Motivational Monday - EUREKA!

Have you ever had one of those days when everything seems to go right? That was yesterday although I didn't appreciate it until much later in the day.

I got a call during the day to remind me of a seminar at my bank branch that I wanted to go to. I had chatted with the teller about it when I was there last week, but I don't even know who called me from the branch, but I'm glad they did. It's all about retirement planning and government pension (which I know is a joke), but if I'm entitled to something, I want it!!!

Then I got another phone call and that big crate? Well, it's coming TODAY!!! Can't wait to open the box.

I got several e-mails that alleviated a wee bit of deadline pressure for a couple of projects. I'm all on track timing wise and they confirmed that. That was awesome news.

I needed some fabric strips for an upcoming project. The strip packs are not available, but an offer was put out that they would provide the yardage and I could cut the strips. Perfect!!!!

A big thanks to all those people for making my day a super day!!!

But the best part was Monday sewing. I was productive and I saw the light at the end of the tunnel. Here's what happened.

I was busy working on the next 6 blocks for the Farmer's Wife project.

I came across two blocks that were missing fabric bits. GRRR!!  Where is that darn box of leftover fabric?

When I got home and had a wee nap in the gazebo (the last couple of nights have been a bit tough in the sleeping area), I woke with determination. I was going to find that missing box even if it meant emptying out that stash room (GULP). And I was going to unpack my Monday sewing bag and get it ready for next week. That's a very important step. If you're going on a retreat or a sewing day, make sure that everything is in the sewing bag. What tools do you need? Is all the fabric there? Is everything cut so you don't have to stop to cut?

So I entered the stash room. Behind the door, I have a rolling shelf where I store all the ongoing projects from previous years that are not complete. Needless to say, the shelf is chock-a-block full to teetering on the top shelf. I'll give you the tally on the projects another day. By ongoing, I mean our $10 or $25 projects mostly taught at the Hobby Horse, but a few at Brampton Sew n Serge, Cockadoodle (closed), Ruti's (closed), and Sew Sisters (no longer doing classes).

This picture below is the top right corner of the shelf.

Ongoing (unfinished) projects

Let's start right at the top. See that CLEAR plastic box right on the top right? Guess what I found in it??  Yep - the "missing" project box. Are you kidding me?  I have to hang my head in shame on that one. I can't believe I missed the box the first time around. It was right there.  I had rifled through the white basket on the top left, but why not the one on the top right?

Yep - I did a happy dance around the studio!! I'm back in business. I can actually get this thing done!

What was in the box? Not a whole lot, but enough for me to get working again. There was a package of dots which I was using to mark the blocks in the book that were made. When we did the project as a class, we hopped all over the place (as I usually do) so the dots helped to identify which ones were actually sewn. The box of pins used to attach the number to each block. A large chunk of fabric for the sashing?? And the small bag of leftovers. I remember there wasn't a lot left after cutting the blocks. But I've found it!!!!!   EUREKA!!!!

The contents of the missing box

 I managed to get five blocks done yesterday. I'm behind by one block, but I should be able to catch up no problem going forward. And there are a few blocks that need to be cut. We used the cutting charts from Marti Michell and used her templates to cut the blocks. I think there were 10 or 11 blocks that couldn't be cut using the templates and I think those ones still need to be cut. I'll find out as I work through the blocks.

Five blocks for the Farmer's Wife project

I decided it was time to start at the beginning (Block one and work in order) to finish the blocks. So I have the next 7 (I'm behind on one) in my bag for Monday sewing. I put the remaining blocks in the project box, the finished blocks are in there as well. I need to make templates to cut one of the blocks this week. It's a bit weird shaped, but I'm going to recreate it in EQ8 and let the program do the math for me. What would I do without that software??

The project box is packed and waiting for next week

I'm getting a ton of plastic bags as I finish up these blocks. They are all stored in the cupboard, but I need to go through that cupboard and tidy it up.

