Chookshed Challenge

 

My Chookshed Challenge for Sept is Machine Applique. This is timely. I have about 100 hexie flowers to assemble for Stonefields. I am doing them by maxhine. I have many hexies prepped and ready to sew together for the border. I am starting at the other end of this quilt. Not sure why other than I can. I actually have a lot done so far. I am impressed with my productivity. Now to keep the momentum going. 

There are only 46 more flying geese to make for this border. I think I have most of the coloured bars cut out just need to cut more background squares. This will be my OMG goal for Sept. I am doing the sew and flip method. I like it. I will have a lot of 3/4 inch HST eventually for something mini. 

Devan and I are using them for leader enders. She is progressing with her Jelly Roll quilt. I will show pictures when her flimsy is ready. I am looking forward to that since she is using the big design wall and I want to put up all the Stonefields blocks and borders as I complete them. 

I am working on prepared edge applique. The one using starch and a brush and a hot iron. Not sure if I like it, but I will have lots of practice now that I have started. No hand applique for me for now. 

Check out on how Gretchen and Rebecca are doing. We are all making this quilt at the same time. I love that about this project. I am so inspired by their progress. 

Blessings,

Chris 

linking with alyciaquilts-finished-or-not.

Stonefields & August Challenges

My OMG goal last month was to make 7 more of these star blocks for Stonefields. 

My OMG for August will be to make several more of the 6 inch blocks. There are 3 or 4 with hexies. I will start there.

I am really enjoying this journey so far. Four of these stars still need some tiny circles appliqued on but I will wait until I am doing more circle blocks. I took time to look through the pattern pages and listed blocks with circles. If I have the circle making stuff out, I might as well make a lot. That was my thinking with the hexies and the flying geese. 

There are 121 six inch blocks in the middle of the quilt then a flying geese border then a wider hexagon border. I am still of the mind to make only 72 blocks.  

For this project, I am working on the outside borders right at the beginning. Here is the logic. As I sorted through all the soft floral prints for the first star blocks, I took the time to cut a multitude of strips of the same fabrics to cut and prep the flying geese and the hexagon units. There will be a lot of each. Why wait until the end?  I layed out several layers of the fabrics and cut, cut cut. Devan helped me cut out hexies with the Go Baby. I will now cut a few more strips for her. She is at camp again this week loving it. I really like the colours so far that I have used. I think I will keep to this pallet. No reds or orange or really dark fabrics. 

The Chookshed Challenge number is 7. I again tweaked my original list and will assemble a flimsy. I have several almost ready to sew up. You will have to wait until the end of the month to see which one(s) I get done. 

Our summer Houseguests have all returned to their respective homes. I see a few weeks of empty spaces on my calendar. My plan for now is to sew, sew, sew and write, write, write. 

The summer days here continue to be nice and hot but the evenings have cooled down to a nice 15C or 60F. Perfect for sleeping. 

Blessings,

Chris

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Quilty Goals for July

The Chookshed Challenge number for July is 9 and that for me is to do some hand applique. I added a few stitches to this Ella block that has been languishing for several years awaiting completion. My goal will be to simply complete it. That should take about 15 minutes if I hurry.

There are a few other half done blocks nearby that I can progress also. The right hand is beginning to hurt a bit again. Wonder how long the cortisone will last this time? Last year, it lasted about 2 months.

One sister is visiting for the month on her school vacation time. Another sister will be coming over to visit and work on one of her projects. She lives in a tiny 2 room apartment and does not have the luxury of space like I do. 

Twelve year old Devan will be starting her Jelly Roll Race quilt this week. And all that means that I have to clear away my Stonefields bits and peices.

I did complete my June OMG and now for July, I want to complete the next 7 star blocks for Stonefields. I have a good start on them so far. But we also have houseguests for the entire month.

Blessings,

Chris

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Progress on Stonefields

My Chookshed Challenge project for June was permission to start a new project. I started Stonefields. 

