While last week was a short one…..

https://francesquilts.com/2024/01/21/taxing-scrap-week-2/

…..I got in 5 full days on week three.

Having said that, production did slow down a bit because I ran out of my “pre-planned” blocks and started having to plan as I go. 

Monday started out great as I finished a block from last week and another small one……

On Tuesday I started having to plan blocks as I went and decided to make a bunch of four patches…..

….and alternate them with 2-inch squares, making a nine-patch of sorts. This was where Tuesday ended…..

On Wednesday, I finished that block and made two small 9-patches…..

Thursday saw me adding 3-inch squares to the 9-patches making another 6-inch block. I also made a 16-patch with 1.5-inch squares

On Friday, I pulled out some of my pre-sewn bits…..

….and made another 9-patch type block. I also sewed a few 4-patches…..

So….this is my tally for the week…..

And here is the project so far…..

….approximately 3 square feet!

I am truly enjoying my 10-minute sessions, especially the opportunity to have a wee bit of creativity in each busy day!

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Last Sunday I showed the Week One results of sewing 10 minutes per day for 5 days….

Ten Minutes at a time

Since we were traveling most of the week, I only had 2 days to sew, but since I had already planned the blocks, I was able to accomplish quite a bit…..

I left this block in progress last week but quickly finished it on Monday…..’

….and also got a long way on another 36-patch block…..

On Tuesday, I finished that block…..

….and pieced another fast one…..

I did find one piece where I had sewn it in backwards so that the back of the fabric was up…..

…but that didn’t bother me at all!!

The rest of the week was spent at a convention in Dallas with my husband.  I helped him sell books, ran the camera for video interviews, schmoozed with important people when necessary, and even found time for a few hours in the Dallas Museum of Art!! (More to come about that.)

One of the results of this convention was an invitation to spend two weeks in Canada, observing and learning about a program that uses the outdoors to help indigenous teens who are struggling. Yesterday, that trip was booked for June!!!

It was another good week!!

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Yesterday I showed you the prepping for my “Taxing Scrap“ quilt that I plan to make 10-minutes at a time!!

So how did the first week go???

On Monday, I walked into my studio, turned on my sewing machine and iron, set a timer for 10 minutes and started sewing…..

At the 5-minute mark I was here….

…and when the time was up, the first block was almost finished….

On Tuesday, I finished that block….

….and went a long way on the next block (a 36-patch of 1″ squares)…..

On Wednesday, I finished that block and sewed the rows for this 16-patch of 1.5″ squares…..

For Thursday, I finished that block and TWO others…..

You gotta love the small and easy ones!!!

Finally, on Friday, I started on another one, stopping at this point….

So, what was the final count??

<<<<<<<<<<<<DRUMROLL>>>>>>>>>>

FIVE blocks were completed with a 6th close behind.

So….here is the quilt thus far (including the sample block that I had made previously…..

And, although that looks REALLY spectacular, remember that it is only a 2-foot square.

But still, I did almost 2 square feet in one week, and if I am planning the quilt to be 5-foot by 7-foot, I am 6% done!!! 

Not bad for 10 minutes that I didn’t think I had!!!

We are traveling some next week so there will only be 2 days of quilting but I will return to it the following week.

Stay tuned to watch as it grows!!

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Last Saturday, I posted about my idea for a “10-minute per day” project…..

Multiples of Three

The idea being that I would spend 10 minutes each weekday morning sewing on a scrap quilt.

BUT, I realized that it would be helpful if I had a few blocks planned out to get started, so on Sunday afternoon, I spent about 30 minutes and organized 10 blocks.

Remember that the rules are….

• They have to be multiplies of 3 (3-inches, 6-inches, 9-inches or 12-inches).
• Each block must be predominately one color except for a few contrasting patches.
• I also decided that I wouldn’t use “other color” patches larger than 2.5-inches.

So, I pulled my blue scraps out……

….and got started!!

At first it was difficult to pick what type of blocks I wanted to make but it became faster and easier as I went along.

I started with a nine-patch…..

(using a previously-made 4-patch that I had left over from some other project).

I covered it with a piece of paper…..

….and started on number 2…..

…..number 3 & 4…..

….5 & 6……

….7 & 8…..

I LIKE #8…..it will be fast and easy!!

And finally, number 9 & 10……

I couldn’t wait for Monday morning to get there so I could start sewing.

How many of these do you think I can accomplish in five, 10-minute sessions??

….Come back tomorrow for the first weekly report!!

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