Design Wall Tuesday

Wow!  What a difference a few weeks make.  I am working exclusively from home now, I am restricted from working in the field (due to me being due in a few weeks), and our state has been under a Shelter in Place mandate for the indefinite future.  With the impending birth of our first child I will admit, it has been an emotional roller coaster for myself, but also for my husband on many different levels.  The changes with our birth plan that have taken place, and that will take place, the thought of loosing my birthing partner (what some of the hospitals did in New York), mourning the fact we won't have a baby shower to celebrate the fact we are bringing a new child into this world, the fact that our parents will not be meeting our new child for who knows how long, and scrambling to figure out what do we need to buy now to make sure we are prepared for baby due to shipping delays, and people buying out items such as baby wipes.

During this time, I have been able to escape into the sewing room for even just 15 minutes a day has helped.  Yes, tears have happened, but I'm working through the emotions and my husband and I have had a lot of discussions and planning between us.  Somethings we have clued my parents in on due to contingency plans involving them, like if I get COVID-19 the CDC can remove my brand new baby from me until I am well.  I do not want my child going to someone else's house, baby will go to Grandma and Grandpa, or if my husband contracts it, who is going to be my birthing partner (my Mom).  I want to be as prepared as I can be.  Thanks to my little escapes into the sewing room, I was able to complete my One Monthly Goal, which was to finish sewing all of the yellow on for my Niece's iSpy quilt.  I even got the stretch goal done of getting the next round ready to be sewn on.

It felt great to make progress.  Now I need to figure out what will be my April One Monthly Goal.  Good thing I have a few days to figure that out.

My goals for this week are simple.  My first goal is to continue work on my niece's Ispy quilt.  My goal is to work on sewing the 2nd round on the blocks.  I have them in a total of five piles, and I would like to sew through three of the five, and start trimming them.  My stretch goal is to get them all trimmed and ready for the next step, whether it is for the last round of triangles or de-papering.

My second goal is to continue working on the house.  This will always be a goal, or at least until we are fully settled in.  We are working on the front as some of the dirt has dried out after our three week stint or rain, finish cleaning off the table, and figure out what we need to purchase before baby comes home.  My stretch goal is to work on the 2nd bedroom, cleaning out 5 bags/boxes/piles.

I hope everyone has a great week!
Sharing at:
Love, Laugh, and Quilt
Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

-Christina

March 2020 One Monthly Goal Finished!

Well I was able to finish my one monthly goal, just in time.  My goal was to finish sewing all of the yellow onto the blocks, and my stretch goal was to trim and prepare them for the next round.  Here are all of my blocks prepared and ready for the next round of sewing that will take place on them.

I feel pretty accomplished!  Now, time to decide what to do for my April OMG, as that begins in just a few hours!

Sharing at:
Elm Street Quilts

-Christina

Another Chenille Blanket Finished

What a crazy week it has been, but I have a finish to share that has been just been waiting to be shared with everyone.  I was able to finish this Chenille blanket that I had intended as a Christmas present in 2018 for my best friend.  It got pushed off to 2019, but I did not finish it until the end of January of 2020.

Why did it take me so long to finish?  Great question, I had a knot in the thread and I had about an inch left on the binding to finish.  I got frustrated with it, and left it and just did not come back to it until a year later.  When I picked it up to finish it, it took me about 10-15 minutes.  What a nice easy finish it was.

It was made using 3 of the same panels placed carefully on top of one another, and some nice minky on the back.  I washed it the day I saw my best friend as she was coming over to visit, and I pulled it from the dryer, took pictures of it, and gave it to her.

Quilt Stats:
Finished size: 34.5 inches by 41.5 inches
Started: March 29, 2018
Finished: January 30, 2020
Gifted to my best friend for Christmas (a month late).

Off to go find the next project I am going to work on!

Sharing at:
Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Alycia Quilts

-Christina

15 Minutes of Stitching - Week 10 2020

Let us see how this last week went.
Days spent stitching in the week: 7 out of 7
Days spent stitching in March: 8 out of 8
Days spent stitching in 2020: 68 out of 68
Success Rate: 100%
My week runs Monday through Sunday.

Finding time each week is getting easier.  I know it will change between a month to a month in a half from now, but the progress has made it totally worth it for me.  I am beyond excited about the projects I am working on, and seeing how my goals are being exceeded every week motivates me to do even more.  If only I could use some of my energy to clean my sewing area!

Fabric followed me home during the San Diego Quilt run.  More than I thought would to be honest, but most of it was on sale.  I was able to find the two or three fabrics I was looking for at the first store we went to.  I also did not have enough time to weight the scrap packs I bought, so that yardage will be added next week.  It was fun to see how some shops have changed within the last year.  No fabric went out, as I did not iron or quilt anything.  I do not know if I will be able to recover from what I bought without a fabric gain at the end of the year.  I have a few things I would like to purchase, and then I'm cutting myself off, until who knows when.  I hope this self imposed cut off will work.

Fabric out this week: 0.00 yards
Fabric out, in 2020: 8.46 yards
Fabric in this week: 37.25 yards
Fabric in, in 2020: 103.31 yards
Fabric difference in 2020: gain of 94.85 yards

I hope everyone had a great week!
Sharing at:
Life in Pieces

-Christina

Design Wall Wednesday

This last week was great!  I was able to be productive quilting wise, and around my home.  I almost got all of the blocks that I set out to sew sewn.  Below is all I had left Sunday night.

