what you do on NYD, you will do all year long.....

.......so, I was sewing and chatting with Cher and Norma yesterday having our own little online retreat . What we do on NYD we do all year, right? We girls kept checking in throughout the day motivating each other and cheering on progress--what fun! Trust me, I avoided doing a mending project and no ironing yesterday either when finger pressing worked fine for what I was doing. BUT I didn't warn DJ in time when he went after a cobweb he has spotted. If he wants to clean all year, I will let him! Bless him, he had vacuumed up the sewing room mess when I left to walk the day before.

The project I chose to sew on yesterday served two goals for 08--it was a donation quilt and it was something from my UFO hamper (my old clothes hamper and it is stuffed to the gills. Well, there it is at the foot of the table with Pippi's wool throw over the top of it ). One of the Belles had two strips of Pioneer Braid done but was not going to be able to complete the project due to an upcoming move. She gave it to me at one of our recent meetings. I started three more strips as my sewing project yesterday. No way, no how, was I going to be quilting, cutting or working on binding---do my first love instead. Before I hung it up for the night. I had gotten 20 of the 27 strip additions done on them. I'll finish up the sewing today.

Earlier in the day I also made 11 rail scrappy rail fence blocks from some of the braid strips Ginny had cut since it was the exact size I needed, rectangles 2 x 5. I planned on augmenting those with a pile of shorter 2 inch strips I had pulled for an ongoing Pineapple Log Cabin. I briefly toyed with the idea of working on those simultaneously with the braid but that would require paper piecing tools laid out on a crowded sewing table. Try a few separately before I put the remaining strips away.

When making some backing the night before, I had cut some 3 1/2 inch squares and whipped up 4 3-D bowtie blocks before I started on the Braid bands. A fun and productive day all the way around!

I decided this past fall that I will make scrappy rail fence blocks and 3D bowties as an ongoing project from scraps of my works in progress. This is often from backing cutaways or from cutting a strip to use up the last of the yardage on a piecing project and so forth. When I get enough, I'll put a donation top together.

You see, I don't have a scrap basket at all, not after spending three full days cutting early one year! There may be a few chunks sitting around waiting for the next time I am cutting but that is it. I don't let them pile up or become enough to bag up anymore. Like a lot of us stashbuster devotees, what I maintain is boxes of cut, most commonly used sizes of squares or strips instead. I can always dip into those when I am ready to augment the rail and tie blocks. Often I drag them off to our quilt meetings to share if a block I have chosen for us calls for a particular size. Want to do a faux log cabin--no problem, help yourself to some strips! Another one I want to do is Short 'n Scrappy Project 3, Ducks in a Row from Claudia's Quilt Shoppe but in scraps. She did this as a BOM several years ago and I have been looking at the printouts in my files.

After looking at Norma's cool color catcher top, I looks like I should consider piecing some strings too. Don't you just love quilts that are hiding in your scrap bag all along?

I have been noticing that other bloggers are into cleaning up and reorganizing their sewing rooms and other living spaces as well. I did that too but no on NYD! One day last week I could not find something that I needed that I just KNEW was in my pull out hodge podge/file drawer of my desk. That led to shredding, clearing and filing stuffed away papers at about 8:30 at night. Then in order to get into bed, I had laundry to put away but had to shoo Pippi off the pile of sweaters and shirts first. The spot in the armoire where they belonged was in disarray. Let's those to make a better spot to put the clean ones away.

But there were t-shirts in there too---that led to reorganizing and tossing from the drawers below and spread over to the blanket chest as well. I really didn't mean to start on the closet, not at that late hour. It was close to midnight by that time but I was on a roll. I've lost enough weight to wonder what might fit now and started trying on my old clothes---yahoo, welcome back old, friends and some things are about 20 some lbs away from fitting well but I'm getting there. Some stuff from last year is way too big now and is headed to the thrift store--even better!

By that time I was hot, sweaty and too wound up to sleep so I started looking at some of the quilt magazines on my bedside table, under the table and in a magazine rack. Why was I keeping these things when there is possibly only one thing I would consider making?? So, another pile or two started-- intact magazines to go to the Friends of the Library and the rest, ripping out what I wanted. Should do that in the sewing room area too but not ready to part with those quite yet.

Finally by 2:30 in the morning, I was ready to turn out the light and go to sleep. Made for a short night when Pippi got me up with kitty kisses at 6:30 the next morning but at least the storage areas in the bedroom are cleared out. I would drag the pinned quilts out of the closet where I can get at them a little better---or least a few of them--but we may have house guests by month's end so best kept behind closed doors for now.

I don't know about walking today--I need to after taking the holiday off but it has gotten frigid out there. 19 when we got up though the sun is shining. When the breeze picks up, I am sure you could calculate in wind chill factors. DJ has told me to see about using the indoor track at the community center in the town north of us and take his checkbook to pay whatever the fees are--a fall back for cold and rainy days. I would rather walk outside if I can in the local park so will see how it is this afternoon and dress accordingly. 40 lbs gone as of this morning since last March. A bunch more to go but I am not dwelling on numbers, instead I plan to continue on the path I started in 07. No back sliding!