To Do Tuesday for the Week of March 29, 2022

This is my 115th (ish) weekly To Do List. I'm not a list person, or at least I didn't think I was. What started off as an experiment over 2 years ago has become just how I organize my sewing week. Have I finished more projects? Probably not, but I feel more productive. That has to count for something, right? 

Last week's list was pretty short.  

To Do List for 3/22/2022

• Unity: Fix puffy areas, start on next border ✔
• Macaron Mystery: Make blocks ✔
• Rhododendron Mystery: Hourglass blocks as leaders/enders ✔

Three for three is a good week.  I'm keeping it simple for this week too. 

To Do List for 3/29/2022

Unity:  Add final border

The green border strips are under assembly at the sewing machine.  Unity should be a finished quilt top by the end of the weekend.  

Macaron Mystery: Make last Block B, cut setting triangles

Just one last block to make and then I can start on assembly. Before I can get to that I need to cut out the setting triangles and sashing strips. How quickly the border goes onto Unity will dictate how much progress I make on this project.  

Rhododendron Mystery:  Work on Clue 5, hourglass blocks as leaders and enders

 I decided to work through the clues rather than just make one block at a time.  All the pieced HSTs for block A (clue 3) are finished.  Clue 4 is the hourglass blocks, which I'm working on as my leaders and enders stitching.  I'm going to start on clue 5 this week.  I skipped clue 2 which is the flying geese for the border.  I'll pick those up once I've finished all the blocks.  

Those are my to do's for this week. I'm linking up with Linda, the Texas Quilt Gal for another To Do Tuesday.  

More Unity

It's the last Monday in March, so we almost a third of the way into 2022.  It's warming up, but it's still pretty cool in the mornings.  My allergies have definitely let me know it's spring.  I just have to remember to take some sinus medicine if I'm going to be outside for long. 

I did get in some good stitching time this weekend.  I always forget how long it takes to add borders.  

 

With all the seams in the last pieced border, there's a lot of pinning to keep the Unity seam allowances laying in the right direction.  And then there is my least favorite part of adding borders, laying the quilt out to measure for the next set of border strips. 

Unity: 2020 Bonnie Hunter Sew-In-Place Quilt along

By dinner time last night, the narrow border of background fabric was finished and the green strips for the final border were cut.  By the end of next weekend, Unity should be a finished quilt top.  

Linking up with Monday Making, Monday Design Wall, as well as Patchwork and Quilts.  

Stitching Stuff: Week 13 of 2022

The temperatures have finally warmed up after a week of the cold and wet.  The flowering trees are starting to bloom, the rose bushes are showing their new leaves.  All that means my allergies are back too. The last week of March and the first couple weeks of April are always the worst. Even so, I'm glad for the warm up. I'm ready for a bit of spring, even if it means I'm a prisoner to the indoors.

It's Sunday, so it's time to review how well we did at finding time to stitch this week. 

 

Getting into the sewing room wasn't so hard this week. 

 

• 15 minute days/week = 6/7 days
• 15 minute days/March = 20/26 days
• 15 minute days/2022 = 77/85 days
• Success rate = 90.59%

The one day I missed was due to a sinus headache that showed up at dinner. By the time we got home, the only thing I could do was just go to bed. I've sewn at least 90% of the days this year. That's a lot better than last year's sewing effort. April is going to be rough, work is still nuts.  Hopefully I can work in just 15 minutes most days, I'm going to need the sanity break.   

How was your stitchy week?  

 

1. maggie f 2. Julie in GA 3. Ivani 4. Melissa G

5. DonnaleeQ 6. Sherrie 7. Andre at Quilting and Learning 8. Meloney

9. Shasta @ High Road 10. Quilting Gail 11. DawnyK

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

Photo Challenge: Week 38 - Letters

I was glad to see the end of Friday. The week back to work after vacation is always a long week. On top of that the weather was cold and wet.  So I'm glad to make it to Saturday.  

It wasn't hard to find subject matter for this week's photo.  It was harder to think of what would make a good photo.  

There are at least two interpretations for the word.  Both My Guy and I aren't thrilled with our photos. The Scientist in Training came back strong after not getting a shot for last week's challenge.  

I dug around in my limited supply of scrap booking supplies to find my subject matter for this week's shot. 

Kate: Springy Letters

I think the pink letters were used for soccer team photos for the SIT, or maybe it was a craft activity for the SIT's birthday?  I have a matching set of letters in blue with the exact same letters missing. The mists of time have definitely obscured that particular memory. 

It was My Guy's turn to try the arty approach this week.

My Guy: Double Vision

I think he nailed it this week. He obviously dug into his supply of his physics demonstration materials to get this photo.  

The SIT does a great job finding fun photos around campus.  This week is no different.  

Scientist in Training: The Chemical Alphabet

I really like the SIT's interpretation of this week's challenge.  Do you remember what chemical substances Sn, Sb and Pb stand for?  Do you remember which two letter combos represents silver and which one represents gold?  Do I? Yes, but my day job to deals with this stuff.  

The challenge for this week will be harder for me and My Guy, the SIT will have an easier time of it.  

I'm very allergic to animal dander, so we've never kept a pet.  We'll have to borrow one for this week.  

March One Monthly Goal Accomplished

Hard to believe that there's just one more week left in March.  Normally, I'm scrambling to get my One Monthly Goal finished at this point. For a change I'm actually ready to link up with Elm Street Quilts for the March One Monthly Goal Finish Linky Party before the last day of the month.  

 

My goal for March was to get Potions sent out for quilting.  At the beginning of the month I had a finished quilt top, but still needed to piece the back. 

Backing fabric is Robert Kaufman, Science Fair 3 Beakers Bright

I love this backing fabric. The only drawback was that sewing two lengths together to get the width needed for the quilt meant matching the up the shelves at the seam.  That worked out better than I expected. Not perfect, but not too shabby.  

The next step required to move the project along is my least favorite. Removing the loose threads and giving the top a final press usually takes a solid afternoon of work. 

The blue background fabric frayed more than the other fabrics, but I've ended up with much larger piles of loose threads from other projects. Potions actually wasn't too bad, it helped that the Scientist in Training was around to keep me company during that step.  

The backing and quilt top were carefully folded up and packaged in zip lock bags. I found the right size batting in my stash. Then searched for the right size box. 

After packing, taping and labeling, the project was ready for the post office.  I was off work that week, so getting to the post office wasn't the scheduling problem it normally it is.  I heard from Trudy yesterday, she's almost finished with the quilting.  So I'm pretty sure I know what my April One Monthly Goal is going to be.