Getting my mojo back?

I started Gnome Angels 100 Blocks in 100 Blocks on July 1st, and surprise, I've been inspired to do more!

My craft room was a mess after having new windows installed in the house, so after I finish my daily block, I've been working on getting it back in order. I've ended doing other some sewing and even some scrapbooking!

As of 3:00 p.m. this afternoon, I have completed:

• 5 Kinship blocks for #100blocks100days
• 3 masks 
• 2 nightgowns for my granddaughters
• 2 pillowcases for my daughter's workplace
• 20 blocks for Step 7 of my Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt, On Ringo Lake

Since I've managed to sew every day, I might as well start tracking my progess!

• 15 minute days/week = 4/4 days
• 15 minute days/July =  4/4 days
• 15 minute days/since 7/2021 = 4/4 days
• Success rate = 100%

This might keep me off my computer games, and doing something productive for a change. We'll see, I don't have the best track record.

My Kinship Blocks:

The girls' nightgowns, very simple ones the same as I used to make for their mother and aunt.

My On Ringo Lake sample Block, and my new little pile of double-geese units:

Now, I'll see if I can keep up this week!

Sunday Stash Report, Week 4

Another metre added, and a metre out!  Next week, I've promised myself that I will have the En Provence top finished.

Added this week: 1 metres

Added this year: 19.8metres

Used this week: 1.00 metres

Used this year: 0.00 metres

Added/Used this year: 18.8 metres

I did make another purchase of sale fabric last week at Hamels.  My friend, Kim, ordered the sale stuff on line, and I couldn't help but add to it. I used the excuse I need another yellow and a soft orange for my En Provence quilt ( 4 - 3 1/2" square of each), which translated to buying a metre!

I added a gray and a green tone-on-tones, for the stash and bought 4 - 1/4 metre pieces in all. I didn't bother asking for fat quarters, as I tend to use strips anyway.

I plan on having the En Provence flimsy done by the end of the month, and that will put a big chunk out! It will be 13.25 yards if I don't add to it. 

I did move a metre out making some doll/stuffie blankets with the grandkids this weekend!

Alex is eight and has been sewing off and on with me for quite a few years. He has now progressed to learning about chain piecing and matching seams, and can operate the sewing machine without me hanging over his shoulder. I was at the ironing board cutting blocks for the girls while he sewed his blocks.

Zoey is five and picked out all her blocks, and for the first time, braved the "noisy" machine and helped feed her fabric through.  She really wanted to use "her" machine, a hand-crank that she has claimed as hers, but we stuck to the Featherweight.  She took off before I could take her picture, but here she is last year when the hand-crank arrived. She likes this one because it is so quiet.

And little Miss Mya got in the act as well. She helped choose her own blocks, but had more fun poking through my scrap basket while I sewed hers up.  She promptly wrapped around her stuffed puppy, and went off to bed. 

Since I was babysitting, I was able to get a picture of her and her messy hair as she was busy pointing out the "otopus" under her hand!

I love that my grands love to craft and sew with Gramma, and I hope we have many years of doing so before they lose interest. They were all proud of their work and couldn't wait to show their parents when they arrived for pickup.

Linking up to Patchwork Times Sunday Stash Report.

Like Judy, I count my fabric out at three stages:

1. When the top is finished, which is called a flimsy.

2. When it is quilted with the backing

3. When it is bound and finally finished.

This gives me an incentive to push a project to the stage. This week, more En Provence!

Have a great week,

Terri in BC

Throwback Thursday - Day 3 of 31 days of blogging

One of my other crafty loves is scrapbooking, so much so that I was a Creative Memories consultant for 17 years and now a Close to My Heart consultant.  I host weekly workshops which are generally well-attended, but sadly my own scrapbooking efforts have also fallen off the wagon. 

 

Last night, I had a workshop and started going through pictures to add to some pages I had already decorated!  I came across these lovelies of my sweet grandchildren:

 

 

August 2011 - Alex was almost 3, and went to his first Airshow.  Smart parents got him ear defenders, and even though it wasn't raining, he thought the umbrella was fun!

 

 

Lucky Gramma got to babysit this little sweetheart!  Zoey was 2 months old and spent the day with me.  It took me about a dozen shots to get this beautiful gummy smile! 

 

Now for the best news of all!  Grandbaby #3, a little girl is on her way!

