To-Do Lists and JOT

I like lists... they help keep me on track, getting necessary tasks done.  I usually make daily lists, normally with only a few tasks per day, or I wouldn't get them done at all...  For some reason, this week I made a plan for the week, starting yesterday (Monday the 30th)... I've actually managed to complete 4 of the 10 items on the list so far!

I also try to do things concentrating on JOT ('Just One Thing') so I don't get distracted and go off on a tangent and subsequently get nothing done at all. 

I didn't have a JOT thing for today, but if I did it would have been to finish the tablerunner top I started last night.  I got a bit carried away I guess.  Here is what I've done today:

• finished the tablerunner top
• pieced the backing for the tablerunner and cut batting to size for it
• made a scrappy binding for the tablerunner out of leftovers from the body of the runner.
• did 7 (yes seven!) WITBs* (2 boxes, 5 bags)... flung some stuff, put the rest in donations or put away where they belonged (*What's in the Box  - or Bag - a fun way to encourage cleaning and organizing)
• found sashing material for an old UFO and packed it all to take to class tomorrow to work on
• in a slight misstep, I found a fabric I had to have and ordered it online (naughty!)
• cleaned the goo off my window from the new car sticker on car I bought last October
• label FQ drawers
• prep for President's day weekend convention
• pack for class tomorrow

Went into the sewing room to start labeling my FQ storage cabinet drawers and realized the cabinet is all beautifully polished wood with no label holders... for some reason, I thought there were little brass plaques for labels on it... so I ordered some off ebay and I'm waiting for them to arrive... should be at least a few days before they get here, and then I have to put them all on before I can do the labels... this project is going to take much longer than I thought it would. Scratch one task! 

I did pack for class already, so now, it's on to preparing for the convention... (It is a gaming convention and I will be running a Dungeons and Dragons game there, so I need to read the scenario and prepare the maps, all that kind of stuff... it's fun, but there is a lot of work to preparing!)  If I start now, I might even be ready by Feb 18th, a hard deadline!

I'm feeling ambitious, and accomplished! - A good feeling that encourages getting yet more things done.

Another Mystery Quilt

This one is the Thimblecreek Mystery from early last year... or maybe the end of '15, not sure anymore, but I finished it tonight, putting the final stitches in the binding and label. 

Sometimes it seems hard to find time to sew these days... I have so many UFO's it's almost overwhelming, but I've been trying to get through them all... This makes my 7th finish this month!  I think it will be my last, since January is over tomorrow and I know I won't finish another one by tomorrow night.

I should be spending more time at my sewing machine, but I find I really don't have the heart to do so  .... I am too worried about my puppy, Chewiee... He has been diagnosed with severe dysplasia and luxating patellas and he needs total hip replacements on both sides.  Not sure if we can afford this, but we will explore all possibilities before making a decision.  I have multiple surgical consults in the next 2 weeks, so a decision will have to be made soon I think.  Poor baby is limping and  though he rarely complains, I'm sure he's in pain or he wouldn't limp. 

Here is Chewiee trying to share Maggie's new bed (Chewiee got a new bed too - identical! - but he wants to be with her).

Obviously, they don't both fit easily... and Maggie is taking her half in the middle, but Chewiee is doing his best.

Going to try to sew tomorrow and call it therapy... we'll see how that goes.

En Provence Mystery, Part 5

And another one bites the dust... I finished the BH En Provence mystery, part 5 now... I just wonder how many parts there will be.  Others who have done Bonnie Hunter's mysteries before have said she does the reveal on or by New Year's Eve.  If that's the case, there should only be a few more clues.  We'll see.

Here's a picture of my blocks:

Today I will be sewing at my local quilt shop - they are holding an in-house daytime retreat that lasts 4 days (10am-5pm each day).   Car is already packed up with almost everything I need.   I hope they let us leave our machines so we don't have to trek them back and forth each day!

6 more nights of Chanukah to go, so the holidays aren't over yet for me... and then there is 12th night on January 7th... (we celebrate everything! lol)

Making Progress

I am forging ahead with my UFOs in preparation for an end-of-the-year retreat.  I am trying to get as many as I can to the quilting stage as I plan on doing LOTS of quilting on the retreat.

Bertie's Summer has been a WIP for about 8 or 9 months now, so I'm glad I've gotten this far on it.  Just made the pieced sashing today, so I'm a bit behind as it is only a 4-month BOM. 

