Tag Archives: goals

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This quarter's motto is: Don't start any new projects.

The WIP list just keeps growing. With the kids home for summer and a variety of other "life" getting in the way of sewing time as well as sewing mojo I finished a mere 4 projects from the list last quarter. Such as life. As I like to say: I can only do one human's amount of work.

So... most of this will look very familiar to you (updated with some new pics!). Now I'm really on a break signing up for swaps (though if the IG Mini Swap round 2 comes up, I don't think I'll be able to resist... AND I've got an idea for one that I want to host -- that one will just have to wait for now).

My year end goal from the beginning of the year is to have no more than 12 WIPs on the list. (Are you laughing yet?) I sure have my work cut out for me this quarter, don't I? A number of these are clothing items for the kids. Perhaps I can whip out some of these for Hanukkah gifts.

The WIPs: In no particular order...

  1. Schnitzel and Boo Mini Swap (round 4). This one is due in early November. It's the last swap I'm signed up for. Here's my initial fabric pull. I have a great idea... that has Y-seams. ;-) We'll see how that goes.
  2. Sew My Stash Mini Quilt Swap. Most urgent based on the deadline. I've decided to go with HSTs and I'm using the trimmings from another project... if that isn't using my stash, I don't know what is! Here's a peak of my palette.
  3. EZ Quilting QuiltCon 2016 Triangle Quilt Challenge. Due November 30.
  4. The Purple Ninja Quilt. I'm getting this one done for real this quarter. It's been quilted by Patti Joki, a local long-arm quilter (my first time sending a quilt out for quilting). The binding fabric is prewashed. Now to make and attach over 400 inches of binding!
  5. Help my son finish his third quilt.
  6. 2004 (ugh) Baseball Quilt... This one continues to be my oldest WIP. I've finished constructing all the blocks and I've even pieced a couple of them together.
  7. Little Letters in Blues/Greens Quilt.
  8. Text Me Mini for myself. I made two for this swap, one for my partner and one for me. Somehow, mine didn't get done by the deadline. ;-)
  9. Another Retro Camper Mini. I made one for my Home Sweet Home partner and one for myself that's currently unfinished.
  10. My other Zig Zap Placemat. Ya know, so I have a pair! Just needs to be quilted and bound. Check out my tutorial.
  11. Very Hungry Caterpillar twin quilt. Fabric all cut for Fat Quarter Fizz quilt and piecing has begun.
  12. Very Hungry Caterpillar baby quilt. I cut all the fabric I had and had way too many sets for the twin quilt for my son's bed, so I should be able to get 1 or 2 baby quilts out of the remaining pieces. See above.
  13. Hawaiian lap quilt. Again, I'm using the Fat Quarter Fizz pattern. Fabric is all cut. :-)
  14. My safari animal baby quilt. Ready to baste and quilt. I'm considering going with graffiti quilting on this one.
  15. Ocean quilt for my daughter (top pieced, but needs applique done)
  16. Little Letters in Brights Quilt.
  17. Cotton & Steel (and low volume) Quilt (I have a HST plan... with these 5" squares)
  18. * Batik SCVQA philanthropy quilt. Basted and ready to quilt.
  19. * Roman Stripez with butterfly backing. Some blocks done. (see #18)
  20. * Roman Stripez with turtle backing.
  21. * Memory House Vol. 1 Quilt (2 houses complete)
  22. * Leah Day's Building Blocks Quilt Along (first 3 sets of blocks done)
  23. Envelope quilt. A couple blocks pieced. I'll probably make a mini for myself.
  24. * Monster Quilt (first applique block in progress)
  25. Christmas Mini Quilt (using 4 orphan blocks I somehow acquired)
  26. * Swoon Quilt (finished my first block, next two are in progress)
  27. Primary mini quilt. Same pattern as my Cotton & Steel mini swap. Hoping to get better at adding those bias edge triangles to finish it.
  28. Frog dress for my daughter. She picked out this fabric while on the Shop Hop with me. I intend to make my first Nelle Dress (by Brownie Goose).
  29. Frog shirt for my son. His pick on the shop hop. Not sure what was with the frogs. He'd like a new Bowling Shirt (pattern by Scientific Seamstress).
  30. Baseball dress for my daughter. Ever since my son started playing t-ball, she's had a thing for baseball. She picked out these two fabrics. I'm planning to make the Jewel's Stripwork Peasant Dress (by Create Kids Couture) without using strips for the skirt. She's been wearing the last one I made her for a year.
  31. Baseball print Bowling Shirt for my son. Same fabrics as above.
  32. Winnie the Pooh Skirt/Shorts for my daughter. Fabric currently MIA. Hm. Found it!
  33. * Rainbow Simply Woven lap quilt with bee blocks from Stash Bee. I need to decide how big I want this to be and how many additional blocks I'll be making for myself. I didn't have a good place to lay out my whole set of blocks for a photo, so here are the first few blocks I received.
  34. 4th of July shop hop table runner.
  35. * Patchwork City Metro Area Quilt. It's becoming a bit of a fabric collection... I do love the blocks I've finished.
  36. * Midnight Mystery Quilt. In progress, expected finish early 2016. 

