Year End Reckoning

I meant to do my number crunching for 2010 yesterday, but obviously that didn't happen ;-) Here are the spools I emptied in 2010. They represent 20,026 yards, or 11.38 miles of thread.

My 2010 total number of quilts made is 35. I used 213 yards of fabric in those quilts, and I used 50 yards of fabric making things for the scooter rally. I didn't keep track of the other fabric used, so let's just stick with 263 yards of fabric used, though I'm sure it was more, especially since this isn't counting any garments or other projects. Realistically, it was probably over 300 yards.

Here were my 2010 goals, let's see how I did!

1. Finish all my 2009 starts, with possibly the exception of Perkiomen Daydream, which is my longterm project.

*Well, I didn't even work on Perkiomen Daydream, and I didn't finish Double Delight either, but aside from these two, all of my 2009 projects are done.

2. Keep a quilt! I still haven't done that, and one of my UFO's is for our bed, so if I do goal number one, I should be able to do this one.

*I kept three quilts this year, which is amazing for me. These are the first three I've ever kept. Of course, Double Delight is the one for our bed, and it's not done, so still no quilt for our bed.

3. Make 12 donation quilts, using my scrap user system or orphan blocks. A sub-goal of this is to cut up my scraps as I make room in my scrap drawers. I got stalled on sorting my scraps because my drawers are full, and I'm not buying any more plastic drawers.

*I actually ended up donating 15 quilts this year. My scrap drawers are still full although I've used a bunch, and so is my scrap basket. The more I sew, the more scraps I have, so it's a never ending cycle. I did use up a ton of orphan blocks, and that basket is almost empty.

So, how do I feel about 2010 as far as quilting goes? I think it was a success. I got a lot accomplished, and the biggest thing was I got all my fabric organized, which is HUGE!

2011 is here, and I already have quite a list of quilts to make. I have at least one wedding quilt to make, several baby quilts, and several kid quilts (including a big boy bed quilt for DGS#1) promised. I have a couple quilts almost finished, and a few UFO's. I have a bunch of things to make for the grandtwins, which is my priority right now. The RRCB Mystery is officially on the back burner.

Since the grandtwins will be living with us, I have no illusions of making as many quilts in 2011 as I did this year. On days I babysit there will be three babies in the house, and I know no sewing will occur then. Even with two babies it will probably be a challenge. I'm thinking I'll get more sewing done in the first half the year, when the twins are not mobile and sleeping a lot, than afterwards when they can get around. DD#3 will need more help watching them when they are crawling.

Because of the uncertainty of sewing time, the only quilty goals I have for 2011 are making the quilts that need to be made for gifts. If I get more than that done, that's great, but I'm not making big plans. I do hope to be less busy and have some time to enjoy my family, and all the changes coming our way.

Skipping around on the RRCB Mystery

I have a baker's dozen of string blocks done for step 3. It's a far cry from the 60 I need, but I have been string piecing stockings too. I'm glad I went ahead and started over on the blue string blocks. I think the navy blues in the other ones I had were too dark. I love making string blocks, I even like tearing the paper off of string blocks. I usually rip off the paper when reading digests from my yahoo quilting groups, since I really don't have to look at the paper to tear it off.

Here is step 4 all finished. It was an easy step, so it wasn't hard to knock these out.

I'm still working on step 5. I have about 300 HST's sewn (200 ironed) of the 600 needed. I haven't trimmed the dog ears off yet, but I figure I'll do all of that once they are all done.

I managed to get the triangles cut for step 6, but nothing sewn on that step at all. I was hoping to do a lot more sewing done this week than has happened. My back is doing better, but I still can't sit too long in one position.

Today I didn't get a chance to sew at all. I went shopping with DD#2 for things for DD#3's baby shower on the 9th. I'm a little lost on throwing this baby shower, the last one I went to was the one some church ladies threw for me when I was pregnant with her! I imagine it will be fine, as long as the food is good, right? I couldn't find anything with twins on it, and DD#3 has an aversion to pastels, so I bought purple and blue napkins, plates, balloons, and streamers to go with her nursery colors. I found Mickey and Minnie Mouse things to put on a cake or use as decorations. I also found boy and girl rubber ducks, which I am hoping to use in a centerpiece.

