To-Do-List Tuesday 8-29-23

What a busy week it's been! Something tells me this next one will be equally challenging, although I checked my calendar, and there are no commitments or appointments. I know it can change though. Here's where it stands for last week:

1) Bind A&M quilt for the church auction. No.

2) Make some more placemats and table runners. Yes, one more set done.

3) Two more Water Color blocks. Yes, barely. I got the second one done last night.

4) Progress on charm pack quilts. Some progress.....I got the borders put on this one.

It's now in the "to be quilted" stack.

5) Projects for quilt show Sampler Store and silent auction. I did okay with this one, although it will be ongoing for a few more weeks. I got some potholders done.

I got a gift basket made with "quilty" things in it.

So, what's next? Probably more of the same, although I need to get some customer things done too. Here's my list:

1) Trim three customer quilts and get them returned.

2) Bind two customer quilts.

3) Bind A&M donation quilt.

4) Work on donation quilt I started and cut out another one (or two).

5) Continue to work on silent auction items.

6) Two more Water Color blocks (if I can get this one done, I will only need one more to be finished!)

I'm tempted to add an entry to clean up the sewing area, but I don't think it will happen until i get a little more caught up. I will have to keep it mind for later though. I am linking this post to Quilt Schmilt. Have a good week!

Weekend Update

To be honest, not much got done on Sunday. At least, not much sewing. I did a little before church, but after church, it was lunch and a movie, and I was pretty unmotivated all afternoon. I had high hopes of working on a new quilt I started.

Someone gifted me several sets of five fat quarters, and this pattern takes 10 fat quarters. I am using two identical sets, so there’s not much variety, but that’s okay with me. Here’s the two rows I got laid out:

The blocks are so easy, and I only have 10 or so to do, but I just didn’t feel like it. This picture shows the colors better, I think.

I need to get more of the sage colored polka dot for binding. The size is something like 60” x 72”, so I don’t really need a border.

Speaking of borders, I got them added to this one on Saturday.

I have the same fabric as the border is a purple color that I can use for the back as soon as I get around to quilting it.

I was happy to get the borders done. The centers and the inner border are a dark purple solid. I know it kind of looks navy in the picture.

One thing I wasn’t happy about….I need to do some binding for a customer. I do the binding by machine. It’s a 1/4” seam to attach it to the back, and then I pull it over to the front and topstitch it down. In order to hide the seam, I have to fold it over about 3/8”. 

Ugh….I am chopping off all the points! I will have to take it off and figure out something else. I don’t want to do it by hand, but who knows? It needs to look good.

I have three more customer quilts I need to trim and photograph, but it didn’t get done yet. Maybe today after my doctor appointment. At least, that’s what I’m hoping for.

Nothing Like Progress

I'm happy with the progress I made Tuesday and Wednesday. I had to work on some paperwork for church, but I did get some sewing/quilting time in. I finished two customer quilts that I wanted to take to the guild meeting with me today so their owners can pick them up there. Here's Penny's:

And, here's Pat's:

I like the orange she chose for the back too.....

It really was a good choice.

Other than that, I worked on some of my to-do list stuff. I got some more potholders done.

I will take those with me today also, and turn them in to the lady in charge of the Sampler Store. I put a loop on the green one just to see how it would turn out. It's okay.

I got another placemat/table runner set finished.

There were some crocheted dishcloths in my stash that coordinate pretty well, so I will bundle up some things and make a gift basket.

Yay for progress. I'm happy. Since the guild meeting is today, and we will take the speaker out to lunch after, that will pretty well kill the whole day, but I will get back on track Friday (I hope).

To-Do-List Tuesday 8-22-23

  

Ha! Not a great week for meeting goals. I worked on the yard Sunday; I went to Corpus yesterday; I went to a movie on Saturday. I did get several customer quilts done, and those generally get priority over my stuff. Oh well, I got a few things done, and a little is better than nothing.

1) Quilt and bind an A&M quilt for the church auction. Quilted, and the binding is made. It just needs to be put on the quilt.

2) Finish piecing baby quilt. Yes! Finally!

It turned out to be 44” x 59”, so I’m not adding a border. 

3) Make some more placemats and table runners. Still working on it, but nothing is finished.

4) Two more Water Color blocks. No.

5) Progress on charm pack quilts. No. 

6) Projects for quilt show Sampler Store and silent auction. A little progress, but more needs to be done. 

I’ll have to see if I can get back on track. My list is essentially the same. I have customer orders to work on this week, and a quilt guild meeting on Thursday, so I’m not sure what else will happen.

1) Bind A&M quilt for the church auction.

2) Make some more placemats and table runners.

3) Two more Water Color blocks.

4) Progress on charm pack quilts.

5) Projects for quilt show Sampler Store and silent auction.

It’s a busy time of year, so it’s good to have a plan. I am going to hope for the best. I am linking this post to Quilt Schmilt. Have a good week!

Binding Day

Happy Friday! I am ready! I have lunch planned with a friend, and I got most of my prep work done yesterday for adding binding to my quilts. It is all cut, sewn, pressed and ready to go.

The one on the bottom of the picture is for the A&M quilt--I finished the quilting yesterday and got it trimmed!

There were two I quilted for a customer a few months ago, and she brought them back to see if I could put the binding on them for her, so that is also prepped and ready to go.

I will definitely have plenty to work on for the next few days. Here's how I store the binding until I am ready to use it:

You can probably guess where I get these containers. 

