February One Monthly Goal: Down to the Wire

It's the last day of February.  The last day to make any progress on my One Monthly Goal. 

This month ended up having a lot of work stuff that bled into the weekends and evenings.  Add in that it's already a short month and I was not at all sure my goal was going to be achieved. But the first half of the goal was completed on Sunday; Magnolia Mystery made it to the finished flimsy stage.

Magnolia Mystery by Cheryl Brickey of
Meadow Mist Designs

   Then tonight, the other half was completed. I was able to piece a back out of the left over background fabric. The last seam was stitched just a few minutes ago.  

 Magnolia Mystery by Cheryl Brickey of
Meadow Mist Designs

Now to get it all packaged up to send out for quilting.  So a flimsy and a back means that February's goal is accomplished.  Maybe not quite at the wire as there are a few hours left to go before midnight, but that's close enough.  

Here's how the other stitching plans worked out for February:

2.  Bind Geek Chic - Label is made, have started trimming off the extra batting.
3.  2018 RSC Squared Away sampler blocks in purple - Done 
4.  2017 RSC Fan blocks - finish the last two - Done
5.  Sawtooth star blocks in purple - make 5 - Done 
6.  On Ringo Lake - leaders and enders project - in progress

Extra credit - finished 2 blue sawtooth star blocks to complete the January count.  

So in spite of the extra homework, it was a good month for playing catch up.  So now (well in morning, it's bed time) I need to decide on what is the OMG for March and what else goes on the priority list.  

Linking up with Elm Street Quilts for the February One Monthly Goal end of month linky party.  

Weekend Stitching: All Bordered Out

Monday always seems to come faster than Friday. I'm definitely not ready to head back to work this morning.  At least the weather is going to be slightly warmer than it has been.  I'm ready for a week where I don't have to dress like Nanook of the North to survive the walk from the car to my building. 

Saturday was busy with Science Fair and a bit of furniture shopping.  We finally found a replacement for my recliner that doesn't make my back hurt.  At the moment the only places I can sit more than a few minutes without discomfort are my computer desk chair and my sewing room chair.  Sunday was pretty much a stay at home laundry and sewing day.  That made for a very relaxing and productive Sunday afternoon in the sewing room.  The last of the borders were added so Magnolia Mystery is now a finished flimsy. 

Magnolia Mystery by Cheryl Brickey of
Meadow Mist Designs

I'm pretty happy with how it came out.  It's definitely bright.  Now to get the backing pieced.  I had hoped to have enough of the background fabric to use as the backing, but I'm going to be short there.  So I need to raid the stash for something else to supplement.  My OMG was to get both the top and the backing made.  I still have a few days to make that happen.  We'll see how that goes.  

Also up on the design wall this weekend are five blue sawtooth star blocks. 

These are the border blocks for one of my previous Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects.  I need sixty something blocks for the border so I've been making these 4" x 5" blocks in whatever the RSC color of the month is.  I'd finished the purple blocks for February, but hadn't gotten to five blue ones in January.  It was good to get caught up this month.  

Linking up with the usual blogs for Monday:
BOMS Away
Monday Making
Monday Design Wall
Main Crush Monday

Week 8 of 2018: Stitching and De-Stashing

It's been a busy weekend so far. Science Fair went well. There were kids everywhere it seemed.  It's nice to see so many kids taking an interest (even if it's for a grade).  My Guy was a special awards judge, which means he has to look at a large number of projects, so it's rare that he finishes up before noon.  Since the fair is held in the building we work in, I was able to just hang out in my office getting some work done as my judging assignment ended a couple of hours before his did.  Unfortunately there is more homework on the agenda for this morning, but I do plan to get some stitching in this afternoon.  

So enough about the non-stitching stuff, let's move on to the stitching and de-stashing stuff.  Were you able to find at least 15 minutes each day to play with fabric and thread? 

My week went pretty well on that front. 
     Days with stitching this week:  7 out of 7 days
     Days with stitching this month:  21 out of 24 days 
     Days with stitching this year:  52 out of 55 days
     Success Rate:  94.6%

My goal is to maintain at least a 90% success rate.  March is going to be challenging on a number of fronts, hopefully I'll be able to sneak in stitching here and there.  Link up below to share your success rate for the week. 