My OMG goal was to complete 1 block. So I did. That is not all I did. I pulled out lots of fabrics. Checked out what I had in the project box. Much of the fabric was already prewashed. Some was not so I pre washed those.  I cut out lots and lots of bars and squares in preparation for making a lot of flying geese units for one of the borders. 

There are 8 of these star blocks in the quilt. Four are made in month 1 and another 4 in month 8. These also have circles appliqued on. That can be my goal for July. 

I was reading Angela from Soscrappy the other day and she mentioned cutting hexies with her Go cutter. Duh! I have a GO cutter and I have a hexie die. Wonder what size it is? My thoughts for the Stonefields hexies was fussy cutting some of them and random for others. It turns out that I do have the right size  so Devan helped me cut out a whole bunch. I am glue basting them.

The plan for now, is to machine applique them in place but that will not be till closer to the end when I have the outside borders figured out and prepped. I want to make the whole thing smaller than the original, so do not have the final count. 

Blessings,

Chris

What's Next?

It is the beginning of November and wonderful adventures. I flew out to Kansas City Missoura last week to visit my quilt blogging buddy Gail who I met in person last year at Scrub Stitching in Australia. We have been zoom friends for about 4 years. 

She took me to an amazing quilt shop that just had a gzillion new bolts of reproduction. I only had a carryon bag. And we went to Angela Walters shop. That is worthy of a post of its own.

When she asked if I wanted to go to Hamilton, to visit the Missouri Star Quilts well, I just had to say yes. After all, I live in Hamilton, Ontario Canada. We traipesed our way through 14 of the 15 shops. I chose to skip the wool shop. 

It was an amazing 86 F. Not bad, considering we were having daily morning frost back home that week.

It was a quilting kind of visit so I took along 17 Churn Dash blocks to finish sewing together. I had all the hard part done. Just had to sew all the units together. I brought them home and put them all on the big design wall and here they are. Somehow I goofed in the math and made one too many with the white center. So now to locate the rest of the bits and make one more with a coloured center. After that, I can sew them altogether and have a flimsy. 

This is the end of the 2024 chookshed Challenge. I managed to move forward most of the quilts on my list. All except the one I did not want to work on. Serendipity. So, since I did not want to work on it, I pulled out all the project boxes, the pattern binder holding all 100 blocks, and I organized what I still had to do and printed off a couple of FPP papers and now have it ready to focus on the next time I do not want to work on it. I have been playing around with a list for 2025. 

The Chookshed Challenge has us focus on 10 projects, including starting a new one if we want. Well, I want. I want to start at least 7 new quilts. So, I wrote up a list and itemized everything that has to be done in order to be ready to start. That is a lot to do. Before I actually start. Then, because I was challenged to close a few loops, (been reading Redeeming Your Time by J Raynor), I made a brand new list of all the ufo's in my cupboard and alphabetized them in a small notebook, then jotted down all the steps that need doing and some thoughts about moving them forward. I put a 2026 date on several that can wait. 

I have often joined a finish it up challenge with different bloggers hoping to move quilts to the finish line. I do not work well with that kind of pressure. I want to enjoy my quilting, not feel like a failure when I do not. I do have a complete finish I am dying to share but need a couple of tall helpers to photograph the thing. Outside. In the autumn colourfulness. Soon.

I had the second writing workshop here this past Sat and am so excited to now have 10 women who want to write their stories. We will meet again at the end of November to learn how to write a "scene". We all know how to make a scene, well, at least I do. I have had lots of practice. But to write a scene - new learning curve.

My November writing goals are to write something, anything, every single day. Today I have written my morning Pages and the rest of this blog post. Now to document this on one of my tracking sheets. I have several. For writing and for quilting. 

My November OMG quilting goal will be to complete that Churn Dash flimsy. And any other machine sewing I manage to get done. 

