WOOFA Challenge

I guess I need to get this list posted because I've already finished several items on it. When I cleaned my sewing room I inventoried all the in-progress projects. This is the list of projects I'd like to try and finish this year. I'm leaving a few items off the list because I'm not sure I still want to finish them.

Once summer arrives, I probably won't get much done because I'll be distracted by all the pretties outside, but since I got a late start I am likely going to extend this challenge beyond December when it presumably ends for everyone else. I'm thinking it will be a miracle if I can get through half these projects this year, but Habitica has really helped focus my efforts so maybe I'll do better than I expect.

Bind Dinosaur Lap Quilt (when returned from quilter)
Bind Batik Quilt (when returned from quilter)
Canvas Bag Repair (replace handles)
Denim Circle Quilt (started)
Denim Circle Tote Bag
Halloween Monster Wreath (started)
Harvest Placemats
Harvest Quilt
Jeff’s Georgian Coat
Jeff’s Lumbar Pillow
Log Cabin Quilt (started decades ago)
Louisa’s Dress Batik
Louisa’s Dress Y-P
Louisa’s Dress: Remodel sq. dance skirt to Louisa Dress
Mug Rugs
Navy/Gold Placemats
Rag Quilt Country Print (ex-square dance skirt)
Rag Quilt Floral Y-G-R-P
Rag Quilt Grey
Rag Quilt Solar System
Rag Quilt Xmas
Recover Living Room Furniture
Sea Swept Quilt
Sharon’s Lumbar Pillow
Square Dance Skirt (elastic, eyelet)
Stack & Whack Quilt
Stenciled Pillow (panel stenciled already)
Summer Placemats
Tie Large Disaster Quilt (or just ditch it)
Tie/Quilt Scrap Lap Quilt
White Brocade Napkins
Woven Denim Tote Bag
Xmas Placemats
Xmas Quilt

Finished Lumbar Pillows

Another finish from my WOOFA list. I finished the quilted lumbar pillows I started back in 2012. The Pythagorean Theorem pillow is Jeff's. He designed the block for me. (He's a math nerd.) The flowers are for me.

The backing. Quatrefoil batik for Jeff's pillow.

The backing. A funky batik with the right colors.

Next time I make lumbar pillows, I will buy the pillow inserts before I start. I found some pillows that were a little too big and I was able to stuff them in there, but I don't like how overstuffed they look. Hopefully, the pillows will flatten with use and they'll look better in a few weeks.

Denim Totes Finished

I finished two denim tote bags made from old jeans for my WOOFA Challenge.

I finished the circle denim tote I started last month. Since I didn't trust the strength of the bag itself, I made a second bag from trigger fabric to line the interior. I made the handles out of waistbands removed from jeans. At Jeff's request, I made them long enough so he can wear them over his shoulder.

Then I finished a funky woven denim tote I started probably 3 years ago. At the time, I was on a tote bag sewing binge and I decided to get creative with strips of denim. I couldn't decide how to finish this tote so I just set it aside to finish later. Later finally came.

I'm not sure it will be very durable, because I didn't sew down those strips. I used wonder under to adhere them to a backing fabric.

I made the handles out of 6"-wide strips and folded them into quarters, with the edges on the inside.

I spent another day cleaning and organizing my sewing room. I went through every container and every drawer and sifted them. I reorganized all the Sterilite tubs and labeled them. I believe I have all my in-progress projects currently in my sewing room added to a spreadsheet. (I likely have more unfinished projects squirreled away in our basement storage; those I am not including right now.)

I did not make a list of every project I bought materials for but never got around to starting.

Sewing Room Tidied

Yesterday afternoon I went into my sewing room planning to spend 40 minutes tidying so I could check off my daily tidying task in Habitica. I had a new pile of clear file tubs to replace the opaque boxes and I figured I may as well get started. That 40 minutes turned into about six hours yesterday and then another couple today.

