Tuesday, November 19, 2019

To Do Tuesday: Seems to Be Working

It's been 4 weeks since my first link up with "To Do Tuesday".  I've yet to check everything off my list, but there has been good progress on the projects that are on each week's list.  So the making a list approach has been working, so I'll stick with it for now.  We'll see how well it works once the holiday rush gets going.  

Last week was pretty good, two check marks and good progress on the other project isn't shabby at all.  


Weekly to Do List for 11/12/19

1. Twinkle Stars - Finish and attach pieced borders - progress
2. 2019 Christmas Mystery - Finish Clue 5✔
3. Winter Quilt Along - Pick out fabrics and finish Clue 1✔

There will be Thanksgiving prep going on towards the end of this next week, I need to remember that when deciding what's doable for this week's list.  

Weekly to Do List for 11/19/2019

1.  Twinkle Stars - Add bottom pieced border and the final white border (finished flimsy)


Twinkle Stars
Tutorial by Andrea Feldbush of Soscrappy

I had to take the left border off and resew all the seams slightly smaller to make it bigger in places.  It really was too short for the side and there were a couple of pleats in the top.  But that's fixed and all the other borders are sewn together.  I just didn't have time to sew on the bottom border last week. There's just one white border left to add. Then I'll have a finished flimsy just in time for the One Monthly Goal link up.   


2.  2019 Christmas Mystery.  Make Clue 6 blocks, sash and add borders. 

2019 Christmas Mystery
designed by Carrie Randall (Quilter's Hideaway)




The fabrics for the last two blocks are selected and the fabric for the bow is already cut. It's ready to assemble.  I'm  sure I can get the blocks done. Maybe I can get them sashed. but I doubt both borders get added.  We're supposed to bring the completed flimsy to class on Saturday.  We'll see how that works out.  


3. Winter Quilt Along - Finish Clue 2


Quiltygirl Winter Quilt Along
Alycia Quilts

Clue 1 wasn't bad. Alycia promised that each clue would only take an hour.  Cutting all the fabric was the time consuming part of that step. The HSTs stitched up pretty fast as leader and enders while I was working on theTwinkle Stars borders. This is definitely my kind of mystery.   


4.  Mosiac Mystery - Get started on clue 3 blocks

 I don't expect to finish the clue this week.  Hopefully if I start on it this week, I'll be able to finish off the clue next week since there won't be any more clues for the Christmas Mystery quilt. That will keep me on track with this mystery.   

That's my list for this week.  Linking up with Home Sewn by Us for To-Do Tuesday #15.  Good luck with your to-do's for the week.  

Monday, November 18, 2019

A Bit of Progress

Thankfully it was a slow down, relaxing at home weekend.  Work has been nuts and will likely continue that way till the end of the first week in December.  So I took the opportunity this weekend to not only catch up on laundry, but on a couple of design wall projects as well. 

Getting the pieced borders on Twinkle Stars has proved more difficult than I anticipated. The left border had to be taken off and the sections re-stitched with narrower seams to match the seams in the top.  There were a few places where there were obvious pleats in the top. Letting out the seams eliminated the pleats.  I started with narrower seams on the right and top borders, adjusting them as necessary when pinning the borders on.  It was a slow process, but the borders will lay flat.  


Twinkle Stars
Tutorial by Andrea Feldbush of Soscrappy
  
The bottom border isn't completely sewn together yet, but it's close.  Getting this quilt to the finished flimsy stage is the one monthly goal for November.  Hopefully the final, plain white border won't take as long as the pieced border did to finish off. 

The 2019 Christmas Mystery Quilt is up on the small design wall. 


2019 Christmas Mystery
designed by Carrie Randall (Quilter's Hideaway)

The mittens block was finished about 30 minutes before class on Saturday.  The last clue, along with the final layout, was given at the class on Saturday.  I've picked out the sashing fabric, and the two border fabrics. 



The dark green with the gold stars is the sashing fabric, the white with the red and green stars is the small inner border and the red and gold stars is the outer border.  The finished flimsy is due at class next Saturday.  Not sure I'll get that far, but I'll try.  

So that covers what's up on both design walls.  You can see what else in the works by checking out the Monday Making and Monday Design Wall linky parties.  

