Get It Done--Week of November 26, 2019

After the full and busy last week, this will be a quiet week for us. Nothing is planned other that a few more hunting days. I'm trying to fight off a cold/flu thing so I'm not making many plans.

I decided to make my Fun On The Farm block for November before starting the mystery. I'm glad I did.


My plans for the week of November 29th:

Sewing Room

• Put the heart quilt together.
• Work on Quiltville mystery when next clue is available.

Kitchen Plans

• Make up some turkey bone soup. I don't think there will be enough to can.

Evening Plans

• Continue stitching diamonds for Antique Star quilt.

How did I do?
My plans for the week of November 19th:

Sewing Room

• Be ready for the Quiltville Good Fortune mystery that starts Friday   Clue 1 Done!
• Gather rulers, change rotary cutter blade, find and label project box. Done
• Have a string sewing weekend day with Miss Clella-probably Saturday.  Did not happen......colds and flu happened instead.
• Can I possibly finish quilting and binding Votes For Women Sampler???  Yes I can. 

Kitchen Plans

• Wednesday-make pumpkin bars into mini cupcakes for Thursday.  Done and gone. The mini muffins were a big hit!
• Wednesday-make pumpkin pies --make 1 for breakfast Thursday (long time family tradition) and another to take to dinner.. Done and gone. 
• Load the dehydrator with onions, carrots, celery  Chopped and ready to dehydrate.
• Can up bean soup and any ham broth that's left over from soup making.  8 pints ham and bean soup, 8 pints of ham broth on pantry shelves. 3 cartons of soup in the freezer.
• 
  

Evening Plan

• Continue stitching on Antique Start quilt.  I'm like Dory, just keep stitching, just keep stitching.
• Hoping to be stitching down binding on Votes for Women quilt. Done. 

I feel like I had a very productive week. 

2018 UFO Challenge April Update/May Plans

I used April to catch up on Judy L's UFO Challenge. I was a slacker and now I'm an almost caught upper.  That's what I'm calling it.

My April project was to get out my Mischief Quilt and get to work on it again since it is my only hand stitching project. I took parts and pieces with me on the last beach trip and got busy glue basting everything I had cut and kitted. I have 4 blocks remaining to piece with almost 6 added to the pile I already have. Not a bad month.  I'll continue to work on it since I'm enjoying it again.  I am only making it into a wall hanging instead of a big quilt.

For May, Judy L chose UFO 12. I'm super happy about that. Just last week I ordered backing fabrics for 5 more UFOs and picked a brown/cream polka dot flannel for this quilt. This is going to be so much fun. The plan is to  use Angela Walters' method of Dot To Dot Quilting that I learned from her Craftsy class. I haven't done it for a while and I'm really looking forward to playtime on this quilt.

But first I will finish March's UFO. Close, oh so close!

So in a nut shell, the month of April was a huge UFO busting success for me. I started the month with these plans and finished with 2 quilts completed, 1 almost quilted and big progress on Mischief Quilt. I see good things happening in May.

January's UFO

Judy L has chosen UFO #10 for the 2018 UFO Challenge. 

I'm pretty excited--my #10 is Strings and Stars.

Every time I see this quilt top, 

I think about if I want to add borders or not and usually I say no to myself.

I'll measure it again and then make the final decision.

Oh gosh, a light bulb just went off in my head! 

I have a box of string strips already made up, 

what will that look like!

I kind of do have a plan.

I plan to do some walking foot quilting like I did on Taylor's quilt.

I have the thread picked out already.

I'm still thinking about the binding. 

I have some of the blue sashing fabric left but not sure if there is enough.

I don't remember how much of the cornerstone fabric I have.

That would make a great binding.

Should just go scrappy?

I also know that I'm going to use some of the older quilting panels

 that my friend gave me for the back.

I'm going to piece scraps of batting that will empty out another bin.

Looks like I'm about set with my big plan.

