Next Edition of Lansing Leaves

 In case you missed the story, I went across state lines and stayed in a hotel room for a month. That is where Lansing Leaves was born. Apparently, like Las Vegas, what happens in Michigan, stays in Michigan. So I have no idea the purpose of this piece that was in the drawer. 

 

Was I planning on putting this quilt on point? And if so, why is there only one of these? Shouldn't there be four since there are four corners in a quilt? What was I planning on using on the sides to make it big enough to put on point? Is there enough fabric for this plan?

Maybe it is good that I don't know. Current Me has vetoed the idea of putting it on point. Although I should look in the drawer again to make sure I don't have missing pieces.

What was the plan for these triangles? They are the same size as the background triangles on the migrating geese. Were they just rejects before I came up with the background fabric, or was there another plan?

Why did I keep sewing the migrating geese as I found there wasn't enough contrast? Did I have a plan for that?

Some of my quilts are very choosy. "I don't care if that blue matches, I don't want it." This one is happy with whatever I do. "Not enough contrast, no problem. Do what you feel is best." So annoying. Usually when that happens, the quilt becomes subject to the whims of whatever I see on my social media feed. Medallion quilt? Sounds good. Migrating geese?. Sure.  On point? Yep. Applique? Hmmm

I have added most of the extra migrating geese pieces that were available to make all the rows the same size. I ripped the last four geese pieces and used the background fabric to finish off the rows. Debra suggested I add the sewn migrating geese without adding more geese and fill in with a solid piece. This is a great plan because I don't have a lot of background pieces to add more geese. I do have a big piece left but I want to use it for the back.

Once I finished off the migrating geese and trimmed the dog ears, it looks much better to me, and it looks like it might work okay on the quilt. 

I don't have enough background fabric for the cornerstones and remaining border, so I used the scraps that I had available. I really like the extra zing they give to that border. I have added two of the sides and hope to add the other two soon.

2022: 15 Minutes to Stitch Week 3

This year, I would like to have noticeably more finishes than starts, and starting a new quilt is probably not the best way to get that result. But the Project Quilting challenge is posted, and since it forces you to finish a quilt in a week, it won't be counter-productive to that goal. As you saw at the top of this post, I worked on the borders of Lansing Leaves this week.

15 minute days this week --7 out of 7

15 minute days this year -- 16 out of 16 days

Success rate  = 100%

Linked with:

15 Minutes to Stitch

Lansing Leaves Continued

There are drawers in the desk where the sewing machine sits. These drawers store the supplies - threads, rotary cutter, mat, iron, and other things I need. I took inventory of what is in the drawers so I can declutter and organize. 

I found two projects I had put away when there was room in the drawers.

I found Lansing Leaves and Elephant Parade. I put both of them in the WIP drawers for now to see if I can make some progress on them. I might switch them out with other projects, depending on my whims.

For Lansing Leaves, there is the quilt square, some migrating geese units that is mean to be another border, and some fabric. There were no directions or notes, but I think I can figure out how to make the rest of the geese.

I think the reason this quilt got stalled is that the geese don't have a lot of contrast and I am not sure they make the quilt any better. My choices are:

• stick with the plan and finish the quilt
• quilt the square and save the geese for another quilt. They might work better as a background instead of a border
  

Now as I am typing, I think I could finish making the geese, attach them to the quilt and, if needed, attach a vine or something on top,

I don't want to spend a lot of time on this quilt. I will try to add some geese and see if I have enough fabric and can figure out what size to cut the triangles to continue.

All of the work on this quilt was done in 2014. You can read the whole story by reading all the Lansing Leaves posts here.

Linked with:

Monday Making

Quilt Reveal: Pink and Other Colors

Announcing the first finished quilt of the year, at least here on the High Road. It is a part of Project Quilting challenge, which means it had to be made in a week. I have already told you the inspiration of this quilt in another post.

I started with a pink scrap and added more pink scraps for the stack. I soon realized that I don't use a lot of pink, so I was very liberal in what I considered to be pink, and included reds and purples.

 

The end result looks more purple than pink, but there is pink in there, and maybe when you are looking for the pink you will see that there are lots of other colors in there to meet the challenge guidelines, which is to use at least five different colors.