Regrettably, I don't have any before photos. It was an embarrassing mess. Every horizontal surface was covered with fabrics and other misc. projects. There was a mound of fabrics and boxes under the table that poured out the sides making it hard to walk around the table.

I opened every box and took everything out and made a list of all my projects in progress. The list is staggering. I'm not going to list them all, but I was amused by more than a few of them. I had a square dance skirt that only needed elastic. I also had at least three square dance skirt projects that I had started but not finished. They were diverted into the scrap cotton bin. I'm not even dancing right now and I've heard most people don't wear cute skirts and petticoats anymore. (This makes me sad.)

I still have not finished those two lumbar pillows I made in 2012. There's a potholder that needs the bias tape edge. I never finished the lampas robe from 2013 plus a bunch of medieval clothing projects that pre-dated the blog. (Yes, before 2008.)

I also opened up my sewing table drawers and sifted them. I couldn't believe some of the stuff I had squirreled away. I had the hardware to make at least thirty (probably more) Roman shades. Yes, I liked making them and I might make more, but holy cow, I do not need 40 shade pulleys. My first instinct was to get rid of all of it, but then my family hoarding gene clicked in and I decided to pull out just enough to make Roman shades for our bedrooms. At least now it only takes up one shoebox-sized tub. I also decided I could get rid of the hardware I bought to make triple pleat drapes for Redwood City. Yes, Redwood City. We moved from there in 2010.

So now that I have this absolutely humungous list of already started projects, I've decided to do something drastic and stage my own intervention. One of the blogs I follow, Threadhead, mentioned she joined a 2020 WOOFA Challenge and I think I will too. I'm getting a late start and I'm prone to get distracted during the summer when it gets so hot, but even if I don't manage to make it through the whole year, getting several of these projects finished will be a huge win.

I haven't made my list for the challenge yet but I will soon. Right now, the hardest part is prioritizing them. I may just start with the projects that will take less than an hour to finish and get them out of there.

Already Spring

We've had some really pleasant weather over the past couple weeks and our yard is already waking up. We had a squirrel problem over the winter (as in he was digging up bulbs for food), so I expected there to be no bulbs left. I'm pleased to see some survived.

Mammoth Yellow Crocus from Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm, Woodburn, OR.
We only planted one bulb in each spot, they divided over the winter.

These are hellebores of unknown variety from our neighbor, donaleen. I think this is their second year.

The flowering maple in the hidden garden survived the winter and is putting on new growth.

Our flowering currant in the front yard rain garden is about to explode into flowers.
Really looking forward to that.

I'm not sure what this shrub is at the back fence. Jeff had to prune it way back so we could paint the shed last summer. The flowers are starting to come in. (My latest guess is Flowering Quince.)

Sewing Room Curtains Finally

Habitica has finally gotten me to work on several way-past-due projects. One of them was to make curtains for my sewing room. I was originally going to make pieced panels, but I failed to find the motivation to do that. Finally, when I decided to just use a plain cafe curtain, the project made it back into my queue.

Despite having a whole wall of fabrics, I either didn't have enough of the fabrics I liked, or didn't like the fabrics I had enough of, so I purchased a new piece of fabric. I wanted something that would look good with the stencil in that room.

I settled on this little herb fabric and I think looks quite nice. There were only 5 yards left and I needed 6 yards, so I bought the 5 yards and added a coordinating color at the hemline. I like it.

I discovered while working on this project, that some of the fabrics on the wall are really quite damaged from the sun. I knew most had a bit of fading, but I discovered when I unwound that purple that fabrics can fade on more than just their outer layer. Oh well. Hopefully, this will reduce the problem in the future.

Fire Dance Finished

And it's finally done.

I probably should have cleaned up the threads before I took a photo, but here it is.

The plan is to take this one, with the Batik Flower Quilt and quilt them together so I'll have a reversible quilt.

I already have the denim circles cut out for the next project. I'm feeling rather pleased with myself because I posted to our neighborhood free list and asked for old jeans and I got about a dozen pairs to use for this project.