I May Be In Big Trouble

I have a hexi problem! I just made my 2018 UFO Challenge List and 5 are hexi quilts with another being a hand pieced quilt that all need to be finished. So why am I even thinking of starting something new??? Here's my logical reason---I need to learn something new. There, that's the best I can do. If I were being honest with myself, I would simply say just because I want to!

Now my mind is all consumed with a new hexie project. Because you know I have no plans to start any new quilts in 2018. Hahahaha, I am so funny.

This morning I'm reading Mary's blog-Quilting through Rose-colored Trifocals!  I get sucked in to how she is piecing her hexies on her machine. This is not my first time reading her blog. I don't know why I reacted to it like I did today. But I'm fine with my reaction. It shows how passionate I am about quilting.

OMG, I am in so deep. I quickly go to Marti Michell's website and order Set H for 3" hexies and I needed a corner trimmer so I can use some of my own templates.  

Now I will wait for a shipping notice and then stalk the mailbox. I am going to do my homework and learn Mary's method Set-In Piecing Simplified. And I'm going to practice. Can you tell I'm excited.!!

In the meantime, I'm going to finish clue 4 to On Ringo Lake and work on my Tumblers quilt top so when that number is called for the UFO Challenge, it will be or be closer to a complete quilt top.

Design Wall Monday

It's time to work on Garden Party #2.

This is from our retreat in May with Bonnie Hunter.

I haven't opened the box since May 22. 

After finishing Midnight Flight, 

I decided this is my next get it done project.

I have all the flowers kitted up ready to sew.

I decided to do the 9 patch chain blocks first.

Since I'm changing from Bonnie's original setting,

I need more blocks.

No problem, these are so fun to make.

I have my bins of parts to pull from

and everything else is already cut and ready to sew.

I have a retreat coming up pretty soon.

When your granddaughter sends you a picture of a quilt from a store

and she loves the colors and wants one kind of like that for her 18th (gasp) birthday,

you get busy.

I'll be making Quiltville's Scrappy Trips.

Found in her free patterns section.

I have a big bin of black and white strips but no aqua.

I ordered a strip set from my friend Judy at SewFunQuilts on Etsy.

Miss 18 is going to love this. 

Yesterday I sat down with my strips and made up block kits.

Each set is stacked in the order I want them sewn together.

Oh yes, I have a retreat plan.

Scrappy Trips first, then work on Garden Party flower blocks.

I think this will be enough to keep me busy for the whole retreat.

That's my plan today. 😉

Check out all the fabulous Design Wall Monday posts at

Small Quilts and Doll Quilts.

March UFO Progress & April UFO Plan

Well the March UFO Plan didn't exactly go as planned.

I didn't have enough leftover sashing fabric for piano keys.

I did have enough to make a fun pieced scrappy border though.

Some time early in the month, 

my quilting mojo went missing.

Pardon my folding creases as this had been folded (with seams to the inside)

and put back in her storage bin.

My mojo is back now so maybe the quilting will happen in April.

Or maybe not. 😉

Some UFO project is better than no progress. 

That's my story.

Judy L chose #1 for April.

My Millefiore!

I love this quilt so much.

I have great plans for her.

First is the border. 

This picture does not show the gray fill in pieces for the edges.

They are on there, I swear.

I can't believe I didn't take a picture of that!!

Here's my plan.

Press one edge at a time.

Remove those papers.

Applique it to the inner border of the same color.

After all four sides are finished,

attach the outer border.

The quilting plan and thread have been mapped out for months. 

That's going to be a big project

so prep work for quilting is all I plan to do this month.

I have to get other things ready for retreat in May.

See how others have done with their UFO projects at

Patchwork Times.

Design Wall Monday

2017 UFO Busting continues.

This table runner is finish number 6.

This is from July 2009.

I put it away and promptly forgot where I put it.

 I thought it was gone forever.

Recently I opened a bin to get something else out and there it was.

How long had it been since I had opened that bin?

I asked on Facebook which color binding I should use.

I even posted pictures of a few selections but no red.

Only because I didn't have any that looked good with these repro prints.

