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

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

Design Wall Monday - December 5th

How's the Christmas preparations going?  If I were giving myself grades, I'd get an A in shopping and a F in holiday decorating and gift wrapping.  Just haven't gotten there yet.  Mainly because I've been trying really hard to finish the Geisha quilt.  I made good progress on Saturday till I realized that the fabric choice for my first border was just lousy.  Of course I didn't realize that until I had both vertical borders sewn on.  After some playing around on the design wall and a consult with My Guy, I unsewed the lousy choice, cut new borders and tried again.

I still have two more sets of borders to add.  This may have to be wrapped up as a completed top for Christmas with the promise the new owner will get it back quilted after the first of the year.  We'll see.  The tree is not up, nor are any gifts wrapped.  Kiddo's Christmas program is this week, plus she has a swim meet this weekend.  Time to sew is going to be a precious commodity this week. 

On the other design wall are the first 5 blocks from Moose on the Porch Quilts Fat Quarter Stars Quilt Along.  

These blocks have been assembled as leaders and enders while I've been working on the Geisha quilt.  I know the block in the lower left stands out since it's the only one that has red corners.  There are still 7 blocks left, so I'm hoping there are a couple more blocks with the corners in the set.  Other than that, I'm pretty happy with how this project is progressing.

That's it for me this week.  Hope your holiday preparations are going well.  I'm hoping to sit down for a few minutes this evening with a cup of tea to check out all the other design walls over at Patchwork Times. 

Stash Report - December 4th

It's been a good weekend to sew since it was cold and wet.  I spent most of yesterday in my sewing room, though the stash report doesn't really show that.  Today we'll (actually I'll) put the Christmas tree up.  Once it's up with the lights on it, I can turn it over to Kiddo for her to hang the ornaments. 

As I mentioned above the stash report looks pretty anemic considering I spent most of yesterday sewing.  In part, that's because I started on the borders for the Geisha quilt and then decided that one of the borders just wasn't going to work.  With some input from My Guy, an alternative has been worked out.  Now I just have to unsew the last set of borders from yesterday.  Since I have to do that, the yardage for that last border has been backed out of the report. 

Used this week: 0.66 yards
Added this week:  9 yards

Used year to date:  52.52 yards
Added year to date:  70.12 yards

Net stashed for 2011:  17.60 yards

Did you notice the 9 yards in this week?  That doesn't help the report either.  Part of this yardage will be used for borders for the purple and yellow quilt.  I played with the fabric that was in my stash and just didn't really like any of the options.  I've spent a lot of time on this quilt and just can't make myself finish it with borders I'm not thrilled with. 

The dark purple in middle will be used as a narrow border around the quilt, then there will be a wider border of one of the two medium range prints.  I'm leaning more towards the "viney" one at the moment, but I haven't played with these 3 on the design wall yet so that could change. 

I hope your report is  moving in the right direction.  Check out Patchwork Times for more stories of the stash. 

Foto Finish - Cold

It's a typical, Saturday. Well maybe typical is the wrong word,  maybe I should start by saying it's my favorite kind of Saturday.  The kind I can start in my recliner, with my first (second or third) cup of coffee.  The computer is on and I'm writing this post, looking forward to reading eveyone's blogs, then catching up with emails.  The crew here at In Pieces has been everywhere but home it seems the last few weekends.  It's nice to catch a break.  The plan for the rest of the day is to work on the Geisha quilt in hopes it can be mailed to Trudy Monday.  It's cold, it's raining and after walking miles yesterday in both solo and Kiddo Christmas shopping modes, my legs are really sore.  So it's a perfect day to stay in and just sew. 

Before I get to the sewing part of the day, it is time for this week's Foto Finish post.  The theme this week is cold.  I didn't have to look far.  Last February we started the month with a miserable snow and ice storm.  This poor guy took refuge in our rose bushes.  Doesn't he look really cold?

Later in the month, we had a record low of -29 F.  It was below freezing the day I snapped this shot, but not quite that cold.  I'm hoping we are not on tap for as cold and snowy of a winter has we had last year.  However, the forecast is for snow on Monday.  I guess I can still hope for warmer temps. 

Check out Cat Patches for more chilling shots. 

Favorite Things Friday

TGIF!  I'm on vacation today - yahoo!  Christmas shopping is the plan.  All by myself shopping.  No Kiddo, whose feed start to hurt after the first hour (with all her swimming and volleyball you'd think she'd have more shopping stamina).  No My Guy asking after the first hour "Aren't we done yet?".  I really don't have that much to get, I've already done a fair amount of my shopping via the Internet.  But I'm looking forward to one of those rare days when I'm on my own.  So I can dilly dally if I want.  No arguments over where to have lunch (or when to have it).  I really do enjoy my family, but with the break neck pace we've been on the last month, a day where I get to set the pace is definitely welcome. 

So that's my favorite thing this week.  Wander over to Quilting in My Pyjama's to check out the rest of this week's favorite things.