Multi-tasking in Quilting

Over on Jill's blog, she posted a question about whether we multi-task when quilting or if we do one project at a time.

I usually do multi-task when quilting.  While I don't have 5 projects going at one time, like some other quilters, I usually have at least 2 going at once.  I typically have my "focus" project where I spend most of my quilting time.  This is usually a project where I have a deadline or its just something I really want to work on.  In order to "force" myself to finish a project, I won't let myself start another project until this one is done.

However, at the same time of having my "focus" project going, I use 2.5" squares to start/stop my sewing for the "focus" project.  These kind of follow Bonnie's "leaders and enders" philosophy.  The 2.5" squares are going into a scrap quilt and I really like having this going because I don't have to think when I piece these.  Some days when I can't really get my mind to focus on completely a project or following specific directions, I'll pick up a bunch of 2.5" squares and just sew those together.  Here's a picture from a few months ago...I only had 9 "blocks" made... I now have over 25 blocks made.

I was surprised at how quickly I was able to make up a ton of blocks without even trying.  I like having the somewhat "mindless" project to do while working on more complex projects.

I also always have a cross-stitch project on-going while I'm doing quilting.  That way if I want to just watch TV or do some hand-work, I always have something I can do.  Below is a picture of the project I have going right now.

This picture is from the end of March and I've now finished that "page" completely and I'm working on the last row of the pattern.  I think overall, the picture is about 16" x 20" when its finished.

Ultimately, I try to set goals for myself in order to keep myself going on certain quilting projects.  Sometimes I start a project and then get bored or frustrated with it and I try to find a "better" project.  When I do find something that I REALLY want to make, I tell myself that I can start it once I get the previous project done.  That way I look forward to finishing the current project so that I can start the next one.  It tends to keep my UFO list pretty short.

Stashbusting 2011 - Week 17

Not a whole lot of sewing going on the past few weeks.  I actually haven't posted since Week 13, but I have done a little bit of sewing since then.  We have finally moved from our house to the rental.  It was an uneventful move, but a very tiring two days.   On Thursday, we moved all the boxes ourselves with the help of R's parents and one of my brothers and one of my sisters.  Then Friday, the movers came to move all the furniture.

The old house is now ready for closing, which is scheduled for Wednesday.  Its a little sad to leave the house since it was our first house, but on the upside, we're going to be able to start building soon.

So here's the stash report for the past few weeks:
Added This Week:       0.0 yards
Added Year to Date:    37.64 yards
Used This Week:         0.49 yards
Used Year to Date:      16.66 yards
Net Year to Date:        20.98 yards
 

Random Thoughts...

Back in January, I was unfortunate enough to get called for Jury Duty.  I was extremely glad after the 2nd day that I was dismissed (apparently they didn't want a woman engineer on the jury).  I only had a few details of the case when jury selection was started.  We knew what the charges were against the individual (the biggest being attempted murder for shooting a woman in the face), but we didn't know a lot of the details.

As I sat through jury selection, I honestly can't say whether I would have been able to give this guy a fair trial.  The few details that came out were that he had shot a woman in the face....not once...but 4 times!  While I don't understand why someone would shoot another person, I could see that maybe the face was an accident (doesn't make it any better that he shot the woman, but maybe he had really bad aim).  However, 4 times!  That's not an accident...that's intentional.

After I was dismissed, I went and read some more about the case.  It was a 19-year-old who was infatuated with a 29-year-old woman.  They both did drugs, and she was a dealer.  He was jealous that she was spending time with other men and when she told him to go away, he decided to shoot her.  The case came down to whether him shooting the woman was intent to kill or just to get back at her.

The jury ended up finding him not guilty on the murder charge, but guilty on everything else (assault, burglary, and weapons possession).  The kid turned down a plea deal where he would get 9.5 years in prison...dumb kid.  While I feel badly that the guy is going to prison for quite some time, I'd rather have him there than on the street.  The judge recently sentenced him to 31 years in prison.