 

 

 

Zoey is going to be a big sister in October.  My daughter is due the day after what would have been my mom's birthday, we are all so excited! I'm not taking holidays this summer so I can have time off to help out once the baby arrives and daddy goes back to work.

 

To my US friends, have a great long weekend!  To all the rest of you, only one day left until the weekend!

Sunday Stash Report, Week 7

Nothing in this week (but I am expecting a box from Hillbilly Tonya any time now), but some good numbers out.

 

 On Super Bowl Sunday, Quiltbug.com posted a mystery quilt that should have been done in a day, but it took my friend Kim and I two Sundays to make two 50"x50" flimsies (I guess we should have taken more time to do the precutting!)

 

I donated the fabric to the cause, I've had this from one of the Thangles kit I've had for about 5 years old, and I'll never use it for what it was intended for.  I also gave Kim enough to do the backing as well, for a total of 7 metres out of my stash. (I still have tons left!) I'll count my backing once it's done, and I plan on gifting this to a friend who just bought a new home.  

The mystery quilt pattern included a flange - it looks a lot like the faux piping on my last finish and this next one!

Tetris is completely finished!  

I am in love with this faux-piped binding! (Check this post here for links to the tutorial)  I used varying shades of turquoise in an ombre effect.  Binding doesn't use a lot of fabric, but it's still 0.3 metres out.

 

I also made a couple of gifts - a Lazy Gal Wallet for a good friend:

 

Of course, with a little something in it!

And I had the kidlets overnight to give the mommies and daddies a night off.  I made them "Hugs" for Valentine's Day.

These are wheat bags, about 7" in height and weight, perfect for the times when Gramma can't be there and they need a hug.

And a little piece of my heart inside!  I made the bag itself from remnants of a table protector, vinyl-side out (for easy cleaning) with a minkee cover that has an envelope closure for easy removal and washing.  The kids loved them!  0.4 metres out for all the little gifts.

This is what my living room looked like this morning - they had to make a gorilla nest after watching National Geographic!

Of course, the chief inspector had to make sure they didn't leave any goodies behind!

I've managed to draft one of the panels for a Sochi-styled patchwork.  

Due to the number of partial seams required, I leaning towards foundation-piecing.  Wish me luck!

Added this Week: 0 metres

 Added Year to Date: 27.5 metres 

Destashed this Week: 7.7 metres

 Destashed year to Date: 17.05 metres

 Added for 2014: 10.45 metres

Total spent  YTD $35 = $1.27 cents/metre

Sunday Stash Report, Week 52 - Last report of 2013

Christmas has come and gone, and it was a wonderful time.  We seem to have established some new traditions, as well as enjoying some old!

 

Miss Sassy (Zoey 2 1/2) and Alex (5)

 

When I was a child, we always got to open one gift on Christmas Eve, and it always had pyjamas in it.  I carried on the tradition by making pyjamas for my daughters most years, and now I'm making them for my grandchildren.  They were pleased as punch to have matching jammies.

 

Newish tradition: A few years back, we got in the habit of driving around to look at the Christmas lights on Christmas eve, now with the little ones we wait until they get in their jammies, bundle them into the van and off we go!  By the time we get home, they have fallen asleep and we carry them into my house, and play games for the rest of the evening.  It sure helps make the evening pass quickly for the kids.

 

 Christmas was also great for busting out some fabric! 


Used since last report: 10 metres

 

Used Year-to-Date:   97 metres

Added since my last report: 10.5 metres

Added Year-to-Date: 216.75 metres

  

Net used/Added for 2013: 119.75 metres

(For more stash reports, visit Judy's blog at Patchwork Times)

On Christmas Eve, I decided to make another 2 pillowcases to use for wrapping towels and a bath mat set for my younger daughter and her husband.  That was good for another 2 metres out.  Of course, I was too rushed to take pictures!

This quilt also got gifted:

 

I got it bound 5 days before Christmas!  It was so large it took a full metre of fabric to bind it.  My daughter didn't waste any time getting it on her bed and posted on Facebook (where I shamelessly stole this photo from!) The other daughter will get a quilt for Christmas 2014.

 

I also made and gifted 6 of these:

 

 

I found these cute miniature composition books in the dollar store, and designed the crayon holder to fit them perfectly with 8 crayons. 

 

 

 

 Perfect for the little ones in church, the doctor's office or anywhere they need to be quietly occupied. (I also bought the triangular crayons, so they don't roll away).  That's another metre out (approximately, because I used a fat quarter and scraps!)