Blessings,

Chris

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To-Do Tuesday Oct 2024

I have posted my WIPS-B-GONE list for the next 2 months. I have been sewing in the SonRoom off and on for the past few months. As long as I do not try to do too much, I can make slow progress. Hand work is not possible these days and those wonderful Wonderclips are just too hard on my hands. 

My quilting To-Do Tuesday list for this week is:

1. Churn Dash - sew up the prepped blocks. Not sure how many there. This is my Chookshed Challenge project.  
2. Put them all up on the big design wall and take pictures. 
3. Press the Wedding Quilt and make a start on those mitered corners.
   
   I had the whole thing out last week to see what to do. There are 3 borders sewn on that will be mitered all at the same time. The last 2 quilts I made with this pattern were mitered on border at a time. and what am I thinking? I have yet another Jinny Beyer border print quilt sitting on the sidelines waiting for me to start it. I will not be alone in that journey since I have 2 quilting friends making the same quilt from kits we bought on Craftsy back in 2015. No hurry. 
4. Blog more often. Life has settled down here on the farm into a nice rythym with the grandkids back in school. My Sweetie is the "Uber Eats" driver in the family. He makes breakfast for the girls and drives them to school 3-4 days a week and now also picks them up 2 nights a week since Elly is in rugby. That is a lot of driving. I did it all 2 weeks ago and am glad I do not have to do it all the time. Their dad started a new job a year ago and needs the help. Their school is 30 minutes from here. 

My OMG goal for October will be to have one completed flimsy ready for quilting. If I designate a specific one, you know I will work on the other one. 

Blessings,

Chris

linking with ninamariesayre.off-wall-friday.

July 2024 Chookshed Challenge

 The number chosen for the Chookshed Challenge this month is #1 and that is the Macaron Mystery QAL.  I started this exactly 3 years ago to celebrate completing the Cherries Quilt. I found all the pieces. Some by accident when I was looking for a deck of cards yesterday. I did write on the challenge list to complete, quilt and bind this one. Considering my recent track record of stitching about twice each month for awhile, it will be interesting to see how far I get. 

To-Do-Tuesday list for this week:

1. Look through and organize all the pieces for Macaron Mystery.
2. Make a plan to progress. 
3. Progress.
4. Take pictures.
5. Post progress. 
6. Write something. 

That should be enough accountability for this week. The house has been full of family (8 last week, 24 yesterday, 9 today, 12 Thurs, one's flight got moved to Thurs, another 3 arrive on Friday, 5 leave next Mon, another leaves Tues, another returns and a mass exodus on Fri, leaving 3 if I did the math correctly). So, basically, family time at the farm and I am loving it. I do not have to feed them nor do I have to babysit any of them. 

We had a heat wave 2 weeks ago. It is not common for us to have 34C/93F temperatures here for more than a few days in the summer. And that is just what we had for about 3 days. It is fun to discover that the new SonRoom weathered this heat quite well. I turned off the floor heat and with the ceiling fans on medium, the temperature did not get over 75F in here. Had to remember to keep all the windows closed.  

My July OMG goal will be to have a completed top. Not sure which one it will be. I may surprise myself. 

Blessings,

Chris

To-Do Tues June 2024

 The Chookshed Challenge # for June is 10. This is Ella. For now, I have 41 blocks on the big design wall. We moved it into the SonRoon for the quilt retreat we had here a couple of weeks ago. That was a lot of fun. Deana from Dreamworthy Quilts and her husband Jim flew in for a few days. My Sweetie kept him entertained driving tractors and other fun farmer stuff and thus, kept out of the quilt room. Some of the girls who used to come here quilting in years past joined us in person and others virutally. We plan to do it again mid Aug. If anyone is interested in joining us, let me know and we can pick you up at the airport. We have had practice doing that. 

For now, Ella has just 6 applique blocks that need to be completed. I originally was going to make 50 blocks, but 41 will work. This will stay up on the wall until those 6 are finished and the sashing sewn on. Then the conundrum of how will it be quilted runs rampant through my thoughts. No idea at this point. If I intend to machine quilt it myself, then I will have to hone my machine quilting skills. So I have been revisiting Angela Walters blog for inspiration. 

