Friday, December 31, 2010

Flying Geese are Done!

I just completed my 8 flying geese units for Glacier Star.

I am really enjoying this process. I've always enjoyed paper piecing, but this just makes it even better! We received the papers for the rest of the New York Beauty blocks yesterday and I'm getting ready to work on them.

As you can tell by the timing of this post, it's almost 11:00PM on New Year's Eve and I'm home. Jack and I decided to stay in this year and we've just been enjoying the two youngest grandkids and relaxing. Nikki and her family are still here so it's kind of crazy at times (a 2 1/2 year old and a 5 month old), but it's been wonderful. I've enjoyed watching both girls over the past two weeks and I swear that they've both grown and changed. For example, it sure is a challenge to keep Sadie lying on her back. As soon as you put her down, she's on her way to her stomach and she's reaching (and getting) things so I guess it's time to make sure the floor is super clean and there are no small items floating around.

Anyway, I'm headed back to the sewing room. Happy New Year!!!

Monday, December 27, 2010

Design Wall Monday

There is nothing on my design wall right now, but that'll change soon. Between the holiday and having a house full of people, I haven't had much of a chance to sew. :-(

Since I've signed up for two UFO Challenges I hope that this "blankness" doesn't happen too often in the upcoming year.

I'm just sitting down to do some hand-piecing on my hexagon blocks but hopefully tomorrow will see me sitting at the machine sewing. I know that I have a couple of projects that are just crying for me to work on them.

Check out what other quilters have on their design walls by going to Judy L's Patchwork Times.

UFO Challenge

Ok, I've decided to join a couple of UFO challenges this year (Judy's Patchwork Times and Nancy's Patchwork Penguin) and I'm still trying to get the projects "lined up." Since I have a fair number of projects that are very near completion, I've decided to divide the projects into two groups - Near Done and Nowhere Near Done. I will label projects in each group 1-12. When the project numbers are posted each month, I will pull one Near Done and one Nowhere Near Done project. My thoughts are that the projects in the first group shouldn't take very long to complete (quilting and binding only, or borders, quilting and binding) and that will either be my "swift kick in the butt" to get busy or my "feel good" project because I finally finished something! Either way, I win because I WILL complete the project during that month.

Now, chances are that some of my Nowhere Near Done projects will end up in a 2012 UFO Challenge, but hopefully they will have switched groups.

Since I'm still going through my projects I haven't assigned numbers yet, but that should happen by tomorrow night. Here's a picture of what I have out so far.

I also decided that I would not include projects that are kitted but no cutting or sewing has been done yet. I don't have many of those, but I do have a few. I did this "kitting" after a couple of instances when I had specific fabric that I wanted to use for a project that I had inadvertently used for something else. I was sooooo bummed and had to find new "just the right" fabric.

Anyway, I guess that since I've made it official with this post, I'm getting excited to take care of some unfinished business!

What about you? Are you up for the challenge?

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Stash Report - Weeks 51 and 52

The final stash report for the year! It's hard to believe that I reported the whole year - well, almost reported the whole year. I did have a few times when I posted 3 or 4 weeks at a time, but I did finish the year and I'm proud of myself for that.

With the holidays coming in what seemed to be record speed this year, I had to make some adjustments to what I planned to make for Christmas gifts. I guess that I always knew that I wouldn't get them done because I had bought each of those recipients gifts a while ago - just in case. Now, was it a matter of being prepared "just in case", or did I not complete the gifts because I had a "fall back" gift? I don't know and I really don't care. I'm just glad I wasn't out shopping on December 24th trying to find just the right gift because I hadn't planned ahead. Hey, maybe those gifts will be done in time for 2011! Even better, maybe I'll be able to list them on my stash report next year. :-) I have a pretty good head start of some of the projects and the fabric hasn't been accounted for yet because they're leader/ender projects and I don't usually count them until the blocks are well on their way to being sewn into a top.

Here's the report for weeks 51 and 52:
Fabric Used : 4.00 yards

Fabric Used to Date: 267.625yards

Fabric Added This Week: 0.00 yards

Fabric Added to Date: 147.75 yards

Net Fabric Used for 2010: 119.875 yards

So close to 120 yards net used! Maybe next year! :-)

I'll be joining Judy and the group again next year and have really enjoyed reading the many weekly posts. I'm planning to participate in the Design Wall Monday and UFO Challenge as well, but I have yet to get all of the UFOs numbered and pictured yet. I'm hoping to get to that in just a little bit.

Anyway, our Christmas was wonderful this year. We did veer from our regular tradition a bit, but it was still fun. Nikki, Lynn, Zach, Ty, Quinn, Sadie, Jack and I shared a wonderful Christmas Eve luncheon after opening our gifts, and before they all had to go off to other family gatherings. Jack and I went to Sheryll's house for the first annual Christmas Eve Bonfire. We had a great time and the weather was very cooperative. Driving home was easy and it was wonderful to arrive home just shy of Christmas morning. Pictures and more to follow....

Check out the stash reports of other quilters at Judy L.'s Patchwork Times.

