Design Wall Monday - Feb 28th

Can you believe that today is the last day in February?  I know it's a short month, but it just seem to fly by.  Kiddo is now finished with basketball, the short course swim season ends next weekend, after that the swim team is taking a two week break from practice.  Things should really slow down on the weekends.  Which hopefully means more sewing for the next few months! 

Moving on, it's Monday, so that means it's time to show what's up on the design wall.  To be honest, not much.  I finished binding the 2008 BOM quilt last night. 

That leaves just 4 quilts on my UFO list!  I didn't have time to get a picture of the completed quilt, I'll have to post that later. 

Block 12 of the Buck-a-Block project is all cut out and ready to be sewn, plus the next block for the purple and yellow quilt is laid out to be used as leaders and enders when I finally get back to sewing.  

 

So pretty much the same stuff up on my design wall.  Check out Judy's Patchwork Times for more design walls. 

Stash Report and 15 Minute Challenge (Day 10)

I bought fabric this week.  That breaks my 17 week fabric fast which started way back in October 2010.  How much damage did I do to my stash reduction efforts?  Here's this week's stash report:

Used this week:  0.96 yards
Added this week :  1.5 yards

Used year to date:  4.81 yards
Added year to date:  1.5 yards

Net used for 2011:  3.31 yards

Fabric Budget:  10 yards for Jan to March
Bought/Budget:  1.5/10 yards

I didn't buy much, so I'm still in the black.  I bought a couple of fat quarters for the purple and yellow quilt. I don't have as many darks as I do lights and wanted to even that out a bit.

I also fell in love with this butterfly print and had to add it to my collection (you can see parts of that collection here).  But I only bought a yard, so the overall damage wasn't bad. 

Why do the fabric out numbers seem to grow so slowly? I've been sewing, but that's mainly been just blocks, which don't seem to use much fabric.  I do have one quilt that needs backing and the Buck-a-Block needs to be set, so maybe my fabric usage will go up in the next month.  Oh well, I'm still in the black and that's what counts. 

Not much sewing time yesterday, probably only about an hour in sewing room.  Between kiddo's swim meet and laundry, that's all the the time I could manage.  Still I met my goal of 15 minutes of sewing time.   I'm hoping to get a few hours in this afternoon.  Kiddo's basketball commitment ended last Monday and this is the last swim meet for the short course season she'll swim, so we should get most of our weekends back for a few months.  At least until the long course season starts up. 

That's it for this week's stash report.  Check out Judy's Patchwork Times for more stash management reports. 

15 Minute Challenge - Day 9

I did spend my 15 minutes in the sewing room on Friday.  I was able to get in about an hour, which is much less than I had hoped for since we were off yesterday.  We made the trek to Tulsa to pick up the sewing machine which had been in for service and then did some shopping for things we can't readily get in our small community.  By the time we got home, it was time to get kiddo from school and run another set of errands for the swim meet this weekend.  Which is also why this post is so much later than usual.  We spent this morning watching kiddo swim. 

The sewing time yesterday was spent on the binding for the 2008 BOM.  I managed to complete one side of the binding and about half of another side.  If I work really hard for what's left of this afternoon and evening, maybe I can get it completely done! 

Just three day left in my personal 15 minute sewing challenge.  I'm going to the sewing room now, so that should cover day 10.  What happens starting March 1st?  I can try to maintain the 15 minutes of sewing every day, pick a week each month to challenge myself, or just challenge myself when I'm not sewing enough to meet my goals.  I'm not sure yet just what path to take once February is over.   

Foto Finish - Dots

This week's theme is dots.  Here are my dots.

The flowers had to come home with us yesterday.  I wanted something bright for the dining room table, it's been too dreary the last week.  I like the bright yellow and oranges.  The centers of these flowers always make me think of pin cushions. 

That's it for Foto Finish Saturday.  Jump over to Cat Patches to see other interpretations of this week's theme. 

