15 Minute Challenge - The Real Last Tuesday

Today is the real last Tuesday of April.  I mistakenly dubbed last Tuesday's 15 Minute Challenge as the last one of the month.  I wasn't expecting this 5th Tuesday in the month.  I'm not complaining, with 5 quilts that need to be finished in May, I can use every day in April I can get!  I just need to remember to check my calender before I prematurely end the month.

April's theme for fostering creativity was "become an observer".  It's been a hard theme to write on.  That may be one reason I attempted to end April prematurely, what else was there to say about becoming an observer?  In previous posts, the focus was on all the opportunities we have as quilters to observe techniques, use of color through the printed media and the Internet.  I came across an article in Time on how to improve your powers of observation by mimicking how scientists approach the world.  They "observe" by taking field notes, writing down descriptions of what they see and drawing pictures of their observations.  The action of taking notes forces one to focus on what's important and ignore what is not.  Scientists then try to quantify those observations by measuring some type of response, basically trying to associate those observations with a number.  Then a scientist will sit back and try to analyze all those numbers, find the patterns and come up with a theory to explain them all.   

I'm not sure that all of that applies to being an observant quilter.  We all take notes, pictures from the last quilt show we attended, pins on our Pinterest site, that pattern from the last issue of Quilt Maker pinned to our bulletin board.  Do those count as "field notes"?     I guess applying numbers comes into play when you decide you want to make a block or a quilt a different size than the pattern.  Then analysis comes about by mixing a block you love from quilt A, with the setting from quilt B, and a color palette you fell in love with from quilt C.  Hmm, maybe making a quilt is a lot like running an experiment.  What do yo think?  

I've been "experimenting" a lot in my sewing room lately.  Those 5 quilts that need to be finished in May are really driving my sewing sessions.  

Another week with 7 out of the last 7 days where at least 15 minutes was spent in the sewing room.  Most days it's been quite a bit more than that.  Quilt number 4 is on it's way to be quilted today.  So just one more to finish up.  It's going to be close on that one.  

How's your sewing life going these days?  Link up and share your adventures.

1. Kate @katiemaequilts 2. Marti

3. Thea 4. Lesley A

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April NewFO

Hard to believe we are finished with April.  It's been such a cool and wet month that it really has not felt like spring.  It has been a busy month.  May looks to be even busier as Drama Teen graduates from 8th grade, so there are lots of activities going on with that and the end of the school year.  
The sewing machine has been getting a work out as I'm down to the wire on finishing up 5 quilts that need to be done by the end of May.  Number 4 of the 5 made it to the finished flimsy point and the back got pieced.  It will get sent out for quilting sometime this week.  To celebrate that milestone, I gave my self permission to start another new project.  
April's NewFO is from my original list (posted here).  Well it's sorta on the list.  I had collected a set of blue and beige fat quarters to make Debbie Maddy's Vienna Stars quilt.  

This project was supposed to have been March's NewFO, but the more I looked at the pattern the less I liked it.  But I still wanted to use those fabrics, at least the blue ones.  So I pulled out all my block books, found a block I liked in one, then found the same block in EQ.  

Playing around in EQ produced one layout in two colorways that I asked for comments on back at the first of the month (that post is here).  From reading the comments, I think the pink and brown version was more popular and that's the one Drama Teen liked, so that's the version I decided to go with. 

I was a bit concerned with how bright the pink looks in the EQ mock up, it didn't look that bright laid against all the blues.  That's the one place where EQ can really lead you astray.  It looks just fine in the first block. 

I'm paper piecing this block which definitely makes it easy to get all the points sharp and keep all the parts aligned. Just the one block got made.  It will probably be late May or June before I make another block, Calico Cats is the last one on my list that needs to get done by the end of May, so it will get priority till it's finished.  
Check out all the NewFO's posted over at Cat Patches.   

Design Wall Monday - April 29th

Weekends are never long enough.  How can it be Monday again?  At least this weekend was relaxing.  No running around, we actually got to stay home for a change.  There was time to make a dent in the laundry and get a bit of house cleaning done.  Of course there was time to sew in there as well.  Saturday was rainy and cold, but Sunday was gorgeous.  It felt so good to have the sewing room window open and be able to smell the spring air.  

Most of the weekend was dedicated to finishing up the Sweet Treats top and making the back to go with it.  

 Sweet Treat

Designed by Judy Laquidara

(pattern available here)

Not a great picture as I haven't pressed the top yet, but you get the idea.  I'm happy with how it came out. I love all the white with the red and blue.   I just need to press everything and get it packaged so it can be sent out for quilting.   I really enjoyed making this quilt, it was a great leaders and enders project.  

That's it for my design wall this week.  Check out other design walls over at Patchwork Times.  

Stash Report - April 28th

It's been quiet weekend for a change.  No volleyball or school stuff going on.  We've all had a chance to just hang out, which is pretty much what we've done.  It was cool and overcast yesterday, the perfect weather to just sit and sew, which is what I did.  Sweet Treats is a completed top, sorry no pictures yet.  The back for it is all cut out and just needs to be sewn together.  There was even time to start a new project.  There is a good bit to report as going out on the stash report, but my fingers pushed a few buttons last week, so it's offset by some incoming.  I just fell in love with April's Garden by DV Studios for South Sea Imports. 

It has butterflies as part of the motif, so I just couldn't resist.  No plans for these pretties just yet, but I'm sure something will come to mind.  Here's the damage to the stash report:

Used last week:  2.18 yards
Added last week:  10.5 yards

Used for 2013: 32.43 yards
Added for 2013:  79.25 yards 

Net stashed for 2013:  46.82 yards


I'll gain back a little ground back next week once I can count the fabric for the Sweet Treat back in the out column.  At least the net stashed is under 50 yards, I was in a much bigger hole last year at this time.  

That's it for my stash report.  You can check out more reports over at Patchwork Times. 

Favorite Things Friday - Pancake Rituals

No it's not Friday yet in my part of the world, but it's oh so close.  So no harm in sharing my Favorite Thing this week and linking up with Shay over at Quilting in My Pyjamas.

When we lived in Texas, Drama Teen (aka Kiddo in those days) loved to go out to eat breakfast, even if it was for dinner.  She would drag her diaper bag to the back door and say "Bye-Bye Eat!  We were back in Texas for Spring Break last month and Drama Teen spotted her all time favorite breakfast spot and begged for us to visit if for breakfast the next morning.   

There is no diaper bag these days, but after DT orders, she still has to have something to keep herself busy while she waits for her order to show up.  

Coffee creamer art became her preferred way to endure the hunger pains induced by just reading the menu.

The anti-gravity version.

A "creamer" dog.

All just to keep us amused until our respective favorite pancake feasts arrive.  

It's a good thing we don't eat here often or I'd be a couple of sizes larger, but it's both fun and comforting to know that some favorites just don't change.  

Post Script - I wrote this post before reading Shay's FTF for the week.  She says this is the last one.  It's been fun sharing my favorites and many thanks to Shay for being such a wonderful hostess.