November's last stash report and a NewFO

It's been a busy week.  Lots of cooking, visiting, driving, and even a bit of stitching went on at various times.  The weather was a little chilly to start off the holiday week, but it has been absolutely gorgeous the last couple of days. We drove out to the family farm on Friday and walked pretty much the whole afternoon since it was so nice.  I'm always surprised by the bright pops of color you can find during the winter if you look for them. 

Wild Rose Hips

Friday was also the start of the new Bonnie Hunter mystery.  I wasn't able to get back into the sewing room until last night and then there was only an hour or so before bed time.  I had to press out the pink fabric before cutting any strips, so only 6 HSTs got finished.

Grand Illusion Mystery Quilt 
a sew along by Bonnie Hunter

I'll have time in the sewing room this afternoon to make some more progress on the HSTs.  Hopefully I'll get a few of the 4-patch blocks made before before bed time tonight.  Grand Illusion is my NewFO for November. Nothing like getting a project in just under the wire.  

I haven't started counting the fabric used for Grand Illusion yet, not that it would amount to much.  However, I did manage to finish up a few blocks for my Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects, so there is a bit of stash going out this week.  

Used last week:  0.64 yards
Used in November:  3.67 yards
Used year to date:  32.21 yards

I need to use about 8 yards of fabrics in the next 31 days to make my revised goal of using 40 yards.  I'd better stay on track with my 15 minutes of stitching time each day or I don't have a chance of making it.  

You can see other NewFOs over at Cat Patches and more stash reports over at Patchwork Times.  Happy stitching!   

NewFO Challenge - Spooky Version

The scariest thing going on here is the prospect of 5 teenage girls watching horror movies into the wee hours.  Drama Teen and her friends are having a sleep over here tonight.  I'm sure it will be a chillin' time, though resting in peace is probably not a likely outcome.  

Another scream worthy happening is that I have a NewFO to report on, the first since last March.   The focus this year has been on getting UFOs off the list since it has grown to include twenty one projects.  But I couldn't resist this one.  Amanda over at Sea Breeze Quilts is teaching a class of new quilters and is sharing the sampler pattern, Chocolate Marshmallows, she's using for the class.  Her suggested colors were brown and pink.  The blocks are available for free download for 30 days after they are posted, after that they are available for purchase them from Amanda's Etsy store.  

I've always wanted to make a brown and pink quilt.  Plus the end of this year is all about using up the stash.  There are a few well aged pinks and browns in the stash, so it just seemed to make sense to make this sampler.  Four blocks have been posted so far, but I've only finished the first two.  

Blocks 3 and 4 are cut out and are in various states of assembly.  I'm off work today, so hopefully there will be some time in the sewing room this afternoon so I can finish those off.  

Have a very happy Halloween. I'm linking up with the cat-alyzing hostess of the NewFO challenge, Cat Patches.  Check out the terrifying beauty of all the new projects posted there.  

Catching Up

It's been a very long week.  Other than checking email via the I-phone, there's been no contact with the Internet since last Saturday.  So this weekend there will be a lot of blogs to catch up with as well as email responses to write.  Why no Internet the last week?  Let's just say I needed a break.  There was a point last Saturday where I hit overload.  Too much work, too much running around; just too much stuff!  Writing the blog became something that I "had" to do on top of everything else, not something I "wanted" to do.  So I took a vacation from the computer and the sewing room this week.  I spent the evenings with my family or reading some fun and frivolous books.  

Now that I've recovered from the overload, there's March's NewFO to show off.  

Plus fess up to my less than steller performance on March's Something Old/Something New goals. 

My Something Old goal for March was to get Jigsaw to a finished flimsy stage. 

Jigsaw didn't that far, but it did progress.  Just two more rows to complete.  Hopefully I can get at least that much done this month.  Drama Teen hasn't decided on borders yet, so I'm not sure I can get those added this month.  Jigsaw was my NewFO for October of 2013.  

My Something New/NewFO  goal for March was to not start something new.  I started 12 NewFOs last year and felt that a few finishes were needed before I started something new. But then I saw Kevin the Quilters QOV block drive.    

All Kevin asked for were 5 blocks of a very simple pattern.  Having just finished Mon Ami, I had some nice red and blue fabrics that would fit in with his fabric guidelines that just begged to be made into QOV blocks. 