I also made Purrfectly Pieced into a finished top today.  It is designed by the same talented artist, Bonnie Sullivan, that designed the Bertie's quilts.  (She's even got a whole new quilt out with chickens... I'm not gonna make it though.... Not a big chicken fan).

I still have more of her quilts in progress - Bertie's Autumn, Tuxedo Tales and Susie's World.  Can't wait to get more of them done.  Bertie's Autumn just needs pieced sashing and simple construction... Susie's World also needs to be constructed, but it needs some embroidery first.

Since the retreat starts on the 26th and runs through the 30th, I've got a lot to do to get ready for it!  No rest for me for a few days.

And somehow in the midst of all this, I've gotta get ready for the holidays - the cards are done and ready for mailing tomorrow, but I've got presents to wrap and some still to purchase.  Whew... I'm feeling overwhelmed, that's for sure!  Happens every year.

Until I write again, have a great Christmas, Hannukah, Solstice, or whatever holiday you recognize!  Merry merry merry!

Mystery, Part Four

Bonnie Hunter's 'En Provence' Mystery quilt is moving on apace.  Part Four is done!  I hope we don't have to do any more of these tri-recs units.  I love the look of them, but not necessarily the process so much.  It's not hard at all, but it is getting a bit tedious... made two sets of them already.. hope the rest are something different for a change.

Working hard on getting some Bonnie Sullivan quilts done as well... Bertie's Summer is almost done - all those half-square triangles are made, ready to sew into sashing and borders.  Internal and external borders for Purrfectly Pieced are cut and ready to sew...  Still so much to do to get caught up on UFOs though.

Too much going on this time of year to get it all finished and today is my day for doing holiday cards.  That in itself is a full day job... Hopefully get it done soon, but I have to get into my box of cards... I have enough to fuel several winter holidays to come!  No need to buy or make new cards for me, though every year, I'm sorely tempted... so many cute cards out there!  I shall continue to resist!  That's how I ended up with a huge box of them in the first place... need to whittle that down first.  When we moved in July of 2015, the collection took up two boxes and I Freecycled a whole large cardboard carton of cards.  I am not going back to two cartons ever again! 

Getting Things Done

I promised myself some finishes in the upcoming year... more than 2016, I hope.  Not sure if I'll have the time though.  I have made commitments to be more politically active and fight for what I believe is right.  That will take some time and effort and pull me somewhat away from the goal of finishing quilts.  However, I AM preparing for finishes regardless.

First, here's a photo of the kittens on a better design wall... I'm liking it... I can see a few places where moving some of the kittens around might have been better color balance... but it's past now.. coulda, shoulda, woulda... but won't change them now.

I participated in two round robins in 2016.  One was in my guild and I just LOVE how my little center panel came out with the lanterns and the applique on the side section... the ladies who worked on it did GREAT things with my block!

I also did a round robin in my mini-group, which I think we finished before the above one was even started.  This one, too, started with a piece of a panel and the ladies did wonderfully imaginative stuff, like coloring the flowers, and embroidery, and other touches.  It will make a cute wall hanging!

Both of these little quilts need to be quilted now (see the pin basting? lol), and I've got to get to work on them... The one from my mini-group has a hard finish date of early January, so it's a MUST DO project... the Neko-kitty one has no set date, but I'd like to finish that one soon too.  Big dreams, we'll see what comes of them!

Feeling Kittenish

The kitten quilt is done... well the top is finished anyway - even the borders are on, which is something of an accomplishment for me.  I'm real happy with it now and can't wait to get it quilted.  Can't decide whether to custom quilt it or just get an overall pantograph type pattern.  I generally don't care for pantographs, preferring custom, but it's not like this is a piece of great art or anything.  I have to think about it more.

It came out too large to take a picture full frontal, so I had to stand at an angle to get it all.. sigh... I will try to take a better picture tomorrow when I have access to a larger design wall without storage cabinets and stash shelving half in front of it.

I made backs and cut batting for two quilts today too, so tomorrow will be a basting day for me... Maybe I'll do some quilting over the weekend.  I made a commitment to finish one of the two quilts by early January... the other one has no set time limit but I had a piece of batting and backing the right size, so I figure: why not use them?  I'm excited to see these two little quilts done... Both are round robin quilts about 3' wide and a 3 1/2-4' long, so should be fairly easy to quilt.