Two Weeks Worth of Updates

Wow it has been a busy 2 weeks.  I really don't know where the time went. Work has been crazy busy for me and I haven't gotten home before 7:00pm any night this week and it was basically the same about every night the week before.  We are short handed and need to get people trained.  It is putting a strain on everyone. But I am managing my stress and rising to the challenge thanks to my morning routine.

I have been able to keep up my 30 minutes of quilting/decluttering every morning. (As well as listening to spiritually up lifting messages) It has been a life saver for me. I find I am much less stressed at work if I follow my morning routine. I am in a much better mood and things don't get to me as easily.

I started listening to a new Podcast. Just Wanna Quilt.  The host always ends it with "I hope you find time to quilt today."  I am glad that I have found time to quilt everyday.

Let's see, what have I gotten done these past two week working 30 minutes in the morning.  I have finished the Great Outdoors quilt top.  I have finished fussy cutting the blocks for the two Winnie the Pooh baby quilts. I have done about 15 hexies.  That is just the morning.

In the evening, I have finished binding one quilt and am 3/4 the way done binding the second quilt.  I have also done a few hexies in the evening. 

The reason I have been doing Hexies in the morning is that my sewing machine has been acting up.  I am convinced that it's the tension discs are not holding.  I suspect the spring that adjusts the discs has loss it's spring.  I would be sewing along and the top thread would start looping on the bottom.  I would adjust the tension again and after awhile it would start looping again.  It was very frustrating to say the least. I ended up taking it in to be serviced. I have had it for 13 years and never had to take it in.  I also took in my mother's old singer 301A. It has basically been in storage for the last 40 years. I learned to sew on it and I want to get it running again. Anyway for the last few days I've not had a machine to sew on.

Yesterday, I pulled out my very first machine. It's an old Kenmore that is almost 33 years old. My parents bought it for me as an early birthday present the summer after I got married. It has made many Halloween costumes and little girl dresses. My daughter, Christina's first sewing experience was on it. Then my daughter, Arianna, learned to sew on it. In fact Arianna still claims it.

It has been a good machine but I started having problems with it when I used it for a 4-H sewing club. Syd Viot, friend of my mother, once stated that sewing machines are intimate pieces of equipment and should only be used by one person. After my experiences with the 4-H girls using my machine, I started to understand where she was coming from. My daughters understood the mechanics of sewing so much more than the other girls, Largely because I sewed.

At one point I ended up replacing the Kenmore with a Singer Prelude. It was while the Kenmore was in the shop for the umpteenth time. Anyway yesterday, I cleaned the Kenmore up, dusted it out and threaded it.  With a little tension adjustment, it's stitching beautifully. The only problem is that I don't have a 1/4 inch foot for it.  I am going to try taking a snap on adapter off another machine to use until the foot that I ordered comes in.  Hopefully I can be stitching again in the next day or two. Oh and the Prelude is still here. I passed it onto one of my daughters.

In the meantime, there are strips to cut to size for the Winnie the Pooh quilts and several bins of fabric to sort and fold. Plus I need to cut up (fussy cut) the scraps from the Winnie the Pooh fabric. I suspect I will find more scraps in the bins. So Mt Scrapmore is growing again. I am sure I have enough to keep me busy one way or another. Not to mention all of the backs I need to make for several quilts.  

This week's goals:

1. Make backings for 2 quilts
2. Put one quilt on the machine and quilt it this coming weekend 
3. Finish binding the second Church Ladies Apron quilt
4. Cut the strips for the Winnie the Pooh quilts
5. Start on the ribbon dance quilt for Izora.
6. Make inner borders for 2 quilts.
7. Find fabric for outer borders for two quilts

What are your goals this week?

How are you doing at finding time to sew? 

Do you have a routine set that lets you sew?

Progress on Various Projects

 It has been a very hectic yet rather productive couple of weeks.  I'm still doing my morning ritual and I am making progress on lots of projects. The morning routine has become almost a necessity for me as work is getting crazy busy and very stressful.

Lily of the Valley

I have discovered that some tasks are more suitable for the 30 minute morning sessions. Morning sessions are really good for chain piecing, making bindings, folding fabric, even cutting fabric.  But any thing that is going to take some finesse or engineering should wait until the evening or the weekends.

So what did I get accomplished? The Lily of the Valley quilt blocks are assembled. Also the strips for the inner border and the binding have been cut. 

Bindings attached

Two of my mornings were spent sewing together the binding strips for the  Church Ladies Aprons quilts.  But I didn't get the bindings on the quilts until this past weekend. Attaching the bindings was too much to do in the 30 minutes I have each morning. This is especially true since these bindings were wider than I usual use and took some finagling.  Note to self, the binding tool only works for bindings made from 2 1/2 inch strips.

