Goal report for January 22, 2018

My goals for the week of January 22, 2018:

1. UFO - Growing Up QAL

- decide on layout for blocks DONE

- assemble quilt started, first two rows are together and quilted.

2. Dresden Plate

- take that first stitch DONE

- get at least one seam done DONE

3. ThermoWeb Ornament Wall Hanging

- finish assembling the top

- sandwich, quilt, bind

No progress here

4. Mystery QAL

- begin cutting out components

No progress here

5. Mending (5 items)

- mend one item per day one done

Goals for the week of January 29, 2018

1. Growing Up QAL
- finish quilt assembly
- binding

2. Dresden Plate
- continue stitching

3. Mystery ASK
- begin cutting

4. Mending
- one item per day

5. ThermoWeb wall hanging
- finish assembling blocks

This week has less running to doctors with mom and I only have one appointment for me. I'm looking at three out of five days at home. Praying that doesn't change.

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you days filled with kindness.

Verse of the day:

But to all who believe Him and accepted Him, He gave the right to become
Children of God.

John 1:12

Good start to the week???? . . . .

After what was a very rough start to my day and week, I moved along surprisingly well on Monday.

Honey Do had vehicle issues on the way to work, which required a tow to the repair shop. So by 7:30 a.m. I had three phone calls under my belt and was on the road.

I took Newton to school after Honey Do was deposited at work and then I had a doctor appointment for a long overdue check up.

Once I got home, it was just too nice out not to take Rocky for a walk - 55 degrees, unseasonably warm for January in my neck of the woods.

My goal, besides one garment to be mended (DONE), was my Growing Up quilt. All the blocks are sewn and quilted and just needed assembled. I discovered as I laid the blocks out I either needed to remove two of them or make two more so the quilt came out even.

Rocky, of course, doesn't think I need to work on the quilt.

I chose to make two new ones that allowed me to use scraps and do more machine quilting.

It was time consuming and puts me back a day (or three or four, now), but I think well worth it in the long run.

Unfortunately, my week got away from me. A simple doctor's appointments turned into hours one day (two and a half hour waiting for a 30 minute visit) and pre-admissions testing turned into a whole day of visiting several doctors. Add to that my normal responsibilities and the hours drifted away as did my time to work on projects.

It's the weekend again. We are all safe, relatively healthy and home where everyone should be (unless you are traveling and choosing to be away). What didn't get done during the week will get at least some attention over the weekend.

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you days filled with kindness.

Verse of the Day

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1 NIVUK

Goals for the week of January 22, 2018

Last week was very productive, even though I had to put a weekend push on it to finish some of those goals. 

My goals for the week of January 22, 2018:

1. UFO - Growing Up QAL

- decide on layout for blocks

- assemble quilt

2. Dresden Plate

- take that first stitch

- get at least one seam done

3. ThermoWeb Ornament Wall Hanging

- finish assembling the top

- sandwich, quilt, bind

4. Mystery QAL

- begin cutting out components

5. Mending (5 items)

- mend one item per day

That's plenty to keep me busy this week.

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you days filled with kindness.

Verse of the day:

‘But blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him.

Jer. 17:7 NIVUK

Organizing Multiple Projects, 15 Challenge, Stash Report

Welcome to my 2018 multiple project frenzy-fest!!!

Yes, you read that correctly. I am hopeless when it comes to new designs, blocks of the month (BOM), quilt slings (QAL) and especially when they don't cost anything and I can pull from my "enormous" stash.

Let me take a moment and go on record letting all of you know how much I personally appreciate your talent and especially your generosity. We are a one income family. Many of you know of my devotion to not only my immediate family, but also my extended family, and my church. We give as generously as we can, share or donate what we no longer need and live as simply and frugally as we can. Although I purchase patterns on occasion, most of my quilts and projects come from free patterns and designs that are shared by the blogs I follow. In the next few weeks, my list will be changing and updating. Unfortunately, many are no longer even being published. If you still follow my blog, know that I miss you (Madam Samm :)

On to the frenzy . . . 

I've signed up for numerous new projects. Only one required a purchase of fabric as part of the criteria to participate. I am constantly looking for ways to keep my projects organized. I need to keep supplies together. I need to download the patterns, and save them just in case I lose a page or maybe someday want to make it again.