15 Minute Challenge Day 8 - It's All About the PIGS

I've been following along with Jill's "Year of the PIGS" over at Ramblings of a Fabric and Yarn Obsessor.  As I was considering her questions for this week, I remembered that my 15 Minute Challenge was really all about UFOs and PIGS.  I want to finish my UFOs and start on some of my PIGS, but I have to commit the time for that to happen.  It's so easy to just piddle the time away, especially when you are tired.  It's amazed me how energized I feel once I get myself upstairs and start working on something.  Another lesson learned. 

On to Jill's Year of the PIGS questions for this week. 

What was my last finish?   Last month I finished the One Day Mystery Quilt from Planet Patchwork.  I wrote about that one here. 

What UFO am I working on?  I spent about an hour last night sewing the binding on the 2008 BOM.  I covered that one here.  This quilt is so big, it's going to take me forever to get that done!  I'm going to have to work for more than 15 minutes a night to finish this one before the end of the month.

Favorite Things Friday - February 25th

Not quite Friday yet, but close in my little corner of the world.  Close enough to join Shay over at Quilting in My Pyjama's for Favorite Things Friday. 

It's been cold the last couple of days.  Not the bone chilling -28 F we had a couple of weeks ago, but the deep seated chill of a windy, rainy day.  The kind of weather that makes you want to keep a cup of something warm by the computer so you can heat up the insides.   I can only tolerate so much coffee before my system revolts.  So after the jolt into the waking world that first cup of coffee in the morning provides, I switch to tea.  Tea is soothing.  It can work wonders for an upset stomach and frazzled nerves(which have absolutely nothing to do with the deadlines coming up in the next few weeks). 

I love all kinds of teas.  

The kind you can find on the grocery shelves.

And the special blends you can buy only in a tea shop.

For my birthday last year, My guy and kiddo gave me the most perfect tea pot and cups. 

I love the dragon flies.  

That's it for my favorite thing this week.  I'm going to fix a cup of tea and mosey over to Shay's blog to check out more favorites.  You should too. 

15 Minute Challenge - Day 7 (2/23)

I think the sewing mojo is back!  Hung out for a hour and a half in the sewing room last night.  The key seems to be getting there.  If I can get there, then stuff happens.  Last night I finished sewing the binding to the front of a quilt. 

This quilt is big and heavy.  I don't usually have problems with bindings, but even though I was using the cutting table for support, this quilt was hard to keep lined up correctly.  The binding is on fairly straight, but it felt like I was wrestling a toddler.  I wanted it to go one way and it wanted to go another! 

Just 5 more days left in my 15 minute challenge.  Check in with me tomorrow to see if I can make this sewing streak last longer than a week. 

15 Minute Challenge - Day 6 (2/22)

Last night was a very easy evening.  That's good, all of three of us were tired from our late evening due to the basketball game on Monday.  I did some catching up on blog reading and replying to comments.  Not completely caught up, but getting there.  The computer got shut down a little after 8 and I managed about an hour and a half in the sewing room.  I finished cutting out block 12 of the Buck-a-Block project and sewed along all the lines on the Thangles, but didn't get the HSTs cut out.  In the process of sewing the Thangles, I also finished another block for the purple and yellow scrap quilt (a leaders and enders project). 

I also started sewing on the binding to another quilt.  It's been a while since I've finished a queen size quilt, they are so bulky!  That wrestling match ended the evening's sewing. 

Six more days in the month, so I'm halfway there.  I'm pretty pleased with the progress I've made so far.  I'm finding that the evenings I don't have something planned, a conscious decision has to be made that at a given time I'm heading up stairs.  It's just too easy to let the entire evening pass by spending time on the computer or with a book.  Not that either of those are bad things to do, it's just that I do want to finish more quilt projects this year.  I guess in the end it's about balancing my time and being conscious of what I'm spending it on. 

15 Minute Challenge - Day 5 (2/21)

We didn't get home from Kiddo's basketball game until 10:00 PM last night.  The girls won their first game of the season, so the parents had to deliver on the promise of ice cream after the game. I'm not sure who made the promise, but all the parents went along with it. 

Amazingly I did manage to get in 15 minutes in the sewing room.  I took advantage of the time Kiddo was in the shower and getting ready for bed.  I started cutting the Thangles and squares for block 12 of the Buck-A-Block project. 

