Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men

Some one once wrote ''the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry" It was one of those weeks where it seems no matter what I planned to do, life gets in the way?  Last week I over planned hoping to to keep myself focused.  Of the eight goals I set I did manage to get three done. And I did get another one started.

1. Square up the star blocks - done on Tuesday night
2. Cut the sashing for the star quilt - done on Saturday evening
3. Sew star points on the sashing
4. Work on assembling the start quilt top
5. Find the fabric for the borders and back for the Christmas Lemonade quilt - done on Saturday afternoon
6. Put borders on the Christmas Lemonade quilt -started on Sunday afternoon but not finished
7. Make the back for the Christmas Lemonade Quilt
8. Get the Christmas Lemonade quilt on Millie

So what happened, You may ask. Even if you don't ask I am going to tell you. Awry! Things went awry!

Monday I had to get up early to take my husband to the airport before work. Of course since he was packing for the week we didn't get to bed on time. By the time I got home on Monday I was drop dead tired. I couldn't have worked on a quilt if I had the energy because my mind was not functioning at that point. I don't want to work on projects when I am that tired. It just ends up a disaster. So I looked a couple of quilt magazines and called it a night.

Tuesday night, I made up for lost time. I got all 20 start blocks squared up and trimmed down. They look really nice. I went to bed feeling pretty proud of myself. I was eager to get going on the sashing.

Wednesday night was church clean up, I normally wouldn't have gone after the long day I had, but I was supposed to meet with someone to do some planning. I stayed as long as I could but we didn't get around to the planning. So a bit a wasted night for me. Again I perused some quilt magazines before bed. Not sure that is such a good idea since it makes me want to plan more quilts. I have enough prepped and planned as it is.

Thursday, Miss Betty had been rushed to the hospital with chest pains. After work I picked up Perigrine and took her to stay with Mr. Terry (Betty's husband). I stayed and chatted with him for a while until we knew that Betty was okay and would be coming home that night. That pretty much shot my night. Betty and Terry are kind of adopted grandparents for my kids. Betty doesn't have any kids of her own. And well we take care of each other.

Friday, I was pretty tired and didn't feel like doing much of anything after work. I wasn't feeling all that well so I took a nap. That is never a good thing for making progress, in fact I find I less likely I to get things done if I nap. When I got up, I paid the bills and went through a bunch of papers, shredding those that needed shredding and filing the others. it made the studio neater but not much progress on the quilting goals.

Saturday, I cleaned the studio. I put things away and swept and dusted. I cleaned up Millie and my desk. I even did some mending that I had been putting off. It is always nicer to start work in a clean space. Oh and I went to breakfast with my son, which took a couple of hours. Totally worth it though.

On Saturday afternoon I debated on whether to cut the borders for the Christmas lemonade quilt or cut the sashing for the star quilt. I decided to cut the sashing. That way I could work on just a few pieces at a time during the week.

Sunday afternoon I decided to go ahead and cut the borders for the Christmas lemonade quilt.  I got the top out and was really pleased with myself. I had a note pinned to it with the dimensions of the quilt on it. I had already calculated how many strips to cut.  I am planning to miter the corners of the border. I got the strips for the borders cut and sewn together. I even took out the stitching if the angled seam didn't sit right "instead of making it work" That is not always something I've done in the past.

So I have done some of my goals but let's face it I need to do better.  So this week I will work on:

1. Sew star points on the sashing
2. Work on assembling the start quilt top
3. Put borders on the Christmas Lemonade quilt
4. Make the back for the Christmas Lemonade Quilt
5. Get the Christmas Lemonade quilt on Millie

Of course I am also trying to resist starting another quilt. I am eager to do the stack and flip quilt. Mostly because I think it will go fast. I do want to finish some projects though. I just can't seem to get enough time to do all that I want to do.  But then I don't know anyone who feels they have enough time to do all they want to do.  

I think I need to keep trying to do a little everyday instead of making big pushes on the weekends. If I have things ready on Sunday night then during the week I can sew a little every night. That way on the weekends I can try to do the cutting, layouts, and of course the quilting.  Hopefully I will get more accomplished this way. 

So tomorrow either I work on borders or the star points on the sashing. Then maybe by this weekend I will have a quilt on Millie and be laying out the star quilt.

Here's to the best laid plans. Hopefully the Mice and Men will stay out of my way.