Monday 13 January 2020

15 Minutes to stitch.

As I was tripping about in blogland last weekend, I came across Kate's Life in Pieces blog. What a lovely blog to read. Kate has some beautiful quilts happening though I'm not sure where she finds the time, such a busy lady.  Anyway, she has this 15 minutes to stitch thing going, which I thought I might join in with.  The idea is that you make or find at least 15 minutes each day to stitch, or sew or craft in some way. Just enough to say that you made progress today.
I really wasn't sure how I would get on with it as my crafty mojo has taken a bit of a hit recently.
I totally surprised myself and over achieved. LOL
Maybe being accountable does do something for my mojo.
Here is what I achieved. 
Monday
30 mins of cutting scraps, before work.
10 mins of knitting.
2.5 hrs working on my one monthly ornament.
Tuesday
30 mins of cutting scraps before work
4.5 hrs completed the ornament.
Wednesday
40 mins of sewing scraps, before work.
2 hours of cross stitch.
Thursday
1 hour cross stitch in the evening.
Friday
30 mins of scrapping before work!
15 mins of knitting
2.25 hrs of scrapping!
Saturday is a hard one. I was in and out of my room all day, with lots of interruptions, but I'm sure I managed way more than 15 mins. LOL
Sunday was the same. Debbie came over for a lesson in free motion quilting. In between setting up the machine and encouraging her, I was busy pressing scrappy blocks. Again, no time keeping was done, but waaay more than 15 mins was spent on my own project.
Thank you Kate. I might have to join in again this week. 
So now that all of the time keeping is out of the way, would you like to see what I've been up to?
Firstly I had to go to the LNS for some thread, while I was there I spotted a box of cute titanium scissors on the counter and just had to have a pair. I didn't need them, but.....you know how it is.
 Some progress has been made on Spring Queen. I did have to do some unstitching at one point, but I'm happy with the progress. 
Still aiming to have her finished in the first half of the year.
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If you read all of my time keeping then you will know what all of these little piles of 2.5 inch squares are about.
 I cut and stitched quite a few this week.
 Mining through my scrap drawers in search of treasure. Some pieces were big enough to cut several squares, other fabrics had only enough to make one.
 Some are my scraps, old friends and new.
 Some are pieces I've picked up in op shops or in the off cuts bins in needlework stores.
 And there are pirates!
This huge pile is what I was pressing yesterday, while Debbie quilted.
As I pressed, I counted and discovered that I don't have enough for my project. I have 245 strips made and I need another 98.
Looks like I'll be back in the scraps drawer looking for more.
Shouldn't be a problem, there are still plenty of scraps in there.
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yes I did mention earlier that I had completed my first Christmas Ornament for the year. No, you may not see it! I want to keep them secret. 😊
I will say though that it took about 12 hours to complete. 
I just hope I manage to stick to the one a month plan. 
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This is what Debbie was working on yesterday, while I pressed.
She had used up leftovers from various projects to make a traffic jam table runner and wanted to free motion quilt it.

Some of you may remember that she used my frame to quilt a larger piece, and a few years ago I taught her how to stitch in the ditch. This was the first time she has tried free motion quilting. After some practising on scrappy quilt sandwiches she was ready to have a go at a meander. I think she did really well and I was surprised when she sent this picture last night, with the binding on and the whole thing finished. 
As we have the same model of sewing machine, she will be able to set it up and go it alone for the next one, which I believe is another runner. She also has a wee table topper, which she would like to put onto my frame for quilting. I'm more than happy for that to happen.
That reminds me, I have a top awaiting quilting too!!
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While we were busy in my room yesterday Debbie and I planned a day out in a couple of weeks. 
It's been a while.
*
I'm off to visit a Life In Pieces to see what the other 15 stitchers have achieved.  

8 comments:

Fiona said...

A good start to your daily stitching...
Hugz

Marti said...

Wow, talk about a busy woman! You got more done before work than I get done in a whole morning at home. What a tease telling us about an ornament that takes hours and hours to make and no show and tell! lol

It sounds like you must be a good teacher too. I remember my first free motion session, and it was not worthy of being bound afterward.

Maria said...

Fabulous start to your daily stitching..
Well done with all your 2 1/2" project too.

Karen S said...

It is a good way to use time and it does make you get organised.

Janice said...

Yoou’re just a show off!, bragging about all the stitching you have done, 😜 Its amazing what a bit of accountability does for the motivation. I did nothing near that, but I’m OK with the time I have spent stitching. Your ornament sounds rather impressive. Good luck keeping up with your schedule. Have fun on your outing with Debbie and good luck with your 15 minutes this week.

Kate said...

You definitely over achieved last week on the the stitching time. Hopefully that helped you get some of your mojo back. The reason I started the 15 minutes to stitch was to get myself into the sewing room each day, once I got there it was easy to stay and stitch. You've got some fun projects in the works. Thanks for linking up last week.

Raewyn said...

Amazing how these snippets of time all add up and then morph into larger pieces of time - well done, you got heaps done :-)

Christina said...

Wow! You have found a lot of time for stitching and making progress on all of your projects. I can not wait to see your finished cross stitching. I believe you will get it finished sooner than you expect. Keep up the great work in finding time!