 In addition to the above, I've assembled 5 rows of a simple patch work quilt that I am making from 4 charm packs. (I am calling this one the Great Outdoors quilt.) It is turning out really nice and very masculine. 

Fussy cuts

I also started cutting the fabric for 2 baby quilts. Both are using fussy cuts and that is something new for me. They will be simple quilts, a 6 1/2 in fussy cut square bordered by 2 1/2 inch strips. I got the 2 1/2 in width of fabric (WOF) strips cut and about half of the squares cut.  In doing, so I emptied 4 bolts. I simply folded that remaining yardage from the strip fabric and added that to a tote.  When I get around to making the backings for a couple of UFOs, I will empty two more bolts.

During this week's morning sessions, I plan on finishing the top for the Great Outdoors quilt. Then sew the inner borders together for the Lily of the Valley quilt. Finish fussy cutting the squares for the baby quilts and cut down the WOF strips into the sizes for the blocks.  Then maybe start assembling those blocks. I also hope to make the backing for a couple of quilts so I can get them quilted next weekend.

That's lots of work for 30 minute sessions and I know that one morning I won't be able to do my session in the morning.  I will have to take my husband to the airport on Tuesday morning. But Progress is still progress and those little 30 minute sessions are adding up.  

How is routine? Are you getting in your creative time?

Morning Ritual Continues

 Well, I kept up the ritual for another week.  I went to work much more relaxed and felt much less stressed even though things didn't run smoothly.  Plus I made some progress.  I didn't get as much done as I would've liked but any progress is better than no progress. Part of the problem is that I basically only worked in the morning. I worked until after 6:00pm 4 out of the 5 days. A couple days it was after 7:00pm. That makes for a long day and a tired body. But I did work in the studio every morning and that is better than what I was doing 2 weeks ago.

So this week I went through 4 small totes of fabric.  I pulled out the small stuff and folded the yardage. My scrap bin, that was almost empty, was full again. I spent some time cutting up scraps. It still has some in it. But I did cut the larger pieces into strips. One fairly large piece was backing that had been trimmed off a quilt.  It had all irregular edges. I squared it up and cut it into 5 inch strips.  There might be enough to make borders for a small quilt. The rest of the larger pieces I cut into more manageable sizes that I can cut down later. Some I cut into 2 1/2 inch strips that can be used for binding. There were some long strips of muslin that I am going to cut into 3 inch squares for the lattice quilt. I also cut some 3 1/4 inch squares and 2 1/2 inch squares. 

Working in the mornings I managed to start sewing the Lily of the Valley quilt blocks into rows.  I have all 12 rows completed and 4 of the 12 rows are sewn together. I am really loving how this is coming together. I will get the rest done this coming week.

I did trim up the blue church ladies apron quilt.  I didn't get the binding made yet, let alone attached to the quilt. I did get the strips marked. I pinned each set together and have them hanging on the wire rack. Hopefully I will get both bindings made this week. I am needing some slow stitching in the evenings. Stitching bindings down will be perfect.

I have not been happy with the tension of the stitches on my sewing machine.  I have been having trouble with it for a while. Today I got it figured out.  My stitching looks much better.  It took a couple of hours but it was worth the time spent.  I should have done it sooner. It made a big difference when I had put a different color of green in the bobbin. I was able to see the issue much better when the thread didn't match. I knew this but honestly, I was being lazy instead of smart last time I worked on it.

I met with my friend Elizbeth and we talked about everything.  I enjoyed going out and meeting for coffee even though I drank a smoothie. It is nice to develop a friendship with someone new. I am hoping we can do this at least every other week. Maybe even every week.

I did get the floor in front of the Long arm cleared and the anti fatigue mat down.  It is so nice to stand on. I actually will just go stand on it from time to time. I am going to need one at my cutting station next year.  I even told my husband that he could get me another one next Christmas. If I don't break down and buy it myself.

Still have lots of fabric to go through.  I need to find a place for the bolts to stand.  I am hoping to have all the loose fabric in the studio done by this weekend. I really need to start on the big bins in the closet.  I need to find some green in my stash that I can use for borders on the Lily of the Valley quilt.  Lots and lots to go through yet.  I am waiting to do notions, since they are not in my studio. I am hoping to sew up some small projects, like bags and pouches. But eventually, I will have to face my limited space and pare down.  I really should have all of my stuff in one area and not scattered through out the house.  But that will be a long term project and I am going to take things one room at a time.

How is your crafting/quilting routine going?  

Are you decluttering? 

How are you organizing your space?

Is your space big enough?