To Do Tuesday

Yep, that's going to be a new tag line here -- to do Tuesday. Because usually I have recovered from the weekend and have a plan for the week....whether it is stash reduction or office cleaning or block assembly or  business taxes (I know, the boring side of business, but it has to be done, and it does take away from sewing time). As a business owner that still works full time in a "real job" it can be hard to carve out space for teh hobby part of the business. It is easy to get swamped by the deadlines, shows, and time demands for businessy stuff. And forget that you do it because you love the craft and enjoying teaching others your love of the craft. Okay, and now I will step down from my soap box.....and talk about the projects I am hoping to get done this week....

Specifically this one.......

It's an older pattern from 2009-2010, but I love it for it's simplicity. It's a great beginner pattern for paper piecing, it only has 2 units, which occur in 2 sizes, plus a flying geese unit. And -- for those of you who are still a little shy about taking on curves piecing, no worries, there is not a curve in sight. 

Of course, I have chose a completely different color way for mine, using Hoffman's 1895 Sapphire (dark clear blue) for the background, and a series of different brights for the stars -- orange and yellow, shades of hot pink, purples, and even some royal blues. 

Check back a post or to see a quick sample of one of the mini stars.

Cat 

Weekend Warrior

Well, it was a great weekend, and I am super excited for all the things that are going on. I've made a lot of progress the past week or, as the schedules have lightened up and I have gotten home at a decent hour almost every night, which makes a huge difference in what you can get done. 

As most of you know, I got my Mariner's Compass completed.....and then proceeded to pull all of the papers and effectively make a huge mess of tiny papers all over the living room. Seriously, the Rumba went on strike (Rumba = automated programmable vacuum cleaner device that runs every day at a set time). Literally, just quit in the middle of the floor in angst over the itty tiny pieces of paper -- in reality, it quits when it gets full of stuff, which in this case took all of 2 swipes. The real vacuum wasn't a lot better....I filled it 3 times with little pieces of paper. But finally, the floor was clean and all of the papers removed from the carpet. So I moved on and made the back, and packed it up to go to the quilter (Thanks Tammy!!!). So today, my job will be to hit the post office!!!

I also got all of the remaining blocks finished for my Meandering Star....so, hopefully this week I can do block assembly, leaving next weekend for quilt assembly. So excited to have these two projects finished and off of the list.....

Which leaves me at the point of updating the list....now that Judy's new patterns are being released I am forced to re-evaluate my list of priorities...and make some tough decisions. There is no way I can do the items that I wanted to do this year, and the new stuff, there just aren't enough days, so I spent the weekend doing some evaluation and figuring it all out, and re-prioritizing, and here is what I came up with:

WIPs to Complete :
Winter Wonderland
Meandering Star
Amazon Star
Pepperdish
Forever Yours

Not Yet (officially) Started (meaning I have not yet touched the fabrics, most papers are ready to go as soon as the patterns are delivered, it's a planning thing):
Split Log Cabin 
Log Cabin Cutouts   
Captain's Wheel
Art Deco Sawtooth Wedding Ring
Grandmother's Flower Garden

That is still a big order.....it's a finish and a full completion every month until the end of the year, which is a big commitment. I really need to buckle down and get these done!!!! 

And with that, it's time to get back to work!!!

Meandering Star

So after two super complex ones, I wanted a little mindless sewing this week. Nothing taxing, no curved seams, no Y seams, just simple straight forward piecing. And Meandering Star fit the bill perfectly! Simple piecing, 3 pieces per block, blocks in sets of 4 or 8.....no muss, no fuss!

So I got started on Monday, and got 1/2 of the little blocks done, and finished the other half on Tuesday. I got home from work a little later tonight, but still managed to get 1/2 of the large units sewn, just didn't have time to get them all pressed out....

But here's some progress pics.....

June Ramblings

Well, it's the middle of June already....it's crazy to think how quickly the year is going!

I am happy to say, I have achieved a couple of my goals for the year in the last few weeks, and it feels great. I finished Glacier Star and Mariner's Compass, and I made a big dent in a few others...picking fabrics, prepping papers, updating color cards. Now, I just need to figure out which one to work on next......and weather any of the new releases from Market need to get slipped in (did I mention my love for the new Compass Rose, or the Feathered Snowflake Tree Skirt or Captain's Wheel?). I heart them! Needless to say, decisions abound around here!

Well, it's Sunday night, and the new exercise schedule starts tomorrow, so I am off to bed!

Happy Quilting!
Catherine

P.S. Penny says hi!

Mariner's Compass

Is....done!!!!

I've had all of the pieces together for ages, but I couldn't seem to find the time or inclination to sew the inal seams.....which is strange, that isn't usually as issue. I think part of it was the unsurety (is that even a word) of the rings....I made them 4 different times, and eventually went back to version 2. I'm not crazy about them.....but at some point you have to move on and get it done.

So, here she is in all of her glory!

Glacier Star

Here she is in her glory....sorry the pics aren't great, i was in such a rush i sent her off without taking any real pics...

Back from The Missing

So, I've been a little crazy lately. Life has been very busy...through tax season, show season, and election season at work. Now that those have all calmed simultaneously, I can get back to sewing!!! And so I did.....

I FINISHED MY GLACIER STAR!!!!!!!

Can I make that a bigger announcement -- probably, but I can't seem to adjust the font size!!!! I have actually been working on this one a long time in my book -- not working on it a lot, but over a long time (at least for me).....I have never been so happy to sew the last Y seam and get it off the cutting table. The quilt isn't hard, it isn't demanding, it was just so not me. I never imagined that I would struggle so much with the colors. This sample will eventually become my Mom's, so it is the colors of her house. And boy did I struggle with it. For me it just all looked brown, brown and more brown. It's not really that brown. It's gold, and orange, and lots of green, and a little plum, and brown. But for me, it was all just brown. And that is when I learned my lesson -- it is much easier to make a quilt whose colors you like and that works for you, than one that is not destined to be yours. End of Story.....

Well, maybe not the End End -- because in my rush to get it out of my sight, I forgot to take a good picture of it. I have an Iphone pic, and an Instagram one, and even an iPad one, but none on either of the real cameras, and since I am writing this on the real computer (which happens to not be an apple product), all of my devices and pictures are stuck in the netherworld of space.....

So, if you would like to see it, it is in my photos on my personal facebook page -- catherine wilson -- or find my at catwilsonca@yahoo.com, since there are bound to be 5 gajillion of me on facebook.

In the meantime, once I figure out how to download these pics to my actual computer, I most certainly will.....

Happy Quilting !!!

Catherine