 

I have been trying to use darker and busier fabrics in my selection of low volume backgrounds, and this quilt gave me the perfect opportunity to do that since most of my "pink" stack were pretty dark. My usual for a challenge like this would have to use a lot of bright colors, like in the Postage Stamp quilt, but the fact that my "other colors" are in the low volume sections makes me very happy.

I decided to make it a bars quilt, and resisted the temptation to make it a checkerboard. The end result was a trapezoid shape and it was tempting to leave it that shape, but I decided to trim it into a rectangle. It is the noon deadline that makes it look like it is not a rectangle.

 

2021: 15 Minutes to Stitch Week 53

So much for weekly challenges, I am already late in posting my 15 Minutes to Stitch Report.  There was a flurry of quilting activity the last week of the year. Besides making and finishing Get Well Wishes for the World, I also posted a lot of year-end reports.

15 minute days this week --5 out of 5

15 minute days this year -- 300 out of 365 days

Success rate  = 82%

 

I finished at 84% in 2020.

2022: 15 Minutes to Stitch Weeks 1 and 2

This year, I would like to have noticeably more finishes than starts, and starting a new quilt is probably not the best way to get that result. But the Project Quilting challenge is posted, and since it forces you to finish a quilt in a week, it won't be counter-productive to that goal. As you saw at the top of this post, I finished the Pink and Other Colors this week.

15 minute days this week --9 out of 9

15 minute days this year -- 9 out of 9 days

Success rate  = 100%

Linked with:

15 Minutes to Stitch

Oh Scrap! 

Needle and Thread Thursday

Filling the Work in Process Drawers

There are five drawers in my new WIP cabinet and I am trying to figure out what to put in them. In no particular order, but numbered for clarity, here is how they will be filled:

Drawer One will be for the current Work in Progress. Right now, it is the Postage Stamp quilt.

Drawer Two will be for the current Leader / Ender. Right now, it is the Dots and Dashes quilt. Even though this is the current Leader / Ender, I am using Postage Stamp quilt as a Leader / Ender while working on my mini quilt.

Drawer Three will be for the Current Mini of the Month. I rarely work on more than one of these at a time, and when I do, I think there is room in the drawer for more than one. This drawer will probably be empty most of the time, since the work will probably be on the table, but I have to leave it empty for when I have to clean up my space. The current Mini is Pink and Other Colors.

 

Drawer Four will be for the Beautiful World project. I haven't worked on it since March.  Is this the UFO drawer or the handwork drawer, I'm not sure. It will identify itself in time.

While it is tempting to find another project for Drawer Five, I am opting to leave it empty. It will help make sure I can truly convert my sewing room back into a living room without having to put anything out of sight and out of mind.

In Progress: Pink and Other Colors

On Sunday, I attended an introduction to Sherri Lynn Wood's Abstract Piecing Scrap Play workshop, The replay is available for free. There was an introduction of the series' speakers and some good conversation about abstract piecing, using value to your advantage, and creating order out of scraps. 

I've worked with Sherri Lynn before, testing a pattern in her book, so I didn't learn anything new, but it was really helpful to have things explained in a different way, because sometimes I need to hear things more than once to really get it. My main takeaways were to sort your scraps into like items - mostly by color and value. So light blue and dark blue, light green and dark green. It really helps bring order to the chaos of a scrap box. Then you can choose which stacks to combine.

The change is that instead of calling it improv, she is calling it abstract piecing. I think this change of terminology will really help, because sometimes it feels like improv should be spontaneous. At the end of my last project, I was thinking I shouldn't plan too much, and wound up with a spot where there was too much dark. Calling it abstract helps to see that the piecing is very intentional. You keep making decisions as you add each piece.

The other thing she said was that when you are finished, you should take the time to think about the project. She asked us to share a surprise, discovery, satisfaction, or challenge in our work. This takes things deeper so that you can articulate what you discovered, and hopefully this can help you take something when you work on your next project.

I cheated and didn't sort all of my fabrics, but I did choose pink fabrics and low volumes to make my practice play project.