 

I also made a set of placemats for my co-worker, but again, no picture (I resolve to do better with that).  Another 1.5 metres outta here!

 

While I was busy doing all the Christmas sewing, I used my first "Bonnie Hunter" scrappy quilt as my leader and ender project.  Today, I focused on getting it finished and I'm happy to say it is done!  4.5 metres of 2" squares dating back to the 1970's (from my mother's stash and my first sewing projects), and includes scraps from clothes I sewed my kids all the way through to pieces from my recent finishes, including Easy Street! There are almost 40 years of memories in this quilt, and now I can get rid of those fabrics I will never use again (mostly the poly-cottons that I used in this memory quilt, but won't quilt with again).

 

 

 

Of course all this fabric busting would have been great for reducing my numbers if it hadn't have been for this:

 

 

A trip to IKEA - I bought 6 metres of this wonderful large-text print (at only $3.98/metre) for backing some quilts this coming year.  I also had to get some solids for an upcoming project, which will be done by May.

 

 

And I couldn't resist the text print on gray on top! So in, a total of 10.5 metres, including the IKEA fabric.

 

Also at IKEA, I got these great decorations for my sewing room (AKA my Happy Place):

 

 

Don't they look great?  They're metal, with large nylon laces and make me smile every time I see them!

 

I had started off the year with the intentions of trying not add to my stash this year, but between being gifted so much fabric, finding some great bargain websites, and not getting much down due to working so much overtime, I ended up in the very RED side this year.  I am seriously going to go on a fabric diet this coming year, and also finish up some major UFOs and hopefully break even in 2014.  Until I get my UFO list down to a manageable level, I resolve to no longer to shop online and will only go to my LQS when I need fabric for a specific project, and restrict random purchases during those trips to a fat quarter or fat eighth.  Hold me to it, will you?
 

15 minutes....

Well, so much for shorter, more frequent posts!  I've been working a lot of overtime and any free time I've had I used for sewing, not on the computer (way too much of that at work).  I've also had a sweet 2-year-old's birthday to celebrate, a series of appointments with a sleep specialist, and just general busyness.  But I am resolving as of today, to take 15 minutes at least every other day to post here.  Why?  Because it keeps me accountable, it's a journal of what I've managed to accomplish and how I've spent my days and I just like doing it!

 

Zoey loved her I-spy quilt!  Of course, my bug-lovin' granddaughter picks out the spider!

 

And the water table I got her was a hit!

 

 

The simplest toys can get the biggest smiles!  From Auntie Jackie and cousins.

 

And can you see future trouble with the new swing set?

 

My other gift to her was a summer outfit made from a pattern that I used for my girls when they were little.  I made it reversible with 2 pairs of matching panties, but forgot to take a picture before I gave it to her.  I tried that day, but it was so bright and sunny, the picture was really blown out - here's the best I could get after adjusting it.

 

 

Now I'm heading out to enjoy the sunshine after 5 days of rain! 

 

Have a great weekend,

 

Terri in BC

 

 

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Sunday Stash Report and Ocra Bay Update

This week I was a good girl and didn't acquire any more fabrics, but I didn't finish anything to count either.  My stats remain the same at:

Used this Week: 0 metres

Used year to Date: 15 metres

Added this Week: 

Added Year to Date: 7.6 metres
Net Used for 2012: -7.4 metres

I hope to have a big finish next week, as I wrap up my Orca Bay mystery quilt.

We had our first real snowfall this weekend and I took advantage of the freed-up time (from a meeting that was cancelled) to finish sewing the pieces of Orca Bay.  I had to finish the "birds" and then sew them to the red string blocks.  Imagine my surprise when I had too many birds left.  I recounted my red strings and I was 32 short!  I'm not sure how that happened - I must of been interrupted when I was cutting the paper bases.

Anyways, I got them finished this morning and after a visit from my grandson and his parents (dad came over to help me put new blinds up in the living room), I played with the layout on my living room floor, the only place big enough to do it.  Even so, I still misjudged its size and had to push furniture out of the way. As I was laying out the blocks, I was sort-of paying attention to the blocks to ensure no two fabrics are beside each other and I was amazed at the final result!  I didn't have to move a single piece - Bonnie is so right when she says it will all work together - the eye blends the colours together so beautifully.

