Finding a direction for 2021

 

I have no plans to become a minimalist - it just isn't in my DNA.  But it's past time to Simplify my life a bit . . . my house and even my brain.  That might mean working on clutter or just letting some things go, both physical things and emotional things. 

Design Wall Monday - January 4

My design wall this morning holds plenty of random blocks belonging to a variety of projects.  

Saturday was a productive day in my sewing room - organizing and stitching.  Two new Ohio Star blocks are made to add to my quilt.  I've decided that I definitely want it to be bigger, so I'll continue to make blocks for Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2021.  Most of the new blocks will have the white background, but I'll make just a few with the colors reversed. 

And I made 6 more Wisdom blocks.  Forgive the horrible lighting in this photo. It's even worse than I thought it was.  That top left block is actually a dark blue with bright leaves and berries.  Two have grey backgrounds - a snowflake and pastel floral. 

I also kitted up 4 pillowcases for sewing this month.  Zebras, cars, and Harry Potter - all fun fabrics.  I have some flannel Harry Potter fabric that needs to be sewn into pillowcases too, but it's needing a good pressing after I washed it.  

Today I'm linking up to:
 https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/ 
and also
http://quiltingismorefunthanhousework.blogspot.com/

Sunday was spent with family.  We made a 200 mile round trip to deliver Christmas gifts to our children and grandchildren.  It was wonderful to see them all.  One gift that was a big hit was the Krazy Straws bent into their names.  Olivia was drinking hot chocolate when we arrived and the straw was used immediately.  

Uncovering lots of 9-patches

Another drawer has been emptied, sorted and reorganized, and it yielded a few surprises.  This was a deep drawer and buried in the bottom were 2 plastic bags holding leftovers from previous quilts that were finished long ago.  I’ll admit I was almost afraid to look into those bags.

One bag was full of leftover Thimbleberries fabrics from a number of different projects from my past.  Some of the pieces were fairly large, and others were just little scraps.  And tucked in there were these 9-patch parts.  I think these were extras but can’t remember from what.  The top (and last) drawer in this cabinet holds a lot of Thimbleberries “stuff” - fabric and patterns.  So now the leftovers have all been sorted,  ironed, refolded, and that top drawer along with these 9 patches, which I finished before putting them away for some future project.

The other bag held the leftovers from a quilt I made several years ago, using the X Block ruler.  You made 9-patch blocks, and laid that ruler on them at an angle matching up lines on the ruler it’s the seams, and then recut into a tilted block.  There were 5 complete 9-patch blocks and the parts for 10 more, plus some yardage.  These are 8 and 3/4 inches square which is kind of odd, but I think there is enough for a small quilt so I’m adding this to my UFO list for 2021.  

Unity round #4

Round 4 is complete on Unity.  And I love how it looks.

I altered the blocks for this round, but kept them a similar star and the same size as the original pattern.  Round 5 calls for tiny Flying Geese at the top and bottom, so that the quilt becomes a rectangle instead of a square.  I’m thinking about keeping them as Flying Geese, but making them larger.  

January 2021 - goals, goals, goals

 Happy New Year!!!

A new year with a clean calendar just begs to have something penciled in doesn’t it?  I’ve been planning an "organization" goal for each month based on the new storage challenge APQ UFO Challenge has added for 2021.  Even if it inspires just a little change for me, I'll be better off.  Check out the link below for the information and downloadable project sheets.

https://www.allpeoplequilt.com/how-to-quilt/finishing/2021-ufo-challenge

I've ordered 2 of these Scrapbook Carts to meet my January organization goal.  Each cart holds 6 removable 12x12 projects boxes.  I think the carts will stack (hopefully) if I leave the wheels off one of them, and should fit nicely in a corner next to the big antique dresser in my sewing room.  The plan is to put all "current" quilting projects in those boxes - with labels - so they are front and center, and easily pulled out to work on or take somewhere.  

Pick a PIG was something I started doing last year and it worked for me.  Every month I chose 1 PIG (projects in grocery sacks) to work on.  Ironically most of the PIGS from 2020 were started and finished in short order, mainly because I chose small projects.  But this year I've added a couple of large quilt kits from my PIG list to my priority list, like this Bargello kit. 

And then there are the specific goals for the month of January.  The list is long, so I already know I won't meet them all, but every forward step is a success.