 

 

As I was writing my end of the year recap, I noticed how many of my projects were a part of the Project Quilting Challenge. The weekly deadline really helps push through any doubts and hesitations. Just get it done! So when I saw that the challenge has started again, I want to participate as much as I can.

This week's Project Quilting Challenge is All the Colors. 

I am combining both of these projects and hopefully will have something to show you by Sunday.

WIP Storage Problem Solving

I have a problem that I have complained about many times on my blog. I have decided it is time to fix it.

I sew in my living room, but when I have planned company over, I have to turn the sewing room back into a living room. I usually work on two or three quilts at a time, sometimes more.  This means I have to put away all of the quilts I am working on. I usually put them in boxes, mostly shoebox sized boxes, and take them upstairs into a bedroom where I store my fabric and other craft supplies.

One problem is that it is a lot of work taking things upstairs and bringing them back down, but it was something I was able to manage.

Another problem I have is that I am running out of room to store these boxes.I have finished 80% of my quilts, but as the number of quilts I start go up, 80% becomes a bigger number.  My usual solution to this problem was to decide that I needed to whittle down my UFO [unfinished object] projects so that there is room to put away current WIPs [works in progress]. This solution has not been working. 

The other problem is that when I put a quilt in a box and take it upstairs, it becomes "out of sight, out of mind". I start a brand new quilt project instead of going back to the WIP. Most of my WIPs become UFOs only because they have been put away, and there are lots of ideas of new quilts that are available to start.

I have decided that I need a different plan. I looked for those plastic scrapbook boxes that are at least 12x12, especially those that are drawers stacked together as a unit. I could take the whole stack upstairs and downstairs so I can resume my quilting on the current WIPs. I have a couple of those, and have used them for other things. They work wonderfully for my spices and paints/markers.

Unfortunately, they have been out of stock for a while.

Then I found something that I think will work even better.

 

I bought a different storage solution for the WIPs. Instead of boxes, I bought a set of drawers. I thought about cubes which would keep things visual for me, but I think that will look messy and allow dust to get into them. I am hoping that if I put labels on the drawers, I will be able to keep them on my mind. 

Once I got the chest of drawers, I realized that I could find a place to tuck this away in the living room, so that will eliminate my having to take everything upstairs too. With the wheels, I can find other places to put it out of the way on the first floor. This will also really help separate the WIPs from the UFOs. We will see if at the end of the year, I am able to finish more than 80% of my quilts.

Around the World in 80 Days is a new series on PBS. David Tennant stars in a new adaptation of Jules Verne's classic adventure novel. I highly recommend it. Also on PBS, Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. will have a new episode tonight.

2021 Annual Quilt Report

 

There are two posts today. The previous post shows all of the quilts I finished in 2021. 

 

This post shows charts and graphs. I keep a spreadsheet that lists the quilts I work on. I started showing the spreadsheet on my blog to document my year like an annual report.

Below is the list of 15 quilts that I started this year.

This report shows that I have started 160 quilts. I have created folders for each of these quilts so I can put all the WIP photos for the quilt to keep them more organized.

It also shows that I have given away 28.75% of my quilts and have finished 80% of the quilts I have started. My average time to finish a quilt is 327 days. A lot of the time is the time a quilt takes to marinate.

Besides the 11 that show as finished on this list, I also finished the Quote Quilt and the Blue Shirts quilt which were started before 2021.

This is where I record the totals for each year. You can see that in some years, like 1994, 2008, 2011 and 2020,  I had more finishes than starts. 

 Other years, the starts and finishes are the same, and most of them, I have more starts than finishes. I allow myself to just enjoy and start (and finish) as many quilts as I want.

 

 

 

Then I turn the yearly list into a line graph to make it easier to see visually. This one shows that the gap between starts and finishes is slowly getting wider. 

 

With the spreadsheet and annual reports, it feels like I should make goals and define how I should have better statistics. But this is for fun, not for work, and I will continue to have fun and just document what that looks like in charts and graphs.

This last graph shows that that my output has been increasing over the years. It also shows that 2021 was in the top 3 of both starts and finishes.. 

This is a reflection of a basketball net in a pool filled with leaves.

[I've been editing this post as the auditor finds changes that need to be made, so in the unlikely event you looked at this post more than once, the charts or stats may look slightly different.]