Reading 1820 Blogs Daily!


June 1, 2021
To Do Tuesday for 6/1/2021 from Life In Pieces

We had a relaxing holiday weekend.  We didn't go anyplace, we just hung out around the house. Consequently I was able to spend some quality time in my sewing room for the first time in weeks.  May wasn't the best month for stitching. My last To Do Tuesday post was almost a month ago.  My stitching time was just so limited that I haven't bothered to make up a list since. So we'll start from where I left off and just move on from there. 

Weekly (Monthly?) To Do List for 05/04/2021

  • Grassy Creek ...

read more
May 3, 2021
The Quilty Year so Far from Life In Pieces

The end of April means we are one third of the way through 2021.  That's a bit sobering as there's only been one finish  coming out of my sewing room so far this year.  I've been focusing on just a few projects at a time in hopes of moving more to the finished column, but it's been slow going. I've been playing along with Quilting Gail's 2021 PHD  program to help with the motivation. 


My PHD report for the end of April doesn't show much in the way of progress for the last ...

read more
April 27, 2021
To Do Tuesday for 4/27/2021 from Life In Pieces

Work continues to be really busy, which means I've been staying later than I like.  That has impacted my sewing time. It's just hard to get in more than 15 minutes when I don't get home till almost 7.  It's a good thing I went with an easy to do list for last week.  

Weekly To Do List for 4/20/2021

  • Morewood Mystery: Work on adding borders
  • Cabins and Fans: Continue assembling blocks 
  • Unity: Makes HSTs for clue 6 as leaders and enders 

Most of my progress happened over the weekend, I didn't get ...

read more
April 20, 2021
To Do Tuesday for 4/20/2021 from Life In Pieces

It was such a pretty day yesterday, all the way up to 70 F.  Hard to believe we have more than a 80% chance of snow today.  It's been a very atypical spring weather wise, much cooler and wetter than normal. That's been good for my to do list. It's much nicer to play with thread and fabric in the sewing room than to brave the elements and tackle some much needed yard work.  


Weekly To Do List for 4/13/2021
  • Morewood Mystery: Finish sewing blocks together
  • Cabins and Fans: Start assembling blocks 
  • Unity: Make HSTS ...

read more
April 19, 2021
Mostly Morewood from Life In Pieces

There is snow in the forecast for this week. I guess Mother Nature isn't ready to be done with winter yet.  It looks to be a weird week on the weather front.  Thankfully it was a nice weekend. We were able to meet up with the Scientist in Training for lunch and a chilly walk in park on Saturday. I got in one whole day of dedicated sewing time on Friday.  Though it doesn't seem like there was much progress.  


Morewood Mystery by Cheryl of Meadow Mist Designs



All the Morewood blocks are now stitched together.  That was ...

read more
April 13, 2021
To Do Tuesday for 4/13/2021 from Life In Pieces

This last week was much more sedate and productive than the previous week.  My Guy and I had mild reactions to our second dose of the COVID vaccine.  Though I was a lot more fuzzy brained and tired on Friday then I realized at the time.  Taxes are done and My Guy is almost done checking over them. There was even some significant stitching time during the week resulting in a completely checked off To Do List.  

Weekly To Do List for 04/06/21

  • Grassy Creek: Press and clean up quilt top
  • Morewood Mystery: Continue to assemble quilt top ...

read more
April 12, 2021
Just Stitching Stuff from Life In Pieces

It was a quiet, but busy weekend. Taxes are finished, with some time left to play in the sewing room.  Getting Grassy Creek cleaned up and pressed was the first priority. 




The yellow and gray fabrics frayed a bit, so there were lots of loose threads to remove from the back.    

Once that was done, I could go stitch a bit at the machine. 

Morewood Mystery by Cheryl of Meadow Mist Designs


The top and bottom two rows of the Morewood Mystery quilt are completely assembled, but I'm still working on stitching the blocks together in the middle two ...

read more
April 8, 2021
PHD in 2021: March Progress from Life In Pieces

Three months down, nine to go in 2021.  One of my goals is to finish 8 quilts this year, one more than I've ever managed.  I'm hoping Quilting Gail's PHD in 2021 will keep me motivated enough to reach that goal.  


March's report shows a finish, finally! 



So one finish in the bag, seven more to go!  


The binding for the Picnic Quilt (Red, White and Blue Stars) didn't quite get finished before the calendar turned over to March. But the first finish of 2021 came really early in the month.  

No other finishes for ...

read more
March 31, 2021
To Do Tuesday for 03/30/2021 from Life In Pieces

March is just about over.  In just a couple of days we'll be into April and a quarter of 2021 will be in the past.  I'm not a quarter of the way through my sewing ambitions list, but I'm close.  Writing a weekly to do list has been really helpful in keeping me on task. I didn't stay completely on task last week, but that's because the non-stitching plans for the weekend changed.  


Weekly To Do List for 03/23/2021
  • Grassy Creek: Press and clean up backing
  • Morewood Mystery: Continue to assemble quilt top ...

read more
March 23, 2021
To Do Tuesday for 03/23/2021 from Life In Pieces

Yesterday was cold and rainy, just really yucky.  Walking to the car after work was really miserable. I'm hoping spring is going to get  bolder and warm things up a bit more before unleashing torrents of rain. But that's not happening this morning, more rain on the way, though it won't last all day.  


That's the weather report, I'll move on to the weekly update on the never ending To Do List. I didn't stitch as much as planned, but the list still got checked off.  

