Ambitious July goals

My work hours are down right now so I'm hoping to take advantage of the extra time to sew.  That causes my brain to go crazy thinking of all the projects I could start . . . or finish.  Last month I focused on kitting up several projects, but I still have more cutting I want to get done.

I made a set of these Patriotic Star blocks for myself when our Quilt of Valor group began making them for our group quilts.  I finally found a pretty navy blue to use for the sashing, so that is one of my July goals - getting all the sashing pieces cut.  I plan to use a layout with an unusual sashing pattern by Pat Sloan for her Winter Fun quilt-along.  The navy will be the main sections but I also have a red for accent, and some small pops of white like the stars.

The plan for this Quilt of Valor is for another of my cousins who made a career of the Navy.  I want to have it done by early November because he often comes back "home" to Minnesota for deer hunting with his brother.  I could go visit in Minnesota and deliver it if that happens.  Gotta have a plan, right?

My July goals are ambitious - but I have a good start on them!!

• 2 Saturday Sampler blocks - DONE
• begin sewing sections for Saturday Sampler quilt
• cut sashing for Patriotic Stars quilt
• finish binding Oh My Stars (UFO)
• quilt at least 1 of the 60 degree runners I made in June
• make 1 of the Quick Strippee quilt tops (kits put together in June)
• make last 3 blocks for the Lori Holt sew-along
• Pick a PIG - a Simple Whatnots project called Potting Shed
• I've changed this pattern to make it look different from the original
• put together the bright Ritzy Cracker blocks into a child size quilt (forgotten UFO) 
• Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks - bright blue 
• Diamond Tile
• String blocks
• Gingham - DONE
• teal or aqua Gingham block (1)

Under a foot of snow

What should I do when we are buried under a foot of fresh snow and it's COLD outside?  The first thing that comes to mind is to sew for awhile, and then I have to work a couple of hours with some invoices.

Actually I was sewing at 2:00 am because I couldn't sleep last night.  I read for awhile, but just kept listening to the wind howl, so I got up and went down to the basement to work on Crackerjack.  The inner borders are now pieced and the 2 side ones are sewn on. This morning I'll add the top and bottom inner borders, and then work on the pieced outer border some more, which will take some time as it's "fussy" with a ton of 1" wide strips.  Each side has 3 of those flying geese units made of strips and half square triangles!  And last of all are the corner units made with square in a square units and those narrow striped sections.  

American Patchwork and Quilting has their UFO Challenge going again for 2019 and I'm working on filling in my UFO list. Their UFO list document just has 1 space for each month, but I've split them for up to 3 projects per month. That gives me something to choose from or do more.  In 2018 I put 36 projects on my list and finished 17 of them, with progress made on several more.  That is success!

Since they posted the number 3 for January, I plugged in 3 projects that I want to work on this month.  And I'm taking the printed list downstairs with me to look around for more projects to add. 

By mid-afternoon we'll be dug out and possibly go to a basketball "classic" event being held in town. 

June goals met and July goals set

The prettiest finish for June had to be the Christmas Jelly Roll quilt.  The block has no name, but it's so cute and I know I'll use this block again in the future.  I cut up a matching layer cake for the outer border.  Red seemed ideal for the backing and I used leftover jelly roll strips for the scrappy binding. This one will be a Christmas gift.

For June, I had set the following goals for myself and did quite well, except for the UFO Challenge goals.  I should have added SURVIVE the guild quilt show and the family reunion.

• Play more golf - only played 3 times, BUMMER
• 3 RSC Sampler blocks in teal/aqua - DONE
• 2 Saturday Sampler blocks + 2 of the alternate blocks - DONE
• 12 red Ritzy Cracker blocks - made 5 red blocks
• 6 dark Ritzy Cracker blocks - made 5 dark blocks
• bind Jelly Roll Race - DONE
• bind Christmas Jelly Roll - DONE
• APQ UFO Challenge - Urban Cabin - not touched
• APQ UFO Challenge - past Simple Whatnots - not touched

The Ritzy Cracker blocks went to the family reunion for signing. More on that another time, but I'm excited to put these together.

My plan for July is to keep up with the BOM projects, and go back to more UFOs as time permits. I have a couple of new projects I'm dying to dig into, but those may be my reward for finishing something.

• finish One Block Wonder blocks & be ready to set together
• 3 RSC Sampler blocks in July color of red
• 2 Saturday Sampler blocks, plus 6 alternate blocks
• patriotic Simple Whatnot
• Urban Cabin - make 3 more blocks
• make 2 Row By Row blocks/rows

Goals, goals, goals

June isn't going to be a very good month for setting new goals as I have something going on every single weekend, ending with the guild quilt show and the big family reunion at the end of the month.  And I want to play some golf which also cuts into my sewing time.