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Week 46 of 2019: Stitching Stuff

The heavy winter coat came out of the hallway closet for the first time this year.  The cold and windy most days this week made it a nice week to stay in and stitch.  Unfortunately, the end of year stuff at work hasn't slowed down yet, so there were a few nights where it was just eat, get in my 15 minutes of stitching time and go to bed.  Hopefully fitting in at least 15 minutes of stitching time was a breeze for you this week. 



Having a wide variety of things going on in the sewing room makes it a lot easier to find something that you can work on for 15 minutes. Shopping the stash for a new project was my chosen as my "only have 15 minutes activity" a couple of nights last week.  With that I was able to maintain a perfect week on finding the time to play with fabric. 

15 minute days/week = 7/7 days
15 minute days/November = 16/16 days
15 minute days/2019 = 289/320 days
Success rate = 90.31%

So it was a good week on that front.  My stash usage is dismal at the moment, so I'm only writing a stash report once a month.  I've got a few mystery projects in the works and that fabric doesn't get counted out till I start assembling the quilt, so at some point, my numbers will look much better.  

So how did you do at fitting in stitching time this week?   



1. Chrisknits
2. karen
3. Julie in GA
4. Meloney
5. Nanette
6. Shasta @ High Road Quilter
7. DawnyK
8. Amanda
9. Quilting Gail

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Tuesday, November 12, 2019

To Do Tuesday - Not a Total Loss

Work is in overdrive, so there have been a few long days the last couple of weeks.  Add in a trip to see the Scientist in Training over the weekend and the end result was not a lot of sewing room time. Consequently,  the To Do list from last week is a bit sad. 

Weekly To Do List for the Week of 11/5/2019

1. Twinkle Stars - Piece left side border - progress
2. Finish Clue 4 of the 2019 Christmas Mystery ✔ 
3. Storm at Sea - Cut border strips and assemble - no progress

One check mark out of three isn't so bad. And there was progress on the Twinkle Stars border.  This week is proving to be even more nuts than last, but at least we'll be home over the weekend.  So here's the list for this week. 

Weekly To Do List for Week of 11/12/19

1. Twinkle Stars pieced border - Finish the pieced borders and get them attached. 

Twinkle Stars
Tutorial by Andrea Feldbush of Soscrappy

This may not be doable, so we'll call this the stretch goal for the week. 

2.  Finish Clue 5 of the 2019 Christmas Mystery

2019 Christmas Mystery
designed by Carrie Randall (Quilter's Hideaway)

Clues one through four are all finished.  Just one block this week, so that should be doable. 

3.  Pick out fabrics for Alycia Quilts - Quiltygirl Winter Quilt a Long and finish clue one which should be released tomorrow. She promises that it will take only one hour a week and can be done as a leader and ender project.  Not that I need another project, but Alycia's quilt a longs have produced some really cool quilts and I never play along.  I definitely have the stash for it, so might as well get the fabric out of the closet and into another UFO. At least it will have a purpose.  

That's my list for this next week.  Linking up with Home Sewn By Us To Do Tuesday Linky #14. Fingers crossed there are more check list on my to do list this week. Good luck with your weekly to do list. 

Monday, November 11, 2019

Contemplating Frolic

It was a gorgeous weekend weather wise and an enjoyable one cause we got to hang out with the Scientist in Training. My Guy has been pretty much house bound the last 4 weeks as he's been recovering from surgery. He definitely needed the change of scenery.  

A trip out of town over the weekend coupled with a few late nights at work, meant I didn't get much more than 15 minutes of stitching in a few nights.  So not that much has changed on the design wall.  After we got back last night I played catch up on the 2019 Christmas Mystery blocks. 

2019 Christmas Mystery
designed by Carrie Randall (Quilter's Hideaway)
  
Clue 4 is almost done and I need to pick the fabrics for clue 5.  

Bonnie Hunter released the fabric requirements for Frolic on Halloween.  I've never gotten the paint chips, I just shop the stash to see what can be pulled together out of what I've already got.  That proved to be pretty easy.  The last decision to make is am I sticking with the light neutral Bonnie is using or do I go off palette and go with black? 




What do you think, white or black?  The blue bonnet fabric was in the stash and will likely be the backing for this project. I'm going to start with half the blocks and decide how big to go after the reveal. There's enough of each fabric to make the full size version should I want to.  

That's it for me this week.  Linking up with Monday Making and Monday Design Wall.