It's been a hot and humid week here in Oklahoma. It did cool down a bit yesterday. It's been hot enough for me to feel that I have a perfectly good excuse to stay in and sew. Most of my stitching this week has been hand work. I've been trying to get the binding sewn onto Calico Cats. That was finished yesterday, now I just need to finish up the label this morning. Consequently, not much going on with the stash report. I did make some progress on a few other projects, so there is a bit going out this week.
Used last week: 0.40 yards
Added last week: 0 yards
Used for 2013: 48.13 yards
Added for 2013: 128.58 yards
Net stashed for 2013: 80.45 yards
Nothing in this week, so that helps. I found the motivation to get back on the fabric diet bandwagon. Yesterday's post about my lack of stash organization, has re-motivated me to use what I've got. So if I get the urge to press buttons on the computer they better be the buttons that lead to that post.
Judy's Patchwork Times has the latest on what's going on in the world of stash busting. Check it out while you are relaxing this lazy Sunday morning.
Sunday, June 30, 2013
June NewFO
It's the last day of June, so it's time to link up with Cat Patches and show off any new projects (NewFOs) that were started in June. This month's project was first on my NewFO list for 2013, but I committed myself to finish 5 other quilts by May, so it got put on the back burner until this month.
This is Back to Square One, Judy Laquidara's 2013 mystery quilt which is posted over on her Patchwork Times blog. Judy has been giving one clue a month since January. So far, I've managed to finish clues 1 through 3 and complete step 1 of clue 4 . So I'm not too far behind. I love the rich jewel tones of the blue, green and purple used in this quilt. Hopefully, I'll get caught up to clue 7 in July.
Back to Square One was the only new project this month. However, I did finish up three NewFOs from previous months.
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| Designed by Judy Laquidara (pattern available here) Quilted by Trudy Lindemann |
Sweet Treats was NewFO #3 in 2012.
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| Pattern is "Day at the Spa" Quilters World, Feb 2013 designer Carolyn Vagts |
The OSU Quilt was NewFO #2 for 2013.
I finished sewing down the binding on Calico Cats last night, so no picture of the finished quilt yet. It was NewFO#1 for 2013.
So if I look at my "progress" with the NewFO challenge it shakes out this way:
January 2012: 4 UFOs to start
December 2012: Added 8 NewFOs
as of June 2013: Added 6 NewFOs
Finished 3 2012 NewFOs
Finished 2 2013 NewFOs
Quilt list Status 6 UFOs (projects older than 1 year)
7 WIPS (projects less than 1 year old)
5 finished NewFOs
The UFO number has only jumped up by 2, so not bad at all.
Saturday, June 29, 2013
Odds and Ends that go with Starts and Finishes
A couple of weeks ago Drama Teen asked if we could "refresh" the decor in her bedroom. The comforter and wall art were selected when she was 9. Now that she's 14, they don't fit as well. She also pointed out that the cute little desk we got her when she was 5 so she could color in her room, barely holds her computer. She has no real room to take notes or have a book on it to study. The new desk is ordered and will be here next week.
She asked if I'd start the quilt that she asked me to make two years ago. (How can it have been that long ago?) That's what she wants for her bed in her updated room. She selected a whole rainbow of Batiks to use in that quilt. I decided that would be my NewFO for July, so I went looking for those fabrics. Two hours later, I had found most of them. In the course oftearing apart searching my closet, drawers and plastic totes, I realized there was a definite need to 1) stop buying fabric and 2) organize what fabric I do have.
Back in December of 2011, I bought shelving for my fabric closet so I could get the fabric out into the open. All the totes that had been used to hold my fabric were unpacked and for the short term that fabric was just stuffed on the shelves. I've been working to press and fold all of my stash to a consistent size. I've made progress.
The unit on the left is all pressed, folded and sorted by color. Only the second shelf on the right is pressed, folded and sorted by fabric collection. The rest of the fabric still needs to be pressed and folded. But I can at least see most of it and can paw through it when looking for something for a new project.