My To-Do Tuesday list this week is:

1. Pack my overnight bag for a weekend retreat I have been organizing for my mentoring women's group. 
2. Go to the retreat and enjoy myself. I will not be teaching this time. 
3. Plant those flowers and berries I bought last month that are still in their pots. Not sure where to put them. 
4. Put in a few hand applique stitches on the Ella blocks. This will be my June OMG. Everything I need is right here within reach. 
5. Continue to have fun and laugh. Laughing feels so good. 

Blessings,

Chris

Chookshed Challenge

 This is Lucy. 

Lucy and I spent some time together in March. 

Lots of time.

Lucy is teaching me about perseverance. 

About sticking to the task. 

I do not like to be told what to do. 

Some days Lucy lay in a heap on the table.

Other days we played and played. 

It is time for Lucy to take a vacation. 

Well, I am taking a vacation.

 Lucy will not be accompanying me.

And why?

Because my Sweetie and I are going to a family wedding in England.

Lucy takes too much room now that she is growing. 

Sarah Morrell wants to play this month. 

Will she join me? 

The challenge # for April is 9. 

That is Sarah Morrell's number. 

But I do not have any hand work prepped. 

Sigh. 

My to-do list for this week includes:

1. Finish emptying out anything that will move out of the living room to get ready to shampoo the carpet tomorrow. 
2. Bag up and donate the gzillion toys that were removed on the weekend. 
3. Load them into the car to drop off this afternoon.
4. Bag up the broken and discarded toys ready for garbage Friday.
5. Deal with the quatrillion ants in the SonRoom. 
6. Visit the location for our women's group retreat for June today and see just how many beds are available. There are 6 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms. I know that. And a heated swimming pool. And a fireplace. And a double curved staircase. 
7. Remember to drop off the toys.
8. Then write up a packing list for my ladies. I already have the meal signup sheets printed. 
9. Order British currency at the bank.
10. Get travel insurance. It is much more now that we are over 70. 
11. Find something to wear to the wedding. We were told we could not wear jeans. You can see the venue here 
12. Work on just 2 Morrell blocks. That should satisfy the requirements for the challenge. Progress it is called. This will be my April OMG goal. 

That should keep me busy for a few days. There is an eclipse coming on Monday and my Sweetie is going to babysit the boys this Friday and is planning to stay over until Monday. That leaves me home for the weekend on my own (insert giggles and extreme brain activity). Whatever mischief  activities could I pursue? My Mentoring Women's group is meeting here for potluck on Sat afternoon and we will be wrapping up a book study we have been doing this winter. 

Blessings,

Chris

March 2024 Goal

 This is Lucy. 

Lucy Boston Patchwork of the Crosses.

Lucy is relaxing laying in the sun

on the heated floor in the new SonRoom at the Farm. 

She is tired of relaxing and being in time out. 

So . . . 

 We are going to play together this month.

Yes. For the whole month. 

The Chookshed Challenge # is 4 and that is Lucy's number. 

A couple of cortizone shots in my hands last week

and I am ready to play also. 

Let's see how far we get. 

It is only 31 days

in a row. 

Can we play everyday?

 We shall see. 

Blessings,

Chris

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150 Canadian Women Update

I finally cleared off my tables, moved a few things, put a few things away, reorganized more things and dusted off one of the machines. Incredible amount of dust. And flies. Now dead flies. Interesting that they just come out of the woodwoork when the spring sun starts to shine.

 

My OMG, RSC, and Chookshed Challenge for February was to make progress on the 150 Canadian Women BOW from 2017 to commemorate Canada's 150th birthday. I had enough precut bits to sort out 17 blocks before I had to cut some more pieces. I preped about 24 then decided it was time to actually start sewing. And sewed I did. And I also unsewed. A lot. When I made more mistakes than correct seams, I decided it was time to call it done for this month. After all, what will I do next month? Deana will pull a number tomorrow night and then I can decide to do that project or, yet again, tweak my list and work on something else. 