* Indicates that these projects will almost certainly roll over to Q1 2016.

Stats: Since I like data, here's some further info comparing project status of my Q3 list to this one. While I only had four Q4 finishes, I made progress on many of the projects, particularly in moving them from Fabric Pulled to Fabric Cut and from Fabric Cut to Piecing in Progress.

  • Planning Stages (pre-fabric pull): 2 (Q3), 1 (Q4)
  • Fabric Pulled: 10 (Q3), 7 (Q4)
  • Fabric Cut: 6 (Q3), 3 (Q4)
  • Piecing in Progress: 14 (Q3), 19 (Q4)
  • Quilt Top Completed: 3 (Q3), 5 (Q4)
  • Quilted: 0 (Q3), 1 (Q4)

Bucket List: I haven't pulled fabric for these (except #9), but I can't stop thinking about them. Remember the motto: Don't start any new projects.

  1. Wizard of Oz baby quilt, gift for a baby due in March.
  2. Triangle Squared quilt.
  3. Equilateral triangle quilt, perhaps Chopsticks pattern.
  4. Raspberry Kiss lap quilt.
  5. Floating Squares improv score from The Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters by Sherri Lynn Wood.
  6. Technicolor Galaxy. I didn't have the bandwidth to do it real time, but every time I see everyone else's I kick myself just a little bit for not diving in.
  7. Polaroid quilt.
  8. Chopsticks quilt.
  9. Pirate Quilt. (I have fabric, but no firm plan on design yet.)
  10. Leah Day's Dancing Butterflies to develop my free motion quilting. (I joined at the start of the year, but never... um... started.)
  11. Mini Mini Quilt Swap on IG.

I'm linking up to the Q4 Finish Along Goal Party.

2015 FAL at On the Windy Side

Things I Make

 

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I just can't resist a great swap theme. The early mosaics for the Home Sweet Home Mini Quilt Swap convinced me to dive it. This swap was a little different in that we were paired with partners to make for each other. That makes this the first time I've not shown my finished mini online in advance of mailing it. Since Brittany knew it was for her. My September goal post showed my first seam, the curved curtain in the window.

Brittany told me "I like retro houses and campers, but anything bright is good with me!" I couldn't decide on an existing camper pattern, so I created my own. It's made by piecing the camper (except for the hitch and wheel), then cutting out the outline of the camper to applique to the background. I used turned-edge machine applique for the wheel and the camper. The hitch is simply fused and stitched in place. I had a great time designing it and making it... and actually made two so I could have one for myself. My camper is done, but the quilt isn't quite finished yet. Here's the one I sent to Brittany. It measures 20" x 16".

I also made her this tiny little quilt. I took inspiration from Completely Cauchy's itty bitty piecing and whipped this up. It finished at 5" x 5". I think it has 83 pieces.

I'm linked up to ALYoF September Finishes, TGIFF and Finish It Up Friday.

I'm linked up to the Finish Along Q3 Finishes Party. See my whole Q3 goal list here.

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My next mini swap in the queue is the Home Sweet Home Mini Quilt Swap. The shipping deadline is Wednesday. Eek. So this is not only a September goal, it's a 72-hour goal. Luckily, I've got some time in my schedule to sew sew sew today and tomorrow.

This is the first swap I've been in that we've been assigned partners and we're making for each other. I generally am so excited about what I'm making that I show it off while it's in progress, since nobody knows who will be receiving it. This time, I'm making for Brittany and she knows it. (And she's making for me.) So, I'm not showing much along the way. In fact, this glimpse below is all anyone will see before Brittany receives her package.

I designed my mini and included one pieced curve (gasp!). Since I'd never done this, job one was to figure that out. I cut pieces from my hand-drawn templates and then pinned the heck out of it. I think it was a mistake to piece it with the outer curve on the bottom. It was a puckered mess when I finished. Oops.

I shared on Instagram and Amanda and Jessica both recommended Leanne's curve sewing tutorial. Oh my gosh! Game changer. I never would have attempted to pieces a curve without pins, but her short video illustrated it beautifully. Here's the result of my second attempt. No pins were used in the making of this one.

Overall I'm happy with it, but it is just a smidge shy of the intended size. I made one more (oh, cause I've decided to make this mini twice, one for Brittany and one for me) and cut my pieces larger than necessary so I could trim down to 2" by 3.5". (Unfortunately I didn't pay attention to the position of the shape of the fabric as much as to the pattern on it when trimming, so it's not quite symmetrical, but I think it'll be fine.) Here's my third curve.

Now on to all my straight seems. Stay tuned for my big finish after it reaches its destination. And after that I'll be wanting to sew all the curves! This little piece and Leanne's tutorial opened up a whole new world of possibilities. Once again I'm glad I've used a mini swap to push myself beyond my normal quilting skills.

Do you participate in quilt (or other craft) swaps? What's your favorite part?

Linking up to ALYoF September Goal Party.