July Is Here! How Did That Happen? OMG, Block Count, And Finally Finished!

July already? How did that happen! I don't know about you, but the older I get the faster the year goes! This month is, for me, an anxious month. My hubby starts his new job in Franklin Ky and we have be looking for a home somewhere around the Bowling Green area. We've been packing everyday and now have a house full of boxes! I'm embarrassed to say I don't feel like I've made a dent in my art studio!

I make a point to sew everyday, it calms me...most days! I say most days because I'm working on Jelly Snowflake again and again it's giving me fits! I had this as my OMG for March and didn't finish because my Tiara 3 Long arm wouldn't cooperate. I decided to try again to get it out of the way for the tentative move and I've found a way to make it work most of the time. I'm making this my One Monthly Goal, to finish the quilting on the snowflake quilt! Next month my OMG will probably be to hide all those threads! 😆

Here's a close up of some of my stitches. I saw this pattern on Angela Walters Free Motion Challenge, the link takes you to her video. If you are wanting to learn how to quilt or add more variety to your repertoire check out Angela's videos! And don't forget to print out the diagram and tip sheet. She really is great at helping new quilters!

 Look at all those threads! EEEK I think that will be a good distraction on our ride to Bowling Green. It's at least 2 hours away and hubby will be driving, a great way to spend my time productively and get my daily sewing in!

Here is another close up of my Paisley Feathers. Not as smooth as I would like, but considering having to deal with skipped stitches I'm fine with it.

As much as I would love to say I will have the binding put on too, I don't want to push it! I think I'll be lucky to get it quilted!!!

Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal July Link-up

I want to say if you are on the fence about playing along in OMG, you really should! I find it helps keep me on track, motivated and gets me blogging, introduces me to other quilt bloggers and there are prizes!!! I'm happy to say I won a $25 gift card to Fat Quarter Shop!!! I feel like I'm a winner ever time I get a project complete!I 

Here are updated posts of my journal pages for tracking "my sew everyday" and projects in the works.

These 2 pages are my new starts for 2021.

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This page gives me a more detailed snapshot of the projects.

My pages with all my WIPS! How embarrassing!

Do you keep track of your daily habit, like sewing everyday?

Last months block count is 4! Yes only 4 blocks, but I did get 4 shirts done and finally completed the Out Of This World quilt!!!! I've also been sketching, doing the ICAD Index-Card-A-Day by Daisy Yellow. In the next couple days I'll post what I have done so far. I must admit I haven't worked on it everyday, but the last few days I've been getting better!

I hope you had a productive June and your July is even more eventful!

Sheila 

Duke had a hard day hiding for the noisy booms of fireworks.
 I'm sorry to say I missed out on the OMG for this month. Hopefully next month!!!

June's OMG, My Block Count So Far And Sewing Clothes

 One of the things I wanted to do better was blogging...I failed! I missed the last couple months of joining OMG. But it just means I need to try again and harder to stay on track! 

For my OMG I want to get my son's Out Of This World Quilt finished. All that is left is trimming and binding. I figure if I want to get it done in time for him to take it to college with him this fall I need to get it done and out of the way now!

Since I have it on the table I might as well get started and get it trimmed! I also noticed I still have threads that need to be hidden. I had a lot of trouble with the thread breaking so there is more than usual. The OMG is run by Elm Street Quilts and I strongly urge you to play along. It helps me complete projects and get those ducks back in a row. Until the next squirrel comes running by!!!

Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal June Link-up

 

This is a page from my 2019 journal.

Did you catch what I said... My son starts College this fall! I'm not dealing with it very well. Last month was prom and graduation. Here's my sweet boy at the prom...

 

They had their prom outside so we opted for a sports jacket instead of a tuxedo. We figured he could use it later.

The size of his class was 135 and that was also held outside. I'm so proud at how well he has done. He graduated with a weighted GPA of around 5! We'll know for sure when he gets his grades.

The next months coming up will involve packing and getting him ready for his next chapter. 😭

and ours.

 

 I'm playing along with Prairie Moon Quilts and I am keeping track of my block count for the year and as of the end of May I have only made 95 blocks. 