Spring has arrived on our part of Canada. A bit too early for our liking. And the sun has been shining profusely. I think we had 3 major snow storms the entire winter. Yesterday was thunder showers and, you know, thunder. All that snow is gone. 

I am planning a Q@F Reunion Retreat for the end of May. We will be sewing for 3 whole days in the new SonRoom. 

After waiting for nearly a year to see a specialist, I finally got some cortizone shots in my hands to relieve the arthritic pain that has hindered my hand stitching. So, Lucy is back on the scene. 

My To-Do Tuesday list:

1. Blog post for To-Do Tuesday, OMG, RSC and Chookshed Challenge. 
2. Habit tracking - find the link and print off fresh sheets since my daughter's cat knocked over my water glass and soaked all my papers when I visited there last week. 
3. Change the March  challenge to something else since I have that option. Wonder what number will be announced tomorrow night?
4. Set my March OMG goal. 
5. Don't overdue the goal setting. 

Blessings,

Chris

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150 Canadian Women Revisited

The 150 Canadian Women was a weekly QAL from Kat Tucker to commemorate Canada's 150th birthday back in 2017. Three six inch block patterns were release weekly for a free downlaod. Each block has a story of a woman that made a significant impact on Canada as we know it in the 21st century. Stories  of women from over 300 years. Northcott released a collection of fabrics in red and white and black and even some tourquoise which I did not purchase. It just seemed wrong. Instead, I pulled a different collection from 2010 with our National Anthem and maple leaves. Surprizingly, I had most of the fabrics, patterns and already made blocks in a project bin just begging to be remembered.

And then I found one more labled box on the bookshelf with other neatly labled project stuff. I even had a couple of blocks with partly sewn units and the fabric needed to complete them. I must have had a lot of time to do all that sorting and organizing. Wonder why I stopped? The last time I worked on it was 3 years ago. Oh yes. Covid lockdown with all my family living here at the same time. Competing for table space with jigsaw puzzles.

So, I took time to sort through all the patterns only to discover that I had them all in order. The completed block patterns had been separated out. I had cut lots and lots of pieces with my GO Baby cutter to sort of speed things up. And today, since I had cleared off tables and and iron boards and machines, I sorted out the precuts into size piles. I have 4 backgrounds and 4 colours. There are more fabrics in the bin, but I am starting here. 

This is my project for February for OMG, RSC and the Chookshed Challenge. I wonder how many blocks I can make without having to cut any more pieces?  

blessings,

Chris

Chookshed Challenge February 2024

Deana picked #2 for the February Challenge. I made a list of 10 quilting projects to work on this year for the Chookshed Challenge. Last month I started in on some Crazy Patch Embroidery. That will continue throughout the year. This month's RSC colour is red so I thought I would again tweak my list and work on the 150 Canadian Women since all those blocks are red.

I have about 28 complete with a lot of pieces quick cut with my GO Baby cutter. I will pull out the project bin from the back of the bottom shelf of endless ufo and fabric boxes in the corner of my bedroom. No. I will not post a picture of that.  

I have been slowly, very slowly, stitching Lucy blocks together. My poor arthritic hands are not liking that so I thought maybe doing some machine work would be a good idea. 

This will be my OMG goal for Feb also. 

Blessings,

Chris

 

Crazy Patch Embroidery

 Recently I saw some crazy patch embroidery some one was doing and thought it might be nice to revisit that craft. I learned how to embroider when I was about 14 in 4-H. My first quilt was embroidered squares. 

I found this book on my shelf that I bought about 4 years ago. Turns out that the author was a newbie and created her own base seams for her Stunning Stitches. The book has 480 embroidered seam designs. Now I see on Amazon that she has another 350 in a new book. 

