Not Much Stitching Going On

It was nice to sleep in my own bed last night after a long weekend of packing, moving, graduation parties and hanging out with the family.  There wasn't a lot of time for stitching with all of that going on. Before I headed out Thursday morning to help the SIT move, I finished off one more Wild and Goosey block for a total of 14 so far this year.

These little blocks take a lot of stitching to finish off just one, so it's been slow going.  I've been following along with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge colors, the first orange block is sitting on the sewing machine partially finished.  This is definitely going to be a longer term project so it's good I like how these blocks are turning out. 

I took some hand stitching to work on during the trip, but never had a chance to haul it all out.  It was easier to work on the computer this trip, so I spent my "stitching time" working on the labels for the next two quilts on the to be finished list.  My justification for calling it stitching time is that I can't finish the projects without the labels, so getting them done helps move a project along the road to completion. 

The Christmas Angels quilt is back from being quilted, so getting that label finished was the priority.  

This label is close to finished. It needs the final message added for the intended recipient and may need some tweaking at the top. 

The next quilt on the to be finished list is Vintage Dresses. I've been struggling with the label for that one.  

This is my favorite version so far. but I'm far from done tweaking on this one. 

So not a lot of playing with fabric this week, but there was progress on some of the things that have to be done before the binding goes on.  Hope your week was more productive than mine.  Linking up with Main Crush Monday, Monday Making and the Monday Design Wall.   

Week 19 of Stitching and De-Stashing

It's been a busy week and even busier weekend.  One of those weeks where working in some stitching time has been a challenge.  

Stitching time has been getting done either right when I get up or right before I go to bed this week. 

15 minute days/week = 7/7 days
15 minute days/May = 11/11 days
15 minute days/2019 =  119/131 days
Success rate = 90.84%

Most days were only 15 minutes, but that was enough for me to keep my sanity intact.  Next week will slow down a little bit and hopefully I can get in some good stitching time each day.  You can share how your efforts went to find time to do quitly/stitchy stuff at the end of the post.

Considering how little time there's been to sew, the stash report doesn't look too bad.

Fabric out this week = 1.56  yards
Fabric out for 2019 = 21.02 yards
More out than in for 2019

More than a yard out is pretty good for my stash busting efforts.  I finally have more than 20 yards out for the year.  If I keep up this pace, hopefully I'll make it to more than 50 yards out for the year.  Linking up with Quiltpaintcreate for the weekly stash update. 

You can link up below to share how you did on finding time to stitch. 

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

4. Marti 5. Angie in SoCal 6. DawnyK

7. Amanda 8. Christina's Handicrafts

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Daisy Chain Mystery - Block Construction

Alison (Little Bunny Quilts) has released the first step in quilt assembly process for the Daisy Chain Mystery quilt.  

I didn't get very far, but here's what's made it to the design wall so far. 

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

The fabrics used in this mystery were all left overs from other projects and they worked out pretty well. I'm happy with my star chains. That's part of the fun in a mystery quilt is seeing how your fabric choices worked out.  Just 10 more to make and I'll be ready for the big reveal with the next clue. 

The May To Do List

It's taken me the first six days of May to figure out what's where and what's next in the sewing room.  April was just so busy, I was pretty much on autopilot.  I took the first hour in the sewing room yesterday to sort through all the bits and pieces at the sewing table in an effort to reset my priorities for the month.  Deciding on the May One Monthly Goal was first item that needed to be nailed down. 

Next up on the to be finished list is Christmas Angels. But it hasn't come back from being quilted.  Trudy is ready to ship it back so I should have it back sometime next week.   I'm hopeful that the binding can be finished up before the end of the month.  It usually only takes it a couple of days to travel through the postal system,  but it has taken up to a full week at times. So though this is high up on the to do list, I'm going to bump it to number two on the priority list just in case.  

My April UFO is Vintage Dresses, it needs the borders, a backing and prepping for quilting.  That's been progressing, but I haven't taken any recent photos of the project.  There are still 4 borders to add to get it up to a bed sized quilt.  Borders always take so much longer than I think they should. So this one goes to number 3 on the priority list for the moment.

The Storm At Sea project is up on the big design wall at the moment. 

 Storm at Sea
Paper Piecing Class by Carrie Randell (Quilter's Hideaway)

The dark blue blocks are almost finished, so all that's left is the deep purple blocks (which aren't photographing well, the color is richer than what it shows in the photo).  I'd like to get this project off the big design wall by the end of the month so I can play with the layout of red, white and blue blocks that are on the list as June's UFO project. I'm hoping to get all the SaS blocks sewn together this month so the center section is finished, but those Economy blocks take longer to make then you'd think. So I'm going to limit the May OMG goal to just getting all the blocks made. If I get the assembly done, great. If not, I'll be ready for that step next month. 

So that's one, two and three for the May priority list.  There is a number 4 and that's the Daisy Chain Mystery project.  

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

I've got just 2 more of blocks on the left to sew together and I'll be ready for the first block assembly instructions that will show up today over at Little Bunny Quilts.  I'm looking forward to seeing how all these pieces fit together. 

Linking up with The May One Monthly Goal, Monday Making and Design Wall Monday, and Main Crush Monday.

Week 18 of 2019: Stitching and Destashing

The calendar has flipped from April to May since last weekend.  For my part, I'm hoping May is a much slower paced and just an over all better month than April was.  We spent last weekend at a family wedding. It was nice seeing all the family and the wedding was everything it should be. But I broke a tooth sometime during the weekend and that made the last few days of April more than a little painful. All is well now, but I'm hoping to avoid any more such surprises in May.  Thankfully rather than not being able to stitch, having something to distract me till the dentist appointment meant it was fairly easy to work in more than 15 minutes of stitching time in the evening.  How was your stitchy week?  

My stitchy week was pretty productive. 

15 minute days/week = 7/7 days
15 minute days/April = 22/30 days
15 minute days/May = 4/4 days
Success rate = 90.32%

My goal for 2019 is to get in at least 15 minutes of stitching time 90% of the time.  So I'm back on track there.  You can link up at the bottom of the post to share how well you did with finding time to stitch this week. 

The stash busting wasn't as successful, but there's a bit going out this week. 

Fabric out this week = 0.21 yards
Fabric out for 2019 = 19.46 yards
More out than in for 2019

I may not have much going out, but at least there's not been much coming in this year.  My goal is to just to reach the end of the year with more out than in.  Linking up with Quiltpaintcreate for the weekly stash report. 

The weather was beautiful last weekend and the extended family headed out for a walk in the park before we all headed home.  The azaleas were beautiful and the dogwoods were too. 

  So how well did you do at fitting in a bit of stitching time each day? 

1. Pack Rat With a Plan 2. Chrisknits 3. Meloney 4. MaryR @Urban Quilter

5. Julie in GA 6. DawnyK 7. amanda 8. Deana

9. maggie f 10. Christina's Handicrafts

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