Playing Catch-up (On Ringo Lake Part 5)

With Christmas behind me and a few days of vacation left I have finally made it into the sewing room to try to catch up on my On Ringo Lake project.  I finished the most recent step this morning.

There are a lot of geese on this lake!  I still need to go back and finish the geese from week #2.  So many triangles to cut!  

Once that step was completed I went back to get started on week #4 which unfortunately had been untouched before today due to a bout with a virus that pretty much kept me in bed the entire weekend after that clue was released. Once I recovered I had to kick things into high gear to prepare for Christmas.  One of these days I am going to actually start shopping early! Although there are a lot more triangles in this step it is somehow more entertaining than geese....

I am loving how the colors look together. I can’t wait to see how the blocks come together- I think I’m going to love this quilt!

As the year comes to a close it is time to start thinking about UFOs for 2018,  On Ringo Lake will certainly be on the list.  Triangle Gatherings will be there too.  I’m currently up to block 87 so I have 9 more blocks to make and then need to figure out how I am setting them. It will be nice to get this big stack of blocks off my sewing table!

The third project I’m putting on the list is Starlite Skies.  I really need to get some of the past SBOWs completed as they are really starting to stack up!  I’ve made decent progress on this one this year and think it’s reasonable to think I can get it across the finish line.

Project four will be my clamshells started in the workshop with Irene Blanck last May.  I haven’t gotten very far and can’t realistically expect to complete this one but would like to make significant progress on it.

I’m thinking project 5 will be Duarmont from Primitive Gatherings.  I bought the kit at Paducah last April and prepped one block shortly after returning home but have never stitched it nor prepped any other blocks (there are nine).  I really don’t think these will take all that long to stitch.

I haven’t decided on the rest of the list just yet... I need to give it a little more thought.  There are so, so many to choose from!

I’m hoping tomorrow’s On Ringo Lake step doesn’t involve triangles but realize it’s pretty unlikely I will get my wish.  I have been enjoying catching up with everyone’s posts on Bonnie’s Link-up the past few days.  We are getting so close to the big reveal - I can hardly wait!  

On Ringo Lake - Week #3

I didn't get all that much sewing done this weekend so I have only a small start on clue #3. The mirror image thing always slows me down a bit - especially since I usually have batiks involved and then can't keep track of which side to sew on. I only managed to finish 32 of each, so there will be lots of catching up to do on this step.

I decided to cut the neutral triangles from the mis-cut rectangles from last week. I can get two triangle from each with only about 1/2" of waste so it seemed like the best option for using those. I have used up a lot of my neutrals between cutting extra week #1 and screwing up week #2 so I want to do what I can to not run out before I'm finished.  Of course I am sure I could find more to throw in....

We had Wool Club this Saturday.  I had not been able to go in a long time - March, I think - so it was great to see everyone!  I was able to pick up some more yarn to finish binding my Old Settlement rug. It's the largest rug I have ever finished (not the largest I have started, of course!) at 6 ft long.  

I didn't manage to get completely caught up on the Triangle Gatherings blocks Lisa posted on Saturday, but I finished block 86 and started #87.  I think this one is one of my favorites so far.

Lisa's last post indicated there will be 98 blocks instead of the 90 we all thought.... I still love this project but have to admit I was a little bummed to learn that I am not finished prepping the HSTs with triangle paper.  I thought I was finished with that stuff for a while! 

I'm betting a lot of folks are a lot farther along on their clues than I am.... I'll be checking out Bonnie's link-up throughout the day to see how others are progressing. There are some really fun color combinations out there!

On Ringo Lake Week 2

I couldn't wait to get into the sewing room to get started on clue #2 this weekend! As soon as Saturday morning errands were completed I headed right up and started cutting. I wanted to give the new folded corner ruler a try so I went with sqaures and rectangles rather than cutting triangles. So I pressed, cut, sub-cut and neatly stacked all of my pieces next to my machine and started cutting and sewing. Notice anything wrong with this picture?

I had about six geese sewn before I realized that my SQUARES were supposed to be neutral and my rectangles tan. Needless to say, I wasn't happy. I guess on the bright side I discovered the error early! 

So back to the cutting table to recut everything.  I wasn't able to finish the entire clue but made a solid start. I hope to pop into the sewing room for a few minutes here and there throughout the week to try and finish them off.  Now I have to hope for another clue that requires my mis-cut pieces!  I may need to add more fabric - I am not sure if I will be able to recover from everything I have "wasted" with over-cutting and mis-cutting the first two weeks.

Yet another lousy photo - my old iPhone 5 pictures just can't be enlarged at all in posts. I do plan to get a new phone one of these days.....

Regarding the new ruler - it's not my favorite.  I didn't really care for having to trim as I was sewing.  It really felt like it took more time, I still had to trim a little for some of them, and my trash is overflowing with all of the tiny triangles I cut off (no way I was sewing all of those little things as "bonus triangles"!). I think my preference is still the Essential Triangle tool - all the cutting is done up front with no waste. But you never know if you don't try!

Check out the Mystery Link-up on Bonnie's blog to see what others are doing or get started on your own version - it's not too late!