***I got interrupted while writing this post, so I went upstairs and sewed while I talked to my best friend on the phone (gotta love headsets). I sewed another 200 HST's while we talked, so only 100 more, then a bunch of ironing :-)

A Quilty Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas, albeit a bit early due to work schedules. I had asked everyone to chip in and buy me EQ7, and they did! I am so excited to try it, but I'll probably end up waiting a few more days. DH also bought me 12 fat quarters, and DD#2 bought me some quilting happy socks. I usually wear happy socks (what I call socks with weird designs on them), and these are my first pair of quilting socks.

A friend of DD#3 who really appreciates my cooking also bought me some fabric. He got me these three pieces, all tone-on-tones. He's got a great eye for someone who knows nothing about quilting! The funny thing is, I have been thinking about making a quilt with a black background, and two of these fit the bill. I really need some more black-on-blacks if I'm going to make the quilt in my mind. I have pretty much chosen the colors, just not the pattern.

I haven't gotten any sewing done in the past few days. I'm hoping to get a bit done tomorrow, but we'll see. I hurt my back and I'm not able to sit for too long at a time. It's not too bad so in a few days I should be good to go.

I hope all of you had a fabulous Christmas too!

Merry Christmas!

Our tree is finally up, thanks to DD#3. She put it up all by herself and at seven months pregnant with twins that is no easy feat! I wouldn't have even bothered putting it up this year, life is so chaotic right now.

I got the front and backs made for three stockings. they aren't sewn together yet, and I know I won't get all of them done before Christmas. I do like the way they are coming out, and I think they will all look very nice next year. I let everyone pick a color, and I'm using my strings in those colors to make their stockings. I need eight stockings this year, but I'll need at least 11 next year. I decided I'd enjoy making them much more if I didn't rush so much. We'll survive a year with no stockings.

Yesterday I spent some time cutting for the RRCB Mystery. I got everything cut for steps 4 and five, even though I haven't finished step 3. I needed some more strings for step 3, so I decided that was easiest if I just cut them while cutting for the other steps, since they all needed the same color.

Here is my progress on step 3. I decided to do a dozen at a time, so when I finish five batches, I'll be done. Of course this is only my first batch, but you have to start somewhere ;-) The gray strings on the side are for DH's stocking. I keep alternating what I'm working on. I love string piecing, I find it so relaxing so this step is great for me, especially with all the chaos around.

Do you like my mountain of blue strings? I decided not to use the blocks I showed earlier, and I eliminated the navy blues from my "mountain". I thought the navy blues made the blocks too dark, but there is still a lot of variety in these strings. I hope we are done with the neutral now, if we aren't I'm going to have to go buy a few fat quarters, or use yardage for all of the last couple steps.

Today I spent helping DD#2 pack to move back home. Now I'm doing loads upon loads of laundry. Tomorrow I babysit and do more laundry. Tuesday I go help pack up DD#2 and DS the Elder's kitchen then Wednesday they move home. Thursday we celebrate Christmas, since almost everyone is working Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I'm hoping to find some time to do some relaxing sewing between Christmas and New Years.

After the New Year I will switch to baby mode, and work in earnest on things for the twins. The baby shower is January 9th and I need to get everything done for that too. DS the Elder will be moving to Texas right around then, so he is just here for a couple weeks. So many changes, so much going on, that sewing is like a guilty pleasure right now. I try to steal a few minutes here and there to sew and save my sanity.

In case I don't post again before Christmas, I hope you all have a wonderful loving holiday!

Last Quilt Finishes for 2010

These are the last of my 2010 quilts. I know I won't have any more finishes this year, because I'm not even going to try. I may end up with a couple more quilt tops completed, because I have a couple that are almost done, but as far as finishing quilts go, this is it. This D9P will go to the veteran's hospital.

The grandtwins flannel quilts are finished. I auditioned a couple different colors of binding for each quilt and let DD#3 choose.

What are the quilts backed with? Mickey and Minnie Mouse flannels!

I packed the Juki away for now. I'll set it up again when I have a few tops ready to quilt, but for now, its cabinet is closed :-(

Now that my quilting spree is done, it's on to Christmas chores and other work. Two of my kids are moving back in next week, one of them for just a couple weeks, one for a few months. Lots of rearranging needs to be done for that. Add to that the Christmas baking, and present wrapping, cards to send, and maybe, just maybe, those stockings to make, and I'll be a busy woman.