January Getting it done list

At the beginning of January, Judy at patchwork Times, challenged us to make a list if 4 things we wanted to get done during the month, and then report back at the end of the month how we did on those goals. My list was:

1. Finish December's Grandmother's Choice blocks, and keep up with January's. I managed this one, and am up to date, with the exception of last Saturday's.

2. Sort and cut up box of neutrals and whites. I started this one, but it isn't finished.

3. Sort out my piles of orphans and UFO's. This is done. The UFO's are in boxes and bins, labeled and packed and ready to be unpacked when we finally get moved.

4. Sort and cut all my boxes of coloured  scraps. This one is completely done, and then some. All my odds and ends of fat quarters are sorted and folded and put into drawers. All the odd shaped and smaller than fat quarters are now cut into strips, or into squares. Some of the squares are sorted into sets of 5 for a plus sign quilt I want to do, and some are in sets of 9 for a puzzle quilt I want to do.

So, all in all, I am really pleased with the goals I met. In the midst of all this was sorting and packing stuff, getting ready to move. It's taking a lot longer than we had hoped, due to the city not being able to make up its mind about what they will let us do for building my craft room in the garage. Poor Matt was trying to deal with them, and everyone he talked to told him something different. So we've finally given it to the builder to handle. In the meantime I've gone through the kitchen cabinets, and cleared all the clutter out. We've been painting and plastering and stripping wall paper, and generally turning our current house into a place that looks like it is in total chaos. Noel was staying with us for the past 6 weeks, and has been a fabulous help to us. He replaced our bathroom sinks. He did all the baseboards and trim around the doors of the main level of the house. He built a railing for the landing on our second floor. We are so happy with all the help he has given us. We are currently in the car, driving him back to Sudbury, where he is working in a theater, as I type this.
Once all the painting is done in the house, we'll be able to put everything back together again, and get ready for the real estate agent to take photos and get it listed.. I must say that all the chaos is playing havoc with my patience levels. What a challenge. (sigh).
I'm linking up to Judy's Getting it Done post.

For February, most of my goals involve moving. But since we still don't have a moving date, and are dependent, at the moment, on slow moving city hall, they will be rather hard to measure.

1. Complete the last of January's Grandmother's Choice, and finish all of February's.

2. Participate in Gail's sew-in date on Feb. 9th, and start one of my Newfo list on that day.

3. Get moved.

4. Get settled and unpacked.

Stash Report, week 4, 2013 and Sunday Stitching

I’ve been plodding along on last weeks’ Grandmothers’ Choice block. It took me quite a while to even figure out how I was going to do it. I finally decided on the starch to turn the seams and then glue baste it down, even on the pieces at the edge of the umbrella, rather than trying to piece that arc.
So this is going to be my stitching project for today. \it is all glue basted down, and I can relax, for part of today, at least, and do some hand stitching.
I finished up 3 customer quilts in the past week and a half, so there hasn’t been a lot of time for sewing. But I did manage to get 5 more 36 patch squares done. So there is a little bit in the out column. And I got the 20 nine patches for the guild swap done as well.
Used this week:                                1.4 yards
Used this year:                                 8.6 yards
Added this week:                                0 yards
Added this year:                                  0 yards
Balance                                              8.6 yards more out than in.
I’ve opened one of the envelopes that came from the Fat Quarter shop, just to see what is in there, but the fabrics are still in the package, so I’m still not counting it in. There is a sew in date coming up at Gail’s in a couple of weeks, so I’ll be opening it, and cutting into them to start a quilt that I’ve been aching to do for years.
I'm linking up to Judy's Patchwork Times and Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching

Design Wall monday, Jan. 21, 2013

I have more 36 patches up on the wall. There are a total of 10 now, and I want to do 30.
I have about 10 more pairings chosen, so I can work on these off and on through the coming days. I have a couple of customer quilts to finish off in the next couple of days, so that will be my focus. But I can do these when I have to sit down and take a break and rest my legs.
To see more design walls, go on over to Judy's Patchwork Times

Stash Report, week 3, 2013

I managed to make a few more 39 patch squares this week, so I have a bit more yardage out to count.

Used this week:                     2.1 yards
Used this year :                      7.2 yards
Added this week:                    0 yards
Added this year:                      0 yards
Balance:                                7.2 yards more out than in.

As stated before, that added number is going to spike once I actually open and add in the fabrics that I have purchased. Once we move in to the new place, and start unpacking is when I'll count those fabrics. There are a few here, still in their envelope that I might end up using in February, In which case, I'll count them then.
Scott and Noel were over at the apartment for a large part of yesterday painting. When I got home from work last night, they were both not quite sure of the colour, They were thinking it might be too much yellow. So I went over this morning to take a look, and I don't think it is too yellow at all. I think it is sunny and happy and bright.
The stone work around the fireplace is coming along well, and it will be darker once the sealer is added to it. And the colour of the walls goes perfectly with the stone work on the fireplace. We have tons of this paint colour. For some reason, we bought 4 gallons of it. So I think, once the studio is done, I'll probably put this colour in there, too.
I'm linking up to Judy's Patchwork Times stash report.

Grandmother's Choice, blocks 19 and 20

I'm all caught up on the Grandmother's Choice, Votes for Women, block of the week.
Week 19 was called Old Maid's Ramble. This one was a challenge. I ended up ripping out a couple of times, due to getting the triangles either turned in the wrong direction, or in the wrong spot. And looking at the picture now, I just noticed that the brown ones are still turned the wrong way. Oh well, it's staying this way.

 
Week 20 was called Memory Wreath:



I was hoping to be able to do today' before going to work, but it is a bit complex, so there won't be time for that. I'm just going to do a little simple sewing on the 36 patch quilt that is slowly growing.

Back at it

I'm finally back at doing the machine quilting.  YIPPEE!! I have one of Charlene's on the machine right now.
It is a really lovely sampler. The colours and the fabrics are gorgeous. There are roses in her focal fabrics, so I'm doing an all over design called "Climbing Rose" by Lorien Quilting. It feels so good to be quilting again.

Mid month progress report

At the beginning of January, I set myself four goals that I wanted to achieve by the end of the month.

1- finish Decembers Grandmother's Choice  blocks, and keep up with January's- I'm all caught up, and last Saturday's block is finished
2- sort and cut boxes of neutrals and whites- not finished yet, but started
3- sort pile of UFOs and orphans- done
4- sort and cut box of coloured scraps- done.
I'm extremely pleased with what has been accomplished, so far.

We went over to the new place today to see how it is coming along. It is really looking good. All the kitchen cabinets are in and the sink is in and the back splash tile is up. There is going to be a shelf across that space between the bulkhead and the cabinet, where I will probably put a couple of my small teapot collection. And underneath that bulkhead will be a small glass cabinet that will hold either some more teapots, or my tea cups and saucers.

The fireplace is all framed in, and the cubby hole for the TV above it is built.
And here is a closer view of the stone tiling that will be going around the fireplace.
It's getting closer to being a reality!! We still don't have a firm moving date. It looks like it will be closer to the middle to end of February. I've moved most of my sewing stuff over to what will be Matt and Becca's den, once all our stuff is out of it. I've kept enough here to keep me happily doing some stuff, and to keep going with the long arm business for customers. So very exciting!!