May however, was a productive month, with most of my goals reached:

3 RSC Sampler blocks in pink - DONE

2 Saturday Sampler blocks - DONE  

12 Ritzy Cracker blocks (pink) - DONE

finish top of Christmas jelly roll quilt - DONE & in the quilter's hands 

bind Pink Pineapples - DONE

prep the sewing room wall hanging for quilting - NO, and I may add some lettering to it

make a plan for large Farm Girl Vintage blocks - NO plan at all yet

I finished the red Sew Together bag early in the month and Olivia's big pillow, both of which were part of the APQ UFO Challenge.  I also made 11 orange and 6 black/brown Ritzy Cracker blocks. Two quilt tops were finished and delivered to the quilter in May: the Christmas one listed above plus a brand new jelly roll race quilt. The bindings for both are done and ready to attach as soon as I get the quilts back. It's always exciting to get my quilts back all quilted.

For June I am setting the following goals for myself:

• 3 RSC Sampler blocks in teal/aqua (June colors)
• 2 Saturday Sampler blocks + 2 of the alternate blocks
• 12 red Ritzy Cracker blocks
• 6 dark Ritzy Cracker blocks
• bind Jelly Roll Race 
• bind Christmas Jelly Roll

Binding those quilts will be determined by when I get them back.  I really would like to put them in the quilt show, but I'm kind of slow binding so that may or may not be realistic. But we'll see.

More goals for May

Besides finishing the UFO items, I have set a few other goals for the month of May.  Most of these are just keeping up with or moving along WIPs (Works in Progress), but I want to start a new project too.  Maybe the Farm Girl Vintage blocks will have to be my "new" project since all I have is blocks. Guess I will just have to see how the month goes. 

Pink/rose was selected as the May color for RSC18 (Rainbow Scrap Challenge).  So there is a lot of pink in my goals for the month.

3 RSC Sampler blocks in pink

2 Saturday Sampler blocks  

12 Ritzy Cracker blocks (pink)

finish top of Christmas jelly roll quilt

bind Pink Pineapples

prep the sewing room wall hanging for quilting

make a plan for large Farm Girl Vintage blocks

This morning I dug through the stash and scraps for pink.  I actually thought I had more pink than I found.  But there were some good ones to choose from.  Twelve pink Ritzy Cracker blocks are under way.  I love this 30s reproduction fabric with the black Scottie dogs.


The center sections of all 12 blocks are sewn, and ready to add the triangles.  And I'm kind of hoping that I get some more sewing time after work this afternoon.  They are all laying on my sewing table waiting for me.

It's a New Year!

Doesn't it feel like anything is possible on January 1 of every new year?  I used to make resolutions that I didn't keep.  I kind of like the word "challenge" instead of resolution.  I can challenge myself to accomplish something, but can feel successful even if I only make it part way on that challenge.

So - I've once again made a list of some UFOs for American Patchwork & Quilting UFO Challenge. You can download the form and can join the Facebook group too.  If you already joined the Facebook group last year, then you are already seeing the 2018 Challenge info.  One of the gals in the Facebook group turned the PDF form into an Excel spreadsheet to make it easy to type into it. You can find that in the Facebook group, under Files in the left side menu. 

I decided to add a second and third UFO to most months. It's not that I expect to finish all 3 each month, but it gives me some options. And I may switch out a couple of things like I did last year. For the 2017 UFO Challenge, I managed to finish 9 UFOs. Three of those were switched to other items from what I already had on the list, but that's OK too.  So having multiple projects on the list for the month with give me some flexibility.  The January number was already announced and it is #12.  I deliberately put 3 things on #12 that I want to have finished by the end of January.  Technically the blue bag was finished before midnight, so I can check that one off already. Maybe I'll get them all done in the next 30 days.  It's a challenge after all. 

 

This one is headed to Minneapolis in the mail this week for my cousin to gift to a friend.  Now, go check out what other quilters are working on for the first Design Wall Monday of 2018:  http://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/

October goals

My list of October goals has some carryover from previous months. I just want to keep making some progress on these items. 

I'll quickly admit that my attention has been distracted lately toward some genealogy research, instead of sewing. I've been working on my family info and my husband's family info, but now I've begun doing some research for one of my sons-in-law.  And - like everything we become obsessed with - it's black hole.  I get started and next thing I know, hours have gone by.

