Week 26 of 2019: Stitching and Stashing

Summer is definitely here. It's not quite scorching out yet, but we are definitely getting there.  It was a good week to take refuge in the coolness of the sewing room. That made it easy to get in some good stretches of stitching time this week.  Did you have an easy time finding your way to your sewing room for some stitching time this week?

I didn't have to bring work home this week, which made for a productive week in the sewing room. 

15 minute days/week = 7/7 days
15 minute days/June = 21/29 days
15 minute days/2019 = 157/180 days
Success rate = 87.22%

I'm not doing as well as I'd like with the success rate, but life happens.  There are still 6 months of 2019 left, so I hope to get back on track before the end of the year. 

The stash management isn't going so well either this year.  I gave into temptation last week and added a bit of fabric. It was all on sale is my only defense.  

Fabric out this week = 0.11 yards
Fabric out for 2019 = 27.92 yards
More fabric in than out

There are three quilts that are close to becoming finished flimsies, so hopefully making the backs reverse the tide to more out than in. 

Besides stitching, I have been playing around with the camera just a bit. The late spring wildflowers are starting to fade, but they still drew a number of butterflies this week.  

A Gulf Fritillary getting dinner from a Black Eyed Susan

I'm hoping to get in some good stitching time this week.  How did last week week go for you?  

1. Pack Rat With a Plan 2. karen 3. Chrisknits

4. Julie in GA 5. MaryR @Urban Quilter 6. di

7. DawnyK 8. Amanda 9. Christina's Handicrafts

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

Wrapping up the June One Monthly Goal

It's been pretty much a do nothing Saturday.  We woke up and found three college girls asleep in the living room. The Scientist in training was home for the first time since summer semester started. This was the first chance since Christmas that the high school girlfriend pack has been able to meet up. So that meant I couldn't do too much of anything around the house. Which was 100% OK with me.  Work was just weird and wired this week, I was ready for a day of down time. 

It's the next to last day of June, which means it's past time to finish up this month's One Monthly Goal. 

My June goal was to finish off the Christmas Angels quilt. Actually, stitching down the binding got done last night, but I had to wait till we had good lighting in the library to get the final photos. Even with good daylight, the colors look a bit flat.  It really is much brighter in person.  

Christmas Angels (Heavenly Hosts)
Pattern by Kate
Started July 6, 2013, Finished June 29, 2019 

 Looking at the starting and finishing dates, almost exactly six years from when I started cutting the fabrics to when I finished the binding. 

Trudy's quilting is always gorgeous.  It's hard to tell in the photo but the thread is actually a gold color and has just a bit of shimmer to it.  Very festive, without screaming Christmas. 

Christmas Angels was number three on the 2019 Quilt Plan, which was supposed to have been finished in March.  Better late than never.  The last two finishes have been Christmas quilts.  So I'll have one for me to decorate and one for my SIL to use this holiday season.  

Linking up with Elm Street Quilts for the June One Monthly Goal. This is finish #3 for 2019 and takes the UFO count down by one, so it seems like a good fit to also link up with Tish's Adventures in Wonderland's  UFO Busting post. Christmas Angels was also on my Second Quarter 2019 Finish Along list. So I'll be linking up with the 2019 Finish Along - Second Quarter when that post comes out next week.  

Bordering on Finishes

Yesterday was dreary and rainy.  Perfect for spending some significant time in the sewing room.  The word of the day was borders.  I'm on the last border for Vintage Dresses.  It's too big to go up on the design wall now, so no photos.  It would be nice if I was looking for backing fabric for that project by next weekend.  Storm at Sea has one border strip sewn on, with the second strip cut to size and ready to pin before stitching. 

The only non-border sewing this weekend was on the Daisy Chain Mystery quilt. 

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

All the rows are sewn together.  Is it a finished flimsy?  The plan was to add a couple of borders if there as enough fabric left over.  There's enough of one tan, but not of the red or the black paisley.  So would a coordinated print work?  

Here are the left overs from the fabric pull.  I like the tan, but I'm not sure about the rose print.  Since I'm working on borders for two other quilts, maybe I'll just leave this pinned up to the design wall and see how I feel about it by the end of the week.  There might be enough of the red or black paisley for a very narrow border and then end with a tan border. But there's not enough of the tan for a very wide border.   I should probably check the yardage of all the left overs to see what's possible on that front.  

Linking up with Monday Design Wall, and Monday Making.  Then I'll finish my coffee and try to get caught up with email and blog reading before heading into the office. Fingers crossed that the work crazy stuff is over and work will stay at work this week.  

Week 25 of 2019: Stitching Stuff

We are just a week shy of being half way through 2019.  Can you believe that?  I'm definitely not as far along with the UFO list as I'd hoped to be.  Unfortunately, finding stitching time has been harder this year than it was last year.  Some days finding even just 15 minutes has been difficult. 

This week was another rough one on the work front.  Work had to come home two nights so I could finish off the midyear reviews.  That didn't leave much time/energy to fit in some stitching time those evenings.  Here's the damage for the week. 

15 minute days/week =  5/7 days
15 minute days/June = 14/22 days
15 minute days/2019 = 150/173 days
Success Rate = 86.71%

My goal for 2019 was to work towards a 90% success rate.  I have half the year to see if I can recover that.

My lack of stitching time shows up in stash report too. 

Fabric out this week = 0.15 yards
Fabric out for 2019 = 27.29 yards

There are three projects in the current rotation that need borders, Vintage Dresses, Storm at Sea and Daisy Chain.  So in the near future each quilt will need a backing. That should really help with the stash numbers over the next couple of months.  

So how did your stitchy week go? 

1. Chrisknits 2. Pack Rat With a Plan 3. karen

4. Julie in GA 5. Mary-Kay 6. Meloney

7. Angie in SoCal 8. DawnyK 9. Amanda

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

Bits and Pieces of Stitching

Last week was busy.  Work took over a few mornings and evenings so I could meet a project deadline.  We spent the first part of the weekend carrying our old couch into and out of  a rental truck for transport to the Scientist in Training's new apartment. The couch is 20 plus years old and after all those years of being the prime location for TV watching and sleep overs, it's showing it's age.  But the SIT gets a reduction in rent if they provide their own furniture and as she pointed out, the price is right if it's free. After wrestling the couch into it's new home, we stayed for the weekend to hang out and help out with a few odds and ends that needed to be done.  So there's not much to show on the stitching front. 

The one monthly goal is to get the binding on Christmas Angels. 

   

The hand stitching has almost reached the end of the first side. This quilt is 80" square, so it's not going to be a quick finish. The greens are really much brighter and prettier then shows in the photo.  They look really gray under the light in my sewing room. 

There's not much up on the design wall to look at.  I'm working on the borders for Vintage Dresses and Storm at Sea.

These parts and pieces are pinned and ready for me to get back to stitching tonight.

I'm hoping this week is better on the stitching front. Work is still going to be nuts, it's midyear review time.  Maybe I'll pencil in a sew day for next weekend, I could definitely use a sanity break.