One of the weird things in the article was that the probation officer said that the suspect was "pleasant", but the judge's comments were that he wondered how a "pleasant" man nearly killed this woman.  The defense attorney at the end tried to pin this all on the kid's upbringing...that he had a difficult upbringing and that's why he shot this woman.  Its a load of baloney!  If a person doesn't understand that shooting a person in the face is a bad thing...they DO NOT belong in society.  It doesn't matter what sort of upbringing a person has, the way to resolve a problem is not to shoot the other person!

I'm definitely glad this guy is in prison and that he will be there for a long time.  Now, if only I didn't have to pay the taxes to keep his sorry behind in jail.

Goals - Week 15

Goals from Week 14:

• Post pictures of quilt blocks from week 5 of class --  Does it count that I took the pictures?  ;-)
• Post pictures of needlepoint progress --  Again, took pictures, but haven't had time to download them from the camera to the computer
• Post pictures of baby quilt for cousin --  Again, took pictures, but haven't had time to download them from the camera to the computer
• Quilt commission quilt with fixed sewing machine --  COMPLETED!
• Pack some more  ;-)  -- Completed

I've been doing pretty poorly with the goals lately.  So much so that I'm tempted not to post any for this week.  We've been fairly busy at home with preparing for the move.  We've been able to throw out a lot of stuff along with packing up things that we won't readily use in the next few months (i.e. heavy winter sweaters).  We have a large garbage bag full of items to donate along with about half a dozen pairs of shoes.

Goals for Week 15:

• Put binding on commission quilt --
• Complete hand applique on main heart block for quilt class quilt --
• Start hand applique of one (or four) leaves for quilt class quilt --
• Update stash reports --
• Finish packing sewing stuff :-(  -- 

 Hopefully I'll do a little better this week than I have in the past few weeks....

Goals - Week 14

I was bad earlier this week about not posting updates to Goals, Stash Busting and the quilt class.  Its been a hectic week to say the least.

Goals from Week 13:
- Post pictures of quilt class blocks and Starry Night sewing. --  Posted quilt class blocks, but not the needlepoint.  Its coming along fairly well though.
- Wash fabric for baby quilt -- I was able to wash the fabric on Monday or Tuesday evening.  I also cut out everything and even started sewing a bit.
- Setup fixed sewing machine and quilt commission quilt -- Bust!  The sewing machine was setup, but not fixed properly.  Back to the sewing mechanic.  I have it back again today (4/8), but I haven't put it on the frame yet to see if it will completely behave.
- Complete all 4 Flying Geese blocks for quilt class -- COMPLETE!!

So I did fairly well last week.  The only items I didn't complete were items I couldn't (broken sewing machine) or I really didn't get around to (Starry Night needlepoint).

I'm not really sure where all the time went this week.  Somehow its Friday already, which is usually a good thing. ;-) 

Work has been a bear lately.  Monday, Wednesday and Friday I have 7am meetings at work.  Tuesday and Thursday I have 7:30am meetings.  yuck!  This means that every day during the week, I'm up at about 5:30am and out of the house by about 6:30am.  I used to be able sleep until 6:30am. ;-(

A few of us at work have noticed things getting earlier and earlier in the morning.  When I first started 4.5 years ago, it was rare to have a meeting before 8am.  Now, 7:30am meetings are routine and meetings are being pushed earlier to 7am.  Before I know it, 7am meetings will be routine and I'll be coming in at 6:30am for certain meetings.

The sad thing is...with the meetings being earlier and coming into work earlier...I'm still not leaving any earlier.  I still leave around 5pm or 5:30pm in the evening.  So the company is getting another hour out of me every day.  I get paid for 40 hours per week, but I'm routinely working closer to 50 hours now, which pretty much stinks.  It would be nice to get back to working "normal" hours again, but that probably won't happen for another 2 months or so.

Anyway - on the house front, we are closer to closing on selling our house.  We are about 80% packed right now with the stuff that's unpacked being items that we use frequently or can't pack up yet (files).  We're looking at a rental house again this weekend, so hopefully it will work out for us and we can start renting it soon in order to move some stuff over ahead of time (yay for renting from our builder's dad who is ultra-accommodating).

