Every Day for the Month of May Report

I started May off with a challenge to myself to do something sewing related every day.  I had not sewn regularly this year because of work overload and I was really needing to.  My challenge started off well.  I got my sewing area cleaned up.  I made myself work on the never-ending hexagon project.  I did some hems for a friend and learned to make a tiny rolled hem in the process.  I worked on the BOM project and got inspiration. And at last I was motivated to start on a fun project - but in a reasonable size.

Did I do something sewing related every day?  No.  But I only missed 4 days and those were all for good cause -  end of the school year exhaustion and job hunting.  So I think my overall goal of getting myself back into the sewing room and focused on something did work.

I also got back into blogging which does help me stay accountable.  I got caught up on my Stash Reports and Friday Finishes.  I can see a direct correlation between not sewing and adding to the stash, so I am very happy to have fabric moving the right direction again.

My summer break has started and I am excited that I am already motivated to sew and craft and don't have to take the first month to clean and organize like I did last summer.  Here's hoping for a good, relaxing summer of sewing and crafting.

Stash Report 051919

Fabric In: Two weeks in a row I went to the Thrift Store and DID NOT buy fabric.  This week there was nothing much good for quilting and the little bit there was was overpriced.  Easy decision.  Whew!

Fabric Out: Just a little bit out for the sewing class at the library.  Gingham to practice sewing straight lines and also fabric for the pillow covers.  1.23 yards

Fabric Purchased Since Last Report - 0 yds
Fabric Purchased YTD - 46.20 yds

Free to Me Since Last Report - 0 yds
Free to Me YTD -  8.75 yds

Fabric Used Since Last Report - 1.23 yds
Fabric Used YTD - 19.82 yds

Fabric Movement -  35.13  stashed 

Price/Yard YTD - $0.64 / yard
Heading in the right direction - slowly, but surely.  I was sewing all week but just working on blocks and I can't count them out until I get all of the blocks done for that particular project.

I did well this week.  Just little bits most days, but I got 1 whole hexagon block finished and 2 of the 4/6 blocks.  Only one more whole block to go.  I need to work on a final layout to determine what last color I should include.  Those little bits of time do add up.

Dark green, gold, and turquoise are from this week!

Days spent on sewing related tasks this month: 17/18
Days spent on sewing related tasks this year: 17/18
Percentage of time on task: 94%

Linking up to QuiltPaintCreate and Life in Pieces to stay accountable.

A Clean Table is a Happy Table!

I cleaned up the sewing room yesterday from Little S sleeping in there this weekend and in the process I got a few things prepped so that it is easier to sit down and work for 15 minutes without having to put too much thought into it. 

Because the table was mostly cleared off I didn't have much trouble making a bit more space to cut 3.5 yards of 72" wide felt.  I like it clean so maybe I will keep it this clean and find other places for the odds & ends that accumulate.

Thankful for a large surface. 

My lead teacher is changing the bulletin boards to have felt backings and it was so much easier to cut the felt to the right size on this giant table rather than with scissors in the classroom.

Oh, that it could stay this clean!

After I finished cutting I sewed up the hexagon I had prepped yesterday when I was cleaning!  Woo hoo!  The perfect project after a long day.   

The green hexagon joins its cousins.

With last night's cleaning & prepping and today's cutting & sewing I am going strong with the goal of something sewing related Every Day for the Month of May!

Sewing Experience

Today was the day that my offering at the Spring Carnival Auction got "cashed" in.  My Carnival Experience was a 2-hour sewing lesson with a pillowcase as the product.

The little girl was not one of my students, but is in a class down the hall.  A while back she had bought herself a "kiddie" machine which it turns out you don't even need a bobbin for.  She was so serious about sewing that her mother bought the auction package for her and a real sewing machine.  We waited for her sewing machine to arrive so that the lesson would be more practical.

Sewing the accent band to the top.

The machine has tons of fun stitches and at first she wanted to test them out.  But then we got settled into the basics - making a bobbin, threading the machine, the "spider" (which I teach early on in all my classes), and seam allowance.

Wrong sides together for the first step of the flat-felled seam.