I buy a lot of fruit, and apparently I'm too frugal (cheap) to throw the containers away. I wash them out, and use them for storing strips, or squares, or binding.

More Potholders!

I was trying to get through with making pot holders after Betty gifted me 15 that she had made in an effort to use up her scraps, and I made two more just to use up what I already cut out. The quilt guild is busy making small things to sell at our September quilt show, and yesterday we had a sew day with a pot holder demo. One of the ladies had already cut out a lot of hexagons from cotton and insulbrite. Here's what a finished one looks like: 

I picked the fabrics for the front to coordinate with the back before I realized they both don't show at the same time.

I have three more cut out that I need to get done this week so I can turn them in next week at our guild meeting. 

If you are interested in making one, here is a tutorial that shows the process. They are quick, and they turn out nice and thick with only one layer of insulbrite. Besides insulbrite, you need a hexagon template. Leave me a note and let me know if you make one (or more). 

To-Do-List Tuesday 8-15-23

As I typed the title, I realized it’s already the middle of the month! I’ll be glad to see August gone as the hot and dry weather has long ago worn out it’s welcome. I didn’t get much time at the sewing machine, but I did manage to get a little bit done on my list.

1) Put borders on Oklahoma quilt. Done.

2) Finish charm square quilt and work on another one. Not quite. I got the top together, but the borders haven’t been done yet.

3) Two more Water Color blocks. Done.

4) Finish piecing baby quilt. No. I wasn’t able to work on it at all.

I’m feeling more optimistic about this week, but I’m not sure why. I have things to do several days, and I’ll be out of town Monday. I got my income tax dropped off yesterday, and I think not having that hanging over my head like a black cloud has made me optimistic. Here’s my list:

1) Quilt and bind an A&M quilt for the church auction.

2) Finish piecing baby quilt.

3) Make some more placemats and table runners.

4) Two more Water Color blocks.

5) Progress on charm pack quilts.

6) Projects for quilt show Sampler Store and silent auction.

It would be so good to get some traction on things I need to make for the quilt show and the church festival. I always run out of time and don’t get as much made as i had hoped for. Maybe I can get ahead start on it. I am linking this post to Quilt Schmilt. Happy sewing!

Moving Along

I have been quilting yardage to cut into table runner/placemat combinations. They don't take long to quilt, but I seriously underestimated the time required to put the binding on the separate pieces. I got this set done:

I think they're pretty cute, but I still have three more sets to bind! Hahaha....might as well laugh about it as I do it to myself. 

I also got borders put on the Oklahoma quilt. The pattern doesn't show it with borders.

This is what mine looked like before--without the borders. It’s not quite big enough to suit my purpose.

It took some looking to find a yard of coordinating fabric I could use for the border, but I finally did locate some at a price I was willing to pay. Here’s what it looks like with two borders added:

The picture is a little messy, but I really like the borders. It looks so much more finished. And, it’s 15” bigger. 

Three of the grandkids went back to school. Not sure about the fourth one. Nobody tells me much—I think I am on a need-to-know basis. Here are the obligatory pictures of my little darlings.

William with his new teacher.

Roger

Kathryn

Time is flying by. The oldest is driving, and the babies are no longer babies. 

What I’m Working On

Mostly, I’ve been working on my income tax, but the end is in sight! I need to simplify my life. LOL. I did have time time to quilt some more yardage that will be made into table runners and placemats. 

I got this one cut and started on the binding:

This is the table runner….just four placemats to go. All this binding is making me tired.

The heat is nuts. And, it is so dry. I have been filling the bird baths daily; not just for the birds, but for the bees and butterflies, and whatever else needs a drink. 

I’m pretty sure this is accurate, and it is every day. We need a break. I spend a lot of time indoors, not just sewing, but also crochet and cross stitching. Our church gifts a baby afghan to every baby that gets baptized. I checked the inventory the last time I had alter guild, and I noticed there were mostly pink afghans in the drawer. I came home and started a blue one.

I try to do a row or two each evening, but it doesn’t always happen. 

I’ve been working on this cross stitch: 

I last blogged about it here. I really don’t love it, but I didn’t want to put it in the trash, so here’s what I’ve done so far.

I am trying to finish it, but it’s slow as I don’t work on it a lot. All in good time, I guess.

To-Do-List Tuesday 8-8-23

It was a good week for sewing and quilting. It’s too hot to do anything outside, so I am spending a good amount of time inside. 

1) Bind July UFO quilt. Done.

2) Two more Water Color blocks. Done. 

3) Finish piecing baby quilt. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to work on it.

4) Start a charm square project. The book Just One Charm Pack Quilts is due back at the library next week, so I need to at least get started on one before I turn it in. Done. Quilt is started, and I renewed the book for another three weeks. LOL. 

Well, I actually started three,  but this is the one I am concentrating on for now.
5) Put a border on Oklahoma quilt. I got the borders cut, but not sewn on. 

All in all, a lot of progress was made. I know this week won’t (probably) be as productive as I need to work on taxes and get some reorganizing done in my bedroom—I spent more than a couple of minutes looking for my black sandals Sunday morning before church. No doubt, though, I will find some free time to sew. This is what I would like to do:

1) Put borders on Oklahoma quilt.

2) Finish charm square quilt and work on another one.

3) Two more Water Color blocks.

4) Finish piecing baby quilt.

It’s not a lot, and I’m not even sure it’s doable, but we’ll see. I am linking this post to Quilt Schmilt. Happy sewing!