I didn't get all the 3 inch squares cut for the block, but it was a quarter till 11 and more than time for bed.  It was easier to get upstairs for just a few minutes because I had identified something to work on the day before.  I need to remember that.

Well that's it for day 5. Nothing on the calender till this weekend.  So it should be easy to get in some time in the sewing room.  I'll just have to force myself to shut down the computer even though I'm really behind on replying to comments and reading everyone's blogs.  Seems I can't find the time to sew and be up on all the computer stuff too. 

Design Wall Monday - Feb 21st

It was a slower paced weekend at our house for a change.  We all needed to recharge a bit and got the chance yesterday.  I managed to eek out a solid 4 hours in my sewing room.  Part of that time was spent squaring up a quilt and making the binding.  I'll tackle sewing on the binding later this week.  There are two new blocks on the design wall.  Block 11 of the Buck-A-Block BOM is finished.  

Since block 9 of the Moose on the Porch Layer Cake Quilt Along is coming out tomorrow, block 8 needed to be finished.  

So day 4 of my self imposed challenge to spend 15 minutes in the sewing room the rest of the month was a success.  Tonight may be a challenge as Kiddo has a basketball game.  I have strips for block 12 of the Buck-A-Block BOM laid out, so maybe tonight I can get the squares and the Thangles cut out ready to be stitched.  

That's it for my design wall report this week.  Check out Judy's Patchwork Times to see other great projects.    

Stash Report and 15 Minute Challenge (Day 3) - Feb 20

My quilting mojo has deserted me this last week.   Wednesday night I realized that I hadn't visited my sewing room in almost a week.  Various reasons for that, but in general I've just been too tired from all the other "stuff" to make myself walk up the stairs to the sewing room.  Consequently, not much progress on my stash reduction efforts this week.   

Used this week:  0.09 yards
Added this week :  0 yards

Used year to date:  3.85 yards
Added year to date: 0 yards

Net Used for 2011: 3.85 yards

Fabric Budget:  10 yards for Jan to March
Bought/Budget:  0/10 yards

In order to reverse this "no sew" trend, I've challenged myself to spend 15 minutes in my sewing room every day till the end of the month.  I'm reporting my progress for the previous day every morning on my blog.  For some reason, having to put it out here for everyone to see makes me feel more accountable, so I'm more likely to follow through.  That has definitely been the case for my stash management efforts.  So here's my 15 Minute Challenge update for today. 

Day three was yesterday and I did make it up to the sewing room for about an hour last night. The HSTs for block 11 of the Buck-A-Block quilt got sewn, cut apart and pressed in the first 15 to 20 minutes. 

I also finished up another purple and yellow block from the leaders and enders project (that was my only fabric out this week). 

Check out Judy's Patchwork Times for other marvelous stash management stories.  Check in with me tomorrow to see if I found my 15 minutes of sewing time today.   

Foto Finish Saturday - Love

It's amazing how love can be warm, tender, passionate, and romantic.  And it can be silly and fun as well. 

These two have been partners in mayhem and mischief for a long time. 

To check out other expressions of love, click over to Cat Patches for more Foto Finishes. 

15 Minute Challenge - Day 2 (2/18)

Getting to my sewing room last night was a bit of a challenge.  We didn't get home from the Science Fair until almost 10:30 PM, which is really a good thing.  We were so late getting home because kiddo won a medal for her project so we stayed for the awards ceremony.  Way to go Kiddo! 

Before succumbing to the call of my bed, I did manage to spend 15 minutes in the sewing room.  The plan was to start stitching on the HSTs that had been cut and pinned on Thursday night.  But as I was pinning a row of rectangles to the purple and yellow quilt block that is my current leaders and enders project, I realized that the rectangles for the next block needed to be selected so there would be something to use as an "ender" to add on after stitching the HSTs.    

Selecting the fabrics took up the rest of the 15 minutes.  So no sewing, but one block is now pinned ready to go as the "leader" and the next block is laid out so I'll have the next set of leaders and enders for when the HSTs get stitched. 