1. plan 4 new Christmas stockings for family of daughter #2
2. sandwich & quilt - Simple Whatnots project Abiding Faith
3. cut out next Simple Whatnots project 
4. finish binding the 2016 Saturday Sampler - more than halfway
5. make 2 more pillowcases from the kits
6. quilt and bind the cycling wall hanging
7. finish blocks for APQ 2017 UFO Challenge (batik stars) - still in the project box
8. begin new Saturday Sampler project

Do you participate in a monthly BOM program, either online or in person?  I've been attending Saturday Sampler at my local quilt shop for at least 16 years.  We meet at 9:00 am on the second Saturday of the month.  The Show 'n Tell is the best part. It's so inspiring to see what everyone has been making. And then the new block - or mystery clue - is revealed and demonstrated.  Our last one was a mystery with fairly simple clues. The one before that was big and complicated, and will finally be done when I finish that binding. 

September in review . . .

September goals were a bit ambitious, and only partially met.  But partial is better than not at all.  So some of this will remain on my October goal list.

1. Simple Whatnots project - Abiding Faith - top is done, but not quilted
2. bind the 2016 Saturday Sampler - less than halfway
3. make 5 more pillowcases from the kits - only made 2
4. quilt and bind the cycling wall hanging - bought thread
5. make a big floor pillow for grandson Jack - Nope, didn't happe
6. finish blocks for APQ 2017 UFO Challenge (batik stars) - still in the project box
7. make 10 more polka dot pinwheel blocks - got the top done

August goals

Must be realistic, must be realistic, must be . . .

For me, goals that I don't write down, do not have a snowballs' chance of actually happening.  But when I do write them down, it gives me a plan to follow.  And it's OK to deviate from the plan occasionally.  So it's time to sit down and write some goals for the month of August.  And they must be realistic ones! 

1. finish my Saturday Sampler quilt top
2. bind my Canning Jars table runner - DONE on Aug 2
3. quilt and bind the Cocktails table runner
4. finish organizing my scraps
5. quilt and bind the cycling row by row wall hanging
6. make a signature block for my Sew Vintage group to sign
7. work on my UFO Challenge #5 project - Temecula Circa 2016 quilt  (hope to finish the blocks)

Optional projects to choose from . . . for when I can't stick to the plan:

1. "Kit Up" 2 new projects - cut and organize so they are ready to work on when I'm ready
2. make a set of 24 string blocks
3. make 3 more blocks for En Provence quilt
4. make 10 more polka dot pinwheel blocks

Most of these goals are small items that should be easy enough to finish - such as the 2 table runners, the signature block, and the wall hanging.  And the optional projects will bring a UFO closer to being done.

Looking back at November & ahead to December

I was thinking that November wasn't a very fruitful month for quilting.  But then I looked back at my blog - which is my journal - and discovered that I did quite a bit of sewing.

I finished 2 small UFOs including the Hawaiian applique table topper that had been folded up in a zip lock bag for years. And the background for the wall hanging is made of the 12 cream/off-white blocks from an old Saturday Sampler. I made some holiday towels, a couple of table runners, and lots of pillowcases. All in all, it was a good month.

Most of my November goals were achieved plus some new projects:

• Saturday Sampler blocks - pieced blocks DONE
• 1930's Farm Girl Vintage blocks - made a couple more
• Sew Vintage blocks - - not yet
• RSC15 quilt top - DONE
• Hawaiian applique - DONE

Thinking ahead to December - I'm thinking I need to keep it simple again because there is so much going on this month.

• Saturday Sampler blocks (pieced & floral applique)
• Sew Vintage blocks
• 1930s Farm Girl Vintage (make 5 blocks)
• red/black/cream 60 degree table runner hand quilted and bound
• finish pillow backings for quilted Thimbleberries pillow shams

Goals, goals, goals

I did better than expected on my October goals but my November goals are not going to be very ambitious. Since my work load has increased by about 50% I'm guessing it will cut into my sewing time. 

November goals are going to be simple: keep up with Saturday Sampler blocks, 1930s Farmer's Wife blocks, and Sew Vintage blocks. Finish the top for RSC15 with the lime green blocks. And finish the last of the hand quilting on the red Hawaiian applique project.  And maybe . . . just maybe . . . I'll have a chance to start my round snowman table topper.


October in review . . .