Thousands of Bolts to the rescue again!

I finished and wore another new shirt.

I made a design chance,

then neck too low for my comfort so I added a piece of lace.

After wearing it, 

I'll take the lace off and rework the neck.

I have enough fabric to combine with another piece 

and I'll use the lace on that one.

My plan to work on this month's UFO was put on hold.

I chased a squirrel instead.

This is The Mischief Quilt.

I wrote my story here.

I see some great links at Patchwork Times Design Wall Monday.

I think I'll chase a few squirrels. 😀

March UFO Plan

Hello March!

The month of my highest highs and lowest low.

Memories are tricky and 

I am so happy to have my quilting to help work my way through the bad ones.

Judy L picked Number 5 for her UFO Challenge.

This is the 2014 BOM from The Hexi Blog.

Here is my first post about it.

As I sat here this morning drinking my coffee,

I came up with a plan for this quilt project.

First thing it needs is a good pressing.

I have the remaining fat quarters bits from making the sashing.

I plan to cut it all up, add more scraps/strings and make a piano key border.

I have some fun red fabric with paint cans and brushes all over. 

I think. 😉

I'll dig that out and get in through the washer and dryer.

I have plenty of batting scraps to piece together.

I'm excited to get busy on this one. 

Let the games begin!

Design Wall Monday on Sunday

 Monday morning is going to be busy so it's Sunday night Design Wall.w

My big plans from last Monday to quilt this week were put on hold. 

It seems everyday something came up.

That's ok, I have plenty of other things to work on.

 Garden Party

I started joining blocks into rows.

I'm working both corners to the center.

I have the 5 long rows left to sew together.

I took a break from Garden Party to work on Jamestown Landing.

The broken dishes blocks are all made.

I swear I had all the string blocks made but no,

I was 35 blocks short.

I made them this weekend.

So close to laying out the blocks....

I love just dumping a couple handfuls of strings and using what's on the table.

2 blocks at a time, a leader, an ender. 

In no time at all the blocks were finished.

I have to de-paper them tonight.

Exciting happenings from the sewing room this week.

I love major progress on projects.

I am linking up to Patchwork Times Design Wall Monday 

and then it's out the door for a full day of errands.

Design Wall Monday

I'm so close to finishing En Provence! 

One more border close!!  

It will happen this morning.

I am planning my next piecing project and wanted covered wagon fabric.

I searched online and found a few but they are way out of my price range.

I asked daughter Crystal to please keep her eye out for some.

She said she had this piece in her stash!!!

How lucky am I.

First, I have something else to do.

The next big project!

I will baste the next UFO, Grand Illusion.

I have to make the back.

That will be easy as I bought a bolt of fabric just for that purpose.

Could this be my 4th quilting finish for the month???
That's my plan.

See great design walls at Patchwork Times Design Wall Monday.

Quiltathon Day 4

This Quiltathon with Patchwork Times has been a blast.

Until this morning!

It all started out innocent enough.

I was going to quilt while Ernie slept in.

So I started where I left off yesterday afternoon.

Piano key borders, free motion, add texture, practice straight lines.

What I didn't check when I put the quilt under the needle was my backing.

I flopped it under!

I have 21" of unpicking to do. 

I might cry while I do it.

I think I might put this aside until TV time later today.

New Plan!

I'm going to sew En Provence blocks together instead. 

I will shed no tears while doing that. 

Day 4 is going to be all about fun!

10:30 check in. 

2 blocks of En Provence have been layed out on the design boards.

One block is sewn, block 2 is partially sewn.

I'm also using the sashing for my leaders/enders.

I love how this is looking!

Maybe I can have 1/4 of my quilt top sewn together today.

3:15 check in.

4 blocks and 10 sashing units complete!

It was a good day sewing. 

I even have most of the whoopsie unpicked.  

Only about 5" to go. 

It was nice to snuggle under the quilt for a while. 

Thanks Judy L for a fun weekend.

I'm excited to be so close to finished on my Tumalo Trail quilt.