Goals for Week 14:

• Post pictures of quilt blocks from week 5 of class --
• Post pictures of needlepoint progress --
• Post pictures of baby quilt for cousin --
• Quilt commission quilt with fixed sewing machine --
• Pack some more  ;-)  --

Hope everyone has a good weekend!

House Shopping

Last week, Rich and I spent Friday off from work "shopping" for things for the new house.  Its really insane how many different choices there are.  Who would have thought something as simple as a toilet had so many options (color, tank type, bowl shape, height, style...)!

It was a very busy day, but I think we made some pretty good progress.  While the choices aren't FINAL yet, we were able to make some decisions on:

• toilets
• bathroom faucets (for all baths)
• kitchen faucet
• kitchen sink
• hardwood floors
• molding
• kitchen countertop
• kitchen hardware (for cabinets)

So we did pretty well.  For the bathroom faucets, our primary choice right now are these:

They are the same faucet, just different finishes.  Depending upon the final counter-top choice for the different bathrooms, we'll pick either the stainless (1st picture) or the oiled bronze.

Its exciting to be making the choices now and to see the picture in our minds starting to come true.  :-)

Quilting Motivation

I was reading Jill's blog today where she was discussing different techniques of how to get, or stay, motivated while quilting.  I do sometimes get frustrated like Libby and find it hard to sew.

Sometimes when I have no desire to sew, I'll kind of "force" myself to sew a few pieces for a scrap quilt.  The scrap quilt I'm working on now is just random 2.5" squares throughout the entire thing, so I don't have to think at all.  I find that I sometimes lose the desire to sew when I've been working a long time on a quilt that is tedious or requires a lot of though.  Being able to just sew simple 2.5" squares lets my mind not think about what I'm doing and I can just relax and enjoy sewing.

I also make lists like Jill does.  I have a "sewing priority" list where I put my projects with deadlines on the top and those without deadlines on the bottom.  Each project gets 5 or 6 items to do on it.  I usually break things down into very simple steps so that I feel like I'm accomplishing things.  For a basic quilt, I'll have steps like: design quilt, determine fabric amounts, purchase fabric, wash & press fabric, cut fabric, sew blocks, press blocks, sew rows & press, sew rows into top, add borders, quilt, trim quilt, add binding by machine, hand stitch binding and photograph.  That way even if all I do is buy the fabric, I can cross off something on the list.

I don't usually "treat" myself to things when I finish up a project.  However, the "treat" that I do get is that I'm done with the project and I can add a new project to the list.  Usually its a project that I've been wanting to do for a little while, but haven't allowed myself to start until I finish something I'm not as enthusiastic about.  I find that if I have the motivation of starting a really fun project once I get the current one done, it keeps me sewing and finishing what I have started already.  This way, it also keeps my UFOs to a minimum.

I definitely agree with keeping multiple projects going at one time though.  However, the multiple projects have to vary in difficulty and there can only be 3 or 4 at most going at one time.  I try to have one difficult project, then maybe two easy projects going.  That way I can work on the difficult one for a while and when I get frustrated or annoyed, I can work on something easy.

I hope some of these tips help others who have a hard time being motivated or keeping motivated with quilting.  I think all of us go through phases where you "lose your mojo" and just don't feel like sewing.  When I truly don't feel like sewing, I'll do some needlepoint where I really can let my mind just wander and think about whatever it is that's bothering me.

Quilt Class - Week 4

This past Sunday was week #4 for my quilting class.  Its hard to believe that there's only 2 more classes left.  I think I will miss going to class every Sunday.  While its a little bit of a pain to pack up the sewing machine and take everything with me, its fun going and sewing/chatting with the other women.

So this past class we learned three different techniques on how to make Flying Geese blocks.  The first two ways were traditional methods.  One was cutting the triangles before hand and sewing all the pieces together.  The second was cutting rectangles and squares and sewing the diagonal lines and trimming away the excess after the block is sewn.

The last method, which is more modern, uses a ruler by Eleanor Burns.  Its a bit different, but you actually end up with flying geese blocks that are the correct size and it only requires sewing 4 seams in order to do it.  Its a bit labor intensive with the final cutting and pressing seams open, but its definitely worth it.

