May Day

We have had glorious weather all week long and I just can't feel bad for not being in the mood to sew. One good thing about not finishing anything is that is makes the monthly wrap up post a moot point! Next...

I think I have come up with a plan for my Faded Memories 4 patches and so I am going to make finishing this project my May goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes.

Isn't this journal cover gorgeous? I had one like it marked as a favorite for about a year from a seller on Etsy and I decided last month that I really wasn't going to get around to making one myself anytime soon. I placed a custom order and she mailed it 2 days later. Picking this beauty up several times a day makes me very happy... I just wonder why I waited so long!

I think the rest of my May goals will consist of getting caught up on RSC14 blocks and doing my green RSC15 blocks. I'm not sure how much sew time I will have if the weather stays this nice. Spring has been a long time coming to northern Minnesota. I have a few more Junk Journal swaps to work on this month as well. May always seems like a hopeful month to me with things turning green and plants reappearing. It's one of my favorite times of the year I think. I'm hopeful for at least one quilty finish in the next 31 days.

April Goals

I feel like April is going to be a turning point month for me. Our weather is still crappy and I've got UFOs to finish... it's that simple. I just need to get started.

I'm picking Crossroads #1 as my finish for A Lovely Year of Finishes. I see that purple is the RSC15 color of the month which is one of my favorite colors. No excuses. I've listed the rest of my goals for the month on my sidebar.

I returned from my trip east to see the kids on Saturday, had my typical post trip lazy day yesterday and am getting back on task today. I'm looking forward to watching the Final Four game tonight and getting into my Quilting Room tomorrow. Let's sew!

My Mission in March

I have fond memories of watching the TV series Mission: Impossible years ago because of the very dramatic theme song, convoluted plots and dashing characters. The catch phrase "Your mission, Jim, should you choose to accept it..." was delivered with a flourish each episode. I've seen a few of the movies too but the original flavor is my favorite.

image from http://momentscount.com/archives/5368

The clock is ticking on my Q1 Finish Along goals and, beyond that, my UFO Countdown. Winter is quilting season for me and it's time to accept my mission and crank up Mr. Juki. I'm choosing Warm 16 Patches as my Finish for A Lovely Year of Finishes because I'm feeling the need for some warm colors as winter lingers on.

This top has 6 good looking friends that are ready for action in March.

I've got a shortened month ahead with a happy trip east to visit the kids coming up the week before Easter. In February I set a goal to sew an hour a day which worked great for a lot of piecing... but I prefer to work on a top in one quilting session so in March I'm going to designate Tuesdays & Thursdays as quilting days. As in "Finish a Quilt" quilting days!

image from http://mollyfrances.typepad.com/look-what-i-made/2014/01/thoughts-on-focus-a-free-download.html

Beyond that I'd like to get caught up with my yellow RSC blocks from last year and make some yellow bowtie blocks. If I could get the remaining 3 projects on my Q1 Finish Along page to flimsy stage that would be a bonus but I'm not counting on it.
                                                                
Quilting is My Mission in March and I choose to accept it.

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!

Focusing in on February

I feel like I blew the dust out of my Quilting Room last month and now it's time to make spending time in there a habit again. While I don't have any time away in February I do have some competing priorities so I'm going to set a timer, sew for an hour every day and keep a log of what I worked on. So that is goal #1. Hopefully there will be days where I keep going, but an hour a day is a MUST.

Beyond that I want to ease myself beyond piecing and start building towards some finishes.

I came across these forgotten charm squares while cleaning off my cutting table this morning which are from a table runner kit I bought last summer. I'm going to go ahead and claim it as 2015 WIP and use it for quilting practice this week. I have not done a speck of machine quilting since February 2014.

Then I'm going work up to the smallest of my Crossroad Quilts - #4 which measures 48" x 48". Can you see what I'm doing here? Baby steps.

Beyond that I want to finish 3 other UFOs this month. Anything on my Q1 Finish Along Progress Tab is fair game. I also want to work through my pink scraps for RSC15 and make my last pink block from RSC14.    
                                                                                                                                      

I've listed these goals on the right side of my blog and I'm linking Crossroads #4 up as my goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes@Sew BitterSweet Designs. 

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.

My November Goal

Yes, that is right... goal as in ONE, singular, must get done goal.

I want to finish Strip Stacks in Blue & Brown this month so I get it to my son who is a freshman in college before winter comes in New York state. It will make me feel happy to think of him covered up with it as he has always been an under a quilt, throw or blanket kid.

It's been on my design wall for months. It is time!

Miss Elsa seems to miss our son too... she has started taking her afternoon naps in his desk chair.

I'm linking up to A Lovely Year of Finishes@Sew Bittersweet Designs.