As she went along, she got straighter and straighter.  There was just one short stretch that needed to be unsewn and resewn, but I did that.  I rarely have kids rip seams on their first try.  They need to fun stuff to start off with and get hooked. 

Tada!!!!!!!!!  I love the colors.

Yesterday was Day 7 in my goal of something sewing related Every Day in the Month of May.  Last night I worked on the preparations for this class as well as a bit of sewing on the hexagon quilt. 

Day 7 was the first day I have had to really make myself sew.  But I realized that if I have something ready to go - the never-ending hexagon project - I can just sit for a few minutes and be done.  I don't mind at all.  It is so therapeutic, but the thinking about everything else I should be doing is what slows me down.  Once I have sewn a bit I am relaxed and ready for anything - maybe even making a new resume.

Today was Day 8, and I did plenty of sewing today!!  It has been a while since I have taught sewing and I realized how much I enjoy it.  It combines my two favorites - teaching and sewing - and kids!

16-Patch Pillow Cover

The goal of getting my 15 minutes in today was the motivation I needed to finish the 16-patch pillow front that I started yesterday.  Part of my problem finishing things is agonizing over the littlest details.  Well, I was determined to do my best and move on with this. 

So I cut the fabrics Little S most liked and arranged them in a pleasing design.  It was not symmetrical so Little S did not like that part.

Joined them together by webbing.

Ironed.

Tada....

I think the combination is going to be just fine.  Tomorrow I will try to get the backing on.

Prepping Plans

I had Big Plans for the day.  It turned out to be a very rainy Sunday afternoon, which is good for inside projects.

1) Prep the pillowcase for the private sewing lesson that was my offering for the school spring carnival auction.  The girl who won it is not in my class, but her teacher says she is a good student.  Her mother says she bought a kiddie sewing machine with her own money.  That was so successful the mother bought her a real machine.  I'm thinking she is serious about learning to sew and I'm happy to help her.

Nice and bright.

The colors she asked for were rainbow, bright, light purple, lime green.  The purple is not really light, but it is a perfect match to the butterflies.  Check! Done!  Ready to go!

2) Make two samples - a tote and a drawstring bag.  We are having Entrepreneur Day as the culminating activity for our Economics unit.  It will be held the last week of school.  The kids make their product at home and then will buy and sell among the 10 3rd grade classes.  Since testing will be over and we are on the downhill slide into summer I thought it might be fun to take the sewing machine and let them make their own "shopping bag."  I need to get the steps down to the bare minimum and get a time figured out so we can allow enough time for all 24 kids to make their bag before the big day.  This didn't happen at all.  I was running out of steam and still needed to work on my lesson plan and other school related stuff.  

3) Make a sample for the sewing class at the library this Saturday.  The library has reopened after it's roof repairs during the winter and I signed on to keep going with the  monthly sewing classes.  I was very thankful that their closure coincided with my heaviest months at work.  I put some more conditions on the class this time around - everyone has to have their own machine and class size of 5 students or fewer.  I might change that to 3-4 students unless they already are confident sewists.

First round of auditions.  The yellow is just a place holder since there were no precut greens.

I finally decided on a 16-patch pillow cover with an envelope back as the project.  Plenty of opportunity to sew short straight lines while practicing threading and getting to know the machine.  No hand sewing to finish it up.

Still auditioning colors and patterns.  It needs to coordinate with the leafy sham on the right.

My sample is using 5" squares mostly from my stack of random precuts.  I can take the rest of the stack to the class and there is enough variety that they can find 16 that they like.

I will make the sample to match my bedding since I changed out our bedding last fall when the room got painted but never really did anything final with the new colors.  This is a step in the right direction.  I think I am on the right track with fabric selection.  I will let this idea marinate and work on it again tomorrow.  Progress.  Done for now.

That was all so much easier to do with a clean space, easy access to my fabric stash, and a clear table top.  Woo hoo!!  I am 5 for 5 on doing something sewing related Every Day in the Month of May.  I really wonder how long I can keep this up!!   

Bee in my Bonnet

Every Day for the Month of May - Days 3 & 4

College E is coming home for the summer next weekend and Grown Up R is coming to visit for Mother's Day.  I am so excited to have everybody together, but I am not ready at all.

