January UFO

Yes, it’s the last day of January. Nothing like waiting until the last minute. I have been doing the American Patchwork and Quilting annual UFO challenge for a few years now, and it had worked for me. They have blank templates with numbered lists where you can write the 12 projects you want to work on. Every month they would publish a number, and you would work on the project on your list that had that number. This year, they offered the blank lists, but they are no longer selecting the monthly number. I figured I could make my list and just work on the projects in number order. I guess it’s not as motivating because I put it off all month. 

This top was made in August or September.

It’s a Villa Rosa pattern called Birthday Cake. I’m quilting it in a Baptist fan pattern with white thread.

It’s finished. I just need to trim it and bind it. I’m really wanting to bind it with the lavender color, and I may do that. Red or pink would be nice too. We’ll see.

I had lunch with Roger yesterday. 

I had a picture with both of us, but I accidentally deleted it. ☹️ Thursday is grandparents day at his school, but I already had plans so I went on Tuesday. 

To-Do-List Tuesday 1-30-24

I can't believe it's Tuesday already.....the days are flying by again. I haven't done as much sewing as I would have liked. Last week was rainy, and the dogs use the doggy door to go outside, so needless to say, my floors were all tracked up with paw prints. I spent a day mopping everything, and I decided to go ahead and clean the furniture and wash all the dog beds while I was at it. I'm happy to say it smells fresh in there now. I spent another day baking pies for a party, and the rest of the day at the party. 

All in all, I did okay with my to-do list, even with all the distractions.

1) Work on 6” scrap vortex blocks. Yes, I did work on them, but not a lot of progress was made. I have quite a way to go on these if I’m going to have enough for a border.

2) January RSC blocks. Yes. This was a "No" for the last three weeks, so I'm glad to have gotten some done before the month ended. 

3) Finish the Star blocks for Beachcomber jacket. Yes. This was a priority because we had the workshop Thursday. I'm still working on getting everything put together, and I need to make quite a few more "fill-in" blocks. Here's a picture of the back.

4) Finish piecing The Lady quilt top. Almost. I just need one more border.

5) Get donation quilts photographed. No. I am going to try again this week to get it done.

My list for this week:

1) Finish piecing The Lady.

2) Keep working on the sweatshirt jacket.

3) At least three customer quilts--four would be better.

4) Get donation quilts photographed.

5) Work on February RSC blocks as soon as the color is announced.

6) Quilt my January UFO quilt.

7) Keep working on scrap vortex blocks.

It looks like I have another full list. Pretty soon, I need to quit sewing long enough to work on taxes. It's my least favorite thing in the world, so I tend to put it off. I don’t want to do that this year. Today I am having lunch with my grandson at his school. Cafeteria food—oh boy.

I am liking this post to Quilt Schmilt. Have a wonderful week wherever you are reading this!

Catching Up

It has rained for three straight days, maybe four, I can’t remember. That’s the thing with rain—it feels like forever. I have been staying busy catching up on what has to be done. I finally got all the stars done for the beachcomber jacket.

Six large ones and 24 small ones. 

Okay, here’s my confession: I got a little tired making the 24 small stars, and quit after 16. My last eight are nine patches. 

Customer stuff has also been busy. Four people dropped off quilts yesterday, and three on Tuesday. I guess everyone was sewing when the weather was cold. I need to get busy on some tee shirt quilts. One is done and will be delivered today, but I have two more to do. 

Today is quilt guild, and I’ll see how far I get on the jacket.

To-Do-List Tuesday 1-23-24

What a week! The cold weather is gone, and the monsoon season has started. Three inches of rain yesterday, and who knows how much today and the rest of the week. My dogs have cabin fever, and so do I. The weather is good for sewing, and not much else. Here’s last week’s list:

1) Find a border for New Zealand quilt. Yes, and I got it sewn on.

2) Finish piecing stars for guild workshop. Well, I’m working on it. Still. 

I think I need 24 of the small ones, and I have 20 done. Then, I need to make six of the large ones. I still have a few days to finish.

3) Get scrap vortex blocks sewn into a top. No. I had a change of plans. I think I want to do a border of six-inch scrap vortex blocks.

4) January RSC blocks. No. I have them cut out and sitting by the sewing machine. I just need a little sewing time.

Edited to add: 5) Bind Oklahoma quilt. Yes. 

So, I didn’t get everything done, but it’s enough. What’s next? I don’t really have a clear plan of what I want to work on this week, so I’ll just take a stab at it.

1) Work on 6” scrap vortex blocks.

2) January RSC blocks.

3) Finish the Star blocks for Beachcomber jacket.

4) Finish piecing The Lady quilt top.

