Stitching Stuff: Week 5 of 2024

 

Week 5 of 2024 means it's February.  Day one and two were very nice, but now we are back to a chilly rain.  That usually means more stitching time for me, but with the nice weather, walks and photography took over a couple of afternoons. Saturday morning was science fair, so my stitching time took a hit, but I still got in at least my 15 minutes each day. 

• 15 minute days/week = 7/7 days
• 15 minute days/Jan = 31/31 days
• 15 minute days/Feb = 3/3 days
• 15 minute days/2024 = 34/34 days
• Success rate = 100% 

I'm doing better than last year on getting in my stitching time each day.  The last time I managed 100% in January was in 2018.  My record for hanging on to a 100% success rate is January to March 2017.  My goal is to stay over 75%, but it's fun to see how long I can stay at 100%. 

A quick follow up:  A couple of weeks ago, the family photo challenge was flowers.  Grad Girl's photo was of her her latest Lego Kit, Wildflowers. But it was all in pieces. This is her fourth kit of Lego Flowers.  There were several comments that said they'd never seen Lego Flowers, not surprising if you don't have kids (little and big) that enjoy those kits.  Here's what the wildflower kit looks like assembled.

 

It's amazing what Lego offers now. It's a lot more than just building bricks now.  

Have you stayed on track with your stitching goals so far?  Link up and share how it's going. 

1. Gretchen 2. maggie f 3. Karen 4. DonnaleeQ 5. Julie in GA

6. Jennifer in Indy 7. Dq at Dreamworthyquilts 8. katie z. 9. Bonnie in Va 10. Frédérique

11. Deb in Canada 12. Quilting Gail 13. amanda 14. Celine 15. Andrée

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Stitching Stuff: Week 29 of 2021

It's been both wet and steamy here this weekend. It really rained yesterday morning, so of course when the sun came out the humidity went through the roof.  Unfortunately, I had lots of errands to run on Saturday. The Scientist in Training and I were wishing the car air conditioner would cool off faster after each stop. 

Before moving on to the stitching report, I have an update for those that follow Life in Pieces via email.  It's been a bit rocky navigating sending out the blog via RSS feed with Mailchimp. I discovered yesterday that Mailchimp has a limit of 10,000 emails per month for their free service and I've exceeded that limit. The cost for additional credits to send out more emails is prohibitive.  I'm looking for an alternative service, but that's taking some time. The free service resets on August 2nd.  If I don't find a solution before then, the RSS feed is now set to go out weekly  on Tuesday mornings.

Now on, to the stitching stuff. I had a pretty good week. 

• 15 minute days/week =  7/7 days
• 15 minute days/July = 17/17 days
• 15 minute days/2021 =172/198 days
• Success rate = 86.87 days

I'm back on track with meeting my goal of stitching 85% of the days in 2021.  I still have one item to check off my to do list for the week. I'm hoping to get to that this afternoon.  

One of the nice things caused by all the rain is the profusion of wildflowers.  

The Indian Blankets are still blooming, along with the Black Eyed Susans

 and Basket Flowers.   

Did you find lots of stitching time this week?  

1. Chrisknits 2. Ivani 3. DonnaleeQ 4. Julie in GA

5. karen 6. maggie f 7. DawnyK 8. Quilting Gail

9. Carol @ Quilt Schmilt 10. Dq at Dreamworthyquilts

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Stitching Stuff: Week 26 of 2021

I can honestly say it hasn't been a bad week.  There's still lots going on at work, but the worst of it is done.  I'm hoping by the end of this week, that part of my life is mostly back to normal.  Since I was home on time most nights this week, I actually worked in some stitching time each day. 

• 15 minute days/week = 7/7 days
• 15 minute days/June = 23/26 days
• 15 minute days/2021 = 151/177
• Success rate = 85.31%

A few more weeks like this and I'll get my success rate moving in the right direction, hopefully for the rest of the year.

Last week I shared photos of the Black Eyed Susans that are blooming in abundance right now.  Apparently the birds really like them too. 

 

How did you do this week at hiding from the heat and getting in a few stitches at the same time?  

1. Julie in GA 2. Chrisknits 3. maggie f 4. Ivani 5. karen

6. DonnaleeQ 7. Shasta @ High Road 8. Meloney 9. Sherrie 10. DawnyK

11. amanda 12. Quilting Gail 13. Nanette 14. Carol @ Quilt Schmilt

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Stitching Stuff: Week 25 of 2021

Happy first day of summer to all who live in the Northern Hemisphere.  I broke out the capris and sandals last weekend.  Our temps went from the low 70s to the mid 90s seemingly overnight. The summer temps are likely here to stay now.  