I'm hoping to spend more than 15 minutes in my sewing room today.  But first I've got Kiddo's basketball game to watch and then I promised Kiddo we'd shop for her outfit for the next school dance.  Check in tomorrow to see if I was able to follow through. 

15 Minute Challenge - Day 1 (2/17)

Yesterday I challenged myself to spend 15 minutes in my sewing room every day until the end of February since I hadn't stepped a foot in it for over a week.  I did make it up to the sewing room last night, but just for 15 minutes right before bed (spent part of the evening writing this week's FTF post). 

But in that 15 minutes, I did manage to get the pieces cut for block number 11 of the Buck-A-Block project. 

Finding 15 minutes tonight may be a challenge.  District Science Fair is tonight and kiddo has a project entered.   It's going to be a long day.  Check in tomorrow to see if I managed to stay on track. 

Favorite Things Firday - Feb 18th

What a weird week.  Last Thursday the temperatures in Oklahoma reached record lows, -29 F (-34 C).  The high for this Thursday afternoon was 80 F (26 C).  Guess there is something to that old saying, "If you don't like the weather, wait an hour or two and it will change".  

On to more interesting topics then the weather, like Favorite Things Friday.  I've caught a bit of grief from my family that I don't blog more about them.  Especially on the weekly Favorite Thing Friday blogs.  I suppose it is my own fault, I do tell both my guy and kiddo that they are my top two favorite things of all time (Of course kiddo has to ask, "But which one of us is number one?")  To be honest, I didn't think they'd want me writing about the entertaining (embarrassing?) antics that go on in this household on a regular basis.  So in order to save face (and gain some peace), I'm going to share one of my favorite things about kiddo, her writing.  Feel free to jump to the end if you want to be spared the "proud mama" stuff that follows. 

Kiddo started her first book when she was 4 or 5.  It was called "Super Unicorn".  



Super Unicorn by Kiddo In Pieces


She couldn't really write at that point, but she carried around a stack of papers for several weeks and told us all about the exploits of Super Unicorn.  There have been a couple of other book efforts, one from 2nd or 3rd grade written by Kiddo and illustrated by her best friend, which was originally titled "The Adventures of Kiddo and Her Best Friend" (the names have been changed to protect the guilty).  

This is one of my favorite pieces.  Kiddo started swimming as part of the local team in 2009 and last spring started going to meets.   

Swim

by Kiddo In Pieces

Your breathing increases as you walk and stand in front of the block. Your mind goes different places trying to relax but it always goes back to what you are going to do.  The person in front of you finishes, you take in a deep breath hoping to ease that twist in the pit of your stomach.  Your hands grip the sides of the block tightly until a long whistle is blown.  You ease yourself onto the block slow enough to not slip but fast enough to position yourself before the moment. "Take your mark." a voice says. You grab the edge of the block barely holding on. The word "Go!" comes into your ears and you push off. For a moment of complete silence you feel as if you are flying hundreds of feet above the earth but quickly come back to reality.  Your fingers break the water's surface and the words  “Swim hard and don't stop”   come to mind.  And as the rest of your body follows you feel as if you belong to the water.

You'd never know all this goes through her head from watching her, she always looks so calm and cool before her events.   


Kiddo getting ready to swim

Another family favorite originated on the way home after the first day of school.   Kiddo was describing how her brain had shut down and was struggling to restart, complete with sound effects, which eventually morphed into this bit of visual literature. 



Brain Waves by Kiddo In Pieces

 
Thanks for letting me share one of my favorite things about kiddo. 

The "proud mama stuff" is over, so you are safe if you wanted to skip that part.   For more favorite things, check out Mrs P. over at Quilting in My Pyjamas. 

15 Minute Challenge

I seem to have lost my quilting mojo this week.  I've not been in my sewing room since last Thursday.  Between the swim meet last weekend and the end of the Science Fair Project frenzy, it's just been hard to motivate myself out of my recliner and up the stairs to the sewing room.  It's been easier to just cruse on the computer and read about the quilty accomplishments of everyone else in the quilting blog sphere.   As much as I enjoy that, it won't help me bust my stash, finish my UFOs or reduce my PIGS.  So, starting tonight, I'm going to spend at least 15 minutes in my sewing room every day for the rest of the month.  I'll report in each morning on my 15 minute session from the previous night. 

