Tag: Process

January 2015 To Do List

To Do List:

  1. Quilt Christmas table runner
  2. Wash fabric AKA The Great Unwashed (I did wash two biggish loads of fabric in December and am pleased to say I also cut into some of that fabric) ;-)
  3. Make stiff bucket or box for TP in main bath
  4. Make stiff bucket or box for TP in second bath
  5. Dragon Box (gift)
  6. Anna Maria Horner Multi-tasker tote (gift-due Holiday 2013- oops) – found the pattern, which is a good start.
  7. Make 3 notepad covers (gifts)
  8. Day in the Park backpack variation
  9. Sew Bon Appetit apron
  10. ATCs for CQFA January Meeting – I should have enough time, right?
  11. Make two bags for gifts

To see the 26 Projects Lists, which list quilt WIPS, visit the December Current Projects update. Last month’s to Do List has a couple of changes, which is heartening.

All small items, prior to those completed in December 2014,  have been completed since November 4, 2013. I am going to make a new list for 2015 so this list will no longer be updated. I want to see more select progress in 2015 and try and get an idea of how much I am doing.

  • Make free motion quilted piece into a bag
  • Sew Church Ladies apron
  • Blocks for BAMQG Opportunity Quilt
  • Binding on Wonky 9 Patch
  • Sew on sleeve for Original Bullseye
  • Kelly’s Brown Round Robin
  • Pillow from cake tea towel
  • Try plain square for center of Russian Rubix blocks
  • Hand sew bottom opening in Shopping bag for BAMQG
  • Finish binding on T-Shirt quilt
  • Secret Santa gift for BAMQG
  • Kathleen’s Round Robin
  • Make sleeve for Original Bullseye
  • Finish sewing triangles for Scrapitude
  • Take apart Ribbon Star and resew
  • Color Group donation quilt
  • Binding for Color Group donation quilt
  • Make shopping bag for BAMQG
  • Sew coffee patch to red bag
  • Sew coffee patch to bathrobe
  • Sew green and red striped 8 pointed star (probably should include an item called “find background template for 8 pointed star!)
  • Scrap Lab backpack
  • Make binding for Disappearing Pinwheel
  • Petrillo bag #2
  • Bright apron as a gift
  • Paris apron as a gift
  • Finish tote for Mom‘s auction (new 6/2014)
  • Layer, baste Christmas table runner
  • Cut background for black wavy line 8 pointed star
  • Sew white on black wavy line 8 pointed star
  • Quilt/stitch fish postcard – finished
  • Make receiving blankets
  • Sew BAMQG label to donation quilt for Band Mom
  • Sew BAMQG label to green donation quilt back
  • Cut lining fabric for Church Ladies apron
  • BAMQG label to Flower Sugar donation quilt back
  • Sew sleeve on See
  • Sew facing down on See
  • Make donation blocks

Octagon Nine Patch

It makes no sense to me to work on a project and not use leaders and enders to save thread and get some other rote piecing done. To that end, as I worked on the Stepping Stones, I also added grey triangles to the leftover octagons so I could work towards the Octagon Nine Patch quilt.

Octagon Nine Patch Test
Octagon Nine Patch Test

I kind of wanted to remind myself what mine would look like so I made a mockup in EQ7.

Something looked off so I went and looked at the picture and my piece and realized that I reversed the foreground and background from the original that I saw at PIQF. I was a little upset, but I quickly realized that I had to do it this way, because of the way the octagons were made. My octagon patch is a foreground piece. In Dina Carmiel’s piece, A Touch of Autumn, she used background fabric for the octagons, because they are a base for some applique’. I would have had to completely remake the octagons with the background grey if I wanted to mimic her quilt. The point of my piece is to use up octagons that I already cut for the Russian Rubix quilt.

Octagons to Snowballs December 2014
Octagons to Snowballs December 2014

The sewing of the corner triangles takes a lot of time and if I didn’t like the cheerful colors so much I might give up. As a result, this work makes great leaders and enders piecing. Progress still takes a lot of time.

This is the third quilt I have made with these fabrics and I am really eager to have all three side by side to see the differences.