But I did complete a 42" Square table topper/wall hanging that I was a tester for Jen of Patterns by Jen. She's taking time off and I'm not sure when she will post the pattern and the testers quilts so I won't post it here yet. I also made several blocks for Home Is... by Pat Sloan. I am behind, I need to finish 5 more blocks. So hopefully I can get that done this month too.

I've also made 6 shirts! I found Love Notions Sewing Patterns and they make clothing patterns. I haven't made clothes since I was in my 20's and it wasn't many. So I consider myself a beginner. But these patterns are easy to follow and I feel so proud of myself! One of the last shirts I made was the Rhapsody...

I love it! And so does Gracie, or maybe it's just the attention she was getting.

As for my PHD progress...Lets refer to the squirrels! I was distracted and didn't complete any of my projects, but I have moved them along! 

I think that's about it for now. I'll try to do better at getting my blog out. I have several new quilt ideas I plan on writing up and making them, maybe I should get a tester or two? So for now, Have a great day, week, month!

Sheila

My Month In Review, Counting Blocks, Phd Finish and OMG

 I feel pretty good about what I got done in the quilty part of my life, not so much in the packing and getting rid of part! And that stresses me! But onto my block count and project finishes and what is in store for February.

First I'm linking up with Prairie Moon Quilts to keep track of my block count. And I'm happy to say my count is 32! Most of the blocks are from my new/first pattern! Sorry no pictures at this time. I hope to start writing up the pattern this week along with continue to make more blocks and completing it. I made 4 blocks from Pat Sloan's Home Is... QAL and 2 of the Merry Mini blocks more on that below. I posted them on my last blog post. I think I have to figure out a better way to get my posts scheduled!

 

I'm also linking up with Quilting Gail who runs the PHD on her blog. PHD stands for Projects Half Done...LOVE IT! And I'm happy to say I actually finished one of my projects from 2019! I know I posted it yesterday, but I'm posting it here too otherwise I'll have nothing to show!!!

This is the Merry Mini quilt from The Fat Quarter Shop. You can still access the pattern here.

Here is one way I'm tracking my Projects.

The first project on my list, Out Of This World quilt has it marked that I quilted it, but I just got carried away when coloring it in! I will work on that next along with #12 Jelly Snowflake.

Here's my Jelly Snowflake that I have done so far. The four corners are complete and all I have are the fourth section and the center block to do, then quilt and bind and it's a finish. Hopefully in time to use it this winter!!! And to help me get it done in time for us to use this year, This is my OMG for February! I want to get the top pieced and ready for quilting.

Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal February Link-up

 

 

I thought I would share my tracker for sewing everyday. I don't put a time limit on how long I have to sew, I just have to sew. I set this up the beginning of the year with the date in a box. That is the most extensive time I put into this. Then all I have to do is color in that date. 

It may not be pretty, but it works for me and makes me feel good about staying on track.

Another way to track your progress on your projects is with TRELLO. If you like apps and doing things digitally this may be the way for you. I use it to keep track of my projects, what quilts I finished and what quilt books I own. I have it on my phone and I can access it on my computer. I like that I can work on it on more than one device and I can actually post my pictures in it. I'm a visual person and like to see what is going on, besides the colors always cheer me up!

This is my Trello quilting page, called boards. I can click on the project and it will open up to let me see what I have done, needs to be done and if I need to add anything like a completed block or new photo. The other nice thing about this program is when I complete a project, let say The Out Of This World quilt, I just move the "card" to another board...The finished quilts board under the list for 2021 finishes. You can also share sections if you are working on a project with others. I haven't done this so I can't give you much info on that. I thought this was a nice way to track your projects if you like digital instead of the manual nature of a journal. Or like me want another way to look at your projects. The section I have on my quilt books helps me NOT buy the same book! I'm sure no one ever does that!

That's all for today!!!

Sheila

January's OMG, Latest QAL and More Bullet Journal

 Can you, as a quilter think of anything more exhilarating than the possibilities that a new bundle of fabric holds. Even more thrilling is the start of a new project, the fabric uncut, the placements of the fabric in that first block and in the case of a QAL, a mystery of what the future blocks may hold...