Thank you Mrs. P (reigning Quilting Queen of the World) for your inspiration. 

Design Wall Monday - February 14th

Happy Valentines Day!  Do you have big plans with your sweetie for tonight?  We have a date to help kiddo with her Science Fair project tonight after work, so no big fancy dinner for us.  We'll probably send kiddo off with a TV tray to the living room and we'll have dinner in the dining room by candle light.  It works for us.  

At the moment there is not much on the design wall.  No sewing this weekend due to kiddo's swim meet.  But since we had a snow day last week, I did finish adding the borders to the Seeing Star BOM. 

Not the best picture, the slant in my design wall makes the quilt look off, it is square.  I did buy a few blue fat quarters to make this quilt because my scrap palette did not have much of that color, but everything else came from left overs from other projects.  The borders are different from the original pattern (which you can find at Country Junk'tion). I really, really wanted a dark blue border, but I just didn't have enough of that fabric. In order to get the size I wanted with the scraps I had, the border had to be modified.  The skinny white border was added because the light and medium blue  border fabrics didn't look great butted up against each other.  The white adds some neutral space and makes a nice frame for the pieced border.  It really helps those two blues work together in the quilt. 

I like the final quilt.  Now I need to piece the back (which will also come from the stash) and get it ready to be sent off for quilting.   I have a quilt from last year that needs binding to tackle next,  then I can concentrate on the PhDs and UFOs that are on my goals for 2011.  

Check out other projects in progress over at Judy's Patchwork Times.  

Stash Report - February 13th

The temperatures were back in the 50's yesterday and the snow is melting.  It feels so good to be out of the deep freeze.  The snow did result in a day off work earlier in the week, which was spent sewing.  But that only makes up for the sewing I didn't get to do Saturday due to kiddo's swim meet.  Even so, a little more out this week:  

Used this week: 0.86 yards
Added this week:  0 yards

Used year to date:  3.76 yards
Added year to date: 0 yards

Net used for 2011:  3.76 yards

Fabric Budget:  10 yards for Jan to March
Bought/Budget:  0/10 yards

No fabric in, I've been able to resist temptation so far.  Most of the "out" this week was for the borders on the Seeing Star BOM.  I'll post a shot of the finished top on Monday's Design Wall.  Maybe I'll get the back cut out and pieced, so that should be some significant yardage out in the next week or so.  

How's your stash looking?  Pop over to Judy's Patchwork Times to check on the status of stash bashing around the globe.    

Foto Finish Saturday - Green

Barbara picked "green" as this weeks theme for Foto Finish Saturday.  After the winter weather we've had the last week, the green of summer seems far, far away.  The yards, the fields, the prairies as far as I can see are all covered with winter white.  It will be a bit before we see the green again.  So I picked this week's image to remind myself it has been and will be again.

Last summer on a lazy weekend we drove up to Independence, KS to visit Lillie's Classic Quilts.  Well, I wanted to go to the quilt shop, my guy and kiddo came along because they were bored.  After the quilt shop, we stopped in Riverside park to walk and let kiddo get the wiggles out before we got back into the car for the drive home.  Looking up through the trees, the textures revealed in the the sunshine and shadow lighting of the leaves just begged to be photographed.  It's a good memory to have in the depths of winter.

That's it for my Foto Finish.  See more over at Cat Patches. 

Favorite Things Friday - February 11th

Not quite Friday in my part of the world, but TGIF is just a few hours off.  We are supposed to get a heat wave tomorrow, temperatures should rise above freezing.  Our low this morning was -28 F (-33 C), which exceeded the state record low by a degree.  Reports are we received 18 inches of snow from this last storm that ended on Wednesday.  So it's been a crazy week here, with a total accumulation of close to 30 inches from this storm and the one last week.  Even for Oklahoma that's extreme!  So out of this crazy week, what's my favorite thing?  

