Q1 FAL Goals

I'm linking up my Q1 Finish-A-Long goals under the gun with a quick post tonight. I'm still looking for my quilting mo-jo but am working on some goal setting for 2016 anyway. I figure it has to return sometime!

I've selected a dozen UFOs from my collection to focus on FINISHING this quarter. Here are the first six:

• Warm 16 Patches
• Memory Garden
• Tonga Treats Table Runner
• Watercolor Wall Hanging from Kit
• Kisses & Hugs
• Bouncing Balls 2

And the last six:

• Strip Stacks in Blue & Brown
• Scrappy Strip Stacks
• Crossroads 3
• Crossroads 2
• Blue Slabs on Yellow
• Crossroads 1

I'm off to link up at A Quilter's Table with less than an hour to spare.

Q2 Finish Along Goals

After a fair amount of thought I've come to the conclusion (or should I say hope!) that pulling some fresh projects from my UFO Collection into the mix will get me going again this quarter. So I'm going to put some of the flimsies back onto hangers and pull out some UFOs that are in the piecing stage since that is my favorite stage of making a quilt.

I'm also going for the smaller projects in my Collection as you will see. I'm all about building momentum this quarter you might say.

"New" UFOs:

1. Kisses & Hugs - need to finish the paper pieced blocks, assemble into a top, quilt and bind.

2. Bouncing Balls II - need to finish the paper pieced blocks, assemble into a top, quilt and bind.

3. Faded Memories - I've had this stack of four patches forever... I'm thinking a table topper perhaps? 

4. Watercolor Wall Hanging - it needs an appliqued flower and finishing so I can hang it up!

5. My Favorite Chair - I'm going to frame this embroidered piece from one of Madame Samm's Blog Hops with fabric for either a pillow or a wall hanging.

"Old" UFOs:

1. Crossroads #1

 2. Crossroads #2

 3. Crossroads #3

That adds up to 8 UFOs ready for some finishing action in Q2... now all I need to do is park myself in my Quilting Room and get to it.  

Pretty much!

1st Finish of 2015!

Finally... a Finish!

Crossroads #4 was sandwiched, quilted and bound this afternoon just in time to get some quick iPhone pictures before it turned completely dark outside. I'm happy to say that once I got going it didn't feel at all like it had been over a year since I last did these steps.

My favorite walking foot grid quilting on both sides of the block sub units worked out well. I opted for pin basting instead of spray basting indoors and used some leftover pieces of batting on this quilt.

 I love the royal blue polka dot backing with a slice of bright green in contrast to the striped binding which I applied by machine. This quilt will be donated to Project Linus and is the 1st of 4 quilts made from RSC13 blocks. The Crossroads block pattern can be found HERE and these blocks are the 12" size.
                                                               
This is my designated February UFO for A Lovely Year of Finishes and it is also on my Q1 Finish Along list HERE. I will update this post later with better pictures - the background fabric is a crisp white instead of cream - but it is a FINISH. Now to trim my loose threads and call it a day in my Quilting Room!

It's 2015!

In an attempt to unravel my tangled thoughts about what did & didn't happen in 2014 from my hopes for 2015 I'm going to jump ahead with the "easy" part today as we are a week into the New Year already. Perhaps some forward thinking will settle my mind for an insightful look back in a few days!

I'm starting off the year with 43 UFOs that need some serious attention. In a perfect world I would love to have 10-12 quilting projects in various stages of completion. I am not a start-to-finish quilter - instead I need choices and options when I go into my quilting room.

I have 3 main quilting goals for 2015:

1. Make quilting a primary focus again in my life. Plain and simple.

2. End the year with 12 or less UFOs/WIPs. As a person who enjoys having multiple projects to choose from this would be very comfortable for me. It could be 8 UFOs and 4 WIPs or 12 WIPs... the key thing is that I have enough variety to maintain interest but keep the projects moving along.

3. Learn how to FMQ at a basic level and ENJOY it! A meander, some loops & swirls and a few other options that I can use to finish my tops would make me a happy quilter.

Goals 2 and 3 are basically the same from my failed 2014 quilting goals. To reach goal 2 I need to finish at least 33 UFOs in 2015 and keep new projects moving towards the finish line. To accomplish this I am going to resurrect a variation of my UFO Reward System (blogged HERE) that worked so well in 2012-2013. I haven't worked the 2015 version out yet so stay tuned.

I'm also going to try to recapture the magic that being an active participant in A Lovely Year of Finishes and Finish-Along gave me during my UFO Busting Heydays. If you aren't familiar with these challenges click on the buttons for more information.