I finally got Christmas put away!  After having it sit around for a few months, it is finally picked up from my living room.

In addition to that, my Mom and I went on a quit run for San Diego County, and we had a lot of fun.  In addition to having lots of fun, of course we found many things that came home with us.  Below is my haul from our adventure.

I also picked up all of the quilt blocks for the quilt, and some of the stores made more blocks to make the quilt bigger, so I can make a 4 by 4 quilt, instead of 3 by 3.

My goals for this week are simple.  My first goal is to work on my niece's Ispy quilt.  My goal is to finish sewing the first round of yellow, iron all blocks, trim and glue down the second round of yellow.  My stretch goal is to start sewing all of the second round of yellow.

My second goal is to continue working on the house.  This will always be a goal, or at least until we are fully settled in.  Who knows how long that will take.  The big goals for the week are catch up on washing dishes (almost there), finish our registry for baby, moving the stuff for our master closet back, and working on our front yard.  A stretch goal is to go through paperwork from the table, that is in a box now.

I hope everyone has a great week!
Sharing at:
Love, Laugh, and Quilt
Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

-Christina

Baby Chenille Blanket Finished!

I finished it in less than a month!  But, it has taken me the whole additional month to blog about it.  Opps, Fridays seem to get away from me.  I finished a co-worker's new baby blanket, and it has already been gifted.

It was made using 3 of the same panels placed carefully on top of one another, and some nice minky on the back.  The binding was a flannel I had in my stash (yes! used some stash to finish this)  Once it was washed and dried it turned fluffy and perfect for the new addition to the family.

Quilt Stats:
Finished size: 34.5 inches by 41.5 inches
Started: January 8, 2020
Finished: January 30, 2020
Gifted to a co-workers baby

Off to go find something else to finish!

Sharing at:
Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Alycia Quilts

-Christina

March 2020 One Monthly Goal

My goal for the month of March is to continue making progress on my Niece's Ispy Quilt.  I have this pile of blocks that are prepped and ready to go.  My goal is to get all four yellow triangles sewn on to all of the blocks needed for the quilt.  I have completed about half of them, and the stack in the picture below is what is left.

This is what the blocks with yellow triangles will look like soon.

This goal involves sewing, ironing, trimming, glueing the next set of triangles on, and sewing again.  My stretch goal is to get all blocks to the point where I am sewing on the first round of purple or pink triangles for the third square.

I'm ready to get to it!

Sharing at:
Elm Street Quilts

-Christina

15 Minutes of Stitching - Week 9 2020

Let us see how this last week went.
Days spent stitching in the week: 7 out of 7
Days spent stitching in February: 29 out of 29
Days spent stitching in March: 1 out of 1
Days spent stitching in 2020: 61 out of 61
Success Rate: 100%
My week runs Monday through Sunday.

With making stitching time a habit every night, it has been very nice.  I'm surprised my success rate is still at 100%, but I also want to go work on the projects I'm working on as I have the urge to finish some things up.  Maybe it is pre-baby nesting, but for quilting?  Whatever the reason may be, I'm happy for it.  I also love seeing progress made on various projects.  I almost have one quilt top that will be quilted after baby comes and I am healed.  I hope to have at least another one done and ready to be quilted by then.

No fabric followed me home again this week!  It feels amazing to be honest.  I do know that next week will be a different story as my Mom and I are going on the San Diego Quilt Run.  I'm excited to spend time with my Mom.  We both do not need anymore fabric, but I'm going to try really hard not to buy much.  I have a few goals (border and binding needed for a quilt top), and some background fabric for a table runner, but I do not plan to pick up a lot of extras.  Except the kits to make the blocks for the run, and maybe some clearance items, if I really need it.  We shall see what follows me home.

Fabric out this week: 1.01 yards
Fabric out, in 2020: 8.46 yards
Fabric in this week: 0.00 yards
Fabric in, in 2020: 66.06 yards
Fabric difference in 2020: gain of 57.60 yards

I hope everyone had a great week!
Sharing at:
Life in Pieces

-Christina

Design Wall Wednesday

This last week was productive.  I did not finish all of my stretch goals, but that is okay.  I was able to get the last border on the Christmas table runner, and I found the backing and was able to cut that out.  I just did not get a picture of the finished top.

I was also able to sew through this large stack of blocks.  It is over 60 blocks, which was what was ready for me to sew on.  I then ironed, and started to trim them.

My goals for this week are simple.  My first goal is to work on my niece's Ispy quilt.  I would like to get the stack I created trimmed and ready for the next round of sewing, and start sewing the first round on the last stack of blocks I have to do.  My stretch goal is to finish the pile that I will be starting.

My second goal is to layer the Christmas table runner as I am close to finally finishing.  It will be an easy project to do in April as I will not need to be on the ground to finish it as bending and stooping is starting to get difficult for me.

My third goal is to continue working on the house.  This will always be a goal, or at least until we are fully settled in.  Who knows how long that will take.  The big goals for the week are catch up on washing dishes, putting away Christmas, finish our registry, moving the stuff for our master closet back, and working on our front yard.  A stretch goal is to work on cleaning up the table, with the final goal of finishing this project.

I hope everyone has a great week!
Sharing at:
Love, Laugh, and Quilt
Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

-Christina