That's what I was feeling Wednesday morning! Pat Sloan's new QAL started called Home Is... I'm not much for applique, but if I want to grow as a quilter I have to work on building my skills. Her first block has a small applique heart on it and if you really don't want to attempt it you don't have to put it in. I chose to challenge myself! Here's my block 

 

and a close up of the applique heart.

I used Aurifil #2425 Bright Pink to stitch around the heart and I'm using Edyta Sitar's Sweet Sixteen fabric for this QAL. Don't you just love those little birdies!

Now onto my OMG for January...

Since I didn't complete my OMG for last month I'm carrying it over. I'm happy to say that I finally finished the third block! Only one left, then quilt, bind and done!

 Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal January Link-up

And that's my OMG this month it is the same as last month, complete the Merry Mini wall hanging... Get it quilted and binding on! I'm feeling pretty good about getting things accomplished this month. I hope it lasts all year! 

I had a few comments and interest on my bullet journal last post, so I thought I would talk more about how I use it with my quilting. I don't spend too much time drawing in it or making it too fancy. I need it to be a way of organizing my thoughts. I get overwhelmed if too much is swimming around my brain and have always found jotting down a To-Do list help settle me. But I would end up with post-it notes and scraps of papers getting lost which doesn't help keep my brain settled. I started to use a journal a few years ago and I'm still working on ways to make it work for me. Here is last years page of how I keep track of what needs to get done or what I decide not to work on or just save the patterns to.

Sometimes it helps remind me of upcoming QALs or let's me see I have way too much I want to do! I can also look at my list and figure out what I have to work on next. I use this along with the Project List that I shared last post. This breaks down the projects into how many blocks are in the quilt or when the next one comes out.

You don't need a fancy journal to keep track like this, just a notebook will do. I started out by using a binder with pages I printed out. It helped me figure out what I want to keep track of, what I don't and how I want to set things up. Last years journal was a little less artsy than the previous year, but I did use it to think up quilting ideas or blocks I'd like to try. I do like looking at some of the drawings I did in 2019 when I had a moment to play. Maybe I'll do more of those too!

If you have any questions I'd love to help! If you are interested in more of my pages let me know and I'll post them next time. I keep everything in my journals...dinner ideas, sew everyday tracker, yoga tracker, and my daily happenings along with quotes and whatever is interesting me at the moment. 

Until next time!

Sheila

For all the animal lovers...                     Me and Duke,

He has helped me heal with his gentle soul.

Welcome 2021 And What's In Store

 What's in store quilting wise that is! I want to join more links and get more done! Last year I only finished 3 quilts! How sad!!! I did complete several flimsies...Is that how you spell the plural of flimsy? Anyway, I have found several blogs that I enjoy and a few new ones that I want to participate in along with the ones that I already participate in. I put their buttons on the right and it should take you to their blogs to find out more about their link ups.

One of the new ones is Quilting Gail. She runs the PHD or Projects Half Done. I love that don't you! Check out her blog for the details! Here is my list of PHDs, I keep a bullet journal and figured it would be easiest just to post the pages from that. 

Numbers 25 and 26 are my ongoing projects. I'm using certain blocks from the past Aurifil DOM QAL along with some from this year. I love the ease of coloring in the sections that are done. As you see I have more than 12! I like that I can pick and choose what I want to work on and try to get finished.

This is my pages for this years starts. I doubt it will stay that empty for long!!! I already put in Pat Sloan's QAL that starts January 6th and Jen Shaffer of Patterns By Jen. She runs the Color Challenge every year and I've been one of the Color Challenge bloggers that participates in showing my version. This year I believe we are including recipes!!! I'm hoping that this year I will get to complete my quilt!

Of course I'll continue to link up with OMG, For The Love Of Geese, and Free Motion Mavericks, hopefully more often, at least that's the goal. I'm going to try and not start too many QALs, they usually get me bogged down. I will do Pat Sloan's QALs. She is the first QAL I participated in when I started quilting and feel a connection with her. 

The second page is for something new I want to do and that is to start making my own quilts and writing up patterns. I have several that I'm excited about trying, a few I already have the material for! 

So let's get this year going!!!!

Sheila