Monday, December 13, 2010

Stash Report - Week 50

Better late than never, right? I was gone for the weekend, attending the wedding of my nephew Bryan in Frankfort, Kentucky but I had some time to quilt earlier this week and I used 8 yards of fabric. YEAH!!! I used backing and binding fabric for a lap quilt and finished up the inside of my 10-minute block quilt. I'll post pictures and more info on the wedding later, hopefully tomorrow.

Here's this week's report:

Fabric Used : 8.00 yards

Fabric Used to Date: 263.625yards

Fabric Added This Week: 0.00 yards

Fabric Added to Date: 147.75 yards

Net Fabric Used for 2010: 115.875 yards

Check out the stash reports of other quilters at Judy L.'s Patchwork Times.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Four Blocks Done!

I got my 4 New Your Beauty Blocks done for the Glacier Star quilt. I love them!

Thanks Vaughn for helping me with the last step.

Now I'm anxiously awaiting the next set of papers so I can make 4 more blocks. I just know that when I get the rest of the papers, this is what I'll be doing. Of course, it's not like I don't have anything else I could be or should be sewing, but a quilter must do what a quilter must do to stay happy!

Monday, December 6, 2010

Design Wall Monday

Sometimes I hate it when I set deadlines/goals for myself. It never seems to fail that when I say things like "I'm going to have the scrappy 16 patch quilt ready for binding by the end of the weekend" something happens and I get distracted or the schedule gets really screwed up.

I put the pieced side borders on the scrappy 16 patch quilt and then realized that I needed to cut more 2 1/2" squares. While I was headed to the stash, the stack of fabric that I had picked out for my 10-Minute Block quilt jumped into my hands and said "Sew me!!!" Honestly, that's what happened, or at least that's the story I'm sticking to. Here is what's together so far.

While I was pressing this quilt, a friend stopped over and wanted to see my progress on the Judy Niemeyer project. She knew I had a class this past week and was sure that I had made tremendous strides on getting this project under way. (She's a non-quilter and has no real concept of the time it takes to make a quilt.) I showed her the block that I had worked on and explained that I had to leave the class early because I had to go to work, but she wasn't impressed with my explanation. Of course, pulling out the blocks distracted me again and I started working on them when she left and that left the 10-Minute Block quilt on the pressing table for "just a little bit." I started chain piecing the next 3 New York Beauty blocks and was loving them. What do you think? Once you learn the technique, which is a little different than the paper piecing I've done before, they go together fairly quickly and I just love the points!

Everything was going well until I got up from the sewing machine to check on dinner and when I took off my glasses, they broke!

Of course I tried to wear them with only one temple, but the clear plastic stuff that holds the lens in place broke and I was left with only seeing out of one eye. These glasses are very old and I knew that the chances of them being fixed were pretty slim so I've glued the lens-holder stuff back in and tried to sew like that. It worked ok, but not great so I quit sewing. I called the eye doctor this morning and I was correct. There's no fixing the glasses so I've ordered a new pair and they should be in later this week. In the mean time, I'm going to super glue the temple back on and even though it'll look nerdy, I'll be able to sew.

The morals of this long-winded post are:
1. Don't set deadlines, unless absolutely necessary when it comes to quilting.
2. Accept the fact that I am not a "single project kind of gal." I'm always going to have a wandering eye when it comes to quilting, and I just can't be tied to one project at a time. (I've heard of people who use this logic when trying to explain marital indiscretions! :-))
3. Don't plan to get anything done during daylight hours when you have a two-year old staying for the week. Then again, by the end of the day you are so tired that you can't get much done anyway.
4. It would be a really good idea to have a second pair of glasses on hand. My glued glasses will be kept just in case of emergency, and I'm sure I'll look so nerdy in them that no one will disturb me while I'm sewing.
5. Accidents (broken glasses, etc.) happen when you try to please everyone and feed them on a regular basis. Maybe they should learn to quilt so they too could get so engrossed in a project that they lose all sense of time.
6. Finally, but definitely not least, be cautious of non-quilting friends. They distract you, make you feel guilty for not completing a project which just forces you to put aside other projects just to live up to their ideals. :-)

Check out what other quilters have on their design walls today. Go to Judy's Patchwork Times.

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Stash Report - Weeks 48 and 49

Well, two weeks have gone by and I've only used 7/8 yard of fabric! My excuse is that it was Thanksgiving week and then Quinn was here for a week and my time was spent with her or working. Of course this report also means that I haven't finished a couple of projects that I had planned to and now I have to accept the fact that there are a couple of projects that won't become Christmas gifts this year. :-(

At least I didn't add fabric, right?

I'm hoping that tomorrow's design wall will have something on it, or at least a project or two finished to report.

Here's my stash report for the past two weeks:

Fabric Used : .875 yards

Fabric Used to Date: 255.625yards

Fabric Added This Week: 0.00 yards

Fabric Added to Date: 147.75 yards

Net Fabric Used for 2010: 107.875 yards

Check out the stash reports of other quilters at Judy L.'s Patchwork Times.