Category Archives: En Provence Mystery Quilt

Rethinking my focus after January

For some reason I am unable to upload photos to today’s blog post.

When I posted on December 30, I listed what I wanted to focus on for 2018. Now that we are one month in to 2018, I have noticed that my focus needs to change a bit in order to meet my goals, and work on some of my WIPs from years past.

For stitching, I stated I wanted to work on 12 projects that included 7 current WIPs and 5 new starts (2 large and 3 small).

I started Oscar’s Corsage on January 1 and stitched exclusively on it for 4 days. I ran out of fiber! A trip to Vegas was coming (where I purchased the design and fiber January 2017) so I put it aside to see what I could find during 2018’s trip. Success! While the fiber has a different dye lot number, I doubt I will be able to tell where the new fiber is stitched, once I get back to the project.

Since I knew I was starting a new design on January 12, I switched over to a WIP, Death by Cross Stitch, and stitched on it for 6 days. I am still loving the fiber/fabric combination. I had intended to stitch it strictly from my tablet, but for some reason started out on paper. I am now trying to decide if I want to switch over to my tablet for the chart.

I drove to Vegas on January 11 and was too tired after dinner that evening to stitch. This would be the ONLY day during January that I did not stitch!

Friday, January 12, I went to Stitcher’s Paradise and purchased the fiber I needed for Oscar’s Corsage (and grabbed another – of the same dye lot – for Forest Flower), the overdyeds and DMC I did not have in my stash for Let Freedom Ring, Glendon Place’s Tiramisu (that I cannot find, but have the fiber kit for), Kathy Barrick’s Repeat the Sounding Joy, and a NPI to replace the one I swiped from another project to finish Book of Spells. That evening I started Let Freedom Ring and 20 days later I had to make myself put it away to start my planned February 1 start! I love this design so much!

Yesterday I started Chatelaine’s Desert Mandala after spending 2+ hours futzing around with my table because I could not get the highlight function to work on my ezPDF Reader Pro app. I have had this design in my stash for 3+ years and almost struck it from my 2018 list because I was so aggravated with the app. LOL

This puts me at 10 current WIPs, 1 planned small new start (Adam & Eve), and 1 empty slot on my list of 12. I am thinking of starting Adam & Eve on March 1.

My sewing machine time has had the most mental focus.  I am happy to say that I have sat at it several times and actually sewn!  I started a new tablerunner that I am working on at sew-togethers (right now we are meeting every Tuesday), I sewed the binding on to the 4-Patch Charm quilt (still needs to be turned and stitched down on the other side); and completed a community service quilt flimsy for my guild chapter.

As to my other goals – Even though I am not starting it yet, I have decided to switch Swoon for Bonnie Hunter’s latest mystery On Ringo Lake. The color scheme I was looking at for Swoon will be perfect for ORL.

I have also decided to replace Celtic Solstice with En Provence. This will fit better with my long-term plans of making quilts for all of my mother’s grandchildren. If I remember correctly I have all the pieces done to make the blocks and sashing, I just need to piece them, and I’ll need to piece the neutral border.  Celtic Sostice will be for another grandchild, but I am trying to give them in the order the kids were born 😉 and it is more suitable to a boy.

I decided to not participate in the Scrap Attack. I also am not worrying about making any monthly quilt-related posts. If they happen, they happen.  I am working in my room every day for about 20 minutes before I sew.  I want to sew every day but there are other fun things that are getting in the way, like going to the movies with Mister.  If I do not sew in the morning, I do not sew that day and being “desert dwellers” we tend to do things outside the house in the mornings.

I also visited Quiltique while in Vegas and brought home a few more black/white, white/black FQs, and some brights to go into a future quilt that I have been gathering fabric for a couple of years; 3 quarter-yard pieces of fabric to make qsnap grime guards; a deeply discounted charm pack of Laundry Basket Southern Exposure and a cupcake recipe FPP pack (which I have already started into a tablerunner); and, a cute pattern to make FPP zip bags with scissors, spools, and buttons on them.

Except for the aforementioned zip bag pattern, everything I bought in Vegas was on a list, and it all stayed within my budget. I’m super pleased by that. I went to JoAnn’s the other day and walked out with 2  DMC skeins needed for Let Freedom Ring. I told the cashier that was the cheapest trip I had ever made. I am having no problems so far keeping to my needle-related spending goals, and am confident February will be a success.

Tomorrow I will may be doing my first flosstube. I am joining up with my BFF, who does them frequently.

Hello to the middle of December

They say time flies when you’re having fun, and right now, except for one tiny glitch, I can say that’s true.

I have been very productive with needle and thread, both at the sewing machine and in hand.

Yesterday was one of my twice-monthly sew-togethers with my local group and I worked mainly on my Bonnie Hunter Step 3 4-patches.

Here’s my progress photos to date.
2016-12-07-12-28-532016-12-10-16-36-51

Part 1: 221/221
Part 2: 100/100
Part 3: 10/168

Today should see the finish of my purple 4-patches.