Bags are being emptied - that's a good thing

Once the blocks were sewn, it was time to get back to the squirrel quilt. I made great progress on that quilt and the first four rows are done and all together. It looks very cute. This is by Sew Fresh Quilts.

Four rows of the squirrel quilt - done

I have one more row to add. There's one more squirrel in that row which is already pieced. I just have to make the little bird that goes in that last row and sew it on. One border around the entire quilt and the top will be finished. I dug out some fabric for the backing and it's in the Monday bag. Next week,  I hope to get that project ready to go into the "to be quilted" pile.

The squirrel project is prepped for next Monday

On my ender/leader project, I was going to run out of red squares and last week I had found some more fabric to use. I'm making great progress on that project so time to cut a few more squares for next week.

More squares for the ender/leader project - CUT

See how productive I was? It was great to find that project box. And I find that by spending a bit of time before I head out the door on Monday that it's great to sew all day and not have to stop for silly reasons.

I decided that I should pull another project to start working on next week. I found this scrap quilt - it's on the UFO list.

Scrap quilt

This one was started YEARS ago and I think my intention was to make one huge quilt. Well, I don't do huge anymore. There's ONE quilt top in the box - it's just missing some sashing around the outside and then a final border which I will need to find fabric for.

I counted the blocks in the project box. YIKES - there are enough to make TWO more tops the same size (lap). Good grief. And all the blocks are completed except for four which need one more seam. This is a serious problem for sure. How many more tops (blocks) am I going to find in all these project boxes? Well, we can't worry about that. We're going to tackle one box at a time.

I don't usually sew quilt tops together on Monday, but I'm going to have to start. I don't often get a chance to sew at home (on my own projects) so I will just have to start working on the blocks on Monday so I know they will get done.

And now my Monday sewing bag is ready to go for next Monday. I love being prepped in advance. No last minute rushing on Monday morning or Sunday evening.

Sewing bag for Monday is prepped and ready to go

Now that I've found that project box, I need to put that basket of Kansas Troubles back on the shelf. That's going to be a challenge. If you don't see a blog post from me tomorrow, I'd call 911. I could be crushed under the fabric in that back corner!!!

This stuff is on my cutting table and needs to be properly put away. We have a full house for the sit n sew this Thursday and I can't afford to just shove things in boxes and put it aside. I need to address some of the stuff. I'm going to start with this pile.

Stuff to be put away

When I was doing some sewing at home, I managed to get all those little HST sewn together in pairs to make the pinwheel blocks. This last batch just needs to be pressed.

To be pressed

 I hadn't pressed them because I wanted to make sure that they would be going in the right direction (as per spinning the center).  Well, when I went to check the others to see which way to spin, I noticed that about half of the little blocks were spun one way and YEP - the other half was spun the opposite way. GRRRR - I'll switch them around because of the way that I want this piece to go together and they are so small, I need those seams spun to reduce the bulk. How silly of me - I should have kept one out as a sample.

OH shoot - half are going left and half are going right

I've got a busy day today - well come on - what day isn't busy? I got one more design off to the magazine and the remaining two will be done tonight. I have a pattern that I'm writing that has to be done TODAY.  Once I can get that off my plate, I'll be in good shape. But there's no time to slack off - the amount of work to do is still stupid.

I live with killer dogs. Seriously! And I'm not sure who to blame for this one. But Murphy was quite busy in the corner of the yard and I was on my way to check out what was happening. Only to find a dead possum on the way. ACK! That's disgusting. I'm not sure who caught it or where they caught it - I know there were quite interested in the gazebo and the low bushes around the gazebo when I got home. So I got my handy animal removal tools (a shovel and a rake) and the poor possum was over the fence in no time. Thankfully we have a forest behind our fence. I think the coyotes came by in the night and took it away. A great dead animal disposal system. I think that's about four or five animals now, squirrels, rabbits and now a possum.

On that note, I've got to get myself going this morning. A few e-mails that need to be answered and writing to do.

Have a great day!!!!

Ciao!!