End of Month Report - November

Not quite as many finishes in November, compared to October, but there's starting to be more things piled on the "to bind" list. I usually bind right away, so this is the first time that list really exists!

Finished:

Rainbow Boats

Gobble Gobble Wall Hanging

Quilted:

Nine-Patch-Snowballs / Loopy Ewe

Loopy, started and nearly finished last week, is my NewFO.

Piecing:

Squadron T-Shirt Quilt - the center is pieced and the borders will go on tomorrow. Scheduled for quilting on Wednesday, and will hopefully be bound and in the mail by the end of the week! Take that, Christmas.

And my leftover Swoon HSTs are slowly becoming Sweet and Sassy.

Life:

CC is constantly and continually a pain in the butt.

The Dude had a glowing report at parent/teacher conferences, and thinks multiplication is the easiest thing in the world. We both let our inner nerd fly at the Doctor Who 50th anniversary special in theaters. {Okay, it's not an inner nerd.}

We got word that our paperwork was delayed in Korea, so now it looks like travel will be even later into 2014 - mid-February at best. Instead of pounding my head into a wall, I signed up for a half marathon and I'm pounding my feet on the pavement.

And if I could count all the words in this post, I would probably be done with my Nanowrimo.

Linked:

Nothing But UFOs
A Year of Finishes
Year of the Finished Project

Fresh Sewing Day @ Lily's Quilts

NewFO @ Cat Patches

Rainbow Boats - Finished!

Are you getting tired of finishes? Too bad, I've got a bunch more to come.

Rainbow Boats - 42x48"

A wall hanging for my mother's neighbor.

Applique is so not my forte - I definitely enjoyed piecing the boats more!

I had some fun with the quilting - added rays to the sun, and clouds in the sky.

And you can barely see it {maybe if you squint?} but I added little crystals to the rain lines to look like raindrops. It was a pain in the butt, but so, so worth it. The twinkles in the sunlight were perfect!

I don't remember any of the fabrics - the background is a sky print, the water is a waves fat quarter with no selvage, and everything came from stash/scraps.

I quilted TWO more tops this week, and I'm scheduled to quilt every Wednesday until Christmas, so get used to these finished posts. It's a little weird to be finishing quilts, not tops. I might even catch up to my UFO list someday!

Linked:

Whoop Whoop @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict

TGIFF @ Never Too Hot to Stitch

Finish It Up Friday @ Crazy Mom Quilts

Link A Finish Friday @ Richard and Tanya Quilts

Finish-A-Long @ She Can Quilt {FAL List}

Weekly Progress - Wall Hangings

The best laid plans... I was supposed to finish off this week with a doll dress class, but the Dude decided Friday was for puking.

Instead, I just finished off two wall hangings.

Gobble Gobble is totally done.

And Rainbow Boats is bound and being blinged.

And that's about it.

I'm scheduled to quilt every Wednesday from now till Christmas, so I'm going through backings and nearly-done projects and projects-that-need-to-be-done. Trying to stay organized!

I have a really itching to start something completely new and not for anyone...probably because I've had a bunch of finishes. I deserve it! But I'm trying to hold off, because goodness knows I need the finishes more.

Linked:

Fifteen Minute Challenge @ Life In Pieces
Design Wall Monday @ Patchwork Times
BOMs Away Monday @ What A Hoot
WiP Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced
Fabric Tuesday @ Quilt Story
Rainbow Scrap Challenge @ SoScrappy
Scrap Basket Sunday @ Kim's Big Quilting Adventure

Weekly Progress - Kitty Overload

Chugging through the to-do list around here. With so much help from the feline members of the household.

{Catch the needle. Great game, CC.}
Rainbow Boats is stitched down and ready to be quilted.

{The only cat-free picture...but I had to shoo Tycho away to take it.}

Gobble Gobble wall hanging is also ready to be quilted.

Almost didn't get my Kate Spain charm swap fabric ironed...

The only other sewing has been debating the layout of my Swoon leftover HSTs. I have the other half of the Gobble Gobble panel, but not really enough HSTs to do anything there.

This is for a pillow cover, btw. So, my top layouts:

A} Morning Joe - I have the necessary background to fill in the corners
B} Morning Joe - non-scrappy

C} Chevrons - awkward 6x8 layout, but I can toss some background in between and get elongated neutral chevrons

D} Broken Dishes - awkward 6x8 layout that can't really be saved by background fabric
E} Or itty bitty central block Dishes with a lot of border space...slightly more centered
F} Sweet and Sassy - awkward 7x8 layout, but I have enough scraps to add the last row

{Oh, is it a jerk move to sleep on your fabric? It's also a jerk move to bring home a kitten without asking me.}

And that's about it here. I'm trying to focus on my goals, so I've been hacking away at t-shirts and cutting up paper templates, both of which aren't all that photo-worthy.

Linked:

Fifteen Minute Challenge @ Life In Pieces
Design Wall Monday @ Patchwork Times
BOMs Away Monday @ What A Hoot
WiP Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced
Fabric Tuesday @ Quilt Story
Rainbow Scrap Challenge @ SoScrappy
Scrap Basket Sunday @ Kim's Big Quilting Adventure

Monthly Goals - November

Okay, so we're already a little bit into November. But I haven't sewed since the Creeper because the Dude shared a long-lasting cold with me, then my sister and niece were here, and November is Nano, so I'm writing. Just not blog writing.

But luckily I don't have much I need to do for Christmas, so my November list is pretty short and sweet.

1) Rainbow Boats - a Hanukkah gift - just needs the rainbow stitched down, and scheduled for quilting early next week

2) Gobble Gobble wall hanging - I have a plan and should be able to stitch it together quickly this week, and toss it on the long arm with Rainbow Boats.