I had made flying geese blocks a while ago using the traditional methods. See my post here.  I ended up making lots more flying geese than I needed because half of them were the wrong size.

So here's the final blocks made with the flying geese from class:

 

The picture isn't great.  I took it late last night in a room with a CFL light bulb (yuck!).  Also, because the background fabric is close to the carpet color, I had to put my dark green sweater underneath the blocks so you could actually see them.  Not all the points are perfect, but they are pretty darn close.

Goals - Week 13

Last weeks progress...

Goals for week 12:
- Sew "Starry Night" needlepoint and photograph -- Done - Finished page 17 and photographed.  I just have to post the new picture.
- Wash fabric for cousin's baby quilt -- Didn't complete.
- Clean up and pack extra fabric/quilting patterns. Organized and packed a whole bunch of fabric (didn't realize I had THAT much).  I also cut up some of the excess small pieces into 2.5" squares for my scrap quilt.

Last week was another busy week.  We found out our buyers are approved for their mortgage pending a bank appraisal (which happened on Friday...we'll find out early this week if we "passed") and pending verification of funds....from BRAZIL!  These people are only putting down 3%...so like $5000 and the bank has to verify that they have enough funds in their various accounts, one of which is in Brazil.  So they have to get a letter from the bank in Brazil and then have it translated because it will be in Portuguese.  It won't stop the closing, but may delay it a bit.

I suppose the delay is good because we're still struggling with finding a place to live.  We looked at one apartment complex this weekend and while their terms are really good (3 month minimum lease, no down payment, month-to-month leases after the initial lease, etc); the apartments themselves are really depressing and crummy.  So we're still looking....

So Goals for Week 13 (lucky 13):
- Post pictures of quilt class blocks and Starry Night sewing. --
- Wash fabric for baby quilt --
- Setup fixed sewing machine and quilt commission quilt --
- Complete all 4 Flying Geese blocks for quilt class --

Hopefully I'll get most of these things done. ;-)

Stashbusting 2011 - Week 13

This past week was somewhat productive.  Not a lot of fabric used, but some.  Mainly it was  for the quilting class (0.65 yards) and for the scrappy quilt (0.42 yards).

My quilting machine did get fixed this week, but not until Saturday morning.  Thankfully, it was just thread caught in the bobbin that had caused the timing to get off.  That will teach me to use cheap Sulky thread instead of good quality thread.  I was trying to get the quilt quilted, so I wasn't picky with my thread and didn't want to wait for Superior to ship.  Serves me right...If I had just ordered the good thread and waited, I probably would have gotten the quilt done this past week anyway and wouldn't have broken the machine.  oh well...live and learn.

I also ended up buying fabric last week.  My cousin is having a baby this summer, so I picked out some nice, bright-colored fabric for the baby quilt.  Damages....5.25 yards.  There's 2 yards for background material and 13 fat quarters.  I only need about half of each fat quarter, but I wanted to get a good variety of colors..so I'll have some left over for another project.

So here's the numbers for this week:
Added This Week:       5.25 yards
Added Year to Date:    37.64 yards
Used This Week:         1.11 yards
Used Year to Date:      16.17 yards
Net Year to Date:        21.47 yards

Still haven't used as much as I have bought.  I find that I always buy about 1/4 yard extra for fabrics and then I count only what I actually use.  So even when I buy fabric for a quilt and make the quilt, I still have added to the "stash".  I have to really get moving on the scrap quilt to use up some of the excess! :-)

Quilt Class - Week 3

This past week was the 3rd week of class.  This week the main technique was strip piecing to create nine-patch blocks.  I've never cared for strip piecing just because its so hard to get the entire length of the seam exactly straight.  I always end up with little "wavies" in the seam...no matter how careful I am.

I think the reason I've had problems in the past was that my strip piecing used really long strip sets (full width of fabric).  In class, we cut the strip in half, so it was only 22" long.  This made it a bit easier and my seams didn't seam to waver as much.

Along with 4 nine-patch blocks, we had to make 4 friendship star blocks.  I was able to complete all the blocks between time in class and a few hours at home on Sunday evening.  I don't have pictures yet, but I plan to post some pictures later this evening.

