2022 #5 Tuesday to-Do: Holy Smokes!

Happy February--we're now one month in!

I am fully-caffeinated and fully-inspired, and that

machine is still smokin' over here!  Projects are

popping out, and even more are popping up!

 Join me, and the others over at Texas Quilt Gal's

Tuesday To-Do Link-Up, as we go over our progress

from last week and share what our plans are for

the week to come.

How things sit after last week:

1) Finish All That's Christmas II--DONE

This pattern was so fun the first time around (here)

that I wanted to make a bigger one.  This one

measures around 70x76.

I haven't settled on a backing for this one though so

I'm just letting it simmer until Lucey arrives.  Maybe

I'll find a Christmas clearance goodie that would

trump what I have in the stash?

2) Finish Churn Dash Christmas--ALMOST

Didn't get time for updated pic.

3) Choose a new quilt project...or two--DONE.

I chose, and promptly finished the entire top.

Even the backing is pieced and it's now joining

the others in awaiting the arrival of Lucey.

"Serenity" measures up around 89 X100-ish so it was a

little rough on the ol' shoulder.  I don't look forward to

binding it but we're not going to think about that now.

In the picture above, it's sitting on the backing;

because of its size, this photo isn't great but here

is a close up of most of the fabrics:

As for others, I have a lot bookmarked in my

reading app but there are some definite

front-runners.  I'll let the stash decide from those.

4) Make sure old longarm is good to go--NOT DONE.

(More on this in next week's to-do's)

5) Make spreadsheet for sales, expenses, etc--STARTED

This is going to be an on-going project till I really

learn what it is I need to keep track of etc.

One thing I have found to be VERY helpful is the use of

project worksheets.  Lots of quilters use them but I could

only see them as a waste of time--quilting time.  Now that

my angle has shifted, I have done a complete 180º and

find I can't be without them.  For each quilt, I have a

worksheet on which I note the pattern, source, finish dates

(top and full-finish), yardage (esp if I alter pattern), thread,

and so on.  It's one thing to keep these numbers in your

head when you're working on one quilt at a time, as was

always my norm.  Once I had several quilts going at once

(while I waited on fabric), it quickly became apparent that

I couldn't keep track of anything without those worksheets.

The form I chose is free from Sugaridoo, though I have

made a minor change or two to fit my needs.

6) Get last year's spreadsheet finalized (for taxes)--DONE

Now for some impressive January totals!

Blocks made:  327

(holy smokes!)

Fabric used:  53.15yds

(holy smokes!)

Fabric purchased: 34yds

(er....at least it's less than used!)

Quilt tops completed:  4, soon to be 5

(holy smokes!)

My latest fabric purchases:

I've been hitting it pretty hard in the sewing room so I

should back off this week.  Of course, if the inspiration

hits I'll go with it but some rest would be good.  

However, we finally have a full day of snow predicted

so I'm guessing there will be lots of sewing.

Here are my to-do's for next week:

1) Finish Grace/churn-dash top and back.

2) Choose and start new quilt

3) Start working on getting an inventory

of fabric and other supplies

And the Repeat Offender:

4) Make sure old LA is ready to go.

I just can't seem to get out of the sewing room to get

to this.  Hubs doesn't understand why I don't quilt all of

these tops up on my old longarm since they are ready.

Because, dear hubs, Miss Lucey stitches up so

beautifully it will be worth the wait!

I suppose only a quilter would notice the difference and

I really do not like the pile of UFO's that I'm creating so

if it's doing as well as the tech said it is, I'd like to at

least get my Pumpkin Harvest quilted up.

And so off I go to tackle this first week of February.

Happy quilting and let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!