15 Minute Challenge - December 13th

Can you believe that?  Only 11 days till Christmas!  I'm not ready, but there is comfort in knowing that I'm in just about the same place as last year and I still managed to get done what had to get done before Christmas without too many late nights or panicked shopping trips. 

On the other hand, I'm not feeling real great about this week's challenge report. 

Yes only two days where anything sewing related happened.  It was just one of those crazy weeks where the rest of my life didn't mesh well with my quilting life.  Those weeks happen occasionally. This week looks to be much more conductive to sewing than last week.  

I do plan to continue the 15 Minute Challenge in 2012, though I'm playing with making some changes for next year.  Nothing firm yet, just some thoughts floating around in my head.  If you have any thoughts about the challenge you'd like to share, I'd be interested.  

So how did your week go?  

   

1. Pat 2. Liz 3. Kate @katiemaequilts

4. Amanda, Seabreeze Quilts 5. Thea 6. Marcia

7. Polar Pathway (w/Linky)

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15 Minute Challenge - December 6th

My Christmas shopping is on schedule and that's about all I can claim in terms of being ready for this holiday season.  Well that's not quite true, I'm more than ready for the 2 weeks of vacation that's coming up.

I've learned (yet again) that it takes more time to finish a project than you think it will.  Geisha is progressing, but I don't think it's going to get done in time for Christmas. I can finish the top, but I don't think I can get it to the quilter and back again in time for Christmas.  I'm contemplating wrapping up just the finished top to put under the tree.  Has anyone done that?  How well did that work out? 

Having just said all that you'd think I'd be spending every spare minute in the sewing room.  That just didn't happen last week.

Thursday I didn't feel well, so I didn't sew.  Friday was marathon Christmas shopping.  Which needed to be done, but I was too tired when I got home to spend any time sewing.  So just 5 days out of 7 last week where I made it to the sewing room.  Which really isn't shabby at all considering the schedule we've had.  In the overall scheme of things, it's been a good year.  Striving for 15 minutes in the sewing room every day has meant that I've done a pretty good job of meeting most of my quilting goals for the year.  So even if Geisha doesn't get completely done, it has gone from being an idea and a pile of fabric into something real.  Which was really the whole point. 

How did your crafty efforts go last week?  Are you making progress or did you have other priorities with the holiday so quickly approaching?   Here's Mr. Linky, link up and share how your holiday crafty efforts are going. 

1. 501quiltblocks 2. Thea 3. Amanda, Seabreeze Quilts

4. Kate @katiemaequilts 5. Liz 6. Triple Tulips - Marcia

7. Angie in So Cal

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15 Minuted Challenge - November 21st

Are you ready?  Because it's only: 

This week it's Happy Thanksgiving to those in the US.  Are you baking or sewing?  Can one bake and sew?  I know I can't.  I'm fortunate that my guy loves to bake and since we long ago learned that two in the kitchen doesn't really work for us, I've abandoned that field to him, and go sew.  Not really a sacrifice, he's a better baker than I am anyway. 

I've been a bit scarce the last week.  It's been frantic and manic at the In Pieces house.  I was out on a 5 day business trip last week. Unfortunately the hotel where I stayed had lousy Internet access, so no emailing or blog reading for me.   Came home on Thursday evening, had enough time to run a couple loads of laundry before we left on Friday for Kiddo's weekend swim meet.  So in the last 7 days, I've been home for 2 of them.  Which clearly shows in the lack of sewing noted on the 15 minute challenge report this week. 

Only 2 of the last 7 days saw any type of sewing room activity.  That's definitely better than nothing.  The Geisha quilt is coming along, I'm almost finished with the sashing.  If I can get the borders on, I may still be able to get it shipped out for quilting in time for it to be a wrapped and under the tree for Christmas.  This week should be a better, even with all the family activities we have planned for Thanksgiving. 

Did you find 15 minutes to be crafty or did life get in the way?   Link up and share how successful you were at carving out time for crafty stuff. 

1. 501quiltblocks 2. Liz 3. Kate @katiemaequilts

4. Amanda, Seabreeze Quilts 5. Shay 6. Thea

7. Marcia's First Bloom Quilt

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15 Minute Challenge - November 15th

Christmas is coming, really, really fast!!!

Not as good a week as I had hoped.  But progress was made.

Only 4 of the last 7 days spent on sewing stuff and only 3 spent on Christmas stuff.  I have a very challenging schedule next week, so I don't look for next week's report to improve much, in fact it may be worse.  Sometimes life just gets in the way. 

How did you do this week on being crafty?  Was it a good week or a bad week?   Naughty or nice?    Whoops, probably jumping the gun on that one a bit.  Here's Mr. Linky, link up if you are willing. 

1. 501quiltblocks 2. Kate @katiemaequilts 3. liz

4. Amanda, Seabreeze Quilts 5. Shay 6. Marcia

7. Thea

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15 Minute Challenge - November 8th

Welcome to week 5 of the "crazed Christmas sewing" installment of the 15 minute challenge.  Reality has set in, of the five quilts I had hoped to finish as Christmas gifts, I'll get 3 done.  Which is perfectly OK.   There will be Christmas next year, as well as birthdays, Mother's Day, because I love you days, so it's not worth adding sewing stress to an all ready overloaded schedule. 

I still have a ways to go on the Geisha quilt, I worked on it 6 out of the last 7 days.  All the blocks are finished and I started adding the sashing last night.  Hopefully adding all the sashing will go quickly.  But I have 4 borders to add, plus the backing to piece before it's ready for quilting. 

Friday night I was so tired that any time in the sewing room was likely going to end up with me needing bandages or spending extensive time with the seam ripper.  It seemed to be more productive to just go to bed earlier and get a jump on Saturday.  Do you ever have days like that,  where it really is just more productive to avoid your sewing room?  

I have just about 2 weeks left before I hit the deadline for getting the Geisha project shipped out for quilting.  I'm going to have to spend more than 15 minutes every night of the time I'm home to make the deadline.  I still have to put a label on the Texas Twilight quilt, then bind and label the Flurry quilt. But those are things I can do while Geisha is off being quilted.  That's my game plan for the next couple of weeks. 

Are you managing to spend 15 minutes a day on your Christmas sewing or keeping up with other crafty projects on your to do list?  Link up and let us know how things are going in your sewing space.  

1. Kate @katiemaequilts 2. Shay

3. Thea 4. Amanda, Seabreeze Quilts

5. 501quiltblocks 6. Marcia

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15 Minute Challenge - Oct 11

Welcome to week 1 of the 15 Minute Challenge - The Manic Christmas Sewing version. 

Since I have 5 quilts that I'd like to finish for Christmas gifts, my goal to spend 15 minutes in the sewing room has been supplanted with the goal to spend at least 15 minutes working on those 5 Christmas gifts.  You are welcome to join me in the Manic Christmas Sewing version or if you have decided to keep your sanity this year, you can report whatever crafty stuff you did in your 15 minutes. 

This week went pretty well, with progress made on 6 out of the last 7 days

Friday night I passed out in the recliner after dinner and didn't wake up until 10:00 PM.  I decided that was a pretty good sign I was too tired to sew and just went to bed.  But otherwise I made good progress on both the Buck-A-Block binding and the Geisha quilt.  I did also finish my first block for the Fat Quarter Stars quilt along, but since that's not a Christmas project, it didn't get included above. 

So how did you do this week on being crafty?  Write it up, then link up below.