2013 Final Countdown – Task Three December 31, 2013

Task three of the Final Countdown has been announced.

Make a list of 12 projects.

Well, I’ve been compiling lists and tossing them out only to recompile them again. Some have actually made it onto paper.  But this is the first one I’ve published. Since I want to do another UFO push like I did back in 2011 I have have two lists.

Tops to Complete

1. Christmas BOM
2. Hancock Stars BOM
3. Green & Cream Swap
4. Compass Lone Star
5. Candy Sunflower Seeds
6. Orca Bay
7. Eeyore
8. ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas
9. Scrappy Trips
10. Sew Scrappy
11. String HST Wall Hanging
12. Brick & Stepping Stones

Tops to Quilt

1. Diamond Links
2. Deadline Project IV
3. Thangles BOM
4. DWR
5. QIAD Christmas Row Swap
6. Tetris
7. Deadline Project II
8. Deadline Project III
9. Hancock Stars BOM
10. Green & Cream Swap
11. Compass Lone Star
12. Eeyore

The only order either of these list are is by date I started the quilt or when I finished the top.  Trust me when I say they won’t be finished in this order.  In fact the first up on my list beginning tomorrow is Deadline Project IV.

Frog Quilt is in the dryer (completing Task One and giving me another 2013 finish – photos to come); my sewing area has been cleaned up and now I have a plan for 2014. Thanks Shelly for doing the Final Count Down Challenge.

Friday Night Quilting November 9, 2013

It’s been a while since I worked on my DWR.  Tonight I finished quilting two of the outer arc/melon sets.

Tomorrow it’s back to work on Josh’s quilt.  I understand the forecast for next week is the high will only be 32 degrees farenheit. He may want his quilt back before then.

A Few String Blocks August 28, 2013

Sewing, or doing anything in the house is interesting. While we are waiting on our new central A/C, we have a couple of window units blowing.  In the rooms we have cool, it’s like staying in a motel room with a noisy a/c. As a result, I have to crank up the volume on my book.  I’m listening to Outlander by Diana Gabaldon.  Yes, I’ve listened to it previously and read it last fall. I’m going though all of the books again in preparation for the release of In My Own Hearts Blood In in March.

Anyway, with the noisy a/c and loud book, I didn’t want to work on anything which required thinking. Well that is not the only reason.  My sewing area was disturbed putting in the window unit. The only reason I have a unit in here is because I work from home and the sewing room is also my office — otherwise I wouldn’t try to piece and would just work on the DWR in the bedroom which is cooled off.

As a result I pulled out my string blocks to work on something mindless.  I finished 6 blocks bringing my total to 24. I haven’t decided how big I’m going to make this quilt.

What’s On My Design Wall June 10, 2013

June has gotten off to a slow start as far as piecing goes.  Last week I packed up the quilt I was working on in preparation to go to the quilt retreat and prepare for quilting the Birthday Quilt.  We all know how far that got.

The blocks up on the wall are from my young quilting friend.  She called tonight to see if she could come over Tuesday to make some blocks and I had to tell her no because I would be working.  So we’ve made plans that she’ll come the weekend of the 22nd.

So, what’s in the stack? The bottom box really is a box of hanging folders. I’m 99.9% certain the project box is empty (I had Sew Scrappy in it). Then there is a bit of leftover batting. The plastic bag contains the pre-cut pieces for Nifty Thrift, possible border fabric and the book.  I can’t believe I’ve had enough restraint to not work on it since I finished cutting it out back in early April.

The brown box contains a Nickles and Dimes, a Kansas Troubles quilt that my friend S started a while back. I told her I would work on it at the retreat since she’s not going to be able to go. The clear “box” (got to love zipper sheet bags) contains my Sew Scrappy.

The cat bed zipper pouch contains Candy Sunflower Seeds which needs 4-patches made with the correct fabric for one of the borders.  The salad box contains the remaining spool blocks I need to make. Finally the zip bag on top contains the fabric for a quilt for a friend’s husband or grandson.  I’m not sure who exactly it’s for.  It’s a panel and now that I’ve found the right green fabric in my stash it should go together quickly .

I’m rather certain that I will not be able to get all of these quilt tops done during the retreat (noonish Thursday – noon Sunday) so I may leave Sew Scrappy behind since I’m considering taking my DWR to get a bit of hand quilting done.

Generally I take the day before a retreat off to run around, do laundry, pack, pickup last-minute items,  etc. But this time, I have to work, so all of that has to be done over the next 3 evenings.

Hopefully next week’s Design Wall post will have a couple of tops on it.  But in the meantime, hop over to Patchwork Times to see what other’s have on their design walls.