We painted College E's room a few weeks ago since it was in desperate need of some freshening up.  It is almost back together but not quite.  Since Grown Up R is grown up and gone she no longer has her own room, so Little S will have to give up her room for the weekend.  That puts Little S on the sewing room floor in the sleeping bag.  Most likely they will all 3 end up in the same room talking all night, but I need to be ready just in case.

Less than 2 weeks ago I barely had a path from the cutting table to the sewing machine (yet I managed to make an amazing quilt that I will post about in the near future).  Little by little I have been working to reclaim the room.  Mostly it was just things for school that came in and didn't have a place to go, so there were lots of piles of "future" school stuff.  I got most of it dealt with, but it was time to deal with under the cutting table as well.

Friday after school I took everything out from under the table and worked my way through it.  Since I have recently reorganized other areas of the house there were some things that had a better place to go.  Some things I didn't need to hang on to and some things just needed to be looked at, labeled better, and put back under the table.  I don't know why I never think to take a before photo when I start something.

Halfway through facing north.

Halfway through - facing east.

Today, after I made considerable progress on the things that had nothing to do with sewing but had to get done, I treated myself by finishing up cleaning under the table.  (Don't ask me to clean anywhere else in the house though!!)

After (east) - I can even see the top of the table again.

After (north) - much better

Whew! Now I have no excuse for not getting some real sewing done.  Good thing, because I need to prep a project for a private sewing lesson on Wednesday and make 3 samples for teaching 2 different sewing classes before Thursday.

Random stuff to deal with somehow, but not put back under the table.

I think I was also motivated to do a good cleaning because summer vacation is fast approaching.  I want to sew during the vacation - not clean.  Last year I think I spent a month cleaning and organizing.  I don't want to do that this summer.

All in all, I think this was 2 afternoon/evenings well spent.  I have that bee out of my bonnet and I can move on.

Every Day in the Month of May - Day 2

Day 2 turned out to be easy - the follow up for what I started on Day 1.

Before

I trimmed the remains into squares and triangles.  This was a soothing task while listening to a book on CD.   I got quite a few 1.5" and 2" squares and even some 2.5" squares and short strips, so it was worth the effort. 

After

Now I have a few squares of sea glass colors to work with.  These will go in the drawers of pre-cut strips and squares.

Big Plans for May

As I am working on putting sewing back into my routine I made a few decisions.  Ask me again in a week about those decisions and who knows what I will say, but today they are good.

First, do the summer giveaways again this summer.  In my recent cleaning and reclaiming of the sewing room I have come across more than a few things that I don't need and can share.  A giveaway is more fun that bagging it up for donating.

Second, make the effort to do something sewing related Every Day for the Month of May!  I think "sewing related" will keep me on task since there is a wide range of things I can do that are sewing related.  Cleaning up the sewing room is at the top of the list!

May Giveaway

Every now and then one of the local thrift stores has quilt books.  I will usually "splurge" on a new book since they are only $1 to start with and then on the weekends, which is when I go, most things are half off.  But now I have several books I need to decide if I really want to keep or not.  I paged through a few of them last night as I waited for Little S's band concert to start and made a decision.

 I enjoyed looking through this book a few times, but I do not need it anymore.  I liked the crazy quilt on the cover, but will I make it - not likely.

There are some nice designs, but I never made anything from it and it is unlikely that I ever will.  I already got my money's worth out of it!

If you would like to win this book, please leave me a comment telling what your favorite quilt book is.  I will pick a winner at the end of May.  Make sure to include your email in the comment so I can contact you if you win.

Every Day for the Month of May - Day 1

Before

Hmmm.  There are a lot of things I should be doing - updating resume, updating application, grading papers, cleaning the house, cooking dinner - but none of those sounded like fun.  So I decided on this unsewing project to clear off the corner of the sewing table when the remains of the most recent project land.

After

I loved the colors from the Storm at Sea quilt.  I don't really have many more sea glass colors in my stash, so I decided to unsew the edges of the piano key border that got cut off when I made the scalloped edge.  There is also something a little therapeutic about mindless seam ripping.

So my plan is off to a great start.  Hopefully it will continue to be just as successful tomorrow.