Did anyone else have pieces left over?  I had two of these left, this one and a black version that I made a mistake on:

I couldn't leave them on the floor though.  If I left them out to go back and forth to the sewing machine, Daisy (my dog) would steal the pieces and hide them in her crate!  She stole one right from the bucket I had put them in to bring them upstairs before I even got started but left them alone while I was working on them.

Don't the pieces look wonderful piled in there?  I've done a pretty close estimate of the number of pieces I have sewn at 4,352.  I have another 420 to add when I put the border on. 

I'm going to try webbing the top Bonnie-Hunter fashion so I've stacked the blocks in columns and rows.  If I'm successful I'm going to do a more detailed tutorial because I'm still a little confused on how it works.

I'm finally making good use of these Fons & Porters pins I bought a few years ago.  I have modified them by adding numbers to the back:

I'm using the U (up) pins to make the tops of the columns and the column number; and R (Right or Row) to mark the row number as I stack.

Here's the beginning - wish me luck!

And just because, here are some updated pictures of the grandbabies.

Zoey helped me take down the Christmas decorations (well, played with the tissue).  I just love her Pebbles hairdo.

And Alex tried to make show angels today.  It was a little hard because there was ice on top of the snow.  We had everything yesterday, from snow to freezing rain to weird little mini-snowballs - I thought it was hail but it was funny puff-balls of snow.  There was even a funnel cloud spotted in Vancouver.  Today was beautiful and sunny, but more snow is on the way.

PS: Have you discovered the "Just Take 2" quilt-along yet?  Check out my previous post, about 3 paragraphs down for more infor. I've done the first 4 of 6 blocks, and 5 more were released today.  I did mine in aqua and white, but I not sure if I want to do a whole quilt in it.  It just doesn't have the punch of red & white, but that's another topic for a different day.

A little late to the party, but I made good progress this week!

Even though I'm late joining Bonnie's linky-thingie, I'm pleased with my progress on my Orca Bay mystery quilt.  I had 4 days off with Christmas and Boxing Day, and I managed to get some sewing in every single day, plus this evening after work.  I only completed one block for Step 6:

Each week, I do at least one unit of the step so I can check for mistakes.  I really couldn't do more on this step, because I still had to finish Step 1, but I got that done on Saturday:

All 224 plus about 10 extra - I didn't think I cut that many extra!

Then I was able to sew up the rows for Step One's block.  First I cut the 56 red blocks and assembled the middle row, chain-piecing all the way:

I didn't get much done on Christmas Day, because I got to spend the day with these little sweeties. 

Zoey is now sitting up on her own, so she was able to enjoy her new toys!  Big cousin Alex loved showing her what to do with them - he is so good with her.  We only got to spend the morning with him and his parents, though.  They left at noon to head to New Zealand for two weeks, to visit his other grandparents.  I miss him already, as I get to see him almost every day.

On Monday, I worked more on Step 6.  First I did the rows ofwith the dark 2 1/2" squares:

And thought I had finished all the ones with the neutral squares, but knew something was wrong because I had a bunch of QTS's left over.  It was time to leave the house to go to a friend's for Boxing Day dinner, so I couldn't look to see where I went wrong.

I had almost all day yesterday to sew - adding up to about 12 hours of time in my sewing room.  There are advantages to being single and having grown children! 

I put aside Step 6 for a bit, and worked on finishing up Step 2. 

Alex had helped me take off the paper on the first batch on Saturday, and I got the remaining 36 finished yesterday.  I also created a lovely pile of clippings I'm going to turn into some crumb blocks, then I'll toss the rest.

Once I figured out I didn't cut enough neutral squares (whoops!), I finished the last of the rows for Step 6 and put them aside for pressing. Before I press the piles, I decided to work on Step 3, and press those at the same time.  Tonight I started sewing together my first 185 pairs of tiny triangles, and then I cut out the remaining 165 pairs, plus a good stack of dark triangles so I can work on Step 5.  Maybe I'll be caught up by this coming weekend, if Step 7 isn't too onerous!

So, my recap is:

Step 1 - complete

Step 2 - complete

Step 3 - 185 pairs sewn, 165 to go

Step 4 - 14 triangles done, 114 to go

Step 5 - 12 done, 338 to go

Step 6 - 1 block done, 165 rows sewn.  Need to be pressed and assembled.

Not too shabby, if I do say so myself!