Monday, October 28, 2024

Following the Quilt Plan

The 2 year anniversary of my retirement was last Friday.  Has it really been that long?  I've enjoyed most of it, I've had some health challenges over that time that made me very glad I wasn't working.  But some days I do miss the fun technical stuff from the job, but most definitely don't miss the politics.  Looking back, last year really was about getting my back issues under control and just figuring out how to navigate not going to an outside job every day. This year has really been about navigating my sewing room.  I've been making a quilt plan for 8 years.  This is the first year I've made progress on all the projects on the plan.  So it's been a good year on that front.  

There were three projects on the plan that I hadn't touched at the beginning of October.  One of those was String Lights (Meadow Mist Designs). 
  


 
The pattern as written didn't have borders, but Grad Girl asked if I had any quilts close to finished that she could gift to the post doc who works in their group.  He's been a great mentor to Grad Girl. He's leaving at the end of December. She liked this one, but thought it needed a frame, plus it needed to be a bit bigger, so I added borders. We both liked it better with the addition of the borders. 

The backing is pieced and prepped for quilting.  




I'm pulling my backings from stash and this teal polka dot works well with the colors in the top. I'm in the process of de-threading and pressing the top, about half way done with that. String Lights should go out to Trudy for quilting sometime this week.  

Chocolate Marshmallows (Seabreeze Quilts) is another project from the quilt plan with visible progress.  




That sashing is slow going as it has so many strips, but I really like how it's going together.  Chocolate Marshmallows was on my first quilt plan back in 2016.  It's definitely time it was moved along!  

The last project for my 2024 quilt plan that saw some progress was Squared Away (So Scrappy).  This project was on my 2019 quilt plan as needing assembly. It only took 5 years to figure out the setting.





The sashing and border strips were cut before our girl's weekend. I was overly optimistic on how much sewing would happen during that trip. But it is at least kitted up ready to start on once Chocolate Marshmallows is assembled. 

Linking up with Design Wall Monday and Patchwork & Quilts.  

9 comments:

Julie in GA said...

It's hard to believe that it is already 2 years since you retired! You have definitely figured out a system that works well to move your projects forward. I love the borders you added to String Lights!

Sara said...

Happy retirement anniversary! It flies by quickly doesn't it? I still miss some coworkers, and most of the actual work. But do NOT miss a couple of Toxic former coworkers or the drama they created. The String of Lights quilt is beautiful, and the framing was exactly what it needed.

Nann said...

You're making good progress on that plan. The blue quilt will be ideal for the adviser (hard to make quilts for men that aren't girly).

LIttle Penguin Quilts said...

Wow - two years of retirement already! Time flies when you're having fun! The borders look great on the String Lights top, and that backing looks perfect for it, too. I'm looking forward to seeing how you set the Squared Away blocks!

Frédérique - Quilting Patchwork Appliqué said...

Happy retirement anniversary, and well done with your perfect sewing year! These projects are beautiful, I love the borders too on Strings Lights, and the layout leaves plenty of negative space to have fun while quilting it. Have fun playing with sashings, the black ones are going to be striking with these bright Squared Away blocks. Thank you for sharing!

seabreezequilts said...

I can't believe it has been 2 years since you retired. I think it is now 3 years since my hubby retired and that has just flown. He doesn't miss anything about work (apart from the wage).

Linda said...

String Lights is beautiful, and what a nice gift for Grad Girl's mentor. I do love the borders.
Happy retirement-versary! I retired from admin work in 2007 and started my own catering company, which I did until 2014. It was my best job ever! :)

Barbara said...

String Lights is beautiful. You’re really moving things along.

Kathy S. said...

String Lights definitely looks beautiful with the borders you picked. Nice job!