Weekly To Do List for 03/16/2021 ...

read more
March 21, 2021
To Do Tuesday for 03/16/2021 from Life In Pieces

This week is normally spring break for us, but the Scientist in Training's college decided not to give the kids spring break this year  to avoid a spike in cases.  This wasn't a really popular decision, but an understandable one.  Last year the college told the kids to stay out for 2 weeks, then moved everything on line after that. Thursday will mark the year anniversary of when My Guy and I were told to start working from home.  It's been a very hard year for many. We've been blessed to keep our jobs through out ...

read more
March 9, 2021
To Do Tuesday for 03/09/2021 from Life In Pieces

This last week flashed by.  With the return of warmer temperatures it seems that now there is more to do, both at home and at work.  There was still good progress on the To Do List, but I was a tad over ambitious with plans for one project. 


Weekly To Do List for 03/02/2021
  • Red White and Blue Stars: Finish binding, take photos 
  • Grassy Creek: Add three borders, progress
  • Morewood Mystery: Continue to make Block B 
  • Unity: Make HSTS for clue 6 as leader and ender 
Check marks on three out of four, especially when one check mark ...

read more
March 3, 2021
PHD in 2021: February Progress from Life In Pieces

The plan for 2021 was to focus on finishing quilts.  Playing along with Quilting Gail's PHD in 2021 is supposed to help me keep on track and focus on those finishes. 



If you look at my chart for this year, I've done really well on the not starting anything new.  But the other side is still looking pretty anemic, no finishes at the end of February.  


No finish, but there has been visible progress on my four focus projects highlighted in blue. 



Red, White and Blue Stars was sent out for quilting in the middle of January and ...

read more
March 2, 2021
To Do Tuesday for 03/02/2021 from Life In Pieces

My office calendar shows a new month as of yesterday.  Hard to believe that a quarter of 2021 will be over at the end of this month.  Didn't we just change out our calendars to a new one?  

Friday was a day off work, so I got an extra afternoon of stitching time last week. That was really helpful in tackling the to do list.  

Weekly To Do List for 02/23/2021

  • RW&B Stars: Make binding, label, trim quilt, sew binding on
  • Grassy Creek: Start adding borders 
  • Morewood Mystery: Continue making block B 
  • Unity: Make HSTs for ...

read more
February 23, 2021
To Do Tuesday for 02/23/2021 from Life In Pieces

Hard to believe it's been a week and it's time for a new to do list.  With all the disruption to normal life my sense of time is a bit warped. After four days of working from home, it was getting hard to remember what day of the week it was.  I can't say there was more stitching time last week, but there was enough to check off most of my to do list. 

Weekly To Do List for 02/16/2021

  • Grassy Creek: Assemble rows and pieced borders - progress
  • Morewood Mystery: Continue to assemble Block B ...

read more
February 22, 2021
The Other Mystery from Life In Pieces

Most of the snow had melted by yesterday afternoon. It was pretty while it lasted, but I certainly don't miss the bone chilling cold that came with the snow.  It was still mostly dreary weather this weekend, though we never got the rain that was forecast.  It was still good sewing room weather.  

Grassy Creek is still my focus project, but it's been the subject of my design wall post for the last couple of weeks.  So time to switch it up and highlight the other mystery quilt that's taken over the smaller design wall. 

Morewood Mystery ...

read more
February 16, 2021
To Do Tuesday for 2/16/2021 from Life In Pieces

It snowed more yesterday and stayed really cold. Pretty much the same as the rest of the midwest. We've been lucky so far to avoid the rolling black outs that have affected large areas of Texas. Offices are closed again today, so it will be another virtual office day.  I suspect the rolling black outs have more to do with the office closure then the state of the roads. 


Moving on to the the stitching stuff. It's time review last week's to do list and decide what's on this week's.  Chris of Chris Knits and ...

read more
February 9, 2021
To Do Tuesday for 2/9/2021 from Life In Pieces

The freezing drizzle stopped over night, but it's still very, very slick. Offices are closed again today, probably because the parking lots are pretty much ice skating rinks.  Even though offices are closed, I'm still expected to work from home virtually, so I'm still limited to stitching this evening after work.  I'm OK with that and just thankful I don't have to get out in the cold today.  

The To Do List from last week included only three items. All three are in the block making stage, which for the Bonnie Hunter mystery projects can ...

read more
February 4, 2021
PHD in 2021: January Progress from Life In Pieces

The goal this year, like last year, is to work down the UFO list a bit.  Also like last year, I'm playing along with Quilting's Gail PHD in 2021 as one of my motivators.  


My plan is to finish the UFOs while limiting new starts.  I've done really well on not starting anything new, but not so hot on finishing anything as yet.  



But there has been really good progress on the four projects highlighted in blue in my tracking chart. 

Red, White and Blue Stars

Red, White and Blue Stars (Picnic Stars) started the year as ...

read more
February 2, 2021
To Do Tuesday For 2/2/2021 from Life In Pieces

Hard to believe that January is over and it's time to put together the first to do list for February.  The cold and windy weather has made the sewing room an attractive place to hang out the last couple of weeks. So the to do list for last week has a lot of check marks on it.  

Weekly To Do List for 1/26/2021

  • Morewood Mystery: Finish making the A Blocks
  • Grassy Creek: Continue to make blocks and sashing 
  • Unity: Make HSTS for Clue 6 as leader and ender 

Last week's list was short, but that meant ...

read more