Maybe by the end of the week I can post about it's finish.

Quiltathon--Day 2

9:30 am  Quiltathon Day 2 with Patchwork Times has started off with a bang. Then reality set in.

Yesterday was such a successful day, my plan worked great. This morning I got out Tumalo Trail and the flannel backing that is ready to go. They both need a nice pressing before basting begins but that won't take long. I was so excited to use wool batting but sadly there is not enough. No problem, I have plenty of other batting to use. It just has to be pieced together. And that won't take long either.

I have a couple movies in my Netflix que that I'm excited to watch. I've already warned Ernie that it's my day for the tv but if he wants my time to go faster, he can help me pin baste. Think that will happen? I don't. 😕

I'll check in later....I'll continue down the page from here.

11:30 am  Batting is pieced, ready to set up the tables, turn on the first movie and get to pinning!  Maybe I'll have a little lunch before I begin.

5 pm

Pin basting is complete!  Yeehaw!! Sometimes that's a big job. I couldn't persuade anyone to help so I turned on my movie (The Fundamentals of Caring--great movie) and got busy.  Bobbins are wound, machine oiled, new needle, walking foot on and thread is through the needle.  I'm ready to start quilting bright and early in the morning or later tonight. I don't know. 

It's Quiltathon Day1

7:30 am
Yeah! It's Quiltathon Day 1 with Patchwork Times. I have to confess, I thought it started tomorrow. Somewhere my brain told me Friday. So I'll take care of a few things this morning and then It's Quiltathon Day!! Dinner is planned and needs a little prepping for the dinner cooker, a couple loads of laundry need to be taken care of and then.......watch out!

Judy L at Patchwork Times is hosting a monthly UFO Challenge and a monthly Quiltathon. You can check these out at her tabs and sidebar. So my grand plan is to work on the UFO of the month during my own marathon sewing times and for the Quiltathon work on one of my Bonnie Hunter designs that need quilted. I'm retreating with her in May and need my show and tell to be completed quilts. These Quiltathons work for me when I have a grand plan for my projects.

I had big plans for this Quiltathon before I got so sick. So my plans have changed a bit. I will be working on my Quiltville mystery today. I am close to completing part 6, just have a few blocks left to trim and then I will get busy on part 7. That's my plan for today, tomorrow my plans change my original plan.  Ohhh the plans we make and what really happens! Cross your fingers.

My original plan was to quilt Tumalo Trail. It's been aging since September 2015. I have flannel for the back, wool for the batting and the binding is ready. Simple quilting and this will be ready for Ernie to use as planned when I started it.  Maybe tonight will be a good movie watching/pin basting night.

Let's get this party started! I'll check in later with my progress.

.

Check in #1--8:30 part 6 is done and in the basket.






Check in #2--1130 Part 7 is all cut and ready to sew. After lunch I'm ready to sew. I have a good audio book playing-too bad I can't remember the name of it.  I feel like I am making good headway with my plan for the day. I even brainstormed about the thread color for my quilting and got it out of the thread box, LOL

Check in #3--6:15 I am done for the day. All of my parts for En Provence are complete. It was a good sewing day.  We went for a nice little walk through the snow this afternoon while the sun was shining bright and the wind was howling. It felt good to be outside. Came back in and went right to the sewing room. I had to lay out one block just to see how my fabrics work. I'm using one yellow for all the blocks as I didn't have enough variety. But that's ok, I like it!

Can't wait to start day 2. I don't think any pin basting will happen tonight.

Design Wall Monday

Happy 2017 Design Wall Monday Readers.

I have 3 things happening this first week of the new year.

Under my needle right now is row 6 of 8 rows for a charity string quilt.

This is a Quilt As You Go that I was going full speed ahead on until...

that dreaded cold/flu slapped me to the floor.

(I think I am over it finally.)

So between Quiltville mystery clues,

 I have been joining the blocks into rows 

and then joining each row to the last.until the last 3 rows.

I just had to change things up a bit!