I do not intend to pretend that I will make all those, but I plan to make at least 24 seams. Goodness knows, I have enough floss, silk ribbon, beads and other bits and pieces that can be used. 

I learned a bit about silk ribbon embroidery a lot of years ago. I was so excited, I bought ALL the tiny kits (15) that were on a ridiculous close out sale years ago back in the '90s. I had forgotten about them until I was rummaging through boxes looking for some elusive thing that I am always misplacing.

In 2010 I signed up for a Baltimore class. I collected a lot of supplies. Our instructor used to own a quilt shop in Alabama and when her husband took a job in Toronto, she had no time for a sale so just loaded everything up and brought it with her. She gave away a lot of door prizes at her classes. 

I  had just started teaching the Dear Jane class at the Farm and thought I might move on to teaching dimensional applique. So, I bought lots of fancy ribbon with wires in them. Will I even remember how to do any of that? 

Did I mention that I was working on a master's degree at the time? I was. I did finish that. 

And I bought books. I was going to do this one day. 

Kits were started and neatly (hardly) shoved into bags and later project boxes.

All of this survived the great purge of 2021. 

I took a silk ribbon class around 1996. At least that is the date on the receipt in the bag.

I have taught a lot of girls to start stitching. I led girls clubs and 4-H 20-30 years ago. The stitches were worked onto a scrap of cloth and we created a little picture. 

I am teaching the little girls to do various kinds of stitching.

I took a workshop in crazy patch back in 2010, but had too much going on to focus on the creativity that it required.  

We were told to trace the pattern onto the back of a piece of muslin or other scrap cloth. Then we did a sew and flip method of foundation piecing. The new book has us securing the block into a stretcher frame. So I did. Yesterday.

My OMG goal was to sort through, organize and make a plan. Since I have this block already started, my plan for now is to add a few more rows of stitching. And while I do this, I will ponder what I could do next. Stay tuned. Because, if I start a new block, I will have to rummage through boxes and boxes of fabrics choosing the right ones. And the yard of muslin I bought in Shipshewana has gone awol. 

Blessings,

Chris

January 2024 OMG Goal

I have thought long and hard about what my January One Monthly Goal should be. I have not always remembered to post one and not always followed through to complete it. I decided to join the Chookshed Stitchers 2024 Challenge and I can combine the 2 goals together. Not an original idea but it works for me. 

My Challenge project is to work on Embroidery. I had this crazy idea to do some crazy patch embroidery. I have a book, I have several project bins filled with floss and silk ribbon and seed beads and other interesting things.

My OMG goal will be to sort through, organize and make a plan.  I actually have several books. This will be a year long project or longer, depending on the plan I come up with. 

We have had all the grand children and an exchange student here for the past week and off to a family wedding in New York later this week. It has been gloriously noisy and busy. This truly has been a Christmas to remember. 

linking with Kathy at Slow Sunday Stitching. 

blessings,

Chris

August 22 To-Do Tuesday

 The list from 2 weeks ago  shows much accomplishment.

1. Put away my books and clear off the tables. DONE
2. Figure out how to correct the printer off-line error so we can print stuff. DONE but got a new hard drive so am dealing with unexpected changes.
3. Put away the clutter from the big ironing board. DONE then I promptly filled it up.
4. Take some before and after photos. DONE
5. Write up some blog posts. DONE 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
6. Sew up one yellow Bright Jane block. NOPE. NEW PLAN
7. Fix the mitered corners on the center medallion of the Wedding Quilt.  PROGRESS
8. Prewash the new fabric for Windermere. DONE
9. Put up the Corn and Beans blocks on the big design wall and decide on a setting. There are so many options. Getting this to a flimsy will be my OMG goal for August. DONE
10. Cut out a couple of Lucy blocks. JUST ONE AND DONE
11. Launch the new How to Stay Married for 50 Years blog. DONE
12. Find the new mouse traps I bought last week and set them. DONE 

That list took me 2 weeks to accomplish.  