The blue sky after the storm.

The stark beauty of the winter landscape.

The windswept grasses of the prairie dancing in a field of white.

The unexpected splash of color. 

Since I can't beat the snow (and the associated hassles), I decided to just appreciate the change of scenery. 

Slide over to Quilting in My Pyjamas to check out other cool favorites. 

Design Wall Monday - February 7th

How was your Super Bowl Sunday?  We are not football fans in this house, so the Super Bowl is pretty much a non event.  Even so, I feel compelled to offer condolences s to the Pittsburgh fans and congratulations to the Green Bay fans. 

It's Monday again.  Time for a look at what's on the design wall. 

Lot's of progress on the Buck-A-Block project.  Back in 2005, I signed up for a BOM at the quilt shop in TX.  I collected the kits, but didn't start making the blocks late last year.  Block 10 is cut out and partially assembled.  I'm still playing around with settings for these blocks. I'm leaning towards an on point layout.  The fabric in the dark blue squares is of blue bonnets. I have a larger scale blue bonnet print for the border.  I'm still trying to decide on the setting colors, all blue or add in some green?  Some of the proposed settings are posted here. 

The Seeing Star BOM is also progressing, though I didn't get any pictures of it this weekend.  I'm on the last round of borders, so if I'm diligent this week with my sewing time, I should finish that top. 

That's it for Design Wall Monday.  Run over to Judy's Patchwork Times to check out all the other lovelies posted this week. 

Stash Report - Febrauary 6th

The snow day we had this week meant a bit more time in the sewing room.  But Saturday afternoon was spent in Tulsa, dropping off my messed up sewing machine and having lunch.  We needed to get out, we've pretty much been house (or office) bound this week due to the snow.  Even so, my goal to get in the sewing room every evening is helping to get the amount going out up a bit. 

Used this week: 0.88 yards
Added this week: 0 yards

Used year to date:  2.9 yards
Added year to date:  0 yards

Net Used for 2011: 2.9 yards

Fabric Budget:  10 yards for Jan to March
Bought/Budget: 0/10 yards

Still nothing added, in spite of the sale at the quilt shop.  I resisted that temptation.  I decided to get a better handle on what is in the sewing room closest before making any stash additions.  I need to put shelves in the closet and get my fabric out the plastic drawer units so it's visible at a glance.  Right now, I really can't see what I have stuffed in all those drawers. 

That's it for this week.  Click over to Judy's to see who's busting and who's enhancing this week. 

Foto Finish Saturday - February 5th

It's Saturday!  No basketball games, no swim meets.  There is a school fund raiser tonight, but nothing else on the calendar!  It snowed a few inches last night.  And since the roads are still a bit treacherous, we're probably not going anywhere until we have to.  I'm so ready for a weekend at home!  Once I deal with some laundry, I should be able to spend some quality time in my sewing room. 

On to today's topic:  Foto Finish Saturday - Wiggles.  I had a hard time coming up with something for today.  Then I remembered our trip to the Painted Desert in Arizona and pulled this image out of the file. 

These petroglyphs are embossed on the sand stone monoliths known as The Newspaper.  As I was editing this picture for posting, I realized that the two squares reminded me of quilt blocks.  Not 9 patch, more like a 16 patch.  Maybe the artist was working out a design for a woven rug or blanket? 

Hop over to Cat Patch's to check out other wiggles and squiggles. 

Favorite Things Friday - February 4th

TGIF!!!!  We've had about 16 inches of snow this week.  The lows have been below 0, the thermometer in the car said -11 F on the way to work yesterday.   The highs have been below freezing.  We're supposed to get more snow today.  Thankfully the calender for this weekend is almost empty.  We won't have to get out much.  So I can stay home in my warm sewing room, work on a few projects and do one of my favorite things, watch movies. 

Well, I'm not sure I so much watch as I listen when I'm sewing.  I do like new movies, but there are a few in my collection that are like old friends.  If I can't find anything new I want to watch, one of these is likely to go into the DVD drive on the telly.