Sewing Mojo

After almost 3 solid days of sewing (interpersed with laundry and a trip to Home Depot for a new shower head with DH) over the weekend, I am feeling more like my sewing self. I am not sure much changed except my attitude, but I am feeling more cheerful and happy with the projects on which I am working. No, I haven’t pulled out any old projects on my UFO list nor did I finish that &^%$# Christmas table runner, but there is always next year.

I made a few gifts in between picking out fabrics for the new Stepping Stones blocks. I’ll post about the gifts after I hand them over to their recipient.

Happy Stepping Stones Mess
Happy Stepping Stones Mess

Now I have a happy mess in my workroom. I am so pleased to be working with the reds and turquoises. I may have to clean some of it up before Tuesday for a party, but we will see.

I am not sure why I feel better all of a sudden. Of course it could be that Christmas is over and I have less to do, though work will be starting up again on January 5. It could be that I listened to a couple of Barbara O’Neal/Barbara Samuels books and her books always make me happy. Perhaps I was just a bit kind to myself after tons of work getting ready for the holidays.

The weird part is that I really tried to prepare throughout the year for Christmas so that I wouldn’t be running around like a crazy person right before. It worked somewhat, but I think I need to keep a list of gifts purchased on my phone rather than just on my computer. Or follow Jenny in her “run up to the holiday project.”

Current Projects – December 2014

It feels a little weird to be posting this so close to the end of the year and the Year in Review post, but here it is anyway.

Finished 2014 Quilt Projects

  1. Disappearing Pinwheel: finished 5/30/2014
  2. Fabric of the Year 2012: finished 4/24/2014
  3. Flower Sugar Hexagon: finished 7/1/2014
  4. Fresh Fruit: finished May 3/3/2014
  5. Infinity Quilt: finished 3/3/2014
  6. Scrapitude Carnivale: finished 6/3/2014
  7. See: finished 8/11/2014
  8. Spiderweb: finished 2/22/2014 WHEW!
  9. Star Sampler: finished 7/3/2014
  10. Wonky Nine Patch – finished 9/6/2014
  11. Green T (donation) quilt – finished 12/1/2014

 

Finished 2014 non-Quilt Projects

Still WIPs

I still have WIPs. Who doesn’t, after all, but the list is getting a lot smaller.

  1. Aqua-Red Sampler – Frances and I haven’t really worked on this for a long time. I really want her to finish her hexagon block before we move on. I think she has progressed so much since we started that I wonder if I should just tell her how to put the quilt together and be done with it.
  2. The Tarts Come to Tea: I still haven’t worked on this since April 2011, though, periodically, I think about working on it.
  3. Pointillist Palette #4: Fourth is a series of 6 quilts; needs tiny square patches sewn together. I still haven’t worked on this, though, I do think about it. The Lunns have a new line of PP fabric out. I am curious to see the new colors. I only saw a few at PIQF
  4. Self Portrait: started in 2006 at a class at Quilting Adventures in Richmond, Virginia. My career counselor breathed new life into this project for me. She asked a simple question and the end result was inspiration for this piece, but I kind of lost steam again after printing images on paper to try out different designs. Lately, I have been feeling like I need to finish this piece as it should be a good reminder to keep in my office.
  5. Under the Sea: class project; like the design, but not the colors much. Possibility for abandonment. I have to face reality.

Ready for Quilting

Wow! Everything on this list is new, as in it was never on the original 26 Projects list.

  1. Fabric of the Year 2013: top, back and binding made; at the quilter
  2. Table runner: Basted; needs quilting and binding. I am planning on free motion quilting this myself for practice, which may be a challenge when my main machine is not working. (Not on original list)
  3. Russian Rubix: at the quilter, binding made

In the Finishing Process

  1. I am binding the [New:*] Super Secret Project #4

In Process
I decided that I had better put in an ‘In Process’ category. The difference, at least in my mind, between ‘In Process’ and ‘UFO’ is that I am actively working on a project that is “In Process.”