What I took me so long to find those Batiks for DT's quilt was searching the four bins containing all the new fabric which hasn't been washed yet.
There are only 3 bins in the picture, the 4th is under my cutting table and its a too dark to get a good picture of it. The 4th bin is as full as the bin on the far right.
In one of my earlier attempts to put some order to my fabric, I tried filing them like files. It didn't work so well. So I'd really like to refold the drawer and a half that's been done that way and move them into the stash closet.
If I do that, then I can file all my fat quarters in their place, which actually works really well.
But I need to make some progress on that front as well, only a handful have been "filed" so far.
There are also four drawers of scraps scattered around the sewing room.
I've discretely asked for a AccuQuilt Fabric Cutter for my birthday (I emailed My Guy a link to their last sale). I'm hoping if I get one of those, these scraps will quickly disappear.
The other organization problem is my reluctance to spend any time ironing fabric, unless I want to use it. That has lead to a whole bin of new fabric that's been washed, but not pressed.
Where am I going with all of this? If all my stash was organized, it would be much easier to be inspired by my stash, rather than all the be all inspired by buying new fabrics. Plus if it was all pressed and folded, it would be ready to use for a new project. It appears having to fess up publicly to a lack of progress is a real motivator for me. That's worked with cleaning up my UFO list and scheduling time to sew each day, so it will probably work with stash organization as well. So I'm going to do something with this whole mess in the next month and report back on my progress at the end of July. July is going to be pretty busy, so I don't think much is going to get done, but I'm going to start anyway.
She asked if I'd start the quilt that she asked me to make two years ago. (How can it have been that long ago?) That's what she wants for her bed in her updated room. She selected a whole rainbow of Batiks to use in that quilt. I decided that would be my NewFO for July, so I went looking for those fabrics. Two hours later, I had found most of them. In the course of
Back in December of 2011, I bought shelving for my fabric closet so I could get the fabric out into the open. All the totes that had been used to hold my fabric were unpacked and for the short term that fabric was just stuffed on the shelves. I've been working to press and fold all of my stash to a consistent size. I've made progress.
The unit on the left is all pressed, folded and sorted by color. Only the second shelf on the right is pressed, folded and sorted by fabric collection. The rest of the fabric still needs to be pressed and folded. But I can at least see most of it and can paw through it when looking for something for a new project.
What I took me so long to find those Batiks for DT's quilt was searching the four bins containing all the new fabric which hasn't been washed yet.
There are only 3 bins in the picture, the 4th is under my cutting table and its a too dark to get a good picture of it. The 4th bin is as full as the bin on the far right.
In one of my earlier attempts to put some order to my fabric, I tried filing them like files. It didn't work so well. So I'd really like to refold the drawer and a half that's been done that way and move them into the stash closet.
If I do that, then I can file all my fat quarters in their place, which actually works really well.
But I need to make some progress on that front as well, only a handful have been "filed" so far.
There are also four drawers of scraps scattered around the sewing room.
I've discretely asked for a AccuQuilt Fabric Cutter for my birthday (I emailed My Guy a link to their last sale). I'm hoping if I get one of those, these scraps will quickly disappear.
The other organization problem is my reluctance to spend any time ironing fabric, unless I want to use it. That has lead to a whole bin of new fabric that's been washed, but not pressed.
Where am I going with all of this? If all my stash was organized, it would be much easier to be inspired by my stash, rather than all the be all inspired by buying new fabrics. Plus if it was all pressed and folded, it would be ready to use for a new project. It appears having to fess up publicly to a lack of progress is a real motivator for me. That's worked with cleaning up my UFO list and scheduling time to sew each day, so it will probably work with stash organization as well. So I'm going to do something with this whole mess in the next month and report back on my progress at the end of July. July is going to be pretty busy, so I don't think much is going to get done, but I'm going to start anyway.
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
15 Minute Challenge - The Year so Far
It's the last Tuesday in June. The year is half over. I didn't really have any goals for the 15 minute challenge this year other than making a commitment to keep doing it this year. Out of the 175 days in 2013 we've had so far, I've found 15 minutes to sew 150 days. That's 16 more days than last year. Has it made a difference? I've finished 4 quilts to date and started 6 new ones, versus finishing only 3 quilts all of last year. So it's been a productive year so far.
