Weekly Progress - Serious Progress!

We are finally getting into a routine and getting life into a rhythm, and I got tons done this week!

Finished: 

Bad Romance - finally!

Fifteen Minute Challenge - Organization

Slow and steady, I am getting my sewing room under control. I did my fifteen minutes every day this week: sorting scraps, folding bigger scraps, filing patterns and keeping the flat surfaces clear.

Design Wall - LQS Saturday Sampler 2011

I want this to be a Christmas gift, so I talked to my quilter and scheduled it to go to her on Nov. 15. Deadline!

UFO Busting
Leah's post last week was about the snowball effect - working on little things to free up more time to work on the bigger things. So I looked at my stack of flimsies and picked Bad Romance because it was already halfway quilted.

Next, quilted a wall hanging for my mother. Binding is on and handstitching has begun.

Now I'm at the point that the next quilt done will probably be my Blogger's Quilt Festival Quilt....so I want it to be a good one. But also one that has a back picked already...which kind of limited it to Skorca! 

Blocks
 
Grandmother's Choice, block five. It's a little chaotic, but I like it!

I found six of these blocks {leftover from Sunkissed Jewel Box} and made four into a pillow-sized block. Once I quilt the quilt version, I'll use leftover backing to finish off the pillow. The other two blocks...I don't know. Probably make a notebook cover or something.

Other
 
Toyland Row Quilt had a few of the rows sewn together. I'm not in a hurry to finish it...only to add it to the quilting pile.

No picture, but I finished another t-shirt quilt to the quilting stage! I should finish that off this week.

And finally, I started making these as leaders/enders, thanks to a tutorial on the Sew Lux blog.

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

Bad Romance - Finished!

This one was a long time coming. In fact, I had to look back almost two years to see when I finished the top.

{All the while hoping it was 2011 and not 2010!}

But it's done!

58x78"

Pattern: P.S. I Quilt

Quilted diagonally through the solid.

Fabrics, hmmm...

Backing: RJR Momma's Apron Strings

Binding: Chez Moi's Hunky Dory border print {and it looks awesome scrappy even though it's not actually}

Solid: Baby Pink Kona

Prints, including but not limited to: 

Bloom and Grow by Riley Blake

Candy Kisses and L'Amour by Sandy Gervais

Hunky Dory Chez Moi

Thimbleberries

Whimsy by Fig Tree

Oz by Sanae

Love Letters by Clothworks

Simplicity by 3 Sisters

I tried to stage a picture with the cat, but the one who sleeps on them every minute they're in progress, doesn't care when they're done.

You may think this is a nice shot, but that's the face of a cat who just discovered there's a fish on the dresser.

Linked:

Whoop Whoop @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict

TGIFF @ Better Off Thread

Sew and Tell @ Amy Lou Who

Finish It Up Friday @ Crazy Mom Quilts

Finish-Along @ Quilter in the Gap {quilting was finished on Sept. 30 - I just had to hand stitch the binding in the fourth quarter!}
Just Three @ Traceyjay Quilts {again, technically, this was a July Just Three goal...but...July, September, same thing, right?}

Weekly Progress - New Additions

We've had some new additions to the family!

This little guy joined in the beginning of September. His name is Victor, he's a crowntail betta, and I've yet to find the cats in the Dude's room looking at him. Hunting instinct, thou art dead.

 And I got a new sewing machine! Well, not really. I got a very, very old sewing machine. It's a Wheeler & Wilson No. 8, and this guy wrote a good history on the company. My machine is, based on the serial number, from about 1880.

It needs a new belt, and someday a good cleaning/retouching, and the cabinet could stand to be refinished - but it works. 132 years old, and it works! 
{And yes, I totally sold the idea to my husband by mentioning it doesn't need power in case of the zombie apocalypse.}

Fifteen Minute Challenge - Organization

Thanks to realizing I have 18 flimsies that need to be quilted, I got down to some serious procrastination! Nah, actually, I did my fifteen minutes of organizing by getting things ready for quilting - cleaning off the sewing table and putting things away instead of on the cutting table. Cleaning off my cutting table. Cleaning out my scrap box until I found the binding fabric I knew was in the bottom.

...and moving things around so I could fit another sewing machine in the room! {Clearly, I need to find a place for that pile of batting behind it, though.}

Design Wall

No change - I did no piecing, and therefore no leaders/enders, this week. Toyland waits... 

Finished:

The first of four t-shirt quilts before the holidays.
{Finished post here.}

UFO Busting:

 I made friends with my walking foot and got Bad Romance finished up. It had all the lines in one direction, not the other. So it really didn't take all that long to finish up, and the binding is all ready to go. Finishing a quilt is almost as much fun as piecing.