As with the past few classes, I haven't really learned anything new, but its nice to get out of the house for a few hours and spend some time with other ladies who quilt.  I'm enjoying the class and I think I may take another class there after we're done with this one....one a little bit more advanced. ;-)

Updated with picture

Goals - Week 12

Last week's goals:

Goals for Week 11:
- Test quilting panto on "Tumbler" quilt -- Completed
- Make 4 pinwheel blocks for quilt class -- Completed
- Sew "Starry Night" needlepoint and photograph -- I did do some sewing, but no photos.
- Complete quilt top for commission quilt -- Completed piecing this, but not quilted yet.
- Purchase backing material for commission quilt --Completed

This past week was very productive.  In less than a week, I got a complete quilt top made and ready for quilting.  Unfortunately, I ended up breaking part of my MegaQuilter sewing machine, so its in the repair shop and I won't be able to do the quilting on the commission quilt until I have the sewing machine back.


We also passed our house inspection this week, including the radon tests.  So now we just have to make sure the mortgage for the other people goes through.  We've started packing up a few things at this point, but part of us doesn't want to get too far down the packing road and then have something fall through.


We also checked out a rental property.  We've been having trouble finding a house rental because everyone wants at least a year lease, but we only need 6 months.  We don't really want an apartment because it will mean storage for everything.  However, an apartment may be the answer.  The house we looked at belongs to our builder's dad.  The layout is kind of wonky, but the biggest worry is that there is no central air and the place smells kind of musty/moldy.  Since I have pretty bad allergies, we really don't know whether the place will bother me or not.  If it does...it will be a VERY long 6 months.


Goals for week 12:
- Sew "Starry Night" needlepoint and photograph --
- Wash fabric for cousin's baby quilt --
- Clean up and pack extra fabric/quilting patterns.

Stashbusting 2011 - Week 12

This week was a fairly productive week.  I finished up a quilt top for a co-worker, but then I ended up buying backing material (1.75 yards).  I get to count it as used though because its already washed, pressed and loaded onto my quilting frame.

 

Now...the quilt was going to be quilted this weekend, however I had a little "incident" with the MegaQuilter.  So Friday I tested out a new pantograph on a practice quilt sandwich and everything was fine.  I loaded the backing for the commission quilt and started stitching a straight guide line across the top of the backing and batting.  About 15" in, I heard a pop and saw my needle was broken.  I thought it was just a bad needle.  So I put a new one in, went to pull up the bobbin thread, and the bobbin snapped the tip off the needle.  When I opened it up and looked at the bobbin area, it was clear something was wrong.

I took the MegaQuilter into the local sewing repair shop, and they said that somehow either thread or a portion of the first broken needle got jammed between two parts of the bobbin race and threw the timing off horribly.  Thankfully it can be fixed, but it could take 2 weeks to get the MegaQuilter back.  So much for getting the quilt done this week. ;-(

Good news is that it can be fixed though.

So between the backing and prepping the binding for the commission quilt I ended up using some yardage this week.  Here's the damage:

Added This Week:       1.75 yards
Added Year to Date:    32.39 yards
Used This Week:         2.22 yards
Used Year to Date:      15.05 yards
Net Year to Date:        17.33 yards

Flimsy!

Yay!  Finished up piecing the top for the commission quilt for my co-worker's daughter.

Goals - Week 11

I didn't get a lot of my goals done from last week, but that's mainly because the goals had to change partway through the week.

Goals for Week 10:
- Finish quilting "Tumbler" quilt -- Didn't touch it last week
- Make 16 log cabin blocks for quilt class -- Completed!
- Sew "Starry Night" needlepoint and photograph -- Only a small amount of sewing done.
- Wash and prep backing for "Shine on Bayou Cane" -- Didn't touch it last week.

The main reason for the goals changing is that we accepted an offer on the house!!

Since we now have less than two months to find a new place to live, pack up and move, and actually sell the house, my goals have had to change. 

