Stories from the Sewing Room

Merry Christmas to those who celebrate. And Happy Hanukkah as well. It's time to share your December progress.

My goal this month was to finish my Batesville BOM. This quilt is actually called Jamestown BOM and the block patterns were by Marti Michell. I got the block fabrics and instructions during a shop hop and purchased a setting kit from one of the shops. Here is my version after quilting and before binding. 

And here is the finished quilt, 17 years after starting it.

And the pieced back.

It feels great to have this one off my to-do list!

Now it's your turn to share your finish (or your progress if you didn't quite make it to the finish line).

Take a few minutes to visit others, offer encouragement, and make new friends!

This link up will remain open until 11:55 pm EST on December 31. Make sure you add a link to this OMG post so others can find the OMG link up from your blog--just paste this link into your post:  

Stories from the Sewing Room December One Monthly Goal Finish Link Up

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

I've finally had a few minutes to myself and I'm getting so much done. I had to remake the square-in-a-square units from November's Marble Mystery clue. I managed to "sew" a whole bunch of them with no bobbin thread. 🤦🏻‍♀️ On the plus side, since the needle perforated the paper foundations, all the pieces were nicely stuck together and I didn't have to realign them.

I'm making pretty good progress on Bedford Tiles. I just have the sashing and border left.

I didn't purchase backing fabric for this quilt, so I'll need to figure that out. I have one extra block that I'd like to incorporate into the back if possible. If not, then I will donate it to the big guild's orphan block program.

I did take the time to mark where each seam intersection should be. It takes a bit longer up front, but it saves a lot of time ripping when things don't align properly. I am also a big fan of pinning. 

Another thing on my to-do list is making a cover for my serger/coverstitch machine. I can't believe it didn't come with one. Anyway, I dug through a bin of fabric and found a piece of denim just large enough. I am using a free pattern from Closet Core. As you may be able to tell, I had to add 5.5" of width to the pattern. (I cut 5.5" strips from the Batesville BOM instructions I'd thrown in the recycling!) I think it should work out fine besides that. I will need to make some piping from the denim. That could be interesting; it needs to be cut on the bias and I won't have a ton of fabric left. I'm also considering lining it and/or stabilizing the denim. 

I have a single quilt left that I haven't shared yet. This one belongs to Sara and is quilted with a fairly small scale of the Calder design.

I knew my longarm was due for a deep clean after finishing the client quilts, but I didn't realize it had gotten quite so bad. 😳 I do blow it out and oil between each quilt, but as you can see, it had a lot of lint built up. Something I love about my APQS is that it is very easy to service, clean, and maintain on your own.

After my machine was cleaned, I quilted the Batesville block of the month. I picked Mister Marbles and Glide thread in Celery. I need to bind this before Christmas (when the December OMG link up opens).

                                            

• finish Batesville top & figure out backing
• Bedford Tiles
• J school book
• clean house
• watch Karlee Porter classes--12 hours to go
• watch Bethanne Nemesh classes
• shop for gifts
• repot plants
• finish last of this year's quilts
• print next year's planner
• fix dress form as much as possible
• do fitting pattern
• lose a gazillion pounds
• sew cover for serger
• Marble Mystery
• add newest pantos to website
• complete other business things from computer list
• think about PHD for 2025
• clean up IntelliQuilter files
• bring in hummingbird feeders--left them outside too long and they froze and broke 😭
• drop off toys at pantry
• propagate Pothos after Christmas
• harvest Aerogarden before Christmas
• go to the bank

The Batesville BOM is finally a top! It only took 17 years! This first photo shows the pieced border that I created from the remnants of the border that didn't fit. The little corner pieces didn't quite work out how I'd envisioned, but it's okay and I didn't care enough to change them. It's pretty wobbly and not square/flat at this point.

And here is the top! I feel so much relief from having this done. Still a little off, but I think quilting will help it.

I'm trying to use up as much as possible for the backing. Many of the scraps left are quite small, so I pulled out a few prints from my stash to fill in the rest. This was actually difficult because these are not colors I normally use. Here was my first attempt. That piece on the upper right was way too light.

Here is what I came up with. I'll need to add "leaders" at the top and bottom so that I can attach it to the frame and have enough clearance, but that's no big deal. I actually keep 5" strips just for this purpose. I didn't expect those green strips to line up. 

I will make a Frankenbatting for this quilt. I've also cut all the binding strips. I don't anticipate having any issue on finishing this before the end of the year.

I cannot wait to sew something with color again! Good thing I have plenty of options. 😳

I'm making a small amount of headway on my to-do list. 

• finish Batesville top & figure out backing
• Bedford Tiles
• J school book
• clean house
• watch Karlee Porter classes--12 hours to go
• watch Bethanne Nemesh classes--finished one
• shop for gifts--making a small amount of progress
• repot plants
• finish last of this year's quilts
• print next year's planner
• fix dress form as much as possible
• do fitting pattern
• lose a gazillion pounds
• sew cover for serger
• Marble Mystery
• add newest pantos to website
• complete other business things from computer list
• think about PHD for 2025
• clean up IntelliQuilter files
• bring in hummingbird feeders--left them outside too long and they froze and broke 😭
• drop off toys at pantry

Next is Margaret's mini, quilted with Identity.