I have the last 2 rows sewn together so I am going to keep going until it's finished.

Everything is done by machine, including the binding which is ready to use.

Today, maybe??

afternoon edit:  Yeah it's finished!

Last Friday we got the clue for part 6 of En Provence.

I was working on the string quilt so I haven't started those yet.

Then yesterday Bonnie gives us the final clue!

As much as I want to jump right in and get this going,

I'm going to finish my string quilt first.

You can bet that some of these blocks will happen this week!

I've seen some fabulous blocks coming together on the Facebook group.

This is a photo of UFO #3 from Patchwork Times UFO Challenge.

I belong to an internet quilting group and we used to do monthly block exchanges.

I'm embarrassed to admit these blocks are from 2005!

But in February 2015, I quilted them and posted my plan.

Well, that plan was a bust!

I'm making a bit of a change to that plan 

and these blocks will become a fabulous quilt soon.

So it's time to get busy and make it happen now.

We welcomed in 2017 with a blanket of beauty.

I love early morning light photos.

We spent the day with a group of friends,

had a wonderful time and 

now I'm ready to hunker down into my winter hibernation,

See fabulous design walls at 

Patchwork Times Design Wall Monday.

My Word for 2017

Content

con·tent¹

kənˈtent/

adjective

1. 1.

   in a state of peaceful happiness.

   
   

   "he seemed more content, less bitter"

   
   

   synonyms:

   contented, satisfied, pleased, gratified, fulfilled, happy, cheerful, glad;

2. 
   
3. I like having a word for the year. I like feeling content--all of the synonyms this definition shows. I like living my life on an even flow, no drama and please, no sadness-but I'm sure just like every other year of our lives, there will be sadness. I want to be as content as Miss Polly!
4. 
   
5. I have goals--personal, quilting, sewing and travel. In 2017 I'm going to try to keep notes for my quilting life in a  composition notebook. I love the concept of the Quilter's Planner but I know myself well enough that I wonder if I would use it as it is planned to be used. I will just write down in my own notebook my hopes and dreams and truths. 

    My first section will be my wish list, then the good ole UFO list. I'm joining in on          Patchwork Times UFO Challenge so that means my last business of 2016 is to get that list made. 

I'm ending this year with post number 1500. That's a good sign, right!!!

Happy New Year everyone. 

On The Needles

I've been in hat knitting mode. Mostly because of the road trips we have been taking. Each direction is at least five hours......so 4 trips have resulted in 3 hats and the beginning of number 4.

This pattern is called Neon Knights. 

This is for 10 year old grandson Elliot, made from stash Lion Brand Wool-Ease.

He's pretty subdued most of the time so I thought it would be the perfect colors for him.

He loves it and I was quite surprised that he wanted the pompom.

He wants another in bright colors. 

(He's going to have to wait for his turn to roll around again.)

I'll make this pattern again with black yarn and bright colors, using more stash yarn.

That will be for 6 year old Leland who does NOT want pink in his hat!

Any other color I chose will be fine.

This one is called Floppy Brimmed Sunhat. 

This one is for 8 year old Clella. I added the flower. She loves it!

Wherever It Points

This is the 3rd hat from this pattern.  

This one will go to 4 year old Estella. 

If it's too big, then I'll make her something different. 

4 year old Corbin gets this one. It's called Jumping Jacks from the book Kid's Knitted Hats. 

You can see it on the back cover of the book I linked to. 

I had a heck of a time with the 2 color ribbing so I gave up after 4 attempts. 

I am using Red Heart Worsted yarn for this so I made a few adjustments. 

I am having a blast with the color work on these hats. 

After Leland's Neon Knights hat, I have some bulky camo yarn to make Warm Quick Hat for Jonah.  

I think that is enough planned knitting for a while.

 I love making hats for the kiddos. 

I love having to concentrate on something on these road trips.

 Especially on the freeway. 

See what others are knitting at Patchwork Times Oh the Needles.  

Oh Judy L, those cables are fabulous! 

They still terrify me. 