My January goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes will be (once again) Strip Stacks in Blue & Brown. Blocks assembled, sandwiched, quilted, bound and off to our son in New York - that's it!

I've selected the following UFOs to tackle during Q1 of the Finish-Along. 

1. Charming Snowmen, 2. 10 Path and Stiles Blocks, 3. Blue & Yellow Strings, 4. Scrappy Strip Stacks, 5. Strip Stacks in Blue & Brown, 6. Warm 16 Patches, 7. Picnic In Serenade, 8. Crossroads Blocks = 4 Quilts

8 pictures equals 11 finishes as I have enough Crossroads blocks to make 4 quilts for Project Linus. Yes, I'm going big... but winter traditionally is my prime sewing time (even in 2014!) so I'm feeling pretty confident that I can achieve a jump start towards my goals in the next 3 months.

Tomorrow I will post about the word I have chosen for 2015 and try to fill in the gaps now that I've selected my targets and linked up to the challenges today.

Q4 Finish A Long Goals

Call me stubborn but I'm just replicating my list from Q3 since I didn't touch a SINGLE ONE of them. Take that missing Quilty Mo-Jo!

1. Finish Memory Garden. This flimsy is from the book "Patchwork Showcase" by Nancy Mahoney.

2. Finish Warm 16 Patches. This flimsy began from a collection of 2.5" strips from an online swap group that I assembled into 16 patches and added the alternating hourglass blocks to. I love the color palette of this top.

3. Finish Scrappy Strip Stacks. This flimsy was made using the pattern "Strip Stacks" from G.E. Designs and is ready to baste together, quilt and bind.

4. Finish Strip Stacks in Blue & Brown. Another "Strip Stacks" set of blocks that need to be finished to find their way to Micah before his 1st year of college is over!

5. Finish Path and Stiles in Thimbleberries. These blocks are from one of the Nickel Quilt books by Pat Speth. Some of the 9 patches and rail fence sections originated from a Yahoo! Groups online block swap 6-8 years ago. The blocks are partially assembled and I plan to send this lap sized quilt out to be professionally quilted.

6. Finish Blue & Yellow Strings. I had these blocks on my design wall for a time and I can't remember why they got put away once again. They will be made into a keeper cuddle quilt for our master bedroom.

7. Finish Autumn Ridge. I believe that the blocks are about 2/3's done and the rest of the strips are cut and ready to sew together. This newbie UFO is from the Black Mountain Quilts book "Days to Remember". Instead of purple I have subbed in black/brown fabrics to match our decor.

Same song... second verse! Wish me luck...
I'm linking up with Katy@The Littlest Thistle.

Q3 Finish Along Goals

Given my lack of sewing lately this list might seem a bit on the optimistic side... but I am pretty certain that once we have returned from delivering our son to college in Rochester, NY in August I will be finding my quilting room to be a haven of comfort.

I'm putting some "golden oldies" back on the list but am also digging deep into my UFO Collection to pull out some new UFOs to the blog for a total of 7 UFOs to focus on this quarter.

1. Finish Memory Garden. This flimsy is from the book "Patchwork Showcase" by Nancy Mahoney and is one of the newbies. I plan to use it as a wall hanging in our entry way this fall.

2. Finish Warm 16 Patches. This flimsy began from a collection of 2.5" strips from an online swap group that I assembled into 16 patches and added the alternating hourglass blocks to. I love the color palette of this top.

3. Finish Scrappy Strip Stacks. This flimsy was made using the pattern "Strip Stacks" from G.E. Designs and is ready to baste together, quilt and bind.

4. Finish Strip Stacks in Blue & Brown. Another "Strip Stacks" set of blocks that need to be finished up within the next month so the finished quilt can travel with our son to college.

5. Finish Path and Stiles in Thimbleberries. These blocks are from one of the Nickel Quilt books by Pat Speth. Some of the 9 patches and rail fence sections originated from a Yahoo! Groups online block swap 6-8 years ago. The blocks are partially assembled and I plan to send this lap sized quilt out to be professionally quilted.

6. Finish Blue & Yellow Strings. I had these blocks on my design wall for a time and I can't remember why they got put away once again. They will be made into a keeper cuddle quilt for our master bedroom.

7. Finish Autumn Ridge. I would LOVE to have this quilt on display in our family room in time for fall. I believe that the blocks are about 2/3's done and the rest of the strips are cut and ready to sew together. This newbie UFO is from the Black Mountain Quilts book "Days to Remember". Instead of purple I have subbed in black/brown fabrics to match our decor.

