get the threads off the floor, to avoid getting any (more) stray threads on either the back or the finished flimsy.  I start by prepping the back (it's easier and faster). A lint roller was used to pick up any stray threads and the back was given a good final press. 

Now it's all folded up, bagged and ready for shipping.  

Then it was time for the Inverted Star flimsy to get the same treatment.

I work from the back, first using the lint roller to remove any loose threads, then pressing the seams and blocks.  The final step is to neaten up the seams by removing any threads that could possibly show through the white background once the project is quilted.  I only managed to press and de-thread half of the flimsy yesterday.  There was a lot of fraying on the back, there was quite a pile of excess thread just from going over the first half.  

And that doesn't include what the lint roller picked up.  

I had hoped to have it ready to ship out today, but it's going to take another hour or so to finish off the last two rows.  This is my least favorite step of the quilting process, so I tend to put it off.  At least I've gotten started. Since the process requires my cutting table, which doubles as my pressing station, I'll have to finish the clean up before I can get back to my other projects.  Not fun, but necessary. 

Hope your weekend of stitching was loads more fun than mine. Linking up with the normal Monday crowd. 

Monday Making
Main Crush Monday
Monday Design Wall

2019 Finish Along: Along for the Ride Again

We are in the second week of January already.  If you can get past this week with your dieting and exercise goals for 2019 on track, you are doing better than most.  Usually the quilty goals are still on track at this point.  We'll see if that is still true at the end of the month.  Staying focused on one project seems to be my best strategy for getting quilts done, so hopefully participating the 2019 Finish Along will help me keep that focus. 

Since I'm also committed to the APQ UFO Challenge, I've already drafted a prioritized list of the UFOs to focus on this year.  But rather than following along with the number of the month, I'm going to work through my list in numerical order and work on each project till it's done rather than switching each month.  Fingers crossed that will mean more finishes this year.  So from that list what's likely to get done in the first quarter of the Finish Along? 

1.  Inverted Star

 Inverted Star by Jessica Boschem of Common Threads available from Blueprint 

It's a finished flimsy, the back is pieced, both need to be pressed and prepped for quilting, then packaged to go out for quilting.  That should happen this weekend.  So Inverted Star is a good candidate for a first quarter finish.

2.  The Christmas Mystery Quilt

Ho Ho Ho (Christmas Mystery)
designed by Carrie Randall (Quilter's Hideaway)

Also a finished flimsy, though I do need to embroider some eyes, nose and mustache onto the nut cracker.  It needs a backing pieced and then it can go out for quilting.  I'll start on it as soon as Inverted Star is ready to go.  So this is another likely first quarter finish. 

3.  Christmas Angels

 Christmas Angels
Pattern by Kate

The center of the quilt is pieced, but it needs borders and backing.  I think this one is also likely to get finished this quarter if I don't dilly dally over the first two.  

4.  Vintage Dresses

 Vintage Dresses by Charise Randell

Another quilt that needs the borders added and the backing pieced.  I'm not sure this one will make it to finished by the end of the quarter.  It needs to go out for quilting early in March to make that deadline.  

5.  Red, White and Blue Stars

Red, White and Blue Stars, Setting by Kate

The blocks need to be sashed and sewn together.  This one isn't likely to get done in first quarter, but I'll add it to the list as my stretch goal for the quarter.  It would be really nice to get four quilts finished in the first quarter  That's all I finished in all of 2018.