3) Squadron T-Shirt quilt - borders have arrived, so it's time to get working on this pile

4) St. Paul's Cross - really need to start cranking these out again.

There's obviously always plenty more to be done, especially once my sister mails me the wedding quilt blocks. And I'm taking a class on doll clothing construction. And I have a pretty good set of coupons for Joann's this weekend, so I'm going in with a list of quilts that need backing.


And a gratuitous kitten picture.

Linked:

Fifteen Minute Challenge @ Life In Pieces

Design Wall Monday @ Patchwork Times

         

BOMs Away Monday @ What A Hoot

         

WiP Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced

Getting It Done @ Patchwork Times
A Year of Finishes

End of Month Report - October

Last month, I learned the basic of long-arm quilting. This month, I put that skill to use...a lot!

Finished

Swoon / How Charming Twin Boys / How Charming Girl / H is for Henry

I also finished off two Halloween costumes, Yoda...

and a Minecraft creeper...

{More on this one soon.}

I got 90% of the wedding guests to sign my sister's quilt squares appropriately.

Pieced and appliqued this rainbow boat quilt. Will be quilting it next week. {It's my NewFO!}

In life news, not much happened beyond my sister's wedding. We are still waiting for EP approval from Korea. The Dude was home sick for two days, and sweetly shared it with me. I've been running sporadically and hesitating on signing up for the Seattle half marathon.

Oh, and there's this.

Her name is Cookies and Cream, aka CC. She is a pain in the butt sweet little kitten. When she's tired. Which isn't often. The Dude is in love. {Tycho is not.}

Linked:

Nothing But UFOs
A Year of Finishes
Year of the Finished Project

Fresh Sewing Day @ Lily's Quilts

NewFO @ Cat Patches

Weekly Progress - Ahead of Schedule

It's feels so nice to write these and actually have significant progress to share! This coming week is D-Day - wedding weekend - so there will be less progress. 

But I had a couple things that needed to go with us to the wedding, so I got them crossed off the list this week. As in, it's Monday and everything that needs to go with me on Thursday is already done. Yes. Be amazed.

Finished!

{How Charming - Quilt in a Day}

Yoda robe for my cousin's son. I used this tutorial and it took less than 45 minutes. Probably because I used fleece and didn't hem a darn thing. He already has the rest of the costume. {Whew. No idea how to sew Yoda's ears!}

Almost Finished!

Twin Boys How Charming - quilted together on the same backing, now cut apart and ready for binding.

Progress

{Need a design wall so I'm not laying things out over a car rug.}

Rainbow Boats - which probably needs a better name... Rainbow is cut out and pinned down. I actually used a Hotwheels track to define the curve, in an unlikely assist. It's going to the wedding so the customer can look it over before I fuse anything down.

Slowly but surely, the creeper costume is coming together. Right now it's the leader/ender project.

I even started cleaning up the sewing room and putting away some of the stuff that piled up from working on too many projects at once. Yeah. This is disturbing me, too.

If I finish my projects for the week {bind How Charming x2, piece Swoon back, find cotton candy} AND pack, I might just reward myself by cutting into my husband's old flight suit for a messenger bag. Wait, how is it a reward to do something I'm terrified to do?

Linked:

Fifteen Minute Challenge @ Life In Pieces
Design Wall Monday @ Patchwork Times
BOMs Away Monday @ What A Hoot
WiP Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced
Fabric Tuesday @ Quilt Story
Rainbow Scrap Challenge @ SoScrappy
Scrap Basket Sunday @ Kim's Big Quilting Adventure

Weekly Progress - Bits and Pieces

I had a lot of little progress on a variety of projects this week - trying to balance projects that need to get done in the near future. But since I'm crossing things off the list rapidly, I think it's working okay. For now. Until I realize I can't find the top of my cutting table again.

Finished!

{H is for Henry - Art to Heart}

Worked on:

{Flirt Marks the Spot - McCall's Quilting Magazine}

Pieced all the rows. Now to put them together...eventually...when I have time...

{How Charming - Quilt in a Day}

Pieced all the blocks for the twin boy versions, started assembling.

The second set of blocks - I used the same charm packs but changed the outside of the on-point blocks. They both have quilting scheduled for Wednesday, so I need to get a move on the assembly!

Creeper Costume - started piecing the strip sets

All the blocks prepped for my sister's wedding quilt! Which she doesn't want called the boring "wedding quilt #1." Any suggestions?

Rainbow Boats - pieced the boats/background. The top will be filled with an applique sun and rainbow, but I needed the bottom done for scale. I've got my fusible web ready for sketching in between piecing the twin quilts.

The girl How Charming quilt is quilted, but not yet bound.

{Rainbow Scrap Challenge - Rebecca Barker Quiltscapes}

And finally, finished the baby blue scrap blocks, and cut/pieced scraps from Henry's quilt immediately. This month is grey/black, which is my sashing, so I will probably going to ignore the assigned color and catch up on the months I'm behind.

What's not on the list? St. Paul's Cross. Ugh. I know, I already failed at four blocks a week. I'm trying to get a few deadline things done before my sister's wedding, so it got pushed to the back burner. Hopefully I'll get back to it soon and not wait another two years!

Linked:

Fifteen Minute Challenge @ Life In Pieces
Design Wall Monday @ Patchwork Times
BOMs Away Monday @ What A Hoot
WiP Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced
Fabric Tuesday @ Quilt Story
Rainbow Scrap Challenge @ SoScrappy
Scrap Basket Sunday @ Kim's Big Quilting Adventure