Quilting Plans for June June 2, 2013

I haven’t done Judy’s Getting It Done Challenge since February – when I finished just one thing on the list.  I haven’t done the Lovely Year of Finishes since February either — and I didn’t get that one done either.  So, here it is June and I’m going to leap in with a laundry list of goals.

• Make ‘visible’ progress on my DWR – ‘visible’ refers to being able to update the progress chart on the side bar
• Complete Sew Scrappy top
• Complete Nifty Thrifty top – the blocks have been cut out for months waiting for the retreat
• Complete Candy Sunflower Seeds – it just needs borders, one is pieced
• Begin quilting the Birthday Quilt – I have time reserved on the long arm
• Make the “F” block in the Alphabet BOM.
• Complete 18 Scrappy Trip blocks on the treadle

And since I need a finish I’m going to try to complete the Birthday Quilt.

This and That May 11, 2013

Tonight was Stitch and Chat, so I pulled out my DWR and did a bit of hand quilting on it.  I really do need to take at least one other night during the month and do more hand work.

Yesterday I made a coin purse and tissue cover.

And I have settled on a layout of the swap blocks and the fabric I’m going to use.  (Note to self add 2 yards to stash report for Sunday.)

I found the black fabric in my stash – it was left over from the backing of No Blue Geese in My Tropical Garden, but I didn’t have enough white on white fabric for the sashing. There’s not enough fabric to bind the quilt so who knows what the binding will be.  But that is getting a head of myself.

UFO Parade April 15, 2013

It is said that you can’t fix a problem until you know the extent of it.  Along those lines, Judy over at Patchwork Times has challenged her readers to identify their UnFinshed Objects and put them on Parade.

When the parade was announced, I thought I knew my numbers – split between Quilts in Progress and Tops to be Quilted.  But when I pulled everything out I found 4 projects not on the list and one which needed to be removed.  In my world, if it’s a Project In Grocery Sack, it’s not considered a UFO.  I might decide to use the fabric for something else!

Anyway, the two collages above represent my Quilts in Progress (top) and Tops to be Quilted (bottom).  Click on them to enlarge — click on the tabs above to see the current list with links to individual pictures.

There are 41 Quilts in Progress and 36 Tops to be Quilted.

The quilts I’m actively working on are Scrappy Trips on my treadle; Black and Bright Swap Blocks; 3″ Spool blocks and Postage Stamp as my leader/ender project depending on what I have cut; and hand quilting on the Double Wedding Ring. Additionally, the Alphabet BOM is active (although I don’t have this month’s block done yet) and when I know I’m going to be waiting, I’ll take along the Redwork Snowmen or the ‘Twas Night Before Christmas Quilt-A-Long blocks, although admittedly I’m a month behind on the later.

Now that I’ve identified the extent of my “problem” what can I do to fix it?

#1 – don’t start anything else new until something either moves to the To Be Quilted list or actually gets finished.  Of the 9 projects I’m actively working on (there are 2 TNBCs) 4 of them were started this year!  Which is actually a wash as I’ve finished 2 projects (three if you count the pillowcase) and moved two projects to the tops list.

#2 – keep up with the BOM/Quilt-a-Longs.  There are 8 of them on my list, but only 3 are current. When I fall behind it is easy to set it aside for something else saying “oh, I’ll spend one day and catch up”.  If I’m not careful, the TNBC will fall that way.

#3 – focus and finish.  With the exception of the leader/ender projects, can I really work on multiple quilts at once?  I started the Scrappy Trips to have a project for my treadle machine.  I’m enjoying the machine and I think it will be a great quilt, but I can’t have no desire to haul my treadle to this coming Saturday’s UFO retreat.  So, I’ve pulled out the Black and Bright blocks and I’m excited to work on them – so much so, I didn’t wait for Saturday.

#4 – set aside time each month to do handwork.  I attend a Stitch and Chat each month when I don’t have to work and that’ s when I work on my DWR. Another night each month would prevent me from getting further behind on the TNBC and make faster progress on the Redwork Snowmen.

For the most part having all these projects does not drive me crazy.  Oh, sure there are a few that pester me – Bellance Bag, Frog Quilt, & Eeyore come to mind, not that they are in my current “9”.  The fact that it doesn’t drive me crazy is possibly how the list got so large.

Now that I’ve put my UFOs on parade, I wonder how many I can get crossed off or moved up by the end of the year? I’m going to aim for 5 Quilts in Progress to move up to the To be Quilted list; 3 Quilts in Progress to be finished and 5 tops on the To be Quilted list to be finished.

Hop over to Patchwork Times to see other entries on the UFO Parade.