Hunting and Gathering

  • Blue Gradation Quilt: cutting 2.5?x4.5? blue rectangles
  • Blue Lemonade: cutting blue, green, purple 2? squares
  • FOTY 2014: cutting out 3″x5″ rectangles.
  • Pink Gradation Quilt: cutting 2.5?x4.5? pink rectangles
  • Spin Wheel: really not started, but supplies gathered. I probably have enough fabrics and just need to decide to start.
  • Stepping Stones #2 using Bonnie & Camille fabrics Bliss, Ruby, Vintage Modern: made two test blocks, but decided to buy a solid turquoise for the background fabric. The large-ish flower print from the above lines that I wanted to use just had too much white and muddied the look. I want the contrast to be good and adding in a fabric that is not from the line will make the piece my own. I may be ready to start this project.
  • Stepping Stones #3 using the Macaron pre-cuts from Hoffman. I just remembered this project. It isn’t started, but I have all the pre-cuts and should think about actually using them.
  • Windmill quilt: Still hunting and gathering. I will use a grey for the background, because if I use more of the cut fabric patches, the pattern will be lost. The pieces are too oddly shaped and I don’t want to lose the pattern in a mass of scraps

Abandoned

Nothing in 2014. I am still thinking about whether some of the UFO projects should be abandoned. Will I really finish them?

You can find the last update for the Current Projects list provides a good comparison to this month.

The first list I made is kind of interesting, the one with the 26 Projects. I started the list in October 2011. I have made REALLY GOOD progress. Up until a few months ago, I was still planning to stop this post when I had no more projects from the original list to write about, but now, that the end is in sight, I am not so sure. It is so useful to keep track of all of my projects. Since I still have some pretty old projects on the list, I haven’t decided.

*New – Project started after I started working on the 26 Projects list

Don’t Should on Yourself

During the storm last week I should have sewn more.

Over the weekend I should have made progress on the Field Day Zipper.

When I have a spare moment, I should be working on the Teenaged Boy Black & Grey Donation Quilt.

I should be farther along sewing triangles to the leftover octagons.

These are words going through my head recently. Finally, I sat myself down and we talked.

I DO want to sew. Really. There is no reason I shouldn’t be sewing. I feel like I want to work on a project about which I am really excited. The problem is that I have a couple of other projects I also really want to get done, mostly to get the off my plate. I am not excited about them, so creative things kind of bog down.

I have to figure out what will get me out of this mood. Am I in a rut? Did I should badly on some projects that are not exciting me? Are projects not moving off my design wall fast enough? I don’t know.

My mom always says I shouldn’t ‘should’ on myself. I do a lot and I get stuff done. beating myself up about sewing is stupid. Yes, I want to finish projects, but clearly there is something else going on. Life is taking up space in my head and that is a thing that sometimes happens. Other stuff I enjoy is getting shoved aside for a lot of things I feel I ‘should’ do.

Multiple Projects

Thanks to Angela, who passed along this blog post on Sew Mama Sew by Cheryl Arkison about having multiple projects going at once. Even though I have cleared out a lot of UFOs recently, I still have multiple projects going at once. The most important point she makes is that having multiple projects allows you to perform a quilting step/task that fits in with the time you have. Cheryl writes:

“With each moment in the studio I eke out what can be done. Impromptu playdate in the backyard? Let’s cut fabric! Extra long nap for the little guy? Pedal to the metal at the sewing machine. Hubby away and trashy TV? Pressing leaders and enders.

If I was only working on one project at a time I would spend more time waiting than working. Waiting for just the right moment of alertness to cut fabric. Waiting for quiet afternoons to sew. Waiting for the kids to go to bed so I can wash the floor and baste. Waiting for inspiration to hit when I get blocked. So much waiting.

Instead of waiting I can hit the ground running on any project when time and energy allow. Less waiting, more working. Even if the work takes a long time to become a quilt. I can make progress because progress is always happening. It just isn’t always on the same project.”

And Cheryl’s points don’t even start talking about how we feel. We might feel like cutting during one nap time or auditioning fabric while Grandma watches the kids. All of these factors point to success by having multiple projects going.

Her last point in the excerpt is especiallly important to me. I work with demanding people in a high stress environment. Sewing and quiltmaking calms me down and takes me away from the crazy when I have had a stressful day, week, month. It doesn’t matter if I am finishing something every week or month. It matters that I am sewing – pushing fabric through the machine. That quilts eventually come out is an added bonus.