April Scrap Busting Plan

I have a Grand Plan.
(Don't I always!!)

I really, really want to get my scraps and my stash under control.

For April, I plan to use up this stack of t-shirt knits.

In my past sewing life, I made clothes.

Lots of clothes for me and my kiddos.

Jeans, western shirts, t shirts, shorts, pjs, cute undies, cute dresses...

Right now I am in desperate need of new shirts.

I hate to go shopping for clothes so it's time to get this done.

And I want to free up that space the basket of fashion fabrics is taking up.

I love sewing with my serger so this gives me a lot of serger time.

(Can you believe my spell check didn't include the word serger?!? I does now!)

The bottom knit is already a shirt.

It is my "muslin" for fit.

It's not too bad,

I'll wear it around home or to sleep in.

I'm excited to use these up.

This morning I'm listening to the latest Quiltcam.

She read an email from someone that was cutting with her Go Cutter.

The light bulb in my head turned on bright.

I put Bonnie on pause and got out my own cutter and small tumbler die.

I need more variety in my tumbler boxes and while making string blocks, 

I found a nice bunch of fabrics in my string bin that were too big to turn into strings.

It's time to get working on my tumblers again.

They will not be my focus this month but will be ready when I'm ready to work on them.

This morning I will finalize my basic t-shirt pattern

and maybe cut out a couple more shirts.

It's fun to have a plan.

And now I must get to it!

I May Have A Scrap Problem...

Confessions Of A Scrap Addict wrote a very intriguing blog post this morning.

She was talking directly to me!

How did she know that I have a serious, overwhelming problem.

I am out of control. 

I cannot toss a scrap.

I want to blame someone but I am the one to blame.

No one else.

insert sad face here

(I'm hoping I can figure out how to put her badge over on my side bar.

This stuff is a challenge for me.)

This is the top of my string big.

This is the side view of my string bin.

One of them.

another sad face inserted here

This is my table top string bin.

My goal is to empty it.

Use each string until it is gone.

Then grab the next and the next.

After reading Sarah's post, I decided I needed a plan.

In September for National Sewing Month,

I sewed every day.

September 25, 2015 was the last day I made a string block.

Until today.

I made 5 early this morning.

I will make 5 later on today.

( I don't want to fall behind on March 2nd.)

I plan to make 5 a day, every day in March.

If I do that,

 I will add 155 3" string blocks to my collection.

What will I do with them?

Oh no worries about that.

These make awesome borders for string quilts,

fun quilts like Bonnie's Love Shack that I will make someday.

But not today.

I have to empty that string bin down some first!

So I am going to do like Sarah and 

challenge myself every month to get my scraps under control.

I have a good plan for March,

I'll have a good plan for April.

I'll have a good plan for......

you get the idea.

Wish me luck, I'm headed into the abyss. 

While The Cat's Away...

My Cat-Ernie-is gone this weekend on a halibut fishing trip.  

The Mouse--me--is playing.

On his way out of town,

he dropped the beast off at the spa.

Instead of a weekend full of quilting tops from Mt. ToBeQuilted,

 I came up with a new plan-

finish more tops.

I had put my Ambassador machine in this cabinet a few weeks ago

with the intention of sewing in the living room in front of the tv.

I don't have a tv in my sewing room.

I had yet to open it until this weekend. 

I have done so much while Ernie has been gone.

I make a list of 3 household to do projects, 

hurry and get them done so I can sew without guilt.

Project 1 was to finish this top.

I had made a mistake on row 6 while at retreat and had already taken the row apart.

I thought maybe the other rows were wrong too 

but I waited until row 6 was sewn back together and checked them.

Thank goodness they were all good and no more un-sewing had to happen.

This is now a top with the backing and binding selected, waiting to be quilted.

Town Square is is ready for inner and outer borders.

I love this, it's so bright and happy.

What will happen today?

I have a couple ideas....

but first I must take care of those 3 things on my list.

The Cat will be home tomorrow so this Mouse must get playing.