I think this mix of UFOs will be enough to keep me busy this quarter and set me up for a VERY productive Q4 to close out 2014. We might be talking 1 UFO Finish a week again like I did in 2013!
I'm linking up under the wire with Katy@The Littlest Thistle.

Q2 & April Goal Setting

It's not a good sign when it's the 6th of the month and I'm forcing myself to sit down and write this post! I am pretty much an all or nothing person... most of my best work is done in binges. Mainly because I either give myself permission to ignore the other stuff or it just happens that way no matter what I do. And some days I just don't want to get with my program no matter what it consists of. Like reading two books instead of finishing my taxes. LOL

Goals for Q2 Finish-A-Long:

Given my present state of mind I think I'll go light on my goals. I've got a couple of trips, my son's graduation party to get ready for and the weather is finally starting to come around. While we still have a lot of snow some bare ground can be found which is pretty exciting. Here are 8 UFOs I would love to finish this quarter.

1. Minnesota Hot Dish, 2. Blue & Yellow Strings, 3. Warm 16 Patches, 4. 10 Path and Stiles Blocks, 5. Scrappy Strip Stacks, 6. Bouncing Balls II, 7. Hugs & Kisses, 8. Picnic in Serenade

I'd like to finish 3 of these in April and am going to pick (for the 3rd month in a row!!) Minnesota Hot Dish as my goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes. It just needs binding for heaven's sake!

The rest of my April goals are listed on my sidebar. I've got some catching up to do on my QALs but I think I just need to get STARTED on SOMETHING!

Here is a funny picture of Elsa totally crashed on my legs last weekend. We were watching March Madness and she was more than happy to really stretch out - don't you think her paws look like little flippers?

I'm linking up to these fun places.
                                         

Four Patch & Friends

I am so excited to share this finish today! Four Patch & Friends is DONE! and I could not be happier with it after all this time. It's too big for my usual floor photo shoot so I'm using our bed since it is a nice sunny day. The quilt is draped crosswise to show off of as much of it as I can.

I saw a sample of this in a quilt shop on my way home from Minneapolis/St. Paul during the winter of 2002 and fell in love with it. The shop had a starter kit containing 40 floral 2.5" strips so I bought it along with the book "Open a Can of Worms" by Debbie Caffrey.

I was a new quilter and scrappy was kind of scary at that time. I am certain that had I not seen the sample quilt I would have never attempted it! I paired up the strips and started cutting. Each block has a small print floral and a larger scale floral. The background is a delicate white on white floral that is very hard to photograph.

Photobomb Part I

During March Madness in 2002 I pulled my sewing table out into our family room from my closet in the laundry room and pieced about 3/4's of the blocks. I have no idea what derailed me until I picked it up again in the fall of 2012.

This UFO has appeared on my blog several times - click here, here, here, here, here and here if you want to read more about the assembly process and my challenges!

Photobomb Part II

Four Patch & Friends reached flimsy status in late September 2013 and was sent to Kathy at Stitch by Stitch Machine Quilting. I have been following Kathy's blog for about a year and really admire her quilting. We had a great conversation on the phone to discuss ideas in December and she got to work.

I wanted the quilting to enhance the romantic feel of this quilt and Kathy certainly delivered! The swirling vines along the white X's are just perfect. The patchwork sections are done with loops and leaves. The detail on the borders adds so much to the quilt... I just love it. Thank you so much Kathy for making this quilt even more special to me!

I had a large chunk of this backing fabric in my stash so that was an easy choice and I found enough of the inner border green at my LQS last month to use for the binding.

Four Patch & Friends measures 68" by 84" which makes it my biggest quilt. This one is a keeper for sure... some things are worth the wait. It will find a home draped over our living room sofa this spring.

Elsa gives it four paws up! She was testing my binding stitch last night as I rounded the last corner... thankfully she settled in for a nap shortly after this picture.

Finishing this quilt was my January goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes which always provides a large dose of Lovely Motivation.  I'm also linking up to Needle and Thread Thursday@My Quilt Infatuation, TGIFF@Riddle and Whimsey, Can I Get a Whoop Whoop@Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Link A Finish Friday@Richard and Tanya Quilts, Feline Friday@sarah did it! and Finish it Friday@Crazy Mom Quilts.

And, this UFO was on my Q1 Finish-A-Long goal list HERE so I will be linking it up in April at The Littlest Thistle.