Work continues to be a challenge.  Both My Guy and I are completely swamped, we had two nights this week we didn't leave work till almost 8 PM.  We both work in the same organization, but different research groups. Not sure why the work load has jumped up so much, but it's been pretty miserable with no end in sight.  Added to that I have some family drama going on that's pulled me away from home over the weekends. So consequently there's been little time or desire to stitch, blog or follow other's blogs. 

At some point, things will line out at work and on the personal front. Till then I'm giving myself permission to be a bit lax on the stitching and blogging.  My goal is to keep the 15 Minutes to Stitch post going to motivate me to do at least that much most days.  I managed to work in some stitching time on all but our 8 PM end of work days.  

• 15 minute days/week = 5/7 days
• 15 minute days/June = 16/19 days
• 15 minute days/2021 = 144/170 days
• Success rate = 84.71%

Most days it was just 15 minutes of stitching time, but I at least got that much in.  Sometimes that's as good as it gets and you just have to roll with it.

There has been little time to enjoy the wild flowers this spring. I did make the effort last night at sunset to get in a bit of a walk to check out what's blooming in the fields.  

The Black Eyed Susans are in abundance right now. 

 A lone bee was taking advantage of last call at an Indian Blanket before the sun completely faded from the sky.  

Hope your summer stitching has gotten off to a good start (or your winter sewing if you are down south).  How was your stitchy week? 

1. Julie in GA 2. Ivani 3. DonnaleeQ

4. Meloney 5. DawnyK 6. Amanda

7. Quilting Gail 8. Shasta @ High Road 9. Carol @ Quilt Schmilt

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Stitching Time: Week 20 of 2021

It's been a very busy week. I've spent so much time at work on the computer that there has been no desire to even turn on my personal computer. Consequently, I'm massively behind on email responses and blog reading.  The long work hours haven't helped my stitching mojo either.  This is what my tracking spreadsheet shows for this week. 

 So the weekly metrics look pretty dismal. 

• 15 minute days/week = 0/7 days
• 15 minute days/May = 5/7 days
• 15 minutes days 2021 = 115/135 days
• Success rate = 85.19% 

My goal for the year is to stitch at least 85% of the time. So I'm still on track to hit that. Hopefully this week won't be as bad as last week.  

The bright spot last week was a visit to my Mom's.  Our last visit was at Christmas, so it was nice to hang out with her and my sister for a couple of days.  We had a nice visit. It wasn't the prettiest weather, but that didn't stop me from taking pictures of all the blooming things in Mom's gardens. 

Pretty pansies.

Pale pink peonies.

And my favorite, the roses.  

Hopefully my mojo will return this week. How did your stitching week work out? 

1. Meloney 2. Diann@LittlePenguinQuilts 3. maggie f 4. Ivani

5. Julie in GA 6. karen 7. Andree at Quilting & Learning 8. Sherrie

9. katie z. 10. Quilting Gail 11. Amanda 12. Shasta @ High Road

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Stitching Time: Week 18 of 2021

It was definitely Spring this week.  No more freezing temperatures in the mornings, I only needed a light sweater to head out the door to work.  So the weather has been nice, but work hasn't been.  There were several late nights last week and that definitely affected my stitching time for the week.

• 15 minute days/week = 4/7 days
• 15 minute days/April = 23/30 days
• 15 minute days/May = 1/1 days
• 15 minute days/2021 = 111/121
• Success rate = 91.74%  

April hasn't been a good month for stitching time, I didn't hit 7 days of stitching any week this last month.  Unfortunately May doesn't look like it's going to be any better.  My goal is to maintain a success rate of at least 85%.  I set the bar a bit low because it's so hard to know how much other things in life will impact my sewing time.  Hopefully once we get past May, things will slow down a bit at work.

On the brighter side, the warm up has resulted in lots of pretty blooms. 

The roses are just starting to bloom. It's been nice to see the first rays of the sun light them up in the morning.  

The honeysuckle is blooming too.  Unfortunately all the blooming stuff is playing havoc with my allergies, so I've not been outside all that much. Admiring through the window is going to have to suffice for the next week or so. 

So how did your stitchy week work out?   