We're not sure if I'll be able to setup my mid-arm machine at the rental, so I'm racing to try to get the commission quilt done in the next week so that I can get it on the mid-arm and quilted.  I made progress on making the quilt top (go here for info) and its at least 50% done at this point.  Due to the fact that I'm now rushing to get this top done, I had to cut back on pretty much everything else.  I've decided that I'm just going to pack up "Shine on Bayou Cane" until after we move into the new house.  I'm just not going to be able to get to quilting that thing anytime soon, so it will have to wait.  The same thing goes for the "Tumbler" quilt.  Even though its on the mid-arm right now, I'm only going to quilt two more rows to test out my self-made pantograph and then its being taken off for the commission quilt to go onto it.  The "Tumbler" quilt will just have to wait until we move.


Goals for Week 11:
- Test quilting panto on "Tumbler" quilt --

- Make 4 pinwheel blocks for quilt class -- Completed!

- Sew "Starry Night" needlepoint and photograph --
- Complete quilt top for commission quilt --
- Purchase backing material for commission quilt --

I'm sure I'll make progress this week...mainly because I have to. ;-)

Quilting Class - Week 2

Yesterday I had my 2nd class of the beginner's quilting class that I'm taking at a local quilt shop.  (If you want info on class 1, its here.)

This week, we moved on to making half square triangles (HST) and making a pinwheel block.  I've obviously made a lot of HST in my quilting time, so that wasn't anything new.  However, the instructor did show me how to do the "pinwheel" thing with the seams on the back of the block.  I've read how to do it a few times, but haven't figured out how to do it.  Its amazing how easy something seems when someone actually shows you how to do it.

So here's the blocks we made this week.  I got two of the blocks made in class, and then the remaining two I got finished up as soon as I got home.

Here's the little "pinwheel" of the seams on the back of the block.

Unlike last week where we only got 2 "logs" onto the 16 log cabin blocks in class and then had to make all 16 full blocks during the week, this week I only need to make the 4 pinwheel blocks.  So I'm done!  ;-)

They all measure up to 8.5" square, so they are spot on what they need to be.  Its also nice knowing that I won't spend most of the week making blocks for this quilt.

Along with the pinwheel blocks above, below are the 16 log cabin blocks I made last week.

I still enjoy the class even though I definitely know a lot of the techniques already.  The other students are already coming to me for questions when the instructor is tied up with someone else.  So part of my class time is helping the other students, which I enjoy doing.  I definitely have a good time at class, so that's what truly matters. :-)

Stashbusting 2011 - Week 11

This week was a very productive week on the quilting front.  I did have to add some fabric to the stash this week, but its for a commission quilt and will be used up fairly quickly (at least most of it).

I finished the log cabin blocks for my quilt class.  Here they are laid out the pattern that they will be used.

I also used some fabric for the 2nd week of the quilt class to complete 4 pinwheel blocks.  The instructor was also able to show me how to do the "twirl" thing with the seams on the back of the pinwheel blocks.  I've wanted to do it, but never could quite figure it out.

I was also able to cut ALL the fabric for a commission quilt on Friday evening and got a whole bunch of square-in-square blocks done along with prepping the applique pieces for the child's name.  The "requirements" of the quilt were that it was super soft & cuddly, used Dora and Diego in it somewhere, and that the child's name was on the quilt somehow.  The left the design and fabric choices completely up to me.  I'm not going to show the entire plan just yet, but I'll hopefully get the entire top done this week so there will probably be pictures next week.

So for me...I was actually able to use a lot of fabric this week, which is unusual.  Here's the numbers:
Added This Week:       5.75 yards
Added Year to Date:    30.64 yards
Used This Week:         4.40 yards
Used Year to Date:      12.83 yards
Net Year to Date:        17.81 yards


I think I need to start making some more blocks for my scrappy quilt to use up some stash. ;-)

Quilting Class - Week 1

On Sunday, I went to the first of six sessions for a beginner's quilting class at a local quilt shop.  Throughout the course of the class, we'll be making blocks to complete the quilt below.

The basic techniques are taught in-class and then you finish the blocks up on your own at home.  This first week, most of the time was spent going through how to straighten your fabric, press it, and cut the strips.  The last hour of the class was spent actually sewing the center pieces of the log cabin blocks to the first strip to form the "logs" of the block (the two cream colored pieces next to the red square in the above picture).

