Sunday, July 22, 2018

15 Minutes to Stitch Recap


God gives every bird its food, but He does not throw it into its nest.
Josiah Gilbert Holland

God gives every bird its food, but He does not throw it into its nest.
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/josiah_gilbert_holland_104929?src=t_bird
God gives every bird its food, but He does not throw it into its nest. Josiah Gilbert Holland
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/josiah_gilbert_holland_104929?src=t_bird
Yet another week has passed, so it is time to recap the 15 minutes to stitch progress. I can't believe it is day 203 of the year already!  I spent only one session cleaning this week.  My success rate went down 3 points in just one week.  Interesting how it only goes up a tiny bit but when it goes down it plummets! Since I am hoping to end the year above 80%, I am still happy with the results.

The good news is that I didn't do anything this week to undo what I had cleaned.

15 Minute sessions of stitching these weeks:  1 out of 7
15 Minute sessions of stitching this year:  183 out of 203 sessions
Success rate: 90%

Linked to:
15 Minutes to Stitch

Sunday, July 15, 2018

15 Minutes to Stitch Recap


I haven't done much stitching this week. I put the binding on the Star Spangled Banner this week. As usual, I didn't remember to take the reveal photo until it was dark and haven't set up a light to brighten my bulletin board.

Mostly I spent this week cleaning up the living room where I sew and other parts of the visible areas of the house. The living room was clean enough to invite a gathering of relatives. Since then, I also spent some time cleaning up the Cave of Wonders, where the supplies reside.



 

Faced with what seems like an impossible task, a group of folks will do well to remember the African proverb: When spider webs unite they can tie up a lion.
Johnnetta B. Cole 

This spider web is close to the outside hose, and this spider web got wet while I was watering some grass seed I am trying to grow in the back yard. I liked the sparkly suspended water droplets and the shadows they made.

15 Minute sessions of stitching these weeks:  7 out of 7
15 Minute sessions of stitching this year:  182 out of 196 sessions
Success rate: 93%

Last week, I said that cleaning up sewing areas counted as stitching time, and in that regard, I had a successful week of "stitching," and with the help of rounding, was able to bump up my yearly success rate.

Linked to:
15 Minutes to Stitch

Sunday, July 8, 2018

Star Spangled Picnic Quilted


I have quilted Star Spangled Picnic. I free-motioned stitched some fireworks on the top.


I used the decorative stitches on my machine for the tablecloth / ground. More fireworks. We really like fireworks in this neighborhood, and by "we," I mean the neighbors, and not Zeus.


I used wavy stitches for the flag.


The bird is carrying the E pluribus unum banner.


To add to the summer picnic theme, there are bicycles near the watermelon.


I thought I missed a week of reporting my fifteen minutes to stitch, but, oh my, it has been a month!  I'm pretty sure I managed to sew the required amount of time during the month. I finished making the top for On Ringo Lake, now known as Sorrento, put away all the fabric used in making this top, and started the Star Spangled Picnic. It just needs a binding and label.

15 Minute sessions of stitching these weeks:  7 out of 7
15 Minute sessions of stitching this year:  175 out of 189 sessions
Success rate: 92%

Linked to:
15 Minutes to Stitch
Oh Scrap!
Design Wall Monday 
Let's Bee Social 
WIP Linky Party
Midweek Makers 
WIPs on Wednesdays 

Thursday, July 5, 2018

Star Spangled Picnic


Since I had the day off yesterday, I decided to truly take the day off and do whatever I wanted to do. No rules whatsoever. I made a nice meal and made this from a free pattern that was available from Laugh Yourself Into Stitches. I've been wanting another Fourth of July quilt, and figured fourth of July was a perfect time to start one.

I was going to use a pink fabric for the watermelon but wasn't sure how well it was going to work with the flag. Then I found the dotted fabric and thought it would work great for seeds, and I could use it without having to put the seeds in separately. I was also thinking about taking another shortcut and not use the HSTs either.  In the end, I decided not to be lazy and just make it the way the pattern suggested.

I did decide to make this project more primitive and some of that was even on purpose.

Then when making the bird, I found the striped fabric, and decided that making the fabric do the work wasn't lazy, it was smart, so I used the striped fabric.

Linked to:
Finish it Friday - hey, I finished the top!