1. Chrisknits 2. Julie in GA 3. maggie f 4. Diann@LittlePenguinQuilts 5. Ivani

6. karen 7. SaraF 8. DonnaleeQ 9. DawnyK 10. Quilting Gail

11. Amanda 12. Carol Andrews 13. Dq at Dreamworthyquilts

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Stitching Time: Week 17 of 2021

The week was mostly wet and cold, with a dusting of snow on Tuesday.  So it wasn't a nice week for getting out, going to work and coming home.  Friday, I ended up leaving work early with a killer headache and a low grade fever.  Thankfully I felt much better on Saturday after making a very early night of it on Friday. The headache wasn't very conductive to stitching time, so I'm a day short this week. 

• 15 minute days/week = 6/7 days
• 15 minute days/Apr = 20/24 days
• 15 minute days/2021 = 107/114 days
• Success rate = 93.86%

This is the third week this month with just 6 out of 7 days of stitching time. Still I'm making progress on many projects,  so I'm doing OK on that front.  Some weeks getting in 7 days in the sewing room is just unrealistic.  This month has 3 such weeks. I can hope that May will be better, but that's not likely.  Hopefully you've been able to fit in some good stitching time this week. 

The weather wasn't wonderful this week, so I picked up some pretty roses to brighten up the dining room table.  

They looked to be a deeper yellow in the store, they didn't look so dark once I got them home. Still, they are lovely.   It's been nice to have roses on the table for dinner each night, even if dinner is often just sandwiches.  

Hope you've been able to stitch at least some this week. Please link up below to share what've you've been up to with needle and thread.  

1. Chrisknits 2. Julie in GA 3. Ivani 4. karen 5. Chris in Canada

6. Marti 7. Meloney 8. maggie f 9. Shasta @ High Road 10. katie z.

11. Sherrie 12. Quilting Gail 13. amanda 14. Dq at Dreamworthyquilts

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Stitching Time: Week 16 of 2021

Life is good when you can take Friday off and you have the house to yourself.  It meant a full day of stitching to kick off the weekend. I was definitely ready for a day off after the madness that has been work the last couple of weeks.  I was doing so well till we were late getting home one night (4:30 PM phone calls with the West Coast tend to not end at 5 PM CT). 

• 15 minute days/week = 6/7 days
• 15 minute days/Apr = 14/17 days
• 15 minute days/2021 = 101/107 days

Not a perfect week on the stitching front, but some weeks are just going to be that way.  It was nice to have a whole day on Friday to play in the sewing room while it was cold and rainy outside. Did you have a smooth week on the stitching front?  You can link up and share how your week went at the end of the post. 

We did venture out on Saturday for a meet up with the Scientist in Training. She's got lab reports and exams next week, so a trip home wasn't in the cards. We grabbed lunch, ran a few errands and then took a bit of walk around one of the beautiful parks in Tulsa.  

The azaleas were blooming big time.  

The deep pink ones are my favorites. 

The Dogwoods were still blooming. So pretty!  

The SIT found a pile of petals to sit and play in.  It was a really nice afternoon, but too short as she needed to get back to her lab work.   

How was your stitchy week?  

1. Julie in GA 2. Chrisknits 3. maggie f 4. Shasta @ High Road

5. Sherrie 6. karen 7. Meloney 8. DonnaleeQ

9. Quilting Gail 10. DawnyK 11. Amanda 12. Carol

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Best of Life in Pieces 2020

For the 6th year I'm linking up with Meadow Mist Designs "Best of" linky party.

It's a chance to look back at the "best" or most favorite posts on my blog this year.

1.  Most views (1579): Just A Bit of Stitching Stuff

Rainbow Binding for Twinkle Stars

I'm not sure why this one got so many views.  I guess one of the labels popped up as a result during a common Google search?  Though the rainbow binding for Twinkle Stars is pretty cool. 

2. Most comments (35): 10 Years At Life in Pieces

Hard to believe it's been 10 years since I started blogging.  The sewing room has been rearranged a few times over that ten years, but it looks pretty much the same now (except probably a good deal messier). 

3. Most link ups for the 15 Minute Challenge: Week 1 of 2020

There were 19 link ups for the first 15 Minutes to Stitch post of 2020. By week 2, the link ups had fallen to 14. Currently there are about 9 bloggers who link up regularly. This approach to getting in that sewing time doesn't work for everyone. It's been really helpful to me into the sewing room most days, especially as messed up as this year has been on a number of fronts.  The weekly 15 Minutes to Stitch linky party will continue this year.   