And how ironic that the January number drawn for the APQ UFO Challenge was #7.  Unity was the priority project for that number (big asterisk), and the PIG was a Sew Together bag.  Both of those projects were front and center in my plans anyway.  The 3rd project listed is one I may never manage to finish.  It's been on my UFO list for about 10 years with very little forward progress made. 

·       Saturday Sampler – January sections

·       Cut out 1 Simple Whatnots project

·       UFO Challenge project #7

o   Unity – finish Round #4

o   1 Sew Together bag

·       Ritzy Cracker – sew “2-sies” into “4-sies”

·       Harry Potter pillowcases

o   1 for Mason

o   2 for Steph’s kids

·       Organizing

o   Set up new project cabinet

o   Clean cutting station AGAIN

o   Label the drawers that were sorted by color

·       Quilt, bind, finish the following:

o   Gnome table runner

o   Blue Snowflake runner

o   2 Winter Moose table runners

·       Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2021- PINK

o   Wisdom – 5 blocks

o   Gingham – 2 blocks + 4 green frames

o   Blossom Time – 5 blocks

o   Diamond Tile – 2 blocks

o   Ohio Star – 1 or 2 blocks (to make quilt bigger)

o   String blocks – 4 or more

December - and 2020 - in the rear view mirror

I wanted to finish out 2020 on some positive notes so I set some "happy" goals for the month.  No large, complicated projects were on this month's list. And there are plenty of cheerful colors!  Some of these goals will just roll right into the new year. 

• Saturday Sampler - December sections - DONE
• Gingerbread wall hanging top assembly - rolling over into 2021
• Harry Potter pillowcases (3) - rolling over into 2021
• CLEAN cutting station! - partially done
• Pick a PIG - Gnome winter table runner - flimsy is done, but needs blanket stitching
• Quilt, bind & finish the following small projects
• Boo bench pillow (envelope back & bind) - DONE
• Pine Tree Point wall hanging - DONE
• both Winter Moose table runners - rolling over into 2021
• 2nd Blue Snowflake runner - rolling over into 2021
• cut out 2 Simple Whatnots projects - rolling over into 2021
• additional blocks for on-going projects
• 10 Unity blocks - DONE with Round 3 completely
• 4 Diamond Tile blocks - only 3 blocks are DONE
• 5 Wisdom blocks - DONE
• frame 4 gingham blocks - DONE
• 4 Blossom Time blocks - 8 blocks DONE 

Like many in 2020 I had a lot more time to sew, and finished more projects -both old and new - than usual during this year.  The photo at the top is some of the quilts I finished this year.  I donated a couple, gifted a few, and kept some.  But it's always nice to finish a quilt. I haven't done an accurate count, but know that I finished more than a dozen quilts this year. 

Lots of small items were completed this year too: bags, pillows, pillow cases, wall hangings, and table runners.  And masks - can't forget the masks!!  

Happy New Year!  What will 2021 bring?  

A little organizing and a little sewing for the New Year

I'm trying to start the New Year off with a little bit of organizing in my sewing room.  In all honesty, it's been a hot mess for MOST of 2020.  In anticipation of some new storage containers arriving next week I decided I had to start somewhere in taming this mess.  And making room for the new containers.

These drawer units sit inside the huge closet in my sewing room, and they hold a lot of stash fabric.  That bottom drawer very obviously could no longer close, mainly because I kept digging into it and also throwing things on top of it.  So the bottom 2 drawers were removed and completely emptied out.  Every piece of fabric was sorted by color and refolded if necessary.  Right now I've carefully put the color stacks back into the drawer.  I took this photo before doing that second drawer. 

My next step is to pull the other 2 drawers out and do the same thing - sort by color and refold.  Maybe I can maintain that organization for awhile.   

A small step forward . . .

I've also been sewing up some random blocks that were kitted up and waiting.  Blossom Time blocks are beginning to really add up.  I now have 6 of these "quad" sections.  

And I framed 3 more of the gingham blocks from RSC20, leaving only 4 green ones needing frames.  Since I'm making more of these for RSC21, I'll pull some pinks (January color) for 2 new blocks.  But I'll frame them right away now that I have that planned.  

Now that I have a lot of my stash sorted by color or theme it should be easier to find what I need for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge going forward.  That is assuming that I can stay somewhat organized.