Weekly Progress - Goodbye 2012

Ah, the end of another year. 2012...wasn't a bad year, but with my husband deployed or away in training for deployment for nine months of it, it wasn't a great one. It was more of a waiting year.

Some highlights:

Accepting a referral for our Korean son!

Three Disney Half Marathon medals, and one Route 66 medal

15 finished quilts - four of which were commissioned

2013 will be the opposite, and I'm looking forward to everything that has managed to cram itself into the coming year. It'll be crazy!

In progress this week

I complained about my sister wanting her book back last week. My mother should play poker, because she let me rush through some blocks without letting on that my sister got me the book for Christmas. Back on the back burner!

{UFO Challenge} After Christmas was cleaned up and the guests went home, I finished up some projects just so I could claim I finished some UFOs this year. Blue Bowties is done!

Sunkissed Jewel Box is done! But as it's snowing raining, it will have to wait for better light for pictures and a post.

{Design Wall} No change. Seriously. The wreath is even still there.

{Fifteen Minute Challenge} In a quest to start cleaning instead of just organizing what I have, I sorted through the scraps leftover from my t-shirt quilts. Let's face it - I'm not going to use them.

One of our local charities takes stained/ripped clothes for rags, so they're getting two garbage bags full. I saved a small rainbow in case I need to make running shirt logo/costume.

Linked:
Fifteen Minute Challenge @ Life In Pieces
UFO Sunday @ the Free Motion Quilting Project 
Design Wall Monday @ Patchwork Times 
BOMs Away Mondays @ What A Hoot 
Fabric Tuesday @ Quilt Story 
WiP Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced

Blue Bowties - Finished!

I decided to dedicate the last few days of 2012 to UFOs, since I neglected them in the Christmas sewing crunch time.

First up was Blue Bowties, which had binding prepped and ready to go. Easy peasy, right?

Yeah...

A while back, I had a conversation about my sucky corners with one of my LQS employees. She asked what size binding I used. I said I used to use 2.5", but now I use 2.25". She asked if all my problems date back to the size change. Uh, yes. She gave me a look like she would smack me in the back of my head if she were my mother, and I went back to 2.5" without any corner issues.

Except apparently I forgot all this and cut this binding at 2.25". I don't even know why - I had plenty of fabric.

So I had it machine sewn to the back and was sewing it to the front, made it halfway and decided I hated the corners so very much that I couldn't continue. Ripped it all off. Sewed it back on with a 1/4" seam instead of 3/8" seam.

Much better!

But then I was racing daylight for pictures, for a quilt that only needed binding and washing! Sigh.

Details

Fabric: Symphony of Blues from Connecting Threads & Kona Snow

Backing: blue flannel

Binding: Promenade by Andover Fabrics

Size: 36" square

Block Pattern: Charm Square Bowties by Sew Many Ways {reversed}

Quilted - straight echo by me

Quilt will be for sale on my Facebook Page once I get it over there.

Linked:
Whoop Whoop @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict
TGIFF @ Sparrow in Flight
Finish It Up Friday @ Crazy Mom Quilts
Link A Finish Friday @ Richard and Tanya Quilts

Weekly Progress - Wall Hangings

Giveaway Day post up next!

{Binding} Just about all my sewing this week has been on three Christmas wall hangings - one for my mother, one for my husband, and one for my squadron spouse social.

{Design Wall} Tree #2

{Finished} pillowcases for the husband and a friend

{In Progress} pretty little party dress

{UFO Busting} Finished the quilting on Blue Bowties and prepped the binding.

{Fifteen Minute Challenge - Organization} I very dedicatedly did my 15 minutes this week, and most of the flat surfaces are cleaned up. And just in time to start the full-on Christmas decorating! I need to remember to keep up with the 15 minutes! I'm so much more organized when I'm...organized. Shocking.

Linked:
Fifteen Minute Challenge @ Life In Pieces
UFO Sunday @ the Free Motion Quilting Project

Design Wall Monday @ Patchwork Times

BOMs Away Mondays @ What A Hoot

Fabric Tuesday @ Quilt Story

WiP Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced

Weekly Progress - Thankful

I hope everyone had a good holiday weekend! 

We drove 16 hours to see some friends for Thanksgiving - totally worth it for the fried turkey and raiding her fabric scraps.

Since I was out of town, I didn't get as much done this week, but I did manage to check off a couple things.

Cut out another doll dress just so I could use the scraps in...

{Design Wall} - a Christmas tree wall hanging for my mother.

 {Finished} - the blocks of the Chunky Log Cabin. Next up, the border. And I'm not going to stop and let this thing sit again, especially since I have everything I need to finish it.

{UFO Busting} - Sunday, I actually sat down and worked on a real UFO! Basted the Blue Bowtie and quilted it up. I'm trying to decide if I want to go for a third line of echoing.

{Fifteen Minute Challenge} - not only did I do NO organizing this week - I made it worse by moving a sewing machine and piling everything on the floor there to make room for all this...

So I'm going to have to really dedicate myself to the Fifteen Minute Challenge this week to get everything put away properly so I can share my work space with Santa.

Linked:
Fifteen Minute Challenge @ Life In Pieces

UFO Sunday @ the Free Motion Quilting Project

Design Wall Monday @ Patchwork Times

BOMs Away Mondays @ What A Hoot

Fabric Tuesday @ Quilt Story

WiP Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced

WiP/FMC - New Routines

We are slowly settling into a routine here. It's actually a bit harder, since the only time the Dude is allowed at the pool is the time we avoided the pool in California. So my sewing time has to change, too. And there's a lot more distractions around with family wanting to do things! I'm managing to get some sewing time, though.

