T0-Do-List Tuesday 8-1-23

It's already August! And, it's Tuesday, so time for new monthly goals and a new weekly to-do list. Here's the progress from last week:

1) Bind the three table runners I quilted. Done.

2) Finish two pot holders. If I don't need them, I can donate them to the Sampler Store at the September quilt show. One done. The other is cut out and laying beside the sewing machine.

3) Two Water Color Blocks. Yes, I want to keep trying to make some progress on this one. Done. Yay! Can you believe it? These magenta-colored ones are so pretty!

4) Keep cutting up strips and squares for a couple of future quilt projects. Done. I have a few 10" squares, a bunch of 5" squares, and 1-1/2", 2", and 2-1/2" strips. I think I am winding down on this one. 

5) Finish piecing the baby quilt once I get the block sizes all the same. Halfway done. I just need a little time, and it will get finished.

6) Finish piecing top with flower swap blocks. Done. 

7) Bind July UFO quilt. No, I got the binding made, but not put on.

What's on the list for this week? I know I will be busy with customer quilts, but that won't stop me from making a long list of my own. Whether or not it all gets done is another story. This is what I would like to do:

1) Two more Water Color blocks.

2) Bind July UFO quilt.

3) Finish piecing baby quilt.

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.

5) Put a border on Oklahoma quilt. 

Oh, some other things may find their way on the list, but for now, it's enough. I am linking this post to Quilt Schmilt. Happy sewing!

Weekend Update

Another hot one. I managed to get the grass cut, but it was so dry, I almost hated to cut it. I managed to stay indoors most of the time, which meant plenty of time for sewing (and cutting). The dogs have been begging to go outside and play ball.

Reba brought her ball in, and she keeps following me around with it hoping I’ll have a change of heart. 

I have cut more 5” squares. I filled one box and started another one.

I went ahead and cut some white 5” squares so I can start a new quilt with all these leftovers. While I was digging for scraps I could cut up, I found two fat quarter bundles I got from the clearance bin at JoAnn’s. They are quite pretty.

I found some Villa Rosa patterns that use 12 fat quarters, and ended up pulling two more aqua colored fqs from my stash. I found a yard of black I can use for the contrast color. Once I decide which pattern to use, I will get these cut up and kitted. There are some retreats coming up soon, and if I decide to go on one, I want to have some projects kitted up to take with me. Of course, I have two unfinished kits left from my cruise which I need to finish. 

I worked some more on the blocks someone gave me for a baby quilt. I have them redone so they are (mostly) the same size. I didn’t spend a lot of time on accuracy—just trying to make them useable. I got two rows together.

I hope to be finished with it soon.

The technician is coming today to work on my quilt machine. It’s not broken; just routine maintenance. I put a lot of hours on it in a year’s time, so I think it’s worth the investment of having someone go over it and do any needed adjustments. 

Progress!

It's been a busy week around here--I have been working mostly on customer quilts. This is the latest one:

It's quilted with a silver-gray thread in the Surf design. Quite a few of my customers use panels, and although I typically don't, they sure do make some pretty quilts. I think I don't use them very much because I enjoy piecing so much. I also don't have good ideas about how to really showcase the panel the way this lady did.

I got the three table runners bound.

That was one of my weekly goals, and I like the way they turned out, so that's a win.

As soon as I have some free time on the quilting machine, I want to make a few more with matching placemats. I'm thinking about just quilting an entire yard of fabric, and then cutting the runner and mats from that. It's a vague plan at this time, but it shouldn't be hard.

Progress has also been made with scrap cutting. When I was at Target this week, I picked up some of these plastic boxes.

They are only $3.00, and work perfectly for 10" squares.

I haven't cut that many 10" squares, but I have almost filled up one of the smaller boxes with 5" squares, so it will be time soon to work on some charm square projects.

I would love to be done with this scrap trimming, but I don't think it ever really ends. 

Mid Week and I’m Tired!

I think the heat has me more tired than I should be. Not sleepy, just lazy and unenergetic. I go to Cardio-rehab on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and that’s not helping either. I really wish I could do a different schedule, but I have to go when they have a doctor available, and apparently they only work three days a week. I went to Target Tuesday morning after rehab and bought myself a present. 

I haven’t had a hot air popper since college, and this one is on sale for $19.99. I’m generally reluctant to buy appliances that take up room on the counters, but this one is fairly small and I think I can find room in a cabinet. Just look at this beautiful bowl of popcorn.

