Do as I say.................

Yes - I should be following my own words. I keep saying, I'm going to clean up the office and get everything organized and yet I continue to procrastinate. I'm a maker and I want to be making stuff all the time. Yet - I want this mess cleaned up as well so it's less frustrating. So I need to take the bull by the horns and just do it or stop complaining!!! Thanks, Elle for the pep talk! I don't have time this weekend - well, I have a free day tomorrow - perhaps I could spend ONE hour. If I get started, that might motivate me to keep working. OK - I'll commit ONE hour and I'm going to write a BIG note to put on the computer so I don't forget. The note is there - it's not huge, but it's noticeable.

It was Sit n Sew day yesterday. One of the best days of the month. Where else do you get to sew on your own projects, with friends and great conversation? It's truly the best.

AHA - we have the last of the UFO goals for next month. This quilt belongs to Diane P. and her goal is to get it quilted for next month. Quilted and bound that is. I think this was a Jinny Beyer pattern from a LONG, LONG, LONG time ago. It just needs to be quilted. We seem to be pretty good at doing that to ourselves. We get the quilt almost completed and then we stop.

Diane's UFO goal for March

Rose hasn't made a list of UFOs but is diligently working on them. This is one that she pulled out and was sewing up yesterday. Love the colors - nice and bright.

Rose's UFO project

Here's a print out of the pattern - it looks like it was one of Moda's jelly roll quilts. Is that a date I see on the top of the pattern?

The pattern for the UFO

Let's zoom in on that date. AHA - this definitely qualifies as a UFO. Can you tell me why a nice bright (and easy) project like this gets shelved? I don't know, but we are ALL guilty of doing it. Some other shiny new quilt catches our eye and the current one? It gets shelved. We are our own worst enemies.

The date the project was started

Linda was also working on a UFO. But it wasn't as those first two. This was a challenge by a group she belongs to where they had to use up scraps. Since most of her stuff has been in storage, she did get some assistance from fellow group members with the scraps. All that's left is to put the border on. 

A neat concept for a scrap quilt

 And now the borders are on. Yeah!!!! 

The borders are on the scrap quilt

Then she was back to working on a Marti Michelle quilt from a few years back. I didn't get a picture of the blocks she completed.

Liz always brings us the best show and tell. This is an outfit that her grandmother made out of sugar sacks. The ensemble also included a scarf and a pin (like a corsage), and I thought there was one other item. I didn't get pictures of those. That round thing at the top is a tam. It's adorable. She was going to get rid of it but then realized that the name of her grandfather's store is stamped on some part of the outfit. It's a keeper. It was made for a particular occasion - like the king's coronation or the queen's coronation? Too bad there aren't pictures of her grandmother wearing the outfit. Does anyone else have an interesting show and tell?? Send me the pictures and a write - up - I'm sure we'd all like to see.

Sugar sack outfit

 Claudette was quilting a quilt that I didn't get a picture of. Pat - gosh - I don't even know what Pat was working on and she stayed later than anyone. I was focused on other stuff. I did get my little tote bag done that I'm teaching next month in Saskatoon. It's a simple bag, but it seemed to take forever. It's very cute - I'll share it tomorrow.

Then I got out this quilt to finish up. This is one of the quilts made from the shirtings. It was too small for Quilts of Valour, so I found some solid blue and added a border to it. Now it fits within their size requirements.

Quilts of Valour quilt top

Of course, the original backing for it will no longer work, so I pulled out that same bolt of fabric that I used for the other one and I'll make the backing today. It's a charity sewing day today so while the others are working on making the scrappy blocks, I hope to get the backing and the binding made for this quilt and hopefully get one or two more bound.

The backing and the binding

This quilt and the one I fixed up earlier this week are scheduled to be quilted next week, so the backings and bindings need to be done.

There just seems to be no end to all this. The more that we work on, the more there seems to be. I know that's not true as we are making headway. I do have a backlog of community quilts to be quilted. I'm averaging one community project quilt a week in the quilting department and I think that's pretty good. There are a few more to be added to that pile but we need a prep day for the quilt tops that we've received. That'll be next month. The bottom line - we're making progress and that's all that counts.

There are only a few weeks before I head out west and god forbid that I don't have that small summer wall hanging completed for my Mom. Although the first one that I gave her was found in a box and hadn't been used in years, it was when I found it that she became obsessed with getting all four of the seasons. The remaining one is summer. I made two of the nine blocks yesterday and the fabric for several of the others is sitting on my little workstation. I won't have time today, but Sunday is another Sit n Sew day - I'll be making more of those blocks. I'll be very glad to get this one off my plate.

Two paper pieced watermelon blocks

AHA - I found the link for the winning quilts at Quiltcon.    I absolutely love Peter's two quilts and so happy for him on his two BIG wins. I think that is his first time entering a big show and he got THREE quilts in the show and won two of the top three big prizes. That's HUGE. He's going to go far.

There's one small thing about this show that seems a bit weird to me. Well, there's a lot, but I'm not going there today. It just seems odd that a very prominent show like Quiltcon cannot get a fabric company to sponsor their prizes. OK -- that's not entirely true - as Marcus and Cotton+Steel did sponsor, but why not the big companies? It's very weird!

Anyway - it's time to get the day started. HA - actually it started hours ago when I was up in the dark (and it's coolish outside) to get my butt to the gym. There is one good thing to note - the days are getting LONGER!!!  And it's going to be a glorious weekend. After everyone left yesterday, the girls and I walked to the grocery store to get some food! They are totally in their glory with the extra walk every day and totally upset when it can't happen like on Wednesday. They were NOT happy at all.

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!