Saturday, December 29, 2012

trying to be a more consistent blogger...

In an effort to be a more consistent blogger regarding my quilty adventures, I've left the camera in my sewing room and tried to remember to take a photo after each sewing session.  So far, so good.

Unfortunately, since too many people now read my blog, I can't share all of them.  But I have tried to sew at least a little every night and other than last night, I made it!


But you can see here - snippets and proof that things have been sewn together!

I've also started a leaders-and-enders project...or two...


Leftovers from the puppy quilt and the Asian kitty quilt.
All those lost corners sewn and trimmed and abandoned.

So far I've just started the red, white and black squares in the boxes.

Ironing and trimming a few every time I turn on the iron.

I've only got 4 twosies sewn, but isn't that the point of leaders-and-enders projects?  They take forever!  My machine eats fabric and ties knots if you don't start in the middle of the fabric or keep sewing, so this is something I SHOULD have been doing for years, but was too lazy to press and trim my pieces.


For these, as I trimmed, I stuck them in these nifty little boxes I recycled from work.


They start out looking like this, we empty them and reuse some of them.  The rest often get taken home to be recycled by one of us crafty people.  (For those of you wondering, the boxes are filled with little plastic tips - they attach to a pipettor...bascially a very fancy "eye-dropper" used to measure very small amounts of liquid very accurately.)

So that's the start of my goals for the new year - manage my scraps better!

I also want to use my scraps to make and donate at least one charity quilt a month.  I've got a few tops finished that need to be quilted, so I've got a jump on things, but I have to actually FINISH them for it to count!

And to play into my charity project and my better management of scraps, I'm going to try to make at least one block a week.  A different block.  I'd like to do one a day and have seen at least one blog where a gal actually succeeded in that (sorry I can't find it to link to her), but I know I'll fail.  Just too much planning.  I'll be using a variety of resources for blocks and plan to try to blog and share at least once a week.

There are others (like USING the stuff I pin on Pinterest...), but that's probably another post and I've stalled enough this morning.

Today starts a 5-day weekend for me.  I had to work the days before and after Christmas, but in exchange, I get a 5-day weekend this weekend.  I'll take it!

I plan to sew.
And sew.
And nap.
And read.
And sew.
Maybe cook.

Happy quilting,
Katie


7 comments:

Alf and Lily Creations said...

Your five day weekend sounds perfect, I've got two weeks of school and have so far napped and read but watch out sewing machine! Your scrap boxes are great, very organised..xx

a good yarn said...

Good for you - I've made the same pledge. The leaders/enders project is a good idea. I also like the one block a month for a charity quilt. That seems achievable and I think I'll join you in that one. I haven't made a charity quilt for a long time. Great use of those containers from work too.

I also like the napping, reading and eating plan. Lay on McDuff!

Just Another Quilter said...

Great to see you on line. Keep up with the posting and working on projects.

canuckquilter said...

Enjoy your 5 day weekend! I'm also planning to use up scraps, but I'm a little daunted. I only have small bits of so many different things...I'll need to get over my need to be matchy-matchy!

---"Love" said...

So far, I'm made no real plans for the New Year. I'm still trying to recover from Christmas! Still can't get to either sewing machine! Maybe soon. I need to look into the idea of leaders and enders a bit. Enjoy your time off! ---"Love"

Beth said...

I like your boxes!And you are making good use of them too. I did a long leaders and enders project and I love doing an 'extra' project that way. I need to get organized enough to always have one going. Need to be organized and energized at the same time.
Enjoy your long weekend and Happy New Year

Granny Anne said...

I love the little boxes. Wish I could get a batch of them for my own sewing room. I would pay for them if you had extra. Happy New Year