You might be remembering the project I did to clear out UFOs and wondering how Cheryl’s points fit together. I needed to clear out the “old junk” from my UFO piles to make space for new fabrics and new ideas. Having a project sit around for years, I don’t think is the point. It wasn’t the point for me. Even though I cleared out a lot of UFOs in a kind of binge, I still am trying to be process oriented rather than product oriented. That big push really cleared out the cobwebs that the old projects were making in my brain. Not having many old projects doesn’t mean that I don’t have multiple projects. I do – just fewer and newer and really and truly in progress. The difference is that they are not sitting on a shelf forgotten with no progress happening.

Mark Lipinski is also part of the Slow Stitching Movement. Sandy talks about the same concept on her blog. The interesting part is that this new version doesn’t make us all do handwork. We can still use modern technology.

I don’t know what will happen when I get stuck on a project. I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.

Russian Rubix Big Steps

I was making a trip to see my quilter yesterday so all week I made a huge effort to get the piece done. I had to put on the last border, make a binding, and make the back. I slowly made may way through all the steps a few seams at a time and was able to get the quilt to a place where it was ready to quilt.

Final Corner, Final Border
Final Corner, Final Border

The first thing I accomplished was the final border. I am pretty proud of these borders. I did have put a spacer in on two sides to make two sides fit, but I really feel like, as April Rosenthal said, I have mad math skills. Really, I don’t but it was nice of her to say and it is a nice thought to consider since nobody who knows me would say math is a strong point for me. 😉

In the process of the last border, I did have to make more blocks. I forgot to make the last two corner blocks when I was making the last border blocks last weekend (I think??). I think I was distracted by the Black Friday Sew-in Google Hangout. I was trying to do something rather rote so I could pay attention to what the others were doing, but apparently I can’t count, sew and Hang Out all at once.

Russian Rubix Top Finished
Russian Rubix Top Finished

The back and top are too large for me to photograph on my design wall, so Friend Julie and Colleen were kind enough to hold both up when we brought it over to Colleen’s to be quilted.

I was really pleased with the photo (despite being taken on my phone), but also with the way the quilt came out. The spacers don’t really show up much and I think the top looks really great.

We talked a lot about the quilting. It will be quilted in Signature Thread in the Cotton Candy colorway, which is a variegated that gets used on my quilts a lot, because it blends with my fabric color palette pretty well. I also chose bamboo batting this time, because Colleen said regardless of the density of the quilting, the quilt will still be drapable. This might be a bed quilt, so drapability is good. Also, I have been wanting to try bamboo.

Russian Rubix Back Finished
Russian Rubix Back Finished

The back went really well. I used a big piece of IKEA fabric that Kelly got for me. I thought I had 6 yards, but think I ended up with three, thus the piecing of the other part of the back. I used up the background fabric and most of a half yard of the barcode fabric, plus the stitch purple to add a little width and provide some distinction between the two halves of the quilt.

The stitch purple is a bit of a precious fabric and I was reluctant to use it lest I need it for a ‘better’ project, but I decided I didn’t want to use ‘bad’ or ‘ugly’ fabrics for the back because I still have to look at the back and I want the back to be nice, too. And, of course, there is always more fabric.

This is a big project and it is finally finished. WHEW!

Current Projects – November 2014

I am a bit late in posting this post, but I have made some progress.

Finished 2014 Quilt Projects

  1. Disappearing Pinwheel: finished 5/30/2014
  2. Fabric of the Year 2012: finished 4/24/2014
  3. Flower Sugar Hexagon: finished 7/1/2014
  4. Fresh Fruit: finished May 3/3/2014
  5. Infinity Quilt: finished 3/3/2014
  6. Scrapitude Carnivale: finished 6/3/2014
  7. See: finished 8/11/2014
  8. Spiderweb: finished 2/22/2014 WHEW!
  9. Star Sampler: finished 7/3/2014
  10. Wonky Nine Patch – finished 9/6/2014

I might be stuck at 10 quilts. I had hoped to finish at least one more, but I don’t know.

Finished 2014 non-Quilt Projects

Still WIPs

I still have WIPs. Who doesn’t, after all, but the list is getting a lot smaller.

