Weekly Update--I'm Behind

So you saw my big news yesterday that I'm co-hosting OMG with Patty from Elm Street Quilts. I need One Monthly Goal to help keep me focused each month, and hopefully there are plenty of others that need that focus and accountability too. I've been shuffling things around on the blog to accommodate the link ups and info. I have a bit more to do, but I think it's pretty functional right now. 

My goal this month, which you likely saw yesterday, is to make binding for all three of these quilts and sew it to the front of each as I'm planning to hand-stitch the binding. Hand-stitching is my preference on most of my personal quilts unless I'm in a huge rush or if I'm donating it and know it will be washed a lot.

Of course I have a million other things I could have chosen as well--Grassy Creek border (I am a bit superstitious and every time I choose that, things seem to go haywire, so I'm holding off for now.), quilting my Tall Tales quilt--need a backing for that one still, catch up on all my QALs, finish some other half-done project, of which there are many. I decided to select the binding because I'm tired of walking around the three quilts on the floor.

I've done a bunch of quilts for others over the past week. 

I completed three of Terry's. She's so artistic! She chose Doing Donuts for the first one.

Next we used Diamond Rain. My daughter won the contest to name this design. 😊 We thought it gave a leaded glass effect--the quilt is shown sideways here; it's actually long and skinny.

Deco Arch was her pick for the third quilt.

Next I did two mini quilts for Jae. The first one is a challenge to create a quilt using colors from a cereal box (I think I have this right? I know Jae's inspiration was one of the pink Cheerios boxes). We went with Doing Donuts to mimic the Cheerio shape.

I did some custom quilting on her other mini.

I've also been working on several of Linda's quilts. The first is quilted with Windswept. The So Fine thread I picked really blends in! (hard to see the quilting)

The other two are both quilted with Rainbow Hearts.


While I've been productive in some areas, I'm a bit behind on the Board & Batten QAL. got slowed down by needing to replace the running green fabric. I had ordered a Ruby Star fabric that looked like the same shade, but I didn't like it with my other fabrics--too dark. I didn't have time to go shopping in person to find a replacement, so I dug through all my fabric and came up with a batik that worked (thanks, Denise!). I have three of 14 blocks completed from last week's task. This week's task is to complete the other 14. I'm hoping to have a bit of time to myself this weekend to get caught up.

Oops! That third block is not quite right. 

The last clue of the Melodic Mystery should come out today, so that is another one I need to complete. 

One area where I am current is the Loves Me, Loves Me Not QAL. This one started on Monday with cutting. I LOVE cutting fabric. I got up really early Monday and cut out everything. I opted to wait on cutting the sashing and borders until I do the sewing so that I'm only cutting once. You know me, I'm a math major and I like my accurate border cutting.


I got really brave and entered two quilts in the IHQS. The show is not juried, but is judged. This is so outside of my comfort zone! The show has been on hiatus--the last one was held in 2020 and visiting that was actually the last thing I did before the world shut down. Anyway, there is usually a broad mix of quilts, everything from quilts by nationally known quilters and award winners at Paducah to kids' first quilts. Mine will be somewhere in the middle, I guess. This year's show will be March 2 - 4. I'll need to get hanging sleeves and labels onto my quilts in the next few weeks before the drop-off date. 

Other things of note this week--one of our inverters for our solar went out a few months ago and the replacement was FINALLY installed Monday. I was able to get the four drawers we still needed for the future closet upgrade. I was able to order online and pick up at the local FedEx. The only catch was that I could order three in one order and the fourth in a separate order. Each order had a pickup fee of $4 and it was SO WORTH IT!!! Four more shelves to go...

Oh, and I can hardly believe this, but...

We have the worst drivers in this town. The UPS store is back open after its second drive-thru incident last year. People are saying this is the second time someone's driven into the hardware store. Several restaurants have had it happen multiple times, the tattoo parlor, a house that's between us and town, Walmart several times, a gas station. There's actually a Reddit thread about all the places people have driven into around town. 😳

The chickens are doing well. There's still a few clumps of clover growing in our vegetable garden tubs and my daughter periodically throws a clump in with them. It is so funny to watch them with it.

Well, this is super long. I'll be back next Wednesday for my regular post. Have a nice week!

4 comments

  1. I'd say you had a good week working on several fun projects!

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  2. Nice FMQ! Do you do it often? I've been pretty behind on posts the last couple months but I don't think I've seen you do much of that? (Which I guess, for me, begs the question, is it really simple to disconnect the computer to switch over to FMQ? I think I saw in a video that was?). Great work all around. But oh my goodness, what is up with the drivers around there?? LOL. That's crazy!

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  3. Lovely quilts, I'm so happy you share the work of others because I enjoy seeing all the different styles and color combos they use. Thank you for linking up to PYFD.

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  4. Thanks for stepping up! I haven't yet participated this year, but I plan to for March. January had 2 blog hops and I was late to hop on, February's deadline came and went. I'll set my intentions quietly and get on board in March!

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