I have found the best way to accomplish this is to put everything in a Xerox paper box. Honey Do's staff saves them for me (another no cost contribution to my habits). As I pull my supplies together they go in the box. I label the boxes with the name of the project, and if I remember a date. Once the block is finished for the month, it goes in the box and then stacked with like boxes for the next month.

When the next block is published, I pull the box, put the block together and store it again for another month.

I'm trying really hard to finish things as I go. Unfortunately, past quilts weren't done this way because I really don't like hand quilting and didn't have the money to pay someone else to do them for me and didn't have the knowledge/experience to do quilt-as-you-go. I've been doing it for about a year now, love it and see many more of my quilts being completed and used  instead of waiting in a box for their turn.

If you have a better system or at least different, I'd love to hear about it. I'm always open to suggestions.



On to the 15 minute challenge. I'm really bad at tracking my time daily. Honestly, I did hand stitching for a minimum of 15 minutes every day. I'm going to change up the challenge for myself just a little. I would like to do a minimum of 15 minutes a day doing han d sewing or stitching and another 15 minutes a day minimum sewing on the machine. After the initial 15 I'm not going to track it, that's too much like work and punching a time card. For this week, I'm 100%.

Stash Reportt

In: 3 full bolts of flannel (a Christmas gift from BF). Doesn't count since I'm not counting gift fabric.
Out: about .25 yards for the Beary challenge and Color challenge blocks
 .25 yards for backing on the Bear
.125 for Garden BOM
I did not count the sections I pre-cut for future blocks. I'll count them when I do the blocks.

That's a rough estimate out of 5/8 yard. And that's a really rough estimate :)

It's been a pretty productive month.

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you a day filled with kindness.

Verse of the day:

‘Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Romans 4:7 NIVUK

Goals for the week of January 15, 2018

Good Morning, Lovely Friends.

This is Charlie :)

Isn't he just the most handsome, adorable penguin?

He was a Christmas gift from BFF. We finally, after more than two months, were able to get together for a nice long visit. We had such a good time of sharing time gifts and conversation. We got some shopping time in too, not that either of us needed to purchase anything.

So on to my goals for the week:

1. Dresden Plates

- sew center circles DONE

All 12 of my blocks are assembled. Now for the first stitch . . .

And here are the links :)

https://crazyquiltjournalproject2018.blogspot.com/

http://pintangle.com/tast-faq/

2. Starry Bright Sky QAL 2018 

- machine applique stars DONE

- sandwich, back, quilt blocks DONE

I also got all the backing squares cut in preparation for upcoming blocks.

3. Beary Color Challenge 

- assemble block DONE

- sandwich, back, quilt block DONE

4. Color Challenge

- cut out fabrics DONE

- assemble block DONE

- sandwich, back, quilt block

not yet, I have to decide what I want to use for backing fabric.

This has a lot more green/blue than I was planning, but I really like the way the block turned out.

5. Holly Cottage Christmas 

- finish stitching next block DONE

I got a second block done this week :)

6. A Year in the Garden

- draw off January design DONE

- pull floss colors DONE

7. One Monthly Goal

- finish a UFO - completely

No progress here, except that I pulled my supplies from my sewing room. This one is getting pushed to next week's goals, as a priority and on a separate blog. 

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you days filled with kindness.

Verse of the Day

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.

1 Corinthians 13:1 NIVUK

Saturday progress, stash report, 15 minute challenge

What a great Saturday I had.

Here's my goals:

1. Dresden Plates

- finish sewing plates DONE

- cut out muslin background DONE

- get at least one mounted so I can start stitching DONE

And here are the links :)

https://crazyquiltjournalproject2018.blogspot.com/

http://pintangle.com/tast-faq/

2. Starry Bright Sky QAL 2018 

- pull fabrics for first block DONE

- cut out first block DONE

3. Beary Color Challenge 

- pull colors for first block DONE

- drawn off applique pieces, cut out DONE

- assemble block - not yet

4. Color Challenge

- pull colors for first block DONE

- cut out fabrics - not yet

- assemble block - not yet

5. Holly Cottage Christmas 

- continue stitching next block, making progress 

6. A Year in the Garden

- draw off January design - not yet

- pull floss colors - not yet

As for the 15 minute challenge, I did both machine and hand work every day. So I'm at 100%. The best thing is that 15 minutes turned into hours and has been a great motivator for me. That accountability has kept me busy and productive. With the number of projects I've signed up for, and the list keeps growing, I need to keep pushing myself forward.