  1. Aqua-Red Sampler – Frances and I haven’t really worked on this for a long time. She recently got in touch about starting up again and she finished her hexagon block.
  2. The Tarts Come to Tea: I still haven’t worked on this since April 2011, though, periodically, I think about working on it.
  3. Pointillist Palette #4: Fourth is a series of 6 quilts; needs tiny square patches sewn together. I still haven’t worked on this, though, I do think about it. The Lunns have a new line of PP fabric out. I am curious to see the new colors. I only saw a few at PIQF
  4. Self Portrait: started in 2006 at a class at Quilting Adventures in Richmond, Virginia. My career counselor breathed new life into this project for me. She asked a simple question and the end result was inspiration for this piece, but I kind of lost steam again after printing images on paper to try out different designs. Lately, I have been feeling like I need to finish this piece as it should be a good reminder for some other stuff going on in my life. Perhaps that will spur me on.
  5. Under the Sea: class project; like the design, but not the colors much. Possibility for abandonment. I have to face reality.

Ready for Quilting

Wow! Everything on this list is new, as in it was never on the original 26 Projects list.

  1. Fabric of the Year 2013: top, back and binding made; ready to take it to the quilter
  2. New:* Super Secret Project #4: at the quilter
  3. Table runner: Basted; needs quilting and binding. I am planning on free motion quilting this myself for practice, which may be a challenge when my main machine is not working. (Not on original list)

In the Finishing Process

  1. I am binding the Green T Quilt, which Gerre and I worked on together.

In Process
I decided that I had better put in an ‘In Process’ category. The difference, at least in my mind, between ‘In Process’ and ‘UFO’ is that I am actively working on a project that is “In Process.”

Hunting and Gathering

  • Blue Gradation Quilt: cutting 2.5?x4.5? blue rectangles
  • Blue Lemonade: cutting blue, green, purple 2? squares
  • FOTY 2014: cutting out 3″x5″ rectangles.
  • Pink Gradation Quilt: cutting 2.5?x4.5? pink rectangles
  • Spin Wheel: really not started, but supplies gathered. I probably have enough fabrics and just need to decide to start.
  • Stepping Stones #2 using Bonnie & Camille fabrics Bliss, Ruby, Vintage Modern: made two test blocks, but still in the thinking stage while I decide on the background colors. I want the contrast to be good.
  • Stepping Stones #3 using the Macaron pre-cuts from Hoffman. I just remembered this project. It isn’t started, but I have all the pre-cuts and should think about actually using them.
  • Windmill quilt: Still hunting and gathering. I will use a grey for the background, because if I use more of the cut fabric patches, the pattern will be lost. The pieces are too oddly shaped and I don’t want to lose the pattern in a mass of scraps

Abandoned

Nothing so far for 2014

You can find the last update for the Current Projects list provides a good comparison to this month.

I thought you might want to take a look at the first list I made, the one with the 26 Projects. I started the list in October 2011. I have made REALLY GOOD progress. Up until last month, I was still planning to stop this post when I had no more projects from the original list to write about, but now, that the end is in sight, I am not so sure. It is so useful to keep track of all of my projects. Since I still have some pretty old projects on the list, I don’t have to decide right now.

*New – Project started after I started working on the 26 Projects list

December To Do List

To Do List:

  1. Quilt Christmas table runner
  2. Wash fabric AKA The Great Unwashed (I am guessing this will never be off the list, but a girl can dream) ;-)
  3. Make stiff bucket or box for TP in main bath
  4. Make stiff bucket or box for TP in second bath
  5. Dragon Box (gift)
  6. Anna Maria Horner Multi-tasker tote (gift-due Holiday 2013- oops) – found the pattern, which is a good start.
  7. Make 3 notepad covers (gifts)
  8. Day in the Park backpack variation
  9. Sew Bon Appetit apron
  10. ATCs for CQFA January Meeting – I should have enough time, right?
  11. Make two bags for gifts

To see the 26 Projects Lists, which list quilt WIPS, visit the October Current Projects update. Last month’s to Do List is about the same.

All small items that have been completed since November 4, 2013 (prior to this month’s list). This really shows progress, right?