By far, I was the most experienced quilter there.  There was another woman who is probably in her 60s that has made some quilts, but nothing very recent.  Most of the other women there (6 of us total) had either done no quilting or had just tried it once or twice without much success.  Despite not really "learning" anything at the first class (it was all stuff I knew how to do), I had a good time.  The instructor said that while there are 16 log cabin blocks, people just really have to make 4 of them in order to do the appliqued heart during week 4 or 5.

When I got home from class, I cut the remaining strips necessary to sew all of the log cabin blocks.  The pieces are all set to go, I just have to start sewing them onto the blocks.  It will be a bit tedious since you have to add one strip, then press, then add the next strip, and press, and so forth.  There's a total of 12 "logs" that have to be added around the center square, so its 12 times of sewing and pressing on each block.  Plus, to make sure it goes together correctly, you have to make sure everything is the proper size after each log is added.

These are the fabrics that I'm using for the quilt.  The red is the accent fabric to match the red in the pattern picture above.  Then I have 3 shades of blue that will replace the greens in the picture.  Then I have three different creams/tans to use as my "lights".

 

I hope that I'll be able to get to putting the log cabin blocks together this week so that I can bring them to class completely finished.  Plus, I'll then be able to share more pictures along with counting the fabric as stash used. ;-)

Goals - Week 10

I didn't get nearly as much done last week as I thought I would.  It was a hectic week with showings at the house and trying to determine if we were going to get an offer and whether we should stay with our current agent or not.  Here's the progress from last week:

Goals for Week 9:
- Finish quilting "Tumbler" quilt --  This is about 1/2 quilted at this point.  I've been playing around with my own pantograph design, so its taking a little longer to get it quilted.  Plus, the woman who pieced this top did a pretty poor job and there are ripples everywhere and the top is SO not flat.
- Sew "Starry Night" needlepoint -- I was able to sew a bit on this.  Its kind of my "go-to" project when I don't have a ton of time to do something.  I can pick it up for 15 minutes or 1/2 hour and make some steady progress and it takes a whole of 2 minutes to put away.
- Wash and prep backing for "Shine on Bayou Cane" -- didn't do this at all, but I have the backing! ;-)
- Finish quilting "Purple Squared" --  didn't touch this one at all either

So what do I plan on doing this week???

Goals for Week 10:
- Finish quilting "Tumbler" quilt --
- Make 16 log cabin blocks for quilt class --
- Sew "Starry Night" needlepoint and photograph --
- Wash and prep backing for "Shine on Bayou Cane" --

I'm leaving "Purple Squared" off the list for now since I can quilt that on my regular sewing machine...which I will always have available.

House -- So on the house front, we did get an offer from a couple.  Their initial offer was a complete low-ball offer of 20% less than our asking price.  Considering the asking price is under $250k, that's a lot to take off the price of the house.  We countered with dropping the price by $1,000.  We've been going back and forth the past two days and we almost have them up to the price we want.  Right now there's a $2000 difference between the prices.  We really want to get them up to $240k, especially considering we put $2000 of custom wood blinds in the house that are staying with the house.

If we do accept the offer, we're going to end up having to rent somewhere, which is why I am pushing to get things onto the quilting frame and quilted.  We're not sure where we will rent yet, but it may not have room for the frame to be setup.  If not, then I won't be able to quilt anything (easily) until we move into the new house, which will be in the October/November time-frame.  So I'm really pushing to try and get some things done so that I can keep the frame up as long as possible.

Stashbusting 2011 - Week 10

My post is a little bit late, but better late than never, right? ;-)

I used a little bit of fabric this week when I went to my quilt class Sunday afternoon.  Its not much, but its a little bit.  All said and done, in class, I used 0.2 yards of fabric.  I will be using more this week as I have to complete 16 log cabin blocks by next Sunday's class.

Added This Week:       0 yards
Added Year to Date:    24.9 yards
Used This Week:         0.2 yards
Used Year to Date:      8.43 yards
Net Year to Date:        16.47 yards

I plan on posting some pictures later this week, so for now..this is a picture-free post.

How did everyone else do?