To Do Tuesday #31

While I got caught up in all of my cross stitch Christmas projects, I finally sat down to work on my quilty projects. I made progress but not quite what I was expecting to finish. December has always been a flurry of activity where I finish up a bunch of stuff that has been hanging around.

Due to travel last year, that never happened. But this year, I have HIGH hopes to knock quite a few almost dones off the list before hitting the road again in January.

I will be linking up with Linda over at Texas Quilt Gal today for To Do Tuesday.

What Got Done This Week

As I mentioned, this week was not so productive on the quilting side of my life. Reviewing what I did get done, I feel pretty good about what did get done.

My squirrel project happened because I have been saving cutoff half square triangles from other projects. I separate my Alison Glass scraps from my others (I have no idea why?!). I through them away if they won’t make even a 1.5 inch square (arbitrary number). Everything left has been trimmed down to 1.5, 2,2.5, or 3.5 squares. So far I haven’t had anything bigger, but I am mirroring my scrap baskets.

1. June 29th 365 Block
2. Scrappiness is Happiness Week 5 block
3. Pot holders quilted …. but not bound
4. Squirrel project with no end in mind LOL!
5. All the pieces made for round 2 of Ruby’s Garden Block are done. Now am attaching them to round one. (EPP project)

Week 31 To Do List (Dec 6th – Dec 12th, 2022)

With my intentions to start wrapping up almost done projects this month, I have number of items to quilt or bind for the month so I am trying to spread the wealth from week to week.

To Do #1 – Week 6 block for Scrappiness is Happiness QAL with Lori Holt

Week 5 was called Happy Trails. I must say that once I started on week 5 block, I immediately know a quilt I want to make with this block. I have a Tula Pink Day Dreamer layer cake that would be perfect with a black & white chain like I used above with Alison Glass’ fabric. Did I mention that I find chains in a quilt fascinating.

I digress. Week 6 is called Lincoln Logs block which is a version of a log cabin but each round is a different width and the center is way larger than is traditional. I am already thinking about the fabric pull for this one. Definitely a gorgeous red print for the center.

To Do #2 – June 30th 365 block

This is the last one I cut a few weeks ago that I need to sign. I almost started it last night but got totally distracted by my squirrel project. LOL! I am getting close to making the next border for this classic medallion quilt.

To Do #3 – Cut July 1st & 2nd 365 blocks

I don’t want things to stall, so I want to get the next two blocks cut and ready to work on. At some point, I am going to need to kick this project into a 2 per week project instead of one. My Zoom Quilty friends are zooming through the blocks. One is on March and the other is February and they only started a few months ago.

To Do #4 – Finish! Potholders

These potholders were originally designed all gray because my sister Cheryl requested them. I have a super hard time making things people request because generally, it doesn’t excite me. So to add interest, I made an 8 pointed EPP star but then wasn’t sure how to get all those papers out to applique. It has been a learning process for me and I hope to continue doing mini projects so I can continue learning on my EPP journey before it is time to quilt my first EPP quilt size project.

While I was not thrilled with the color, I do think I found some very interesting grays to use. The dotted one was a great sales find at my local quilt store. I have used that fabric time and time again. Now I just need to finish the binding and mail to my sister.

To Do #5 – Quilt February Table Runner

With this one, I have decided to just take it off the long arm and do it on my Bernina. I think I will get done faster at this point. Plus I can practice my meandering hearts which I gotta say I am pretty good at.

To Do #6 – Quilt March Table Runner

I have always intended to quilt this on my Bernina. I know for this one, I hate green, so just don’t want to work on it. March is always all about green and I want this off my list. Quick & easy solution to my every growing WIP list is to check this one off.

To Do #7 – Bind Name of the Rose Quilt

Well, I am getting back into the groove of machine binding with those cute little potholders. It has reminded me that I prefer to hand stitch my mitered corners because I have more control. I have the binding and label all ready for this quilted to quilt. I look forward to rolling it off the long arm and finishing it up this week.

To Do #8 – Sew 2 Green Churn Dash blocks

I just need to more green blocks then I can work on my next two rows for this quilt. I think this one will be easier to assemble 2 rows at a time to get the colors spread out appropriately. This is not a high priority, but I want something easy to sew just in case I need it.

To Do #9 – Hawaiian Row 8

I have only 4 more rows to sew for this quilt top. Row 8 is out and ready to go. Another fairly easy project to work on in between other things I am working on.

To Do #10 – Finish 10″ Design Boards

This is getting ridiculous. I need to pull out the hot glue gun and get this done. I have been using them without the binding on them and now the batting is starting to come off. The point of the binding, is to keep the batting down. I would never have guessed that 10″ design board would be my most used size.

To Do #11 – Finish Ruby’s Garden EPP block #20

Round 2 is the most sewing of all the rounds for this block. I just need to attach the last unit and round 2 will be done, so next is adding the sashing to the block which I call round 3 for this block.

I have already glue basted block 21, but I will be flipping back over to Lost & Found when I am done with this block. That project just has 2 more blocks, then it will be ready to layout and assemble using sashing. I will need to start glue basting the sashing for that one.

Wrap Up

This is my first December post so I thought I would have a quick wrap up about November. I started the month with 92 WIPS and finished the month with 93 WIPS since I started the Scrappiness is Happiness QAL. I have 7 quilt tops, 4 table runners, and 1 potholder ready to quilt. I have 3 active EPP projects, 1 leaders and enders project, 3 QAL projects, 2 applique projects, and 4 other quilt tops I am actively working on. That’s a total of 22 active WIPS in November.

December I set aside a few projects with the shift to finishing as much as I could. This month I will be working on 20 active quilt projects. I set aside 1 EPP project and 2 applique projects, but pulled out a Christmas quilt project called Bringing Home the Tree by Lori Holt.

Good luck everyone with your to do wishlist this week! No need to stress over reaching for the stars. You can do more than you give yourself credit for. I like to check things off a list, so I am going to run into my sewing studio and get started.

Happy Holidays everyone and good luck!

Peggy Stockwell