It’s more than I can eat, but I put some in a ziploc. I’ll see if it’s still good tomorrow or not. I put a couple of pumps of spray butter and some Tony Chachere on the portion I did eat. I’m happy with it.

After my trip to Target, I got this one done:

While I was working on it, I opened a box I had gotten with 108” fabric bolts, and notice this one goes really well with the quilt.

I’m really not wanting to add another border, so I will keep it in mind for the binding. And, of course the backing.

I never did get yesterday’s post linked to the host’s blog. She hadn’t made a new post for several days, and there was nothing for the To-Do List Tuesday. I hope everything is okay with her. I wonder if I should email her?

To-Do-List Tuesday 7-25-23

If you look at my last week's to do list, my week wasn't very successful:

1) Trim and bind the July UFO quilt. Trimmed, but not bound.

2) Make a couple of potholders. I gave up on this one when a friend gifted me a whole stack of potholders she made. I still may try to finish the two I had cut out.

3) Two Water Color blocks.  Ughhhh....I can't seem to make any progress on this one. There are so many triangles and flying geese that need to be trimmed.

4) Keep working on Plan B quilt. Not much progress---although I did get quite a few of the 2" strips cut, and I need those to make this quilt.

5) Finish piecing the baby quilt someone gave me blocks for. Slight delay on this one, I started putting the blocks together and figured out they are not all the same size. I took apart the ones that are the most "off" and will need to remake them.

6) Finish piecing top with flower swap blocks. Another slight delay.....I started putting them together and found a couple that were sewn with about 1/16" seam allowances. I need to remake those blocks before proceeding.

Well, you can see that I had some issues and prework to deal with. And, of course there was vacation bible school and a day trip out of town, so I won't beat myself up for not getting anything finished. I'll just make a new list and try again this week.

1) Bind the three table runners I quilted.

2) Finish two pot holders. If I don't need them, I can donate them to the Sampler Store at the September quilt show.

3) Two Water Color Blocks. Yes, I want to keep trying to make some progress on this one.

4) Keep cutting up strips and squares for a couple of future quilt projects.

5) Finish piecing the baby quilt once I get the block sizes all the same.

6) Finish piecing top with flower swap blocks.

7) Bind July UFO quilt.

I hope everyone else had better luck than I did! I am linking this post to Quilt Schmilt. Enjoy your week and stay out of the heat!

Weekend Update

I can’t say I got a lot done—Sunday afternoon was mainly spent in the recliner with my feet up looking at quilt books or Pinterest. I picked up Mexican food after church and took it over to the Dornberg Hospice Center so I could eat lunch with a friend. Her husband is there now, and I’m sure it has to be exhausting for her. I went back in the evening with more food. It’s all just a waiting game right now. Life is hard for all of us sometimes.

This one got finished and was sent home Saturday:

I like the way it turned out; I should have gotten a closeup of the quilt pattern. It is seashells, and turned out really nice.

I cut a couple of pieces of fabric to make some pot holders, and then a friend showed up with a gift for me.

It’s a whole stack of pot holders—about ten of them. Haha. I don’t know if I really need to finish my goal of making pot holders or not. I have plenty now.

I also got three table runners quilted.

I loaded them all together, each one butted up under the next. I still need to get them bound. Hopefully this week. 

What I'm Working On

I've been on a mission to trim up some of the leftover fabrics into useable sizes. The urge to do that kind of waxes and wanes around here, but when the mess starts taking over the cutting tables, it's time. The sizes I concentrate on depends somewhat on what I want to make. This time, I know I am going to need 2" and 1.5" strips for a couple of projects. 

The 1.5" strips are getting thrown into an empty cat food bucket.

Two inch and 2.5" are getting put into plastic bags. I am finding some bigger pieces of scraps that I can get a 10" or 5" square out of. I have quite a few patterns that use the 5" size, so I have cut a pretty good stack of those.

I got this book Tuesday from the library, and I found a couple of cute ones in here. They are super small, but with enough charm squares, they can definitely be made bigger. 

There are some really cute ones:

I really dislike how time consuming all this cutting is, but I really like having the precut components ready to use. I moved a cutting table into the big room where the quilt machine lives, so I can cut scraps while I am longarming. This one is on the frame right now:

I love the flip flops. I hope to get finished with it today and get it back to its owner. 

Thursday I took my stepdad to Lake Jackson. It was tiring, but otherwise not a bad trip. I managed to make a stop at Kroger's and at Luby's. We were back by around 6pm. I have to say I slept like a rock! LOL.