It's easy to gauge something you can count, it's harder to assess something you can't count, like improving your creativity. We are half way through the 12-step guide to fostering your creativity. So far this year we've covered:
1. Setting a schedule
2. Have a dedicated space to sew
3. Talk about your quilting
4. Become an observer
5. Explore other creative interests
6. Collect inspiration
Out of all of those, I've probably done best at setting a schedule. If we are home, I'm usually heading to my sewing room by 8 PM to get in an hour or so of stitching. I'd like to find some time to do more photography, that interest has languished a bit this year. Getting more interesting and "better" photos of my quilts has come to the fore, so maybe I'll work on that for the next few months.
So how did you do this week in finding time to sew? My business trip last week was my only impediment to getting some stitching time each day.
But 5 out of 7 days definitely not shabby. How about you? Did you find some time to stitch this week? How about fostering your creativity? Has there been anything that you've taken to heart from the fostering creativity themes?
| 1. Pat 2. Thea | 3. Julie in GA 4. Kate @katiemaequilts | 5. newsurfiegirl |
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Monday, June 24, 2013
Design Wall Monday - June 24th
Monday always seems to come so quickly. I'm hoping that work won't be such a zoo this week. I don't have any business trips on the calendar, so that will definitely help the schedule. Drama Teen has a volleyball clinic this week, but it fits into our work hours a little easier than what she had going on last week.
On Friday, I decided that Sunday needed to be a "solo retreat" day. I did get to spend most of the day in my sewing room. Some stitching definitely got done, but it was mostly handwork as I'm working on the binding for Calico Cats. Drama Teen wants to redo her bedroom decor. She was 9 the last time we redid it, so it's probably time. She picked out a quilt pattern a couple of years ago that she wanted for her bed.
We've been collecting Batiks to make this. So I spent a good amount of time hunting down those down. Which reminded me just how much I still have to do to get my fabrics all organized. That's a post for another day.
All of that just to say that there's not much change on the design wall. But I did finally get some time to take pictures of the completed Sweet Treats quilt.
I'm really happy with how this one turned out. It's a bit brighter in real life. The blocks were made with scraps of some 1930 reproduction fabrics that were left over from another project. I really like the lighter blue with the reds. The quilt is bound with the same red used in the second border.
The back is from the same line as the binding, just in a blue colorway.
Trudy Lindemann did the quilting. I love the meandering daises she used. It just adds to the summer time feeling of the quilt.
That's it for me this week. Once Judy get's her post up, I'll be linking up with her Design Wall Monday over at Patchwork Times.
On Friday, I decided that Sunday needed to be a "solo retreat" day. I did get to spend most of the day in my sewing room. Some stitching definitely got done, but it was mostly handwork as I'm working on the binding for Calico Cats. Drama Teen wants to redo her bedroom decor. She was 9 the last time we redid it, so it's probably time. She picked out a quilt pattern a couple of years ago that she wanted for her bed.
We've been collecting Batiks to make this. So I spent a good amount of time hunting down those down. Which reminded me just how much I still have to do to get my fabrics all organized. That's a post for another day.
All of that just to say that there's not much change on the design wall. But I did finally get some time to take pictures of the completed Sweet Treats quilt.
 |
| Sweet Treats, Designed by Judy Laquidara (pattern available here) |
I'm really happy with how this one turned out. It's a bit brighter in real life. The blocks were made with scraps of some 1930 reproduction fabrics that were left over from another project. I really like the lighter blue with the reds. The quilt is bound with the same red used in the second border.
The back is from the same line as the binding, just in a blue colorway.
Trudy Lindemann did the quilting. I love the meandering daises she used. It just adds to the summer time feeling of the quilt.
That's it for me this week. Once Judy get's her post up, I'll be linking up with her Design Wall Monday over at Patchwork Times.
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