Wednesday, February 18, 2015

WIP Wednesday: All Systems Go!

2 of my 3 workstations are busy this week which means the 3rd will be revving up soon.

Piecing Station:

On Monday I pulled out the pieces of another UFO on my Q1 Finish Along List - Picnic in Serenade - and got busy. This quilt is from Kim Brackett's book Scrap-Basket Sensations and I just love her designs. I have all of her books and would love to sew numerous quilts from each one. I started this quilt in 2013 as a part of my UFO Reward System (finish 10 UFOs - start a NEW quilt!).
My design wall is looking fresh and fun don't you think? This is my 1st project using Kate Spain fabrics and it is seriously making me want to dive into the stack I've accumulated in the last 2 years. Love her too!
A quilting habit I'm trying to change this year how I do my cutting and keep tabs on my projects. I usually have a short attention span and get bored easily. And, I'm always wanting to get to my favorite part of quilting ASAP - piecing! Which means I never cut the pieces for an entire quilt at the beginning. I'm OK with that initially because I do like to make a few blocks right away to make sure I'm loving the pattern, the fabrics I'm using and how the blocks are coming together.
But once I'm sold on the project I want to do ALL of the cutting, put together a plan of how I'm going to build the blocks and create packets of parts for each step. Since I'm not a start-to-finish quilter this will help me to better manage multiple projects when I lose steam on one and jump to another. Instead of writing random notes about my project that end up being lost I am keeping them all in my new Quilting Journal. You can download these fantastic project pages by Taryn@from Pixels to Patchwork HERE.

Sandwich Shop:
I've started making backings and added Blue Slabs on Yellow to my list. Today I plan to finish the backings for the other 2 Crossroads quilts, sandwich them all and get ready for a mini-marathon of quilting to round out the month.

Quilting Station:

Ready and waiting... I gave Mr. Juki a good cleaning and oiling on Monday before using him to do some of the piecing on Picnic in Serenade. I don't like to play favorites with my machines because they each do their thing well - but sewing with my Juki TL2010 is just such a pleasure! The solid feel of the machine, the beautifully even stitches, the no fuss, no muss ease of use... I could go on and on. Needless to say I'm itching to turn my flimsies into quilts soon.

My assistant Elsa is adapting to the new setup as well. This pic was taken from the doorway of my Quilting Room and the Sandwich Shop is down a hall to the left. I like to get up and move around while sewing so I generally keep my ironing board in our laundry room inside the lit up doorway across our family room.
Elsa will follow me between rooms for awhile and then she often settles here to nap and keep an eye on my comings and goings. We have in-floor heat in our lower level so it's also a cozy place for her. Our frigid weather is back in full force but as you can see I'm quite content to stay inside and sew.

I'm linking up to WIP Wednesday@Freshly Pieced.

19 comments:

  1. You definitely have your quilting mojo back! Love to see what you're working on. Your quilting stations are what I dream of.

    ReplyDelete
  2. love how your quilt is turning out.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Your organization tools seem to be working out great. I'm envious of your bright, warm spaces to sew and quilt. Our basement is just that - a basement with the normal small windows although my sewing room does have one egress window for a bit more light. No nice view however. Elsa looks like she has staked out a spot in the middle where she can keep track of you no matter where you go.

    I love to cut and love to piece. So I usually cut everything at once and label the pieces in baggies. Or I clip them together with those black office clips. And I'm working at putting everything for each project together into one bag or clear project box if I set it aside for any reason.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow, you are so organized! I love it! By the way, I use those same project sheets. :) Your Picnic in Serenade is looking beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  5. You are the Organization Queen Deb!!! I love your quilting journal. It looks like you are using the ARC system? I have been using that system for about a year now for my own personal "daytimer" book. It really helps me stay organized and I can personalize it to fit my own needs. Purchasing the ARC puncher was a bite to the budget, but it has proven to be well worth it! Thanks for sharing the project pages with us - I've downloaded them and can't wait to see if they work as well for me as they obviously do for you! Give Elsa a big hug for me!

    ReplyDelete
  6. That is one of the quilts on my to do list. I am loving that you are back to quilting. You have a sew set up I am very envious of all the rooms ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Love Picnic in Serenade on your design wall! Such a beauty!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I like this pattern your using, going to be a lovely quilt.

    ReplyDelete
  9. You are inspiring. I just bought a white board today. Now I need to decide if I want to hang it or not. I will use it for organizing as well as doodling for free-motion quilting.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thanks for the link for those sheets. Wonderful!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Have organisation envy! The blocks are looking pretty darn good too :).

    ReplyDelete
  12. Thank you SO much for the link to those project sheets! I've been wanting something like htat for ages. Can't wait to try t hem out.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I love your big rooms and get a little giggle every time you mention the 'sandwich shop'.. makes me hungry! LOL The organization sheets look great! Have a fun day!

    ReplyDelete
  14. It is looking great. I love Kim's patterns too, I've made this quilt twice!!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Love your organization!! What "notebook" is that?

    Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Your Picnic quilts is going to be gorgeous! Thanks for the source for those awesome project sheets!

    ReplyDelete
  17. I love the UFO reward system idea! I really like the kate spain fabrics you have chosen as well, keep going! Thanks for commenting on my blog, I'm happy to meet you and will visit often!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Love your quilting journal.Thanks for sharing your link. I am so sick of trying to find (messy, sketchy) notes of things I made long ago and figuring out how I made them.I really need to do this! Your work space is so cozy and inviting.

    ReplyDelete
  19. nice simple pattern made wow with scraps....

    ReplyDelete

I really enjoy reading comments! Thanks for taking the time to leave me one. I try to respond to all comments except during big giveaways.

I have had to turn off anonymous comments for now due to a sudden increase in spam. Please send me an email instead and I will respond to you.