December goals

I finished! I put all the bindings on and am now done with that project. Yeah me! I have no idea what they are... Placemats, but they're too bumpy. Wall hangiings, I suppose though not too interesting. Oh well...

Since today is December 1st I thought I'd better get down some December goals. Tetsu's Christmas present is done, Leiya's is done. Takumi I'm not sure about. I have yarn but does he really need a muffler in Southern California? No. I started a name quilt for him. I have the "Takumi" part done. Do I want to hurry and do that this week?

I've put a goal of one prayer quilt top a month and of course that is a job that can be done at any time. There is no one in particular that I need to make one for but I'd like to have a stock of prayer tops so I think I'll make one in green this month. That's a one day job.

I can always go back to my feathered star blocks which have been put on hold for the last month. Furui-san won't be happy to hear that I've started again since she hasn't got even one done and we wanted to do them together.

Of course I have the quilting to do for the Autumn Blossom Quilt but that is an ongoing project that can be done in the evenings.

I have left over yarn and I've been inspired to make socks but do I want to start something completely out of my regular scope?

I still want to do Judy's gratitude quilt but I can't decide on a color scheme and at any rate don't have 3 meters of fabric. Do I want to buy more fabric?

I'd like to try the Wonky Houses quilt but I need to make a stock of 2" squares and strips. Maybe that should be put on hold for awhile.

Of course I could stop piecing for awhile and just cut up fabric. I'd like to reduce my scrap box to 31/2 in" and 2" strips and squares.

I want to do another wonky letter quilt this time that says something but I don't know what I want to say and that would mean buying fabric again.

I have all those fat quarters of batiks that I love but don't have a plan for yet. More time on the internet?

I could knit a scrap sweater for myself from left-over yarn. That's another long project that isn't really necessary.

Hmmm.... All these options and that's only half putting my mind to it. I guess I should rule out buying fabric for awhile. I need to work with what I have. Batiks. Scraps. Quilt in progress. That means go back to the Autumn Blossom in the evenings. Do Takumi's name quilt and who knows or cares when it gets done. Put aside a day next week; Tuesday afternoon or Thursday afternoon; to do the Prayer Quilt. Cut up scraps and who knows I may get myself a pile of 2" squares... Hmm none of these goals have a completion date. I guess that's ok too.

And as a reward for completeing my name quilts, go ahead and order fabric from Thosands of Bolts and get 3 meters of something for Judy's gratitude quilt. (And since to get the most for my money buy 3 different fabrics for a Wonky Letter Quilt.)

Sounds good to me!

The end in sight

Let's see, what do I have to say? Not much. I was running around madly most of yesterday and probably only got 10 minutes consecutive done on my name quilts. Too bad! I had wanted them finished by November 30 and here in Japan it is already December 1st! Two more to go and they only take about 20 minutes a piece to get the bindings on so I can see the end. Noah's is great. in bright colors and very easy to read. Caleb's is bright but the pattern in the name makes it a little difficult. Elijah's is too light and you really have to "read" it. Oh well... I guess I've learned something. Leiya's is too dark and not at all colorful. I wonder if I can put a lighter binding on it. That may clash though so I'll have to think about that after I post this. Anyway, for all the reasons above I don't have a picture. But never fear! I plan to finish all of them today and take a joint picture today!

Nothing to show for today's progress

I got quite a lot of quilting done yesterday and have now finished quilting three name quilts. I'm working on Noah's now. Of course I still have binding to attached when I finish quilting so the end isn't in sight yet but I'm plugging away. Today was a busy day so though I took my quilting with me into Utsunomiya I didn't get more than three or four stitches put into it. Maybe tonight after English. Did I mention that my fingers are sore from all this quilting. Tonya doesn't use a hoop but that means the index and middle fingers of my left hand gets pricked a lot and so they are sore. The right hand's index finger is sore too from pulling the needle (but I do use a thimble on the right hand. I have trouble with a thimble on the left hand when I'm not using a hoop. I don't know why.)

Anyway, I don't have anything to show so maybe I'll put up a picture of this year's bazaar quilt since I started blogging after the bazaar. I'm in charge of deciding next year's bazaar quilt so I spend a lot of time looking around the internet for possible patterns...

Quilting!

Ok. I quilted for most of the morning and some of the afternoon. I'm still working on the name quilts and I'm following the advice of Tonya who does the wonky quilts and do the work for FUN not so that it's perfect. I didn't draw quilt lines, I don't use a hoop. I just randomly do the fans over any inch of fabric that I come to and it's working out better than I thought. I debated about skipping a lunch date with friends and just continue quilting all day but I decided that would be anti-social so I took my quilting to the restaurant and it was a good thing I did. The rest of the group (they came together) was 40 minutes late! I got a lot of quilting done just waiting for them! Here are a couple of pictures though they don't look much more different from when they were in the flimsy stage. Oops. Caleb's is done too but I guess I forgot to take a picture of it. Maybe tomorrow.

Mistake!!!!

Can you believe that when I was posting a picture of the 4 finished name quilts I'd made the day before, I that I noticed that one of the letters was backward! I can't believe it! I didn't think anything about it when I was sewing it or admiring it or even taking the picture. But I posted the thing and thought... "Something is strange. The "H" is backwards!!!!" And I'm supposed to be an English teacher. Now what...? I could leave it and say "Well, it is my mischievious nature coming out." But I'd for the rest of my life know that I goofed. I went back and forth in my mind "It doesn't have to be perfect. It's Ok. as it is." But in the end I took it out and resewed it. It only took my 15 minutes so it wasn't the disaster I thought it was going to be and I'm glad I noticed the blooper. I'll repost the mistake pictures (haven't taken new ones yet) but it has been repaired and once I get the things quilted I'll take an after picture.

Friends and Prayers

Well, my plan for yesterday was sidetracked by a visit to Narumi-san. That should be expected. We always talk a lot longer than I expect to. With Kamiyama-san there too of course the chatting time is tripled! I went to pray with them but ended up spending two hours chatting. Not necessarily bad... We discuss the problems of the world, our faith, Narumi-san's illness, friends and family that we want to come to know Jesus, etc. but as I say, it makes for a long time of fellowship. Narumi-san is expecting more tests, but her cancer has returned in her lymph glands. Some question about her ovaries too so our prayers were focused and emotional again.

I had given up on getting anything done on my projects, but decided I could put in at least 15 minutes (Yeah Flylady thinking!) Actually I must have sewed for nearly an hour and got the borders on Caleb's name quilt. I had quite a problem with deciding and making a fish for his block and I don't know if anyone else but me can see the fish, but it is there. None of these things are finished of course. I still have to figure out how they are going to be quilted. By hand? On machine? Anyway, today's goal is to "finish" Noah's and then I'll worry about quilting.