To Do Tuesday: Getting Things Done Before A Trip

February feels like it's moving fast for me!  Thankfully linking up for "To Do Tuesday" hosted by Carol over at "Quilt Schmilt" helps me keep track of it all.

Part of why I feel the month is going so fast is that we will be leaving for North Carolina at the end of this week and will be gone until the start of March.  So I have things I want to get done or at least in place before then, things I need to prep for the trip and still have to gather the things I want to take on the trip to work on while down there.  As usual, alot of balls to juggle in the air in the meantime, LOL!  

Last week I had a long list but managed to hit most of the things on it so feel good about that.  Those things were:  

1.  Work on the stitch pattern samples for "Modern Twist" and maybe start the actual quilting on it.

I did manage to get that done with the quilt sandwich I had made up last week.  

I'm doing this for my "Modern Twist" project that was a Planet Patchwork mystery from all the way back in 2013.  As I said last week, my plan for the longest has been to stitch what I saw as "pipes" in the design with "water motifs.".  Over the years I came across a number of interesting stitch designs and up until now the hold-up was not being confident about stitching them up.  Fortunately I had a "Duh!!" moment and realized that I could do a practice piece to try them all out.  

The results were mixed:  many of the patterns I liked I just couldn't quickly get comfortable doing or didn't give the effect I hoped for.  However I did pick out two to get started with and have already worked on stitching out one of them:

I had stitched the peach areas the last time I worked on this in 2016.

I still have a few more of these sections to do with this motif and will work on spacing it out a bit better.  

I had hoped to get this whole quilt done before we leave but now a lot of creative ideas are starting to pop up about how to also stitch the olive background areas.  So I think I'll take this one with me and try to finish it up while away.  I really want to get this done by the end of the month as it was slotted in as my UFO Challenge pick for February.

2.  Piece the next "Alaska" BOM block.  If it doesn't take too long, maybe I can also cut out the next block as well.

Another thing that got done!  It helped that I only needed to make one block.  I'll also note that in order to complete the stitching for this block, I needed a "leader/ender" to push the last few parts of it through.  In past months I have been working on trying out other new designs featuring Kaleidoscope blocks so usually had one of those to use for that purpose.  However, since I was behind on working on this, I instead used a block from a scrap project I also have in the works. 

The scrap project is "Magic Cube" a pattern I got off of the Quilting Daily website but had originally been published in McCall's Quilting magazine.  Ironically this project took over for another scrap project that I was going to do:  an actual "leader/ender" project that had been one of Bonnie Hunter's challenges from back in 2019.  

When I realized that the Shoo-Fly blocks I had been making for her design was the same size as the ones needed for the "Cube",  I switched the six blocks I had made to date to this new project.  I need way fewer of these blocks for the McCall's quilt and loved that I could also use up some of my bag of strings making a center Lone Star and borders for it.  

I fortunately had a block ready to be pieced that I could push through the machine along with the BOM block.  That done,  I decided to organize the project and took the time now to sort and cut the scraps I had put aside with the pattern and set up more block sets with them.

Not all the sets have pieced HSTs ready, for some they still have to be sewn.

So now I have a bunch of block kits to use for whenever I need another "leader/ender" in a pinch!   

However, I haven't had a chance to cut out the next block for the BOM (that is blocks since I need four of them) and don't know if I can get that done before I leave.  Given that the block I pieced was actually last month's block,  I will also have missed making blocks for this month so will see if I can double up for this project for March when we get back.

3.  Work on the layout (and piecing?) of the QOV top.

Unfortunately, I did not work on this one.  The problem for this is that I realized maybe too late that I need a background fabric for this design and of course now have a specific idea about what I want for that.  So this might travel with me so I can do some in-person shopping for it while in NC.

4.  Continue the "Year of the Horse" cross stitching.

This also has moved forward!  I would still like to get this done before we leave but we'll see if that happens.

5.  Continue stitching the "Hexie Snowflake" blocks to their backgrounds.

The quilt behind it is appropriately enough called "Snow Day"

This too has moved forward and has actually gone better than expected!  Yes, it's "slow stitching" but also rather satisfying to do.  I've gotten the center and two spokes of this block stitched down and I think I can finish off the other four spokes before we leave.  Even if I don't, finishing it can be my "car stitching" on the drive down.  

I've decided to take this whole project along on the trip and try to finish stitching all the blocks and possibly get the top assembled while away.  This is supposed to be a Blue & White wallhanging for winter so I'd love to have it to a top by the time we return.  Then if  I can quilt it up quick (famous last words!),  I might still get to enjoy it for a month or two before Spring quilts have to start going up!   

6.  Start the "Mini Quilt Retreat" packing for our trip.  

Now this I haven't started and now it's crunch time!  As I noted last week, I have gifts for my MIL and two of her friends who are all also quilters and I need to make up something to go with one of the gifts.  I'm pretty sure I can get that done in the next couple of days.  

What I'm less sure about is the "something special" I had wanted to make for myself for the trip.  The good news is that I can conceivably also take that with me to work on as we'll be there for about five days before I need it.  However,  I do have some concerns about if I have some fabrics in house to fund it.  That said, that too can be something to shop for while away.  

So for this week's agenda more of the same:

1.  I will continue quilting "Modern Twist" until we leave then it will travel down with me and I will continue work on it down there.  

2.  I might still try for at least cutting out the next "Alaska" BOM blocks but that will depend on if time permits before we leave.  Worse come to worse, work on this project will wait until our return.  

3.  Working on the layout of the QOV top will likely be another "take with" project but I may start some of the cutting for the other parts before we go.

4.  Continue the "Year of the Horse" cross stitching and hopefully complete it before we leave.

5.  Continue stitching the first "Hexie Snowflake" block to its background.  The rest will be packed up to travel. 

6.  Make up the accompaniment to the gifts for my MIL and her friends.  

7.  The "something special" I wanted to make for myself for the trip will have to travel down with me and it's still a question if I can get to that one while away!  

8.  Lastly, I have no choice but to get the packing done for the "Mini Quilt Retreat" for our trip as it's almost time to go!

I hope you had a short list of "To Do's" for last week and managed to get many things crossed off of your list.  I will find out when I catch up on the "To Do Tuesday" posts at Carol's "Quilt Schmilt" on the drive down.  It'll be another thing to keep me entertained while we're on the road!