 

I think these two are it in terms of musicals in my collection, but I saw these when I was in elementary school and just loved them.  I still love them.  I do have a couple of more modern romantic comedies in the favorites list.

                

The critics didn't like this version of Sabrina, but I'm a sucker for pretty much any Harrison Ford movie.  Then there's the ultimate in historical romance, Jane Austin.

 

                            

                  


Hard to go wrong with Jane Austin in the DVD player.  My absolute favorite is the A&E version of Pride and Prejudice. 

Now for something completely different:

              

 


Science fiction movies just for the fun of it, when romantic is just too sedate.  You can add the first 3 Star Wars movies and the Harrison Ford Indiana Jones movies to the list as well.  Those aren't actually my movies, I have to kype them from my guy's collection if I want to watch them. 

That's it for my FTF post this week.  For those still digging out from this week's winter storm in the US, be careful out there.  For those dealing with the aftermath of Typhoon Yasi, my thoughts and prayers are with you.

Check out all the other fabulous favorite things over at Quilting in My Pyjamas. 

Where Do PIGS and UFOs Come From?

We survived the storm of 2011.  Not sure we can get out of the house due to all the drifts in front of the doors, but we are warm and dry.  Despite the snow and the high winds, we've didn't loose power, though it did flicker a few times yesterday.  No school today, work is opening at 11:00 AM and closing at 4:00 PM.  We have the option to work from home with supervisor approval.  I'm going to check on that option, my office will be an ice box in this cold (it's all windows).  I'd get more done from home! 



http://jillquilts.blogspot.com/2011/01/year-of-pigs.html

 
Moving on to today's topic, PIGS and UFOs.  Jill over at Ramblings of a Fabric and Yarn Obsessor has challenged us to share why projects became UFOs and how enticing pattern/fabric combos morphed into PIGS. So how is a UFO or a PIGS created in my sewing room?  

The number one activity that results in the creation of UFOs in my sewing room is taking quilting classes.  When I first started quilting, I was lucky enough to live in a town with a quilt shop that offered great classes.  And I took a lot of them.  I wouldn't finish one class project before I started a new class project.  Before I knew it, I had 4 or 5 projects that I'd started but didn't have time to finish.  Maybe it's a good thing I moved, or my UFO list would be a lot longer! 




http://moosequilts.blogspot.com/2010/09/layer-cake-quilt-along-2010.html

The other UFO generator is Block of the Month programs.  I love BOMs and typically do a really good job of keeping up with the monthly assignments, but once the program is over I have to decide what to do with the blocks.  Designing a final setting that I really like can take me a year or more. 

Most of my PIGS came about because I was in the middle of other projects that I wanted to finish before I started on that bundle of new fabric.  Here and there I've had projects with definite due dates, so those got started and completed before I dug into my pile of PIGS for the next new project. 

That's where my UFOs and PIGS come from.  With the move to OK in 2006, I don't have the opportunity to take classes like I did, so my UFO list is gradually shrinking.  Since I've been on a "No New Fabric" binge since last October, I've not accumulated any new PIGS. 

How about you?   Do you know where your UFOs and PIGS come from?   Jump over to Jill's and check out other original stories about where UFOs come from. 

Snowy Accomplishments

This is what it looks like outside my dining room window.

The snow is still coming down, consequently the office is closed.  I'll need to fire up the computer to take care of some project work at some point today.  Just like kiddo will need to work on her science fair project. 

Judy over at Patchwork Times posted what her January accomplishments were.  It got me thinking about what I've gotten done so far this year.  So far I've done a good job of matching my quilting efforts to my goals. 

For January:

Quilt Finishes:    Planet Patchwork Mystery Quilt is done
                           (here)

UFO Progress:    Made 7 blocks of the purple/yellow quilt
                           (here)

New quilts:         Determined finial design for Asian quilt
                           Made 3 blocks for the Layer Cake QA

PIGS:                 Pigs located and cataloged
                           Made 2 blocks of the Buck-a-Block quilt

Stash
Management:    No fabric in
                          2.15 yards out

So good progress for one month into the new year.  February is a short month, so it's going to be hard to do as well as January. 

How are you doing on your 2011 goals?