4.  My favorite finish: Fourth Finally Finished 

Storm at Sea (Streams)
Paper Piecing Class by Carrie Randell (Quilter's Hideaway)
Started:  March 9, 2019  Finished: October 19, 2020

Storm at Sea (Streams) was finished in October and now lives on my bed.  It's definitely My Guy's favorite finish this year.  

5. My favorite blog photograph: Week 21 of 2020: Stitching Stuff    

After being locked down for 9 weeks, we finally ventured to Tulsa for a much needed shopping trip and had lunch in the Tulsa Rose Garden.  It was so nice to get out of the house for a bit and check out the pretty flowers. They were a much needed lift after weeks of worry and working from home. 

I hope you enjoyed my top 5 posts from 2020. You can check out more best of the best over at Meadow Mist Designs Best of 2020 linky party.  

Week 28 of 2020: Stitching Stuff

Today is the last day of our summer staycation.  It's been a good week. I didn't get in as much stitching time as I had hoped. We did get a few things done around the house, hiked a bit and hung out with the Scientist in Training.  We celebrated our 28th wedding anniversary yesterday with a special take out dinner.  The evening plans for an evening hike got rained out. Oh well, we still had a nice evening hanging out and hearing from family. 

It was relatively easy to work in 15 minutes of stitching time each day with our relaxed staycation schedule. 

It was a good week, I just didn't get in the hours of stitching time I was hoping for, but I did manage more than the minimum of 15 minutes every day this week. 

15 minute days/week = 7/7 days

15 minute days/July = 11/11 days

15 minute days/2020 = 170/193 days

Success rate = 88%

I should get in a solid afternoon of stitching.  Then it's back to work on Monday.  You can link up with how your stitchy week went below. 

We really did have a staycation other than the trip to see the SIT. We ventured out only one other morning to a park we didn't know existed for a morning of hiking. It ended up being a nice walk, though it was definitely warm by the time we got done. 

Thankfully most of the hike was in the shade.  The bees were definitely out in force. 

There was just this one yellow wildflower on the trail, but it was popular.  

And this is a button bush, though it looks a lot like those pictures you see on articles about corona virus.  

That was pretty much the extent of our wandering this week.  We were the only ones on the trails. A family showed up for a walk just as we were leaving, so social distancing wasn't an issue. 

How's your stitchy mojo holding up with the heat, humidity and  the other crazy stuff going on this summer.  

1. Chrisknits 2. Julie in GA 3. karen 4. katie z.

5. Meloney 6. Shasta @ High Road 7. Sherrie 8. DawnyK

9. Angie in SoCal 10. Amanda 11. Quilting Gail 12. Deana

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Week 25 of 2020: Stitching Stuff

It was a long work week, very stressful. It's been hard to maintain a positive attitude some days and I get home just completely worn out. That's not been the best conditions for maintaining the stitching mojo.  How are you doing in finding time to work in at least 15 minutes of stitching time each day? 

 

This week was at least better than last week on the stitching front. 

15 minute days/ week = 5/7 days

15 minute days/June = 13/20 days

15 minute days/2020 = 149/172

Success rate = 86.63%

I definitely need to do better next week if I want to meet this year's stitching time goal of 85%.  

The Black Eyed Susans continue to bloom. The wind was still enough yesterday to try to get some shots with my macro lens and I completely lucked into this shot. 

That made my day.  

How are things going in your sewing room.  Link up and share if you've been able to get in some stitching time each day.  

1. karen 2. Julie in GA 3. Chris 4. Meloney

5. Sherrie 6. DawnyK 7. Amanda 8. Angie in SoCal

9. Deana 10. Quilting Gail

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Week 24 of 2020: Stitching Stuff

June is almost half over. It's not been the best month on a number of fronts. We are very lucky to all be well (mostly anyway) and employed.  But my heart hurts for those who haven't been able to stay well, those that are worried about their employment situation and those due to the color of their skin aren't treated with respect and compassion. I don't often talk about the current state of the world on this blog. This blog is one of my happy places where I can just focus on the stitchy stuff that's such a sanity saver for me.  Wouldn't it be nice if a quilt fixed all? Quilters would definitely be able to save the world if that was true. But since it's not, it's still a comfort to know there are others struggling to make their part of the world a better place. 