I was working on creating a custom edge-to-edge for Carol's other quilt. I did this by editing a couple different pantos I'd purchased and sticking them back together. This took waaayyy longer than I should have spent for what I was charging. Then I had a big oops that took a while to address. See that pleat in the backing? It's been years since I've had a pleat in the backing. I had quite a bit of ripping to do, partly because this was past halfway across and partly due to a lot of backtracking.

But I persevered and got the quilt done.

Next in line is Kayle's quilt. She participates in quite a few round robin swaps. This is one of them and it's a bed-sized quilt. She wanted Snails stitched on it. You may remember when I stitched this design on my daughter's quilt a few months ago. We went with a larger scale for this quilt and it went a lot better. I absolutely love the outer border of this quilt.

Not much else has been going on. The hinges rivets? on our mailbox door have been ripped off from apparently aggressive mail pick up and delivery and it's cheaper to buy a new mailbox than repair the door yet again. Our dishwasher, which is just over three years old, malfunctioned AGAIN. We already replaced a part two years ago and the same part quit this time. My husband tore it apart and cleaned it out and it's working for now. We have a replacement part on order in case. Remember when appliances used to work for like 30 years? Ugh. This dishwasher frequently makes the "most recommended" lists online. I purchased it during the pandemic when our previous one failed and there were only two choices that were available within a month's time. 

I've been super busy working, so I sadly haven't managed any personal sewing time over the past week. I did get my quilting newsletter written in the nick of time. I even drew up a seam guide printable and edited my website for subscribers--at the total last minute. 

My husband and I joined up to create some coasters for my little Etsy fabric shop. I drew all the quilt blocks in my vector graphics program and he used his laser engraver to burn them onto cork coasters. Two sets are on their way across the country to their new home right now. :)

                   

                    

I've been quilting every day for over a week now. I wasn't originally planning to work at all during the Thanksgiving weekend, but the weather was garbage and we didn't have anything else planned, so I quilted. I think I have about a week to go to get them all finished. And then it's vacation time! 🥳 

Here are the quilts I completed over the past week.

First we have Jeri's Plus Nine quilt, quilted with Stacked Snailz. I fully bound this one (it's really big!) plus two of hers I shared last week over the last few days--this is the only thing I've sewn with my sewing machine since last week: lots of binding. I spent so much time with this one that I wish it were mine!

Next up is Marilyn's Paint Lake quilt, quilted with Swirly Foliage and Glide Salmon.

Trish selected Bora Bora for this wallhanging.

We decided on Pretty Paisley for this baby quilt.

And Valentines Party for her other baby quilt.

Mary Ann requested Orange Swirls for her quilt.  

I've been trying to make a mental to-do list for the rest of the month. My brain's hard drive is at capacity and malfunctioning 😆, so here it is, in no particular order, for all to see.

• finish Batesville--figure out backing
• Bedford Tiles
• J school book
• clean house
• watch Karlee Porter classes
• watch Bethanne Nemesh classes
• shop for gifts
• repot plants
• finish last of this year's quilts
• print next year's planner
• fix dress form as much as possible
• do fitting pattern
• lose a gazillion pounds
• sew cover for serger
• Marble Mystery
• add newest pantos to website, freshen up some areas
• complete other business things from computer list
• think about PHD for 2025
• clean up IntelliQuilter files
• bring in hummingbird feeders 🫣
• drop off toys at pantry

Finally, I'll leave you with this, as seen in the Sam's Club parking lot. 😳

In case it doesn't show very well, they used probably an entire roll of green painter's tape to tape Christmas lights all over their truck. Happy Holidays.

We've reached the final One Monthly Goal link up of the year. Tell me, is this something we should continue next year? Do you find it helpful?

New to One Monthly Goal?  Welcome!  To join, share a photo of your project plus some words about what you want to accomplish in a blog post or Instagram post and add that photo to the link up.  Return at the end of the month and share your results.  (Results link up opens for the last 7 days of the month.)

I have a few things left to complete on my 2024 PHD list. I didn't finish assembling my Batesville quilt yet. I haven't touched my Bedford Tiles quilt since October. While not technically part of my required PHD finishes for the year (clues don't finish until March 2025), I do have the Meadow Mist Marble Mystery listed as a new start. I haven't completed the November blocks yet and the December clue will be released this week.

Besides the PHD list, I'd like to work on something different. I've stayed pretty on-task this year and I'm starting to be bored. That being said, I feel like I need to stay with the PHD and see it through. My goal is to get the Batesville quilt completely finished. If I have any more time left this year, then I'll try to get the Bedford Tiles quilt into a top so that it can come off the design wall. 

The first picture is Batesville. I have sewn the additional HST needed to fill in the top and bottom rows and worked out what I'm putting in the corners. I just need to find the sewing time to get it done. 

My poor Bedford Tiles has been languishing on the design wall since October. I think putting in the sashing and adding the borders will really bring it all together. 

I shared these pictures last Wednesday too. Sorry, I've been overwhelmed and very busy these past few weeks as I finish up the client quilts and other business tasks for the year. I haven't had any personal time to sew or take updated photos of my own things.

Now it's your turn to link up. The link up will remain open through December 7.

The One Monthly Goal accomplishment link up will be available on December 25.  Make sure you add a link to this OMG post so others can find the OMG link up from your blog--just paste this link into your post:  

Stories from the Sewing Room One Monthly Goal December Link Up