As for the de-stashing, there was a bit of that this week.  
     Fabric used this week:  0.79 yards
     Fabric used in 2018:  10.54 yards
     Fabric purchased in 2018:  0 yards
     Net fabric out for 2018:  10.54 yards

So far so good on staying on the fabric diet, no fabric added to the incoming column.  Connecting Threads has a sale going on that's really tempting, but so far I'm staying strong and haven't pushed any buttons.  Linking up with Quiltpaintcreate for this week's stash report.  

That's how my sewing week went.  How did yours go? 

1. Melissa G 2. Julie in GA 3. MartiDIY 4. di

5. Mary-Kay 6. michele 7. maggie 8. Christina's Handicrafts

9. Shasta 10. Aileen K

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

Rainbow Scrap Challenge: From Lavender to Ultra-Violet

From snow to sleet to freezing rain to downpours, this week has had it all.  And that was just the weather!  I'm definitely ready for the weekend.  But stitching will have to wait till this afternoon, first My Guy and I are judging at our regional science fair this morning.  Since our Scientist in Training is now in college, we will not have to stay for the afternoon awards ceremony so we should be done by lunch time.  

It's been fun rummaging around in my purple scraps for the last two Squared Away blocks.  

Squared Away Sampler
designed by Mari (The Academic Quilter)

The one on the left was on the design wall last week.  The middle block is made from a deep purple from one of Connecting Threads' fabric lines.  I used it in one of the graduation quilts made last year.  The calico like purple in the last block was used as a backing on the quilt that got me back into quilting in 2001.  So these blocks are a nice mix of the old and the new.  They make a nice contrast to last month's blocks.

Squared Away Sampler
designed by Mari (The Academic Quilter)

Not sure how this quilt is going to come together as yet, we'll have to see what else Mari has in store for us in the months to come.  But I'm happy with my blocks so far. I've been dipping into my overflowing pile of scraps to find the fabrics for each and it's been a lot of fun digging for just the right colors.  It's also been a bit of a challenge to remember where some of the fabrics were used.  A number of them never made it to the front of a quilt, but were used as backings.  

February has been a good month for stitching, the purple sawtooth stars for the border of an older RSC project also got done this month. 

The second star is a very, very dark purple.  Dark colors like that don't seem to photograph very well in my sewing room. The other purples turned out beautifully though.  It's been a challenge to remember to vary the shades of these border stars.  It's so easy to just grab the medium shades, but I want a mix of light to dark in the border.  

For once I've actually finished all my RSC sewing before the end of the month.  I'm definitely ready to see what color of the rainbow we'll be sewing with in March.  Linking up with Soscrappy for Saturday's Rainbow Scrap Challenge post and with Quilting is More Fun than Housework for Sunday's Oh Scrap linky party.  

Weekend Stitching: Getting There

It was a slow and relaxed weekend.  We have clothes for another week and the sewing room chair got a nice workout for a change.  The Daytona 500 didn't disappoint, though I was bit bummed that my two favorite drivers got taken out in wrecks.  Still it was an entertaining afternoon of stitching.  

My February One Monthly Goal is to get Magnolia Mystery to finished flimsy stage.  There was good progress on that goal this weekend. 

 Magnolia Mystery by Cheryl Brickey of
Meadow Mist Designs

I've got two of the four borders added.  What looks like black is actually a deep magenta.  The third border will be the bright yellow, followed by the final border of the background fabric.  If I have time to sew this week this will be a finished flimsy by the end of the month.  

There's also been a lot of progress on the rest of my priority list for February. 

1.  Magnolia Mystery - borders in progress
2.  Bind Geek Chic - need to finish the label
3.  2018 RSC Squared Away sampler blocks in purple - Done
4.  2017 RSC Fan blocks - finish the last two - Done
5.  Sawtooth Star blocks in purple - make 5 - Done
6.  On Ringo Lake - leaders and enders project

So even though February has turned out to be a pretty hectic month at work, there's been enough time in the sewing room to move things along. 

Linking up with:
Monday Making
Design Wall Monday