5) Get donation quilts photographed.

That’s all for now. I'm linking this to Quilt Schmilt. I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Busy Week

There has been so much to do, but not a lot of stitching. Friday was the worst. I had a doctor appointment in the morning, a funeral in Seadrift at 11:00, and a basketball game at 4:00. It’s Serenity’s first year to play.

I took the picture from pretty far away and blew it up, so it’s not too clear. They won their game, but it was pretty close.

I went to an insurance seminar on Thursday—boring! It’s unreal what I pay every month for health insurance, and I still have a high deductible. I think there has to be a better answer, but I might have to sit through some boring seminars to figure out what it is. I am going to call some insurance agents and see if someone can beat what I am paying. Prior to retirement, I had the employer paid plan, and I was complacent and never educated myself on the different options. 

Wednesday I went to Corpus Christi to get the car serviced. That’s the closest dealer to me. Betty went with me, and we did some shopping. I found some fabric for the binding for the Oklahoma quilt. I like it so much better than the one I was going to use, and I will get it put on this week. I also found border fabric for this one.

I got the border added Saturday. I like it so much better with the border. 

Other than that, I’m working on customer quilts. I have a few more to finish, and some tee shirt quilts to make.

This morning I’m going to the gym, and then I’ll get back to work on the customer stuff.

Sew Day

 Is it a snow day or a sew day? 

It’s definitely cold enough for snow, but thank goodness, we haven’t had any. I just stay indoors all day and sew. I had plans for cleaning my house, but I never got motivated to do more than vacuum and clean the kitchen. I actually cleaned the kitchen several times because I also did quite a bit of cooking. I baked cornbread and cookies, and yesterday, I made a big pot of chili. Supper was a baked potato with chili and cheese on it.

The weather is not good for my waistline, but it is good for sewing. I have been wanting to start one of the Villa Rosa patterns—either this one

or this one

The first one takes a layer cake, and the second one takes a jelly roll. I made myself postpone starting anything new until I finished piecing New Zealand. Well, I finished Monday, so…..

I’ve made The Lady a couple of times before, and I know it’s fast, so I made my strip sets Monday night and subcut them Tuesday morning. I used a Jason Yenter jelly roll I had here at the house with some gray background fabric.

 I will work on the Harmony pattern after I get this one together. Today I am heading to Corpus, and I hope to find something I can use to border the New Zealand quilt.

To-Do-List Tuesday 1-16-24

Hello Tuesday buds. I hope you are all staying warm. It’s perfect weather for staying in and sewing, and that’s what I’ve been doing. Here are the results:

1) Figure out a setting for scrap vortex blocks. Yes. I have several of the BQ patterns and I decided on BQ2.

I’ve been adding the extra pieces.

2) Finish three customer quilts. Yes, I finished five.

3) Work on quilt blocks for the out-going guild president. Yes.

4) Work on star blocks for the January guild workshop. No, I didn’t have time for this one.

5) January RSC blocks. No.

6) 2024 stash buster blocks. I’m doing these as leaders and enders, so I have quite a few pairs sewn together. I made a sample block just to see what it would look like. 

7) Finish piecing New Zealand top. Yes, as much as I could. This was a kit, and I got it done, but I need to find something for an outer border.

8) Finish piecing Fiesta Horses top. Yes. 

And now, it’s time for a new list.

1) Find a border for New Zealand quilt.

2) Finish piecing stars for guild workshop.

3) Get scrap vortex blocks sewn into a top.

4) January RSC blocks.

Edited to add: 5) Bind Oklahoma quilt.

That’s all I’m putting on the list for now. I may edit it later. I am going to Corpus Christi tomorrow, and that will take all day; Thursday I have a seminar to attend so it’s already a short week. Add in the football playoffs, and I may not sew as much as usual. It’s fine. I'm linking this to Quilt Schmilt. I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Some Weekend Progress

I had set a goal to get three customer quilts done, and I have actually done five. Two were shown in the last post, and the next three are here.

They belong to one of the customers that likes the poufy polyester batting. That’s why there is so much texture on these. It’s not my preference, and I don’t keep that  kind of batting in stock. The ladies who like it generally bring it in a bag with a Hobby Lobby price tag on it, so I know they have it in stock.

The third quilt is 20” x 25”, so pretty small. Many quilters around here charge a minimum price for the small ones. Their reasoning is that it still takes time to load everything on the frame, and you need to charge enough to compensate for your time. I don’t do that—the first quilt this lady ever brought me was a table runner, and I charged her my regular rate. Since then, she has brought in quite a few regular sized quilts, and she has given me some tops for my charity quilting. 