When I’m caught up on my Parts, I am cutting/preparing for the Midnight Flight class I’m taking next month. There is a class info sheet that tells us how much to bring to class (instead of enough for a whole quilt) so I’ve been pulling fabrics and cutting. I am taking more than I need so I can hopefully swap some with other attendees. I have my constant red cut, and changed the orange to a yellow. I’m also not including any purple and using blues only. I think I may be buying a couple of 1/4 cuts before then as I’d like a little more royal to go with my navy.
2016-12-07-17-10-47

2016-12-07-17-10-53

As to my stitching, I know I said in my last post that I was going to do a separate post about my Year of WIPs Challenge status, but I think instead of spending more time on this computer writing a post, I’ll just do a photo update in my dedicated tab up top. I am still loving the 10 hour rotation with the focus being on Houses of Hawk Run Hollow. I am now spending less time stitching than before, but I knew that was going to happen so chose the number of WIPs accordingly. So far I think I made great choices. The bit success right now is that I finished And They Sinned. Woohoo!

2016-11-22-17-25-24

She’s a big girl! That countertop is 5 feet long 😀 If you click on the picture, it’ll turn right side up, but it was hard to get it to focus because of the size.

The glitch I first mentioned is my HarleyQuinn had to have surgery this past Monday to remove a large hematoma from a back leg. She has 3 layers of stitches (because her skin is so thin) and the layer I can see I counted 7. While she was under the doctor went ahead and removed 7 other places and all but one of those just required 1 stitch (the other one required 2). So now we’re nursing her. Pain pills, anti inflamatory/pain pill, liquid antibiotics every 12 hours. No overactiveness, which means carrying her up and down the stairs. In other words spoiling her more than usual, which is a lot already.

This picture is of her staring at me the night before because she’s starving (she’s always starving, just ask her).
2016-12-11-21-56-43

and here she is all snuggled up between dad’s legs after we brought her home. She was drunker than Cooter Brown, and we worry she’ll flop herself off the sofa.
2016-12-12-17-21-12

Today she’s back to her sassy self, and is more work to keep her from dancing and prancing. She’ll have to have 24/7 babysitting until the stitches are removed. We do have a care-collar for her, but if we keep her with us she shouldn’t have to wear it. Fortunately Mister is out of school, and neither of us have any plans to be anywhere together that can’t be cancelled or rescheduled for a later date.

The sewing machine is back out!

I never unpacked my sewing machine, or the project I was working on, this past April after my winter visitor friends left.  I never realized how important the social aspect of sewing was to me, until this year.  Before my machine was always set up and I’d sporadically sit in front of it.  This past year.  Nope.  Never unpacked it.

When the girls started showing back up we set the date for our first twice-monthly get together at the golf course and while I was sad that I hadn’t sewed since they’d been gone, I was happy that all I had to do was load it all in car.  😀

Remember this?

2016-03-22-14-32-58

 

I ended up not sewing but pulling the papers off, and ironing open, a whole lot of tiny HSTs.  I’m going to love this tablerunner!

2016-11-08-11-04-06

I didn’t make the 2nd get together.  My BFF was in town all week for Thanksgiving break (she works out of state) and had invited me over for that day.  It ended up she was sick and I didn’t get to go see her, and I just didn’t feel like leaving the house after that.  I ended up stitching instead.

So now, here we are 2 weeks after Thanksgiving.  Black Friday was not a shopping day for me because……Bonnie Hunter has started releasing Parts for this year’s mystery quilt.  En Provence.  I spent my day at a kickoff party.

2016-11-25-09-31-55

Quilt Label from our hostess Andee!

Quilt Label from our hostess Andee!

 

Here’s a few photos of the fabric I pulled and the ladies with last year’s mystery finishes, Allietare.

2016-11-16-13-59-13

My favorite neutral

My favorite neutral

2016-11-26-05-25-28

2016-11-25-13-02-50

2016-11-25-12-59-40

Part 1 and 2 so far

2016-12-04-16-19-28

I haven’t finished part one, but I’m making great progress and I’m very happy with how things are turning out so far, although yesterday my seam ripper and I were best friends. I’m stitching the 4-patches between each Triangle in Square and my numbers so far are:

Part 1: 70/221
Part 2: 40/100

I did mention in my last blog post that I needed to decide on my quilting goals, and I want to do something similar as I’m doing for cross stitch, but I think that’s too much so for now I’m going to attempt a finish 2, start 1 and see how we go.

I forgot to mention it in an earlier post that while I was in Louisiana I found out my one and only niece is having a baby girl in April, so I get to make my very first baby quilt.  I’ve decided on the pattern, and pulled what I think is enough focus fabric from this.

2014-12-27 11.00.50 

I have some background but need to measure it, buy more if needed, then start cutting.  This is what I need to be focusing on, plus I have a Bonnie Hunter class in early January (Midnight Flight). I think I would really like to have Baby Quilt, En Provence, Celtic Solstice, and the tablerunner as definite finishes (including quilting/binding) for 2017, and everything else will be icing.

I do have some Year of WIPs Challenge updates (including finishes) but that’ll be a separate post.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...