  • Make free motion quilted piece into a bag
  • Sew Church Ladies apron
  • Blocks for BAMQG Opportunity Quilt
  • Binding on Wonky 9 Patch
  • Sew on sleeve for Original Bullseye
  • Kelly’s Brown Round Robin
  • Pillow from cake tea towel
  • Try plain square for center of Russian Rubix blocks
  • Hand sew bottom opening in Shopping bag for BAMQG
  • Finish binding on T-Shirt quilt
  • Secret Santa gift for BAMQG
  • Kathleen’s Round Robin
  • Make sleeve for Original Bullseye
  • Finish sewing triangles for Scrapitude
  • Take apart Ribbon Star and resew
  • Color Group donation quilt
  • Binding for Color Group donation quilt
  • Make shopping bag for BAMQG
  • Sew coffee patch to red bag
  • Sew coffee patch to bathrobe
  • Sew green and red striped 8 pointed star (probably should include an item called “find background template for 8 pointed star!)
  • Scrap Lab backpack
  • Make binding for Disappearing Pinwheel
  • Petrillo bag #2
  • Bright apron as a gift
  • Paris apron as a gift
  • Finish tote for Mom‘s auction (new 6/2014)
  • Layer, baste Christmas table runner
  • Cut background for black wavy line 8 pointed star
  • Sew white on black wavy line 8 pointed star
  • Quilt/stitch fish postcard – finished
  • Make receiving blankets
  • Sew BAMQG label to donation quilt for Band Mom
  • Sew BAMQG label to green donation quilt back
  • Cut lining fabric for Church Ladies apron
  • BAMQG label to Flower Sugar donation quilt back
  • Sew sleeve on See
  • Sew facing down on See
  • Make donation blocks

DWM- Thanksgiving Week 2014

I have been sewing a little, but it feels like I have been riding a stationary bike: sewing for hours and not going anywhere. I need to change that and finish something. I know I shouldn’t be product oriented, but sometimes finishing something big gives the ego a good boost.

Thanksgiving Design Wall
Thanksgiving Design Wall

The design wall looks different than last week, though I am sure you can see the similarities. As you can see, the design wall is packed. I kind of sewed everything that wasn’t already sewn down and threw it up on the wall.

1. Two hot color four patches that I thought I would use as the beginning of a quilt, but haven’t done anything with yet.

2. Red and turquoise four patches. I made one additional since last week.

3. Completed red and turquoise four patches. The most recent one is on the top.

4. BAMQG donation blocks. I made them using leaders and enders. Aren’t they cheerful?

5. Same FOTY rectangles as last week. I am looking at The Great Unwashed and wondering what fabrics I want to wash and iron so they can be included in FOTY 2014.

6. One Field Day Zipper ‘block’. I cut the patches apart from each other on Saturday and somehow that one ended up on the design wall.

7. Russian Rubix Octagons. I still have a few blocks to make for the border, so I still may need some of the octagons. I am not sure if I will use all of these in the Russian Rubix quilt or if they will be part of the Snowball/9 Patch quilt I have in mind. Since the border is nearing the end, I will know pretty soon.

8. Black & Grey Teenaged Boy Donation blocks and I happen to be using them for rewriting my chunking tutorial.

9. PIQF Crosses. I think TFQ and I will probably abandon this project, but I had so many pieces cut that I decided to work on sewing them. I may give the blocks to the guild as donation blocks or I could put them together as the center of a donation quilt or I could make a pillow.

10. City Sampler block n.31. Bleah. It went together like a log cabin and I am not very happy with the way it turned out.

So the process continues…

 

I am linking up with Judy over at the Patchwork Times.

DWM – Mid November

I spent most of the day yesterday out with Kelly and making banana bread. The Young Man budgeted for $40 worth of bananas for his Eagle Project and then BOUGHT THEM!!! People ate bananas, but $40 is a lot of bananas and we had a about 20 left after the project. By yesterday 12 were left, which meant 3 double batches of banana bread. I spent about 3.5 hours in the kitchen, including a walking trip to Trader Joe’s because I ran out of eggs. I got some steps in, but used up a lot of sewing time on this ‘project.’