As for stash:  

Dresden plates - center circles - .25 yards used

Starry Bright - back grounds 13x13 squares - 1/3 yard used
stars - about 1/4 yard used

Beary Color - fat quarter used (1/8 yard)

Total in/week:  0

Total out/week:  1 yard (.955) (from enormous stash)

Total out for the year:  2 yards

New in for the year:  1 yard


All in all, a very good weekend.

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you days filled with kindness.

Verse of the Day

Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfil the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2 NIVUK

Winter's Contrasts

Winter's contrasts . . . 

blooming on my kitchen window sill . . . 

the view from my living room window . . . 

accumulation in a bedroom window -the window is closed, but this is what came in through the screen over night . . .

the view from an upstairs bedroom window . . .

The last 24-48 hours has shown a complete turn around. We went from 62 on Thursday to 10 Saturday morning. The windchill was around -10 !!

We were forecast 3-6 inches of snow and got about 4 or 5, so we were blessed that it wasn't worse.

School was cancelled due to the anticipation of freezing rain and hazardous driving conditions.

I was glad to have an excuse to just stay put and get some sewing done.

I finished another block for the Holly Cottage Christmas quilt. I'm very happy with my progress, even though it's been a while since I've actually had an opportunity to work on it.

Mom found out this week that she is going to have to have hip replacement surgery. Not looking forward to any of that. She's going to need extra help and I would really like her to come and stay with us afterwards for a week or two to make sure she's okay. It's going to require several of us to step up and help out, but mostly me.

So my goals for the weekend:

1. Dresden Plates

- finish sewing plates

- cut out muslin background

- get at least one mounted so I can start stitching 

2. Starry Bright Sky QAL 2018

- pull fabrics for first block

- cut out first block

3. Beary Color Challenge

- pull colors for first block

- drawn off applique pieces, cut out

- assemble block

4. Color Challenge

- pull colors for first block

- cut out fabrics

- assemble block

5. Holly Cottage Christmas

- continue stitching next block

6. A Year in the Garden

- draw off January design

- pull floss colors

All of these goals are preparations for the next week. This way, I can sit with Rocky because he just wants to snuggle through this ridiculously cold winter. And I will have projects ready to travel to and from the hospital to spend time with Mom.

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you days filled with kindness.

Verse of the Day

A person may think their own ways are right, but the LORD weighs the heart. Prov. 21:2 NIVUK

This Week's Accomplishments

Cinnamon Tea in hand. Let's see how I did for my snowbound Monday :) and the rest of the week. As usual it went very quickly. The weather was wonderfully warm. January thaw . . . getting ready for a snow bound weekend.

1. Dresden plates for the Crazy Quilting project.

- cut out DONE

- begin sewing DONE, I got six of them put together.

2. ThermoWeb Christmas Ornaments.

- sash block 3, not yet

- finish stitching block 4 Done

3. Pull fabrics for upcoming projects. Done

4. Work on Advent blocks.

- finish sewing progressing, but not done

- start assembly on quilt top, not yet

5. Pull fabric for new BOMs Done

 

Mystery QAL

Starry Bright Sky

Color Challenge and Beary Color Challenge

6. Sweet Friend Quilt
This came to me all done and ready for binding. That was my part. I can't show you much because I don't know if the recipient reads my blog. But it's finished and will be sent out to her at the beginning of the week.

So excited for her to get it and feel the love !!

Stay safe and warm. It's a good weekend to catch up on all the things that got away from us this week.

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you kindness from everyone you meet.

Verse of the Day

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 1 John 4:1 NIVUK

Monday Goals

There is NO school again today !!! School began January 3rd. Newton has been in school one day since it went back in session. He's almost as frustrated as I am. Not that I really mind him being home, but you can only play so many video games. Fortunately, he's been playing with some friends from school, so he is getting some social interaction.

It's a mess out there, especially because the temperatures are finally on the up swing.

For Monday's goals. There are so many projects swimming around in my head I have to make a list and prioritize them. LOL

1. Dresden plates for the Crazy Quilting project.

- cut out

- begin sewing

2. ThermoWeb Christmas Ornaments.

- sash block 3

- finish stitching block 4

3. Pull fabrics for upcoming projects.

4. Work on Advent blocks.

- finish sewing

- start assembly on quilt top

That should be plenty to keep me busy on this snowbound day.

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you kindness from everyone you meet.

Verse of the Day

For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 NIVUK