Unexpected Visitors

It's a good thing I got my house company ready right after the last batch, because I've got company again for a week. I found out on Friday it was a possibility, Saturday a definite, and by Sunday they were here. They'll be here until Saturday, so not a lot of sewing time available this week.

BUT...I sewed like a fiend over the weekend. DH was off all of last weekend, but he was editing a magazine he self publishes. All the company has bitten into his writing time as well as my sewing time. Since he was busy, and I had a couple days with no company, I took advantage and sewed and sewed.

I was rapidly climbing the Queen's List in the UFO Challenge in Stashbusters Yahoo group. The quilt I've already started quilting on was ruler work and slow going, so I grabbed a baby quilt from the stack of basted quilts, put the walking foot on my Bernina, and quilted and bound this in a day. I made the quilt top pretty recently, but it was made from leftovers from a different UFO, so I think it should count as a UFO. All the pieced units were made last year. 

It's some really simple quilting, but I think it works, and the quilt is really snuggly because it's not overquilted. It's backed with fleece. 

I also got some piecing done. Since I did all that sub-cutting while I had the grandkids, I have lots of pieces ready to chain-sew. 

I got all the blocks done for the first quillow. These are just up on the design wall, and I may move a couple around, but I think my idea of monochromatic rail fence blocks will work well for my quillow project. Since I'm planning the quillows to be for car use, I didn't need any fancy piecing. It's pretty hard to get a good look at a quilt you are using in a car. 

By going monochromatic, it will be easy for my grandkids to pick theirs out of a stack in the corner of a car. I plan to match backings to front colors. The best part is it will help me whittle down my overflowing Scrap User System quickly. 

I've been thinking about what works well for me, and what habits I should change based on circumstances. The scrap user system really works for me, I always go to it first when I'm pulling fabric for a quilt. The thing is, with a repetitive stress injury in my arm that is easily aggravated, I need to start using my Studio cutter for most of my cutting. I need to develop a new habit, even though my current one works for me, using the Studio cutter is a better habit for me to get into because of my arm. I've increased the number of dies I have significantly, and most dies work best with fat quarters or yardage. 

Now, sub-cutting strips doesn't bother my arm much. It's not short cuts that get me, it's long cuts that kill my arm, so I can continue to have a scrap user system, and honestly, I'll never run out of scraps so that's good. I do think I need to whittle my scrap user system down though, it's taking up too much space for something that should not be my first choice. Cutting fat quarters and yardage with my Studio cutter needs to become my go-to method of cutting for a quilt. 

It seems like I'm always rethinking what works best, and what could be improved. When I have time to sew, I think I'm pretty efficient, but everything can be improved upon. Maybe next week I'll have time to sew, or who knows? I could end up with more company!