So even though I had said no NewFO this month, how could I pass up the opportunity to use up some fabric scraps, make some fun blocks that I didn't have to make into a quilt, plus contribute to a really great cause.  If there is a reason to do something you said you weren't, I think that last one is a really good one.  

So though I didn't meet my March goals, it wasn't a bad month.  Since Jigsaw isn't done, it will be my Something Old for April.  At this point I'm not planning to start something new.  But maybe another block drive will pop up and inspire me.  One never knows. 

NewFO - February 2014

February definitely flew by, it's hard to believe that the first of March is tomorrow.  I do most of my stitching during the weekends, but those were pretty full this month with things like Science Fair and volleyball tournaments.  It's hard to start a new project during the week, so I wasn't sure there would be a new project to post over at Cat Patches NewFO linky party.

The planned NewFO was supposed to be this Tonga Atlantis Kit using a pattern by Heidi Pridemore.  

But suddenly the pattern just didn't look as appealing to me as it did in July. I still love the fabrics, so a session with EQ is needed to see if an alternative develops.  

With the Tonga Atlantis project off the list, at least for now, plans for a February NewFO were pretty much off.  Then I found time one evening to reduce the stack of quilting magazines sitting by the recliner and this pretty in the December Issue of Patchwork and Quilting caught my eye.  

Poinsettias Allure designed by Judy Blok
from the December 2013 issue of American Patchwork and Quilting

It set the wheels to turning.  There are a few pieces of Hollywood and Vine by Moda in the stash that I take out and pet occasionally  but have never found just the right project to use them in.  So after a few hours playing around in EQ, I think they've found a home. 

This pattern uses templates, something I'm not very good at.  I was going to redraft the instructions, but there is just enough fabric to make the quilt according to the instructions.  So I'm going to learn how to sew with templates on this one.  Since the decision to make the quilt came so late in the month, there's not much progress to report.  I did get some of the templates made and started cutting pieces from one of the fabrics.  

Poinsettias brings the number of  projects on my WIP/UFO list to 21. As much as I enjoy starting new projects, it's time to whittle that list back down to around the 10 to 15 level.  So there probably won't be a NewFO for March.  I plan to concentrate on finishing up a few of the NewFOs that were stared in 2012 and 2013.   

Check out Cat Patches to see all the other newbie projects for February.  

NewFO Inspiration

Only three more evenings in February and I've not yet started this month's NewFO.  The plan had been to start the Tonga Atlantis kit that came home with me from last year's Montana vacation.

I love the fabrics, but after spending a few nights looking at the pattern up on the design wall, decided I don't love it.  The decision there is to see what I can come up with on my own for these fabrics.  So that won't be this month's NewFO.  I have others on the list that could be bumped up but something happened a couple of weeks ago that put me on another path.  

I regularly go through my stack of quilt magazines, pull out the patterns I want and then recycle what's left.  I came across the December 2013 issue of American Patchwork & Quilting during my last clean up day.     

The cover quilt captured my attention.  Isn't it gorgeous?  The pattern is Poinsettia Allure designed by Judy Blok.  In the stash is a collection of Hollywood and Vine by Three Sisters for Moda, plus some yardage of Paris Flea Market also by Three Sisters.  

I have no idea how old these lines are, but I'm pretty sure these were purchased when I lived in Texas, so that's at least 8 years ago. At this point you can probably see where I'm going.  Putting the pattern and the fabric together in EQ, I came up with this.

Looks like some of my oldest stash fabrics have found a home.  I'm not sure I like the dark border, but I can sort that out once all the blocks are made.  I can't wait to get home tonight and start making the blocks for this one. 

NewFO - January 2014

The first month of 2014 comes to a close today.  It was a fast and furious month around here.  I'm hoping that February progresses at a more sedate pace.  

Since it is the last day of the month, it's time to link up with Cat Patches and show off any NewFOs that got started this month.

So far this month seems to be the month of the scraps.  I finished the first block of my 2014 Rainbow Scrap Challenge project. 

Inverted Star
designed by Jessica Boschem of Common Threads  (available from Craftsy as a free download) 

I was having so much fun with my blue scraps that starting the Rainbow Scrap Challenge Sampler project seemed like a really good idea.  