Stitching has been a nice reprieve from the news the last few months. Though I'm not doing so well at getting into the sewing room lately.  Have you had better luck at finding a few minutes of stitchy sanity each day? 

 

My week wasn't so hot on the stitchy front.  

15 minute days/week = 4/7 days

15 minute days/June = 8/13 days

15 minute days/2020 = 144/165 days

Success rate = 87.27%

We've gotten home from work late several times this week. That coupled with some pretty nasty sinus headaches have made it harder for me to find both the energy and the "want to" to get myself into the sewing room. I'm hoping to do much better on getting in some stitching every day this next week. 

On the happier end of the spectrum, the Black Eyed Susan's are blooming again. 

So it must be summer.

Another sign of summer is that mom and dad barn swallow have another nest of babies to feed. 

We've had barn swallows in the back yard for the last several years. We also have a mommy and daddy robin who just started feeding their newborns.  So we are greeted with lots of  hungry chirping when we step out onto the back porch.  

So how are things going in your happy stitchy place?

1. karen 2. Chris Behme 3. Meloney

4. Julie in GA 5. Sherrie 6. di

7. Quilting Gail 8. Amanda 9. Deana

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Week 22 of 2020: Stitching Stuff

The weather has been gorgeous this weekend. Much needed after a week of the wet stuff.  Unfortunately the week of wet triggered my allergies, I've not felt 100% the last few days.  That has negatively affected my sewing room time.  How about you, has it been easy or hard to work in a few minutes of stitching time each day?  

My stitching week wasn't so hot. 

15 minute days/week = 4/7 days

15 minute days/May = 24/30 days

15 minute days/2020 = 135/151

Success rate = 89.40%

Some weeks are just that way. I'm still on track to meet my goal of stitching 85% of time.  Hopefully this week will be much better on the stitching front.  

My Guy brought home some hydrangea for me last week.  It's one of my favorite flowers.  

Love the purple and yellow/green blooms.  They really brighten up the kitchen table.  

So how did your stitchy week work out? 

1. Chrisknits 2. karen 3. maggie f 4. Sherrie

5. katie z. 6. Loulee (Manxgirl) 7. amanda 8. Quilting Gail

9. Angie in SoCal 10. Deana

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Week 21 of 2020: Stitching Stuff

We got an early start to the holiday weekend, we took a vacation day on Friday.  We made the trip to Tulsa, did a bit of grocery shopping, picked up lunch and had a picnic in the park.  It was the first time in 9 weeks that My Guy had ventured anywhere beyond our city limits.  The plan for the rest of the weekend has been a little housework, a little laundry and a good bit of stitching time.  Have you been able to get in your 15 minutes of stitching time each day during this holiday?  

I did much better this week at finding time to stitch.  

15 minute days/week = 7/7 days
15 minute days/May = 20/23 days
15 minute days/2020 = 131/144 days
Success rate = 90.97%

So I've been doing well on finding time to stitch this year even though last week was less than stellar.  I'm hoping for a nothing but stitching day tomorrow.  How about you? Have you been able to work in some good stitching time this week?  You can scroll to the bottom of the post for the weekly link up if flowers aren't your thing.  

We picked the Tulsa Rose Garden for our picnic in the park on Friday.  Unfortunately, the garden endured a very serious mite infection about 3 years ago. The garden is slowly recovering.  There's more than just roses there too. I grabbed the wrong camera on my way out the the door. My oldest camera doesn't focus very well close up, but I still got some nice photos. 

Since it is a rose garden, we'll start with one.  Love the fade from dark to light pink.  

The water lilies in the fountain were beautiful.  My photo doesn't do them justice.  

The pansies were so pretty.  Purple and yellow has long been a favorite color combination.  

Old fashioned roses aren't as complex as the more modern versions, but just as pretty. 

Hydrangea is one of my favorites, the garden had some of the biggest bushes of them I'd ever seen.  

No idea what the following flowers are, but they were certainly showy. 

This is my favorite photo from the park, it looks more like a painting than a photo. 

And reminds me that you can still take great photos even if you grabbed the camera with the crappy focus, it just takes a bit more time to get the shots you want.  

Have a wonderful Sunday!  

1. karen 2. Julie in GA 3. Chrisknits 4. Meloney

5. Sherrie 6. Loulee (Manxgirl) 7. Quilting Gail 8. Amanda

9. Shasta @ High Road 10. DawnyK

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