September Goals

I thought long and hard about setting ONE goal for the month:

Just Sew SOMETHING!!!

But I will give it a try with 3 short & simple goals instead.

1.  Do this month's orange blocks for RSC14 and catch up on one prior month.

2.  Start 1 new project.

3.  Finish 1 old project.

My Something New project will be one of these pillows from the book PillowPOP - either Flying Rainbows (above) or Crimson Stones (below). These are the projects chosen for a Sew Along on Threadbias for the month of September. Since I love this book and need some new pillows I had better get on the stick and make one!

My Something Old project will be my Memory Garden UFO so that I can hang it in my entry way this fall. It just needs to be sandwiched, quilted and bound. I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm going for small & easy here. This will also be my September project for A Lovely Year of Finishes.

But, most of all, I need to JUST SEW SOMETHING! Pronto. Stat. ASAP.

Month in Review

It's kind of sobering to think that 2014 is already 1/3 done. My oh my where do the days go? Since May is looking to be rather busy for me with 3 weekends of activities including our son's graduation and the expectation that spring WILL arrive this month with all of the related tasks I'm going light on my May goals.

But first I should quickly review April... 1 quilt, 2 scarves and Quilty Stitches blocks made it to the Finish Line in April. With so much going on in my life outside of quilting last month I feel quite good when I look at this mosaic.

I am really digging in and trying hard to change some ingrained habits which is rather challenging. Boring stuff like processing papers, drinking water, getting daily exercise and shedding stuff from all corners of our home. Not very blog worthy topics. I've also been spending time getting back to using a daily planner which is a habit I abandoned along with my career in 2001. You might actually see a bit of this process on the blog in May because it is making a difference already.

But, let's move on to May - a bright and shiny NEW month to explore! Here are my goals for May:

• Finish Warm 16 Patch
• Finish Strip Stacks in Blue & Brown
• Get Caught up with RSC14
• Stay Caught up with Quilty Stitches
• May Schnibble X Rated

For A Lovely Year of Finishes my goal will be to finish Strip Stacks in Blue & Brown. I'm thinking it would make a nice graduation present for our son. He has always been one to pull a blanket or throw over himself while watching TV or napping. It makes me so happy to see him wrapped up in one of my quilts over the last year!

I'm planning to get back to a regular blogging schedule in May as well. To say I've missed it would be an understatement.

ALYoF for April

I just could not go for 3 months without a finish for A Lovely Year of Finishes I decided this morning... which explains my need for a last minute post with flash photos taken after dark. I will be doing a proper Friday Finish post to give this quilt the photos it deserves!

The pattern is from the book Minnesota HotDish by Atkinson Designs. It was professionally quilted and I'll include all the details on Friday.

You can check out all the other finishes for the month by going HERE.

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.
                                         

February Goals

It's a short month to begin with and one of my favorite things is starting in just a few days so I've been going back and forth with my goal setting.

I am a total Olympics Junkie and have been since childhood. I love everything about the Olympics - the athletes, the glimpses into life in another country, the opening & closing ceremonies and of course the actual events. And now that you can watch endless hours on multiple TV channels and online that means I might as well list enjoying all things Olympics as my February goal!

With the help of my DVR I'll be able get some sew time in (and skip past those repetitive commercials)... I could also wheel a sewing table out into the family room for more if I choose to. But I've decided to pare down my goals to emphasize the if I choose to instead of feeling like I should.

My goal for A Year of Lovely Finishes is to sew down the binding on Minnesota HotDish which I've been saving for Olympic viewing time.

My 2nd large goal that I've been planning for Olympics watching hours is to sort through my stash, my craft closet and my craft books/magazines. I figure it will be the perfect time to pull out a bin, a stack of fabrics or a magazine holder and sort through it. Most of this is stored in my laundry room which is adjacent to the family room where I'll be perched. Perfect!

I'll take some before and after shots to share as well as my process for scraps and storage ideas. The pic above is old but it looks about the same today. Partly organized... partly chaos. I haven't touched some of these fabrics in years so am looking forward to this actually. I want to put some together some kits matching up fabrics with projects from my Make Someday list, set those aside and reorganize the rest.

I'd also like to finish 2 more UFOs from my FAL (Finish-A-Long) list in February - one this week and one the week after the Olympics is over. These are likely candidates for Something Old.

For Something New I would like to finish my Valentine's Day Plus quilt and the February pillow for the Pillow Pop Sew Along on Threadbias which is a scrappy Chevron. I have some bonus triangles I'm thinking about using.

The color of the month for RSC14 is pink. Since pink isn't a part of my ROYGBIV chevron project I'll just be sewing Angela's sampler blocks.

I'm going to make March all about FMQ (and March Madness!). By then I'll be totally sick of winter and ready to sew, sew and sew some more!

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.