The other thing I worked on was quilting the Oklahoma quilt I pieced a few months ago.

I was trying to find a perfect binding for it and couldn’t, but I found something that will work. I want to donate this one to Day One or Project Graduation, or whatever they are calling it now. It’s the organization that gives a quilt to the foster kids who graduate from high school. I had committed to do one, possibly two, and this one meets the size requirements and will fulfill my commitment.

Other than that, I’m trying to enjoy the cold weather. I normally don’t like it, but it’s a nice break from our usual hot temperatures, so I intend to try and enjoy it while it lasts. The dogs are wearing their sweaters.

A Quick Update

We have cold weather coming our way! I have been busy bringing plants inside—I still need to cover up the flower beds. That will happen today or tomorrow. It’s already in the 40’s. Reba managed to get a quilt off the back of the couch. She’s ready for the cold weather.

I got two customer quilts finished this week. Both included binding, so it took a little longer.

I used the hummingbird quilt pattern on this one.

This is the second one.

I have another done that needs to be trimmed.

I should get it trimmed today and then I’ll post a better picture.

The rest of my day was spent working on budget for the quilt guild. We had a meeting where we had to submit our budget requests, and I wanted to be sure I had all my documentation, both for monthly programs and for community service. There is a lot of work that goes into it, but I don’t want to be caught unprepared.

Cleaning and Organizing

So, this has been going on for the last week--I had managed to cover pretty much every flat surface at my shop, as well as create a few piles on the floors and the chairs. The little table in the kitchen:

This was after I had cleaned out the pile of boxes on the floor. Those got cut up and put in the recycle can. Here's what it looks like now:

And, this is what I'm working on now:

This is the room where the longarm is. This is the corner where things accumulate. Another big, fat mess. I'll get it done soon enough, but I had to quit and get a quilt loaded. 

The quilting took the rest of the afternoon. Once it was done, I worked on this panel.

It could be finished, but I’m thinking about adding another black border…..it finished at 49” x 68”, and it needs to be 50” x 70” if I stick with my plan of donating it to the foster teen program. Of course, the quilting reduces the size a little more, so I would like it to be a little bigger, but not too big. Hmmm. I guess I’ll see how I feel about it tomorrow.

To-Do List Tuesday 1-9-23

Happy Tuesday everyone. I have been as busy as I wanted to be, but I also took time last week for R&R, so all in all, it was a good balance. I have a lot to work on, but first, here's how I did on last week's list.

1) Finish Jubilee quilt. Check. Well, I finished the top. I still need to quilt it.

2) Finish scrap vortex blocks. Yes!

3) Figure out what I want to do with the 2024 RSC. Yes. The January color is green, and I am going to get some blocks pieced.

4) Figure out what to do about the 2024 Scrap Buster Challenge. The 2024 pattern is a triple Irish chain, but I would like to work on the 2023 blocks until I get enough for a decent-sized top. Yes. Ultimately, I will use the 2024 RSC prompts for my 2023 Scrap Buster blocks. I said the 2024 block was a triple Irish chain, but it’s actually a double Irish chain. I think I can do the 2024 block as a leader and ender quilt, which makes it doable.

5) Get back to customer quilts. The vacation is over and I need to do at least three.  

Not quite, and people continue to drop off more. I will have to do better on this.

Well, progress is good, and I’m happy with what I got done, even if it wasn’t 100%. I know what I need to get done this week.

1) Figure out a setting for scrap vortex blocks.

2) Finish three customer quilts.

3) Work on quilt blocks for the out-going guild president.

4) Work on star blocks for the January guild workshop.

5) January RSC blocks.

6) 2024 stash buster blocks.

7) Finish piecing New Zealand top.

8) Finish piecing Fiesta Horses top.

Okay, that's more than enough.....a couple of these won't take too long to finish, so it's not as bad as it looks. I'm linking this to Quilt Schmilt. 

Spectacular Stitches

Spectacular Stitches is the name of the exhibit at the Chisholm Trail Museum in Cuero.

It was well worth the trip; there were around 25 quilts, and they were all fabulous. Here’s a few of them:

I think you can see the whole collection on YouTube if you search for Frank Klein Collection. 

Other than that, I started a new BOM. It’s from A Quilting Life blog. Alan and I were trying to find something at one of the local shops, but we couldn’t find a BOM program, so we are going to try the online one. I got the January block done yesterday. Each month is a small block

that you surround with star points.

It makes a 16” block with the outer star. Alan gave me this fat quarter bundle for Christmas.

It’s called Franny’s Flowers, and that’s what I’m going to use for the blocks. I bought some matching solids to use for the outer star points.

So far so good, but we’ll see how it goes.