One of the fun things about family visiting is we can learn new things. So I went shopping on line and bought a few new toys. And the many heavy rains we have been having this summer have turned the geranium flowers brown. So deadheading is my puttering task. 

These are the most amazing gadgets ever created for us senior gardeners. Well, for any gardeners. I did not have to kneel on all those rocks in years past. 

This week's list looks something like this:

1. Write something every day 
2. Blog posts. I got way behind this summer with people and events here so just jumped back in. I also quietly launched the new blog How to Stay Married for 50 Years. I will be posting weekly. Now to figure out how to create a button for it. 
3. Get my flowerbeds looking beautiful again after many rainstorms.
4. No playing games.
5. Work on sewing up Corn and Beans.
6. Progress on Wedding Quilt.
7. Play with some 23 ufos. I pulled  out the 3030 box to see what is happening there so I can prep for the new Sweet 16 BOW. I will be using 30s reproduction fabrics. 
8. Drink more water. A lot more.

That should keep me out of mischief this week. I have little girls here this week and they all want to earn $$$. I have a plan for that. 

Blessings,

Chris

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August 1 To-Do Tuesday

 I did not complete my list for July. But I did  make progress. Some. 

To-Do Tuesday list for July 

1. Write up this blog post today and post it. done
2. Write up blog post on the 50+2 Anniversary Celebration. nope
3. Finally write a post about our trip to Australia back in April. Is it July already? It is August already. 
4. Prepare to launch the new blog How to Stay Married for 50 Years. Goes live next Monday on our official anniversary. So excited!!
5. OMG goal for July will be to complete this To-Do list. It worked last time I did that. Did not work this time. 
6. Find both parts of the hexie ruler for the QAYG to send back to England with my sister who has been visiting here this week for the party. I had it with me when I visited her last summer, but forgot to leave it. I have 2 days. I did not find the other piece. What I did was  misplace the first one. Sheesh. I will be visiting her in April for her grandson's wedding. I have 9 months. So, she flew out a few days later and I found both parts of the ruler. One part was in Lucy's big project box. The other is in the small rulers box where it belonged. I have until April to not lose them again. 
7. Clear away the recent mess I made in the Blue Room and get it set up to do some serious quilting. This includes setting up 4 machines with 4 projects. Cleared the mess and set up 3 machines. Even used 2 of them.  
8. RSC colour for July is red. Get the red Bright Jane blocks out, organized and actually sew some of them. Not sure how many yet to do in red, but complete at least 1. Not even one.
   
   
   
9. Complete 1 applique block and 1 pieced block for Ella. It has been on the big design wall for the past few weeks. DONE ! ! !
10. Complete the Wedding Quilt. It went on pause yet again when I had the second eye surgery. That eye is not healing as quickly as the first one. Not a stitch. 
    
    
    
11. Complete one Lucy block then glue baste a few more squares. Hand stitching on this has been very difficult for the past few months. Done the one I started in April at Scrub Stitchin.
12. Revisit 23 ufos for 2023 and make a plan. done and pulled out the Corn and Beans blocks to started to put up on the big design wall. 

Now to be more realistic in my planning. This week's list includes:

1. Put away my books and clear off the tables.
2. Figure out how to correct the printer off-line error so we can print stuff. 
3. Put away the clutter from the big ironing board,
4. Take some before and after photos.
5. Write up some blog posts.
6. Sew up one yellow Bright Jane block. 
7. Fix the mitered corners on the center medallion of the Wedding Quilt. 
8. Prewash the new fabric for Windermere. 
   
   
   
9. Put up the Corn and Beans blocks on the big design wall and decide on a setting. There are so many options. Getting this to a flimsy will be my OMG goal for August.
10. Cut out a couple of Lucy blocks. 
11. Launch the new How to Stay Married for 50 Years blog. 
12. Find the new mouse traps I bought last week and set them. 