Rainbow Scrap Challenge Sampler
a quilt along by Angela of SoScrappy

I've got the first 5 blocks completed and number 6 is lying by the sewing machine. It's rare for me to start more than one project a month, usually there just isn't time. But all those blue scraps were out of the drawers and sorted in piles on the floor.  They were just begging to be used in something.   

That's the new stuff going on in the sewing room for this month.  I haven't decided yet if there will be a NewFO started in February. Most likely there will be, it's just too much fun to start new stuff.   

Celebrate the Past, Anticipate the Future

A lofty blog title isn't it?  Unfortunately I don't think my 2013 accomplishments and 2014 goals really live up to it, but you should start off the new year in the most positive light possible.  That's one of my non-quilt related personal goals this year, be more inclined to see that the glass as half full rather than half empty as my family tells me I'm most likely to do.  So I will celebrate my 2013 accomplishments and look forward to doing even better in 2014 You'll see when you get there that I well may be building 2014 on a house of cards.  (Well darn it, that half full glass stuff is going to be harder to pull off than I thought!) 

For 2013 there were just 3 major goals

• Finish 10 quilts
• Start 8 quilts 
• Manage the stash

I finished five quilts in 2013.  

Two of the five finishes were actually on my "to be finished" list.  There were 8 other quilts on that list that didn't get done.  But the five finishes this year are definitely better than just the three finishes in 2012.  Now that I have momentum on my side, 2014 will be even better.  

Being a faithful follower of Cat Patches' 2013 NewFO Challenge, I started 12 quilts this year.

That's four more quilts than I had planned to start this year, which is also four more than were started in 2012.  I stuck pretty close to my list for 2013, only one quilt on the list wasn't started.  I finished two of the new starts this year, while none of the 2012 NewFOs got finished in 2012.  So even more momentum for 2014. 

Applying the glass half full stance to the Stash Management goals is a bit hard, I didn't meet a single goal.  But I did use more stash in 2013 than I ever have before, so that's definitely a bright spot.  I didn't buy as much fabric as I did in 2012, so there is definite momentum moving into 2014 on that front as well.    

The 2014 goals look a lot like that 2013 goals:

• Finish 10 quilts (5 UFO's and 5 of the 2013 NewFOs)
• Start 8 quilts as part of the 2014 NewFO Challenge (list is here)
• Stash Management

• Use 75 yards
• Buy less than I use
• Organize what I have

 Starting the 8 quilts will be the easiest goal to meet.  Finishing 10 quilts would be a personal best, the most I've ever finished in a single year is 7.  But I'm hopeful, one quilt just needs the binding added, another is pieced and just needs a back, one other has all the blocks made, it just needs to be set.  I'm joining Lynn's "Something Old, Something New" challenge for 2014.  I'm not too sure about the something new part of the challenge, but I am going to use the something old part of the challenge to keep me motivated to tackle those UFOs. 

I'm linking up to Confessions of a Fabric Addict's Goal's for 2014 linky party.  Stop by and wish everyone a successful 2014.  

2014 NewFO Challenge - Next Year's Project List

I'm still playing catch up after the lap top crash, so I'm a bit late in coming up with my list for the 2014 NewFO Challenge over at Cat Patches.  

It's been a fun challenge the last two years, so how can I not sign up for 2014?  It has been a great way to get a few PIGS out of the grocery sacks and onto the design wall.  Here's my list for 2014 (in no particular order)

1.  Baby Quilt using bandanna fabric.  No pattern picked for this one yet.  

2.  Fall Frolic from 40 Fabulous Quick Cut Quilts by Evelyn Sloppy uzing Moda's Midwinter Reds.

  
3.  Rosettes by Fig Tree Co. using Moda's Nature's Basket.

4.  Walk in the City by Elisa Wilson using April's Garden

5.  Tonga Atlantis kit by Heidi Pridemore

6.  Inverted Star by Jessica Boschem for the 2014 Rainbow Scrap Challenge

Six is a good number to start with.  For 2013, I started 12 quilts, though that had not been my intention.  I've finished 5 quilts this year, so the UFO list grew slightly, but not too badly.  What I found in 2012 is that the more quilts started, the more quilts get finished.  I tried finishing a project before starting a new one and didn't get very many done that way.  For some reason, I do better working on a number of projects all at once.  

Hope you can play along.  Check out all the other cool projects linked up over at Cat Patches.