So there will be TWO finished posts this week!

Linked:
Fifteen Minute Challenge @ Life In Pieces

Design Wall Monday @ Patchwork Times

WiP Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced
UFO Sunday @ the Free Motion Quilting Project

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

Disaster in Progress - Week 1

I work so well under deadlines...

Due tomorrow:

Sweet Dreams just needs the binding. That'll be finished sometime this afternoon. Hopefully.

The Dude has PJ Day on Friday, and all his are 3" too short. Fine for home, not for school. Luckily I had the flannel on hand!

Due next week:

There is a row of the Charm Pack Quilt Along draped on every surface of this room. I'm just thankful I labeled each row, otherwise I'd really be in trouble right about now.

Unpictured is the pile of stuff to be quilted, which includes Bad Romance (oops, was that for Valentine's Day?) and a heart table runner (oops, was that for...oh, nevermind.)

My LQS is having a quilting retreat on Monday, and I think I'm going to go - mostly because that will force me to clean everything up and get organized this weekend.

Because right now I can't even find the ironing board.

Everyone else at Freshly Pieced is doing much, much better.

At my next house...

I'm going to make sure there's a big enough hard surface to baste a quilt bigger than baby size.

Because sitting under the kitchen table isn't as much fun as you'd think.

Sunday Stash Report - Week 7

I was going to be good and not buy the backing fabric for "Bad Romance" until Monday, since I knew I wasn't going to get the kitchen floor clean enough to baste until Monday.

But, you know how it goes. The LQS had a sale. 20% off if you finish a bolt four yards or less. I needed 3.33 yards for the backing, so I had to find a bolt that was over 3 but under 4 yards.

3.75 yards of perfection! (RJR Momma's Apron Strings)

All the right colors, and the plaid echoes the postage stamp in the top.

I also picked up the kit for the next block for the Saturday Sampler.

Used this Week: 0.0
Used Year to Date: 18.39

Added this Week: 4.0
Added Year to Date: 37.27
Net Used for 2011: (18.88) yards

 

So I'm still under 20 yards up, and I will be very motivated to finish projects once the Dude gets back to school on Monday!

Check out how everyone else is doing at Patchwork Times!

Postage Stamp Quilt Along - Finished Top

It was rough, but I got it done in time for the contest!

 I named it "Bad Romance" in honor of Valentine's Day.

Last week, I was sure it wouldn't get done. At one point, three of the five of us were on antibiotics (me, the Dude and one of the cats.) 

And then the best thing to do when you can barely walk? Fly halfway across the country for your dad's 60th birthday party. Totally worth it, and the Dude was awesomely helpful throughout the whole process. Makes me consider taking him on much longer flights.

The cat is less than helpful.

We barely made it home Monday night before the blizzard started, which was followed by two snow days, which makes sewing harder. 

(BTW, snow in Oklahoma is the weirdest thing. We had to check the radar to see if it was still snowing because it looked like the wind was just whipping snow off the roof. We have places with 2' drifts and places you can see the grass.)

The leftover strips will make a great little runner for my coffee table.

I still need to decide on backing, though I'm pretty sure I'm using the teal flowers as the binding (second block, second row from right.)

And now I'm going to take a nap because that used up all my energy for the day.

Postage Stamp Quilt Along - Step Two

Moving right along on the Postage Stamp Quilt Along. This is such an easy project, even when using yardage and fat quarters instead of a jelly roll.

 I sliced everything into 2.5" strips and dropped them in two bags, then just pulled a strip and chain-sewed till I had my sets. It's not a coincidence that the bags are from my LQS and DSW. ;)

The only "planning" I did was try not to have any repeats in rows that touched, and no more than two repeating fabrics per square.
When I started I tried to limit how many cream, green or teal made it in each block, because I was afraid that the quilt wouldn't be pink enough. Yes, I actually thought that. Yeesh.

Now I'm off to put it all together!

Postage Stamp Quilt Along - Step One

I finished the stripwork just in time this morning, even though I had to quick cut and sew an extra fat-quarter-size set. Go figure, randomly slicing into yardage and fat quarters without planning isn't always the best way to do things!

 I've added a couple new fabrics, mostly playing up the greens and aquas.

My strips include:

Bloom & Grow (My Mind's Eye/Riley Blake)

L'Amour and/or Candy Kisses (Sandy Gervais/Moda)

Whimsy (Fig Tree/Moda)

Hunky Dory (Chez Moi/Moda)

Oz (Sanae/Moda)

Love Letters (Sharyn Sowell/Clothworks)

Simplicity (3 Sisters/Moda)

Time to get moving on the patchwork! In between sewing sashing on those t-shirts...