That should keep me busy this week. It is really quiet here these days. We have had record rains this past week and the weeds are incredible. I have discovered that pulling them out of the mulch around the patio is a lot easier than pulling them out of the other flower beds. I get someone else to do that. 

Blessings,

Chris

Linking to: OMG

RSC

To-Do Tuesday

Design Wall Monday

Friday Night With Friends FNWF

Back in the Game

 To-Do Tuesday list for July

1. Write up this blog post today and post it.
2. Write up blog post on the 50+2 Anniversary Celebration.
3. Finally write a post about our trip to Australia back in April. Is it July already?
4. Prepare to launch the new blog How to Stay Married for 50 Years. 
5. OMG goal for July will be to complete this To-Do list. It worked last time I did that.
6. Find both parts of the hexie ruler for the QAYG to send back to England with my sister who has been visiting here this week for the party. I had it with me when I visited her last summer, but forgot to leave it. I have 2 days. 
7. Clear away the recent mess I made in the Blue Room and get it set up to do some serious quilting. This includes setting up 4 machines with 4 projects. 
8. RSC colour for July is red. Get the red Bright Jane blocks out, organized and actually sew some of them. Not sure how many yet to do in red, but complete at least 1. 
9. Complete 1 applique block and 1 pieced block for Ella. It has been on the big design wall for the past few weeks.
10. Complete the Wedding Quilt. It went on pause yet again when I had the second eye surgery. That eye is not healing as quickly as the first one.
11. Complete one Lucy block then glue baste a few more squares. Hand stitching on this has been very difficult for the past few months.
12. Revisit 23 ufos for 2023 and make a plan.

This should keep me busy for the next few weeks. I could have added prewash the fabric that my sister brought me from England for Windermere, plan a short trip away with my Sweetie, and consider the new BOM that Sentimental Stitches has been teasing us with the past couple of weeks. But, alas, the house is still full of family visitors, even though the house is empty for this hour and I get to use my own computer, and there is a wedding celebration in the back yard this Sat but we are only providing the venue since everything is already in place after our party.

Oh, and I finally found the battery charger for the camera when I was looking for new post-it pad. 

Blessings,

Chris

OMG and To-Do Tuesday for all of March

 I have been so taken up with working on the Shade's of Pemberley ufo for Dust Off a Book Blog Hop. It will be going on all week. You can find links here to see what other quilters have been inspired by old quilt books. I also have been slowly but diligently working on the Wedding Quilt. I made almost as many mistakes as I did correct seams. It was quite discouraging to keep unstitching. I don't know about a lot of other quilters, but I find that working at my machine for any length of time exhausting. I have dealt with low back pain most of my adult life and trying to do the finish-it-up-marathon was very painful. Hense, the hot tub. I was up and down to clip, cut, sew, press, line up, etc.

I thought I was getting quite a good workout, but not so. I have spent a small fortune over the years on physio, massage, chiro, osteo, and pain killers. The hot tub is the best treatment. Even in the snow. 

Now to change focus for this month. 

I am going away next week and again for most of the month of April. I plan to take along a few hand applique blocks for Ella aka the Anniversary Quilt.

I have not done any significant work on it for 2 years and it is time to finish it up. And why? Because we have set a date for the 50+2 Anniversary Celebration. It will be the weekend of July 1-4. That is a long weekend here in Canada and in America where some of our family live. We have booked a tent and a bouncy castle and a roaster for a pig roast. It is going to be spectacular. 

But I still have to finish the quilt. So, my goals this month will be to complete these 3 foundation pieced blocks that are already prepped and on the go. I also want to make significant progress on the applique blocks. That is it for my quilty goals. 

My 40 Bags are filling up. I have about 7 right now and time this week to fill a whole lot more. Mostly outgrown clothes and empty yogurt containers I use for freezing meals. I will be dropping off the clothes on Thurs. 

Linking with Carol at To-Do Tuesday and Patty at One Monthly Goal. Now to get busy.

Blessings,

Chris