WIP Wednesday. 11/10/15

Okay - so I think I am cool :-)

I wrote some of this post on my tablet :-)  Yesterday my husband and I did a surprise quick little escape road trip..... and I played around enough to figure out how to write up some posts.   I needed to edit at home with pictures - but the writing part can happen on the road - hooray for me!  

I still don't know how to edit my photos as I go and am hesitant to learn since my eyes aren't that good anyway BUT - another day's issue!  I have a larger monitor attached to my laptop to make vision easier but I keep telling myself I should learn a few more "on-the-go" photo tools anyway... just because.

Okay - well anyway - works-in-progress....   as you know I am working hard to finish up things.... which can get a little boring for me!  So.. in between things, as I hit the cutting table, I have been going through my generic scrap basket and the different color scrap boxes and neatening up.  I want to be able to get back to a few scrap projects by the first of the year and I will be happier if my bits and pieces are usable sizes....

I had some of the blocks prepared for the Roads quilts - the block to the right - in process for next year - and to the left, you can see the odd-shaped bits that are leftovers.  I got some 1-inch and 1.5-inch strips from each of those pieces....  the "too small" scraps are at the top and got tossed into my 'pet bed' collection.   At any rate.... I have straightened up my boxes of blue, green, white/cream and am working on purple now.  When I am ready to piece blocks with scraps, I will take the strips of different sizes and cut the length I will need!

We are heading out of town for Thanksgiving so I really REALLY need to make some headway in certain areas.

 The Virginia sampler class.   I need to keep up with it!  It is an advanced quilting class and taking a little more brain space than I want to give it right now!  I'm determined to do each block she gives me and it is a lot harder than I anticipated. 

What a challenge!  [I mean that in both a good and bad way!]  Mostly because I am not working in class but taking in info and going home to work.  I am present because I am working there :-). And I do get my questions answered.  And am actually keeping up pretty well.   

I do love my colors though and will enjoy the final product when it is complete.

I think -for my own purposes though -  I probably won't do another sampler class for a while.  I like to keep up and a semester isn't enough time - for me.  I don't like ending a class with a quilt half done... because then you lose the impetus to finish.  (I have TWO incomplete class tops in my possession that need me to get back to them! Which is not to mention the completed tops that are in my "to be quilted" collection!)

I like to be able to work at my pace. And that pace is several projects at a time!!

Right now I am stressing about the design of the 4 grandquilts.  

I am working on figuring out the backings for the two boy quilts.  Somehow in the time that passes between the fabric purchase and the construction of the backing I forget what I decided to do!   So I forge ahead and then the measurements don't work...  So its back to purchase and rethink..  <Sigh>

That said, this week I finished the backing for one of them.  And started the re-figuring on the second boy one.

And the girl quilts...  I had finished one side. But they aren't full size quilts so u need to grow them a bit.   I have a bunch of scrappy blocks leftover so am working with those to increase the dimensions.

 I call the first side the "Gabby" side because that is the name of the book I have to go with it :-)

And the second side (Princess and the Pea) I had run out of the background fabric... And found more of it when I went to the beach a couple of weeks ago. 

So I am moving ahead with the strips until I run out. And then I will figure out what to do to make the two sides the same size!

But I do feel good that I have made progress on these. I would really like to have all 4 sandwiched and ready to quilt before we take off for thanksgiving.  So the deadline is Sunday Nov 22 to have fronts and backs completed and quilts sandwiched together.

So that is sampler, grandquilts, and Roads quilt in the piecing line-up this week!

On the handwork front - I finished  the hand stitching for a Christmas wall hanging.

And started the process of using up cotton yarn scraps in dishcloths!  I will probably need to purchase a cone of plain off-white to whip up some dishcloths for hostess gifts... but have a healthy collection of small balls to use in various combinations that might work also.  Or I will use them for donations.  Or something.

Ok so that is plenty for one WIP week. Don't you think?

Next week, I need to dig into the handwork basket a bit more and also decide which projects will travel across country with me... because it won't be my machine this time!