Design Wall November 17, 2014
Design Wall November 17, 2014

Thus, the design wall looks pretty similar to last week’s version. I have high hopes that the end is nearing on a few projects, but time will tell, especially with holidays coming up.

1. More of the red 2″ squares for my 4 patches. I really need to cut some 2″ turquoise squares. I just can’t seem to get to it.

2. Black & Grey Teenaged Boy Donation Quilt blocks. I finally finished that last block that had been languishing, for, what seemed like, weeks. Next step is to layout all the blocks and look at them. I need to decide whether to sew them together with sashing or not. I hear red fabrics crying out for my attention when I think about this quilt.

3. Pieces and part of the PIQF Cross blocks. I have the other background parts cut as well; they are just somewhere else waiting for me to have a moment to decide on the fabric for the on point squares.

4. Start of a donation block for BAMQG. Made with leaders and enders technique yesterday as I sewed another side of a Russian Rubix border together.

5. My PIQF Cross blocks, some only partially sewn.

5.5 This is the PIQF Cross block that TFQ made. Somehow it got separated from its friends, though, perhaps, it volunteered to play referee between the red 2″ patches from and the Teenaged Boy Donation Quilt. 😉

6. Russian Rubix Octagons. I am still making a few blocks for the border. I am not sure if I will use these in the Russian Rubix quilt or if they will be part of the Snowball/9 Patch quilt I have in mind. If I do that piece it will be the third quilt I make from that collection of fabrics. It is interesting to do that. Perhaps I can consider it a series?

7. Most recent FOTY rectangles. These are the last of the fabrics that TFQ pressed for me. I need to toss another load of new fabric into the wash and continue on.

 

I am linking up with Judy over at the Patchwork Times. Looking through a few of the other links is fun. I see projects and things that I wouldn’t have otherwise seen.

How UFOs are Born

I was talking to a friend the other day. She makes sculpture out of the stuff she finds in her recycle bin. She makes about one piece a year. It was so fascinating to hear about her process and how she gets her ideas. Somehow we got on the topic of process and she said ‘sometimes, you have to put a piece aside and let it be for awhile.’

I froze, mentally, at least.

Have you ever had a moment happen where you think 10 minutes have gone by, but only seconds passed and you are able to pick up thread of the conversation with nobody the wiser that you just checked out? That happened to me at this moment. A movie started playing in my head of all of the UFOs that I had dredged out of the darkness of the fabric closet and finished in the past couple of years.Then the voice inside my head started screaming NOOOOOOOOO!

I pulled myself together and my friend was still happily chattering on about process.

This one comment made me think about how perfectly good projects become UFOs.

You start out happily working on a project. You are excited, love the fabrics and are already imagining it on your bed or wall or being opened by a lucky recipient at the next holiday.

The first blocks are challenging and you feel excited as you see them come together. The more blocks you make the more mundane and rote the sewing becomes. Boring follows close behind. Still, you think about other things, plan your grocery list and cross things off your mental to do list as you push fabric and thread under the needle of your machine. The charm and allure of the project hasn’t dimmed completely.

You are in the home stretch as you begin to piece the border. Then the process all goes horribly wrong. Your math is off. There is an extra inch where you don’t need it and the fabulously pieced border won’t fit.

Suddenly, you feel tired. The excitement of the project is gone and it is just a big pain in the neck.

You wander off, work on something else, add new deadline. A month passes and the project is taking up space on your design wall and you need the space to finish your donation quilt. You take the project off the design wall just for a small rest, put all the parts in a box and put it front and center on a shelf. Months pass and the space on the shelf is needed so into the closet, near the front, the project box goes.

More months pass. The box gets moved to the back of the closet as some rearrange new fabric.

5 YEARS LATER (+12 other completed projects)

A fabri-lanche hits your fabric closet. You decide this is a good time to take inventory and clean out. Everything comes out of the closet and you go through it before you put it back in. You find the project about which you had totally forgotten. The fabric is old looking and no longer interests you. You throw it into the guild charity bag and know that someone will do something gorgeous with it.

Design Wall Monday

Design Wall Monday 11/10/2014
Design Wall Monday 11/10/2014

It seems a little odd to keep posting these photos of what looks like the same design wall week after week. Still there is some difference. You can see the blocks I am making for the project TFQ and I are working on.