Fifteen Minute Challenge

I've been binding Big Blue for fifteen minutes each day...but this week, only Thursday, Friday, Sunday and Tuesday. At a rate of 30ish" per day, I should be done with the binding in 15 days! Ugh...I should probably do more than 15 minutes a day.

Finished:

Blue Bowties

These, by the way, were the runner up layouts. I think the wave would look better with smaller blocks.

 Three In Color Order bags for a friend. Yes, I skipped the colored top. Yes, you can't really tell that the one in the back is long and skinny...about the size of a wine bottle, coincidentally.

In-Progress:

Layer Cake Snowball Fight - corners are cut, layer cake hasn't arrived yet

Central Park Sudoku - slowly piecing the nine patches as leaders/enders

Nine-Patch Snowball - nine-patches are done, snowballs are in the works

Quilting:

Bad Romance

Joining:

Picture-Perfect Polaroid Block Swap - blocks are due immediately after I get back to Oklahoma. Insane? Yes!

In-Progress-But-Not-This-Week

Fat Quarter Stars (6/12 blocks)
LQS Saturday Sampler 2012 (12/36 blocks) 

In-Progress-But-Not-This-Summer

LQS Saturday Sampler 2011 (12/12 & center) 

Chunky Log Cabin (13/20 blocks)

St. Paul's Cross (2/42? blocks)

Adoption:

Application Submitted - 2/12 

Home Study - approved 5/12

USCIS paperwork - mailed 6/12
Home Study to Korea - 6/12

New Projects: 1

Completed Projects: 1

In Progress: 9

Stash Report - Week 28

Oh, the ins and the outs. There was actually a decent amount of movement this week. A little too much retail therapy because of my husband leaving...but that's what deployment money is for, right?

In:

California Girl, because I was briefly a California Girl. Hello Luscious, because it's pretty. And on sale.

One yard green, one yard red - for my Snowball Fight. Plus a layer cake for the prize, but I'm not counting that since it's not for MY stash.

Out:

Blue Bowties, done!

Summer Drinks, done! 

{Until I get home to add borders...}

Secret stuff made out of secret fabric, done!

{Don't worry - box was mailed and reveal will be Wednesday. I can't keep secrets very long!}

There's a couple more things coming in the mail this week, but maybe I can finish some things and keep the numbers moving. Maybe.

Used this Week: 3.35

Used Year to Date: 65.84

Added this Week: 7.84

Added Year to Date: 118.45

Net Used for 2012: (52.61) yards

WiP/FMC - And Back to Virginia

It's been a whirlwind week - to Maryland to send my husband off on deployment...

...to New Jersey to see some cousins, missing the storms and power outage in Virginia. When we finally got to Virginia, the Dude plopped down on the floor and declared himself done with hotels. I'm with him.

Now that I'm somewhat settled, I need a new Fifteen Minute Challenge. And I really need to bind Big Blue. And I really hate hand stitching. So I should probably make it a habit to hand stitch for fifteen minutes every day until Big Blue is done.

In other sewing...

My Spongebob blocks are done! I will be piecing a border to continue the QST motif...probably when I get home. I really don't need to buy more of the neutral when I have five yards at home.

A nice pile of nine patches for my Snowball Fight.

Some Blue Bowties. Or rather, white bowties on blue.

Oh, and my sister helped lay out my Sudoku quilt. She'd like everyone to know she upgraded from a cast to a boot.

In-Progress-But-Not-This-Week

Fat Quarter Stars (6/12 blocks)
LQS Saturday Sampler 2012 (12/36 blocks) 

In-Progress-But-Not-This-Summer

LQS Saturday Sampler 2011 (12/12 & center) 

Chunky Log Cabin (13/20 blocks)

St. Paul's Cross (2/42? blocks)

Big Blue (hand stitching binding)

Adoption:

Application Submitted - 2/12 

Home Study - approved 5/12

USCIS paperwork - mailed 6/12
Home Study to Korea - 6/12

New Projects: 1

Completed Projects: 1

In Progress: 9

WiP/FMC - Packing Again

Here we go again...

And it's the big one - to the East Coast and saying goodbye for a while.

...and then to New Jersey for the weekend. Just in case I haven't spent enough time in hotels recently.

Before packing up, I worked on my Spongebob blocks, and forgot to take a new picture since Monday. They're not done, but they're pretty close!

 Of course, I can't find the borders that I know I cut before I left. Luckily the Dimples fabric should be easy to find...but annoying since I know I have five yards of it at home!

16/24 nine patches done. Next step is the snowballs, and like I mentioned on Monday, I'm going to have a little Snowball Fight next month. 

And since it's Christmas in July around blogland, I'm going to get a layer cake of Joy and snowball that up during the Fight, with alternating color corners. 

If you want to follow along, you need a layer cake {or (42) 10" squares} and one yard each of two colors. Or two yards of one color. Or 5/8ths each of four colors...but let's not get too crazy around here.

 

 And I got a bit bored and started some blue bowties. 

In-Progress-But-Not-During-Hotel-Sewing-Month

Fat Quarter Stars (6/12 blocks)
LQS Saturday Sampler 2012 (12/36 blocks) 

LQS Saturday Sampler 2011 (12/12 & center) 

Chunky Log Cabin (13/20 blocks)

St. Paul's Cross (2/42? blocks)

Big Blue (hand stitching binding)

Adoption:

Application Submitted - 2/12 

Home Study - approved 5/12

USCIS paperwork - mailed 6/12

New Projects: 1

Completed Projects: 0

In Progress: 9