The binding continues on my Moda U sampler. Friday night I stepped away from my sewing machine specifically to work on the binding and I think I over did it. Going forward I think I’ll just plan on going as far as one, maybe two lengths of thread will take me.
This past year I found that if I had a hard date I could challenge myself and make significant progress on my projects. The Guild program for February is Member Show and Tell. Although the Guild is meeting via ZOOM, we really haven’t had Show and Tell. I would like to have something to show that I haven’t posted in our FB Group Chat. The title of this post is Challenge #1, so it’s possible I’ll do more personal challenges this year.
Challenge Dates: January 1st – February 23rd. (Six weeks)
Challenges:
Stretch Challenges:
Double Stretch Challenges:
I’ll continue to do daily-ish posts, leaving the challenge post to once a week, or whenever I cross something off the list.
After yesterday’s post, I did not go back to the sewing machine. Instead I watched a bit of TV and worked on the binding of my Moda U quilt. I turned the 2nd corner, which means I’m halfway done.
Tonight I’ll start assembling these units into blocks for the wedding quilt.
I’m linking up with Small Quilts and Doll Quilts for Design Wall Monday.
It’s time to do my 2020 Final Countdown Recap. Shelly over at Prairie Moon Quilts hosts the Final Countdown each year so we start the new year with a clean(er) sewing room.
Task One was Clear Your Main Work Surface. Here it is 7 days into the new year and the main work surface still only has the current project on it.
Task Two was Fabric Storage and Stray Fabric Piles. The above picture shows one of my biggest problem areas. It’s still a mess, but it’s better than it was.
Another place was the fabric shelves. Most of the fabric was backings, so they are now stored with my quilt tops.
Task Three was Take Stock /Organize/Deal with UFOs.
I did a several things here.
The sewing room is not perfect. I still have a pile of fabric on the sewing table to enlarge the backing for Frolic, and if I load anything on the longarm, I’ll have to move a couple of bags, but I think the room is in a better place than it was.
There was a bit of piecing as well. I finished the lavender Broken Dish units for the wedding quilt and pressed and stitched a few seafoam HST. Those finished seafoam Broken Dish units were from before. I need 32 of each color for the next 16 blocks. Even with this progress, neither my 350 Challenge # nor my Easy Breezy # has gone up.
There was a bit of binding while I watched Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist and the second half of The Lion King. Then I got up and went to the sewing machine.
All of the lavender HSTs are sewn and pressed. I’ve even started assembling the broken dish units.
Tonight I’ll review my Final Countdown Challenges to see where I stand. I think it’s a case of progress is made, which is definitely a step in the right direction.
Have I mentioned that the wedding quilt has a gazillion HSTs in it? Yesterday I cut a bunch more. After I get these sewn and trimmed, I should have enough tomake another 1/4 of the quilt.
As for the binding of the Moda U quilt, I have less that 6″ to go before I turn the first corner.
It’s been a while since I participated in Design Wall Monday and my wall is full.
In the back is 1/4 of a wedding quilt I’m working on. My next step is to cut more of the HST. If I did the math correctly, this quilt needs 1024 HST, so I have a few more to go.
The bright pink, turquoise and yellow blocks are for a sampler I’m designing for my SIL. I’ll send her the instructions for these four blocks then start working on the next 3 or 4.
Finally there are the 3 Easy Breezy blocks I made while working on the other two projects.
I’m also stitching the binding down on my Moda U quilt. I prefer doing a flange binding, but I didn’t want to add 2 new fabrics to the quilt. The top is from 2007/2008 and I didn’t have any of the fabric left for binding. I think what I bought last fall is a decent match.
I’m linking up to the Design Wall Party over at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts. I can’t wait to see what others are working on.
The first day of 2021 saw me assembling 1/4 of the wedding quilt I’m working on, piecing 4 sampler blocks and completing 3 Easy Breezy blocks as my leader/ender project.
As for my quilting plans for 2021, as with years in the past, I’d like to cross a few quilts off my UFO list. With 40 quilts in progress, 20 tops needing to be quilted, and 1 which needs to be bound, I could work on a different quilt each week and still have a few left over.
As for challenges, I think I will participate in Prairie Moon Quilts 350 Blocks Project. The 2020 challenge is wrapping up and the 2021 challenge will begin mid-month, but our block count begins today. I’ll try to remember to put the tally’s at the bottom of my posts.
Tomorrow I think I’ll tackle that binding that I picked out for my 3rd Task.
Edited: I was looking for some challenges and this morning (Saturday) I found Finished (or Not) Friday at Alycia Quilts. So, I’m linking this post.
350 Challenge = 15
Easy Breezy = 92
The 3rd task of the Challenge is Take stock/organize/deal with unfinished projects.
I’ve kept a spreadsheet of my projects for the last 12 years. The thought was the numbers would go down. And I suppose they have to a certain extent. Today I updated the Tops to be Quilted and Quilts in Progress tabs. But I don’t think that’s really what Shelly had in mind.
As I was comparing the spreadsheet to the blog, I found 1 or 2 projects, I’m going to pass on to my sister, and a couple I’m going to pass to one of my Guilds – when we are able to meet in person again. But the most tangible thing I’m going to tackle is getting the binding on this quilt. I quilted it in October, so it’s time. Check back in the next few days to see if I get it done.
Easy Breezy = 89
Shelly over at Prairie Moon Quilts has hosted the Final Countdown for many years. It’s been a couple of years since I’ve participated, but I thought I’d try it again. Maybe I will be the catalyst I need to start documenting my quilting again.
Task one – Clear off your main work surface. Yes, that is a current picture. I had a head start since part of my Christmas was a new cutting mat.
As you can see, it wasn’t too bad. The box was put back on the shelf, the bag of pieces slipped into the drawer, the rulers put away, and the pipe cleaners & snips put in a box with the rest of the wreath supplies I’ve purchased over the weekend.
This is the wreath I made this morning. I have stuff for Mardi Gras and Easter wreaths as well.
Now the next step is to finish this section of the wedding quilt. Then it will be on to making more HSTs.
Easy Breezy = 86