• Rainbow Scrap Challenge - 2 brown blocks + 3 alternate blocks  - DONE
• Rainbow Scrap Challenge - sew together the brown row blocks - DONE
• Saturday Sampler - pieced blocks for October - DONE
• Saturday Sampler - applique block from September - almost done
• bind the Halloween quilt - DONE
• Farm Girl Vintage blocks for October (1 big, 1 small) - DONE
• 1930s Farmer's Wife blocks (catch up - only 1 made so far) - only 6 made
• hand quilting finish on red Hawaiian applique - almost done
• Santa's Delivery - stretch onto canvas, and embellish with crystals - can't find the staple gun, so this is on hold

October goals

I'm a week late but hadn't really forgotten about setting some goals for the month of October.  They are going to be simple ones.

• Rainbow Scrap Challenge - 2 brown blocks + 3 alternate blocks
• Rainbow Scrap Challenge - sew together the brown row blocks
• Saturday Sampler - pieced blocks for October
• Saturday Sampler - applique block from September
• bind the Halloween quilt
• Farm Girl Vintage blocks for October (1 big, 1 small)
• 1930s Farmer's Wife blocks (catch up - only 1 made so far)
• hand quilting finish on red Hawaiian applique
• Santa's Delivery - stretch onto canvas, and embellish with crystals

September was a pretty productive month in spite of my crazy work schedule. I managed to keep up with the BOM projects I was working on and got the Halloween quilt ready to bind. Those had been my priority projects.

• lose 5 pounds (or maybe that isn't realistic) - unrealistic!
• Rainbow Scrap Challenge - orange blocks (2 or 3) - all 3 DONE
• Saturday Sampler pieced blocks for September - DONE
• Saturday Sampler mini pieced blocks for August - DONE
• finish Minnesota wall hanging - DONE
• 2 new rows for Row By Row Experience - forgot all about this one
• Farm Girl Vintage block for Sept. - DONE
• choose backing & deliver Halloween quilt to LAQ for quilting - DONE
• yellow/grey/white baby quilt - baby was a boy, so this is on hold

September goals

I promised myself that I would get back to setting some goals for the month. And since it's already September 1, here goes . . . a month of small projects.

• lose 5 pounds (or maybe that isn't realistic)
• Rainbow Scrap Challenge - orange blocks (2 or 3)
• Saturday Sampler pieced blocks for September
• Saturday Sampler mini pieced blocks for August
• finish Minnesota wall hanging
• 2 new rows for Row By Row Experience
• Farm Girl Vintage block for Sept.
• choose backing & deliver Halloween quilt to LAQ for quilting
• yellow/grey/white baby quilt - This is going to my daughter's sister-in-law IF baby is a girl. If it's a boy, then I already have a quilt ready to gift. 

My motto is: "if I write it down it will happen".  Maybe . . . we'll see.

Better late than never

"Better late than never" - that was my theory about setting goals for the last week of August and I did focus a lot more on finishes by having a list. I feel such satisfaction with checking things off that list to say they're DONE.  I feel just a little less focused! 

I even managed to finish the top of a UFO this weekend and that is exciting.

The center block is one that I won a few years ago in a Giveaway and I framed it with some stash fabric. The 12 blocks framing that are from a Halloween block swap I participated in last fall. 3 of those 12 were mine from the swap, and the other 9 were from the other swappers. I bought the stripe last spring to use for the sashing and binding, but the black outer border and the cornerstones are from my stash. Yay!!

1. sew buttons on all 6 of the 5 minute tablerunners - DONE
2. finish binding on Trip Around The World UFO - DONE
3. applique my signature block for guild President's quilt - DONE
4. 2 mini blocks for this month's Saturday Sampler
5. finish hand blanket stitching on 1 Saturday Sampler applique block
6. sandwich Minnesota wall hanging and plan quilting - DONE
7. plan layout for Halloween UFO (block swap from last year) - Flimsy is DONE

And . . . YES . . . I did finish a few things in August other than this little list.

• Dinosaur print kid quilt entirely from stash (DONE & ready to gift)
• 5 minutes table runners (6 of them!)
• caught up my RSC15 blocks and have 2 rows pieced
• some random blocks (Saturday Sampler & Traveling Stars)
• 2 rows made for Row By Row Experience

Goal setting

I had a revelation this week! I've always been a list maker, but the older I get the more I notice that if I don't write it down it doesn't happen. This summer I've quit setting goals, and I've also noticed that lately my sewing mojo is suffering.  I walk into that sewing room and don't know where to start.

So . . . back to some goal writing and I'll start with the week left before September arrives. These are the goals I wrote yesterday on my lunch break.  If I write it down, maybe it will happen.