The octagons are still there, because I am still stuck on the Russian Rubix border. I got a little push in the right direction, but I just I haven’t had a chance to do any sewing. I will be really happy when I have a chance to finish the border so I can get the octagons off my wall and put something else up there.

1- As in the previous week, these are the pieces and parts for red and turquoise four patches. Ir eally need to find some more turquoise fabrics.

2- These patches are the start of the newest batch of FOTY 2014 rectangles.

3- Octagons from the Russian Rubix quilt top.

4- Finished red and turquoise four patches

5- Donation blocks, mostly finished, but one in process

6- PIQF Inspiration blocks in process

7- PIQF Inspiration blocks in in cutting stage

I am linking up with Judy Laquidara’s Patchwork Times

Design Wall Monday

Design Wall 11/3/2014
Design Wall 11/3/2014

My design wall is shockingly similar to the last time.

Fewer octagons.

Similar black and grey donation blocks.

If you zoom in, you can see the beginnings of the Modified Garden of Eden blocks I started after we went to PIQF. You have to zoom in, because all you can see are some grey triangles that are similar in color to my design wall.

I finished filling in the space for the FOTY 2014 blocks, which you will hear more about later this week.

Red and turquoise four patches are pretty much the same. I am in desperate need of some turquoise squares, which is kind of shocking since there is no shortage of turquoise in this place.

I really should do a What’s on the Design Floor, because all of my half baked projects are on the floor right now. I really have to get those octagons and the Russian Rubix out of my life.

Linking up with Judy for Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times.

November To Do List

To Do List:

  1. Quilt Christmas table runner
  2. Wash fabric AKA The Great Unwashed (I am guessing this will never be off the list, but a girl can dream) ;-)
  3. Make stiff bucket or box for TP in main bath
  4. Make stiff bucket or box for TP in second bath
  5. Dragon Box (gift)
  6. Anna Maria Horner Multi-tasker tote (gift-due Holiday 2013- oops) – found the pattern, which is a good start.
  7. Make 3 notepad covers (gifts)
  8. Day in the Park backpack variation
  9. Sew Bon Appetit apron
  10. Sew Church Ladies apron
  11. ATCs for CQFA January Meeting – I should have enough time, right?
  12. Make free motion quilted piece into a bag

To see the 26 Projects Lists, which list quilt WIPS, visit the October Current Projects update. Last month’s to Do List is about the same.

All small items that have been completed since November 4, 2013 (prior to this month’s list). This really shows progress, right?

  • Blocks for BAMQG Opportunity Quilt
  • Binding on Wonky 9 Patch
  • Sew on sleeve for Original Bullseye
  • Kelly’s Brown Round Robin
  • Pillow from cake tea towel
  • Try plain square for center of Russian Rubix blocks
  • Hand sew bottom opening in Shopping bag for BAMQG
  • Finish binding on T-Shirt quilt
  • Secret Santa gift for BAMQG
  • Kathleen’s Round Robin
  • Make sleeve for Original Bullseye
  • Finish sewing triangles for Scrapitude
  • Take apart Ribbon Star and resew
  • Color Group donation quilt
  • Binding for Color Group donation quilt
  • Make shopping bag for BAMQG
  • Sew coffee patch to red bag
  • Sew coffee patch to bathrobe
  • Sew green and red striped 8 pointed star (probably should include an item called “find background template for 8 pointed star!)
  • Scrap Lab backpack
  • Make binding for Disappearing Pinwheel
  • Petrillo bag #2
  • Bright apron as a gift
  • Paris apron as a gift
  • Finish tote for Mom‘s auction (new 6/2014)
  • Layer, baste Christmas table runner
  • Cut background for black wavy line 8 pointed star
  • Sew white on black wavy line 8 pointed star
  • Quilt/stitch fish postcard – finished
  • Make receiving blankets
  • Sew BAMQG label to donation quilt for Band Mom
  • Sew BAMQG label to green donation quilt back
  • Cut lining fabric for Church Ladies apron
  • BAMQG label to Flower Sugar donation quilt back
  • Sew sleeve on See
  • Sew facing down on See
  • Make donation blocks