1. sew buttons on all 6 of the 5 minute tablerunners - DONE last night
2. finish binding on Trip Around The World UFO
3. applique my signature block for guild President's quilt
4. 2 mini blocks for this month's Saturday Sampler
5. finish hand blanket stitching on 1 Saturday Sampler applique block
6. sandwich Minnesota wall hanging and plan quilting
7. plan layout for Halloween UFO (block swap from last year)

Goals for June & a new Traveling Star

My June goals are going to be very small since I will be out of town a lot for work and to put in some grandma time. Sewing and golf will probably be very limited.

I just want to keep up with the Saturday Sampler blocks and the RSC15 blocks. I have no other goals for this month. If I get anything else done great, but if not . . . that is OK too.

I have fallen behind in making these star blocks with the guild "travel" squares, but I did get one new one made this weekend. The center fabric (turtles) was shared by a guild member who had traveled to Hawaii recently. It's a fun tradition in our guild to bring back fabric from a trip and share a 6" square with each member. I have over 40 star blocks made so far with the squares I've received. 

May goals

Getting this cute label onto the back of my Row Robin quilt is one of my May goals - along with adding all of the other embellishments such as buttons and some ribbon.  Maybe this label should go on the front somewhere instead.

I want to hang my summer themed Row Robin in the family room before Memorial Day.

My other goals are mostly the "usual" -

• Saturday Sampler blocks
• RSC15 blocks (green)
• work on a UFO (Hawaiian applique)
• Clean my sewing room (since it didn't happen in April)

But I also need to finish some things that have deadlines such as several baby quilts and my friendship exchange blocks.

• 9 friendship exchange blocks (4 are done)
• Monkey baby quilt for my new grandson due in June
• 2 flannel self-binding blankets for same grandson
• Owl Quick Strippee baby quilt (gift for later in summer)

That is probably more than I can actually accomplish in between work, graduations, baby showers, and a little GOLF.

April is just a memory

Wow! April zoomed by just as fast as I thought it would.  We had a couple of birthdays to celebrate, all of the family here for Easter, and a few "social" events.  And so I had set some very modest goals for the month but left off some important things. But as always I worked on some things that weren't on the original goal list.  

• #1 GOAL - Clean my sewing room!!!!
• Bind my Crazy Pinwheels quilt - DONE
• Bind (and finish quilting) the Tropical Wedding wall hanging - DONE & GIFTED
• Make binding for the monkey basket weave quilt
• 2 pieced blocks for Saturday Sampler - DONE
• Heartland Guild Round Robin - final border addition - DONE

So in addition to these modest goals, these are my other finishes.

• 2 RSC15 blocks in purple
• 1 baby burpee
• 1 soft fabric book for new baby
• 3 Christmas mini quilts/mug rugs
• purple Twister pillow
• buffalo print pillow
• tan dog print flannel self-binding baby blanket

Modest April Goals

April is going to be a very busy month and so my "quilty" goals are going to be modest, and involves a lot of binding and cleaning. 

• #1 GOAL - Clean my sewing room!!!!
• Bind my Crazy Pinwheels quilt
• Bind (and finish quilting) the Tropical Wedding wall hanging
• Make binding for the monkey basket weave quilt
• 2 pieced blocks for Saturday Sampler
• Heartland Guild Round Robin - final border addition
• Clean my sewing room!!!!

Anything else I get done is just a bonus.  I'm sure that I'll work on some other random projects because I always do.  

March in review

At the beginning of the month I said:  "if I write it down and post it, then I'm more likely to do it, right?"  I am a list maker both in my work world and my "play world".  It helps me focus on what I want to do and when I can check something off the list it feels great.  But I don't always feel bad if I can't mark enough things off of the list, so I guess that is good. And this month I really did get a lot of things accomplished even though they were not all on my list.

Original goals included:

• Bind the RSC14 Pigtail UFO quilt with scrappy binding - DONE
• Bind my Summertime Row Robin quilt - working on it
• Make all 3 March Saturday Sampler blocks (12", 6", & applique) - 2 out of 3 done  
• Make all of the RSC15 blocks for the month (2 ) - DONE
• Complete the Round Robin section for the month for guild - DONE
• Hand quilt on the Tropical Wedding wall hanging (April target) - working on it
• Finish my 13 friendship exchange blocks - top half of all 13 done
• Make 2 blocks for Traveling Stars - NOPE, not touched

But I also did some things NOT on my goal list:

• Bound a 2nd UFO quilt (Fat Quarter Stars #2) that has been waiting for 3 years for binding
• Bound a 3rd UFO - the winter sleighs 60 degree table runner
• Experimented with an origami fabric flower and turned it into a finished mini quilt/mug rug
• Finished the pattern test project
• Made a self-binding baby blanket and gifted it to a coworker
• Made more blocks for new grandson baby quilt