February One Monthly Goal: Down to the Wire

It's the last day of February.  The last day to make any progress on my One Monthly Goal. 

This month ended up having a lot of work stuff that bled into the weekends and evenings.  Add in that it's already a short month and I was not at all sure my goal was going to be achieved. But the first half of the goal was completed on Sunday; Magnolia Mystery made it to the finished flimsy stage.

Magnolia Mystery by Cheryl Brickey of
Meadow Mist Designs

   Then tonight, the other half was completed. I was able to piece a back out of the left over background fabric. The last seam was stitched just a few minutes ago.  

 Magnolia Mystery by Cheryl Brickey of
Meadow Mist Designs

Now to get it all packaged up to send out for quilting.  So a flimsy and a back means that February's goal is accomplished.  Maybe not quite at the wire as there are a few hours left to go before midnight, but that's close enough.  

Here's how the other stitching plans worked out for February:

2.  Bind Geek Chic - Label is made, have started trimming off the extra batting.
3.  2018 RSC Squared Away sampler blocks in purple - Done 
4.  2017 RSC Fan blocks - finish the last two - Done
5.  Sawtooth star blocks in purple - make 5 - Done 
6.  On Ringo Lake - leaders and enders project - in progress

Extra credit - finished 2 blue sawtooth star blocks to complete the January count.  

So in spite of the extra homework, it was a good month for playing catch up.  So now (well in morning, it's bed time) I need to decide on what is the OMG for March and what else goes on the priority list.  

Linking up with Elm Street Quilts for the February One Monthly Goal end of month linky party.  

One Monthly Goal: February 2018

A new month starts today, which means it's time to look at the priority list for the sewing room and to decide on what's the February One Monthly Goal.  

Entries for the Magnolia Mystery Parade over at Meadow Mist Designs are due on February 15th.  All my block pieces are made, but I need to sew all those pieces into blocks and then get them into a finished flimsy before the 15th.  

 Magnolia Mystery by Cheryl Brickey of
Meadow Mist Designs

The pieces are all laid out on the design wall ready for assembly.  What looks black in the photo is really a very deep magenta color.  I think a finished flimsy is doable by the 15th.  Since my goal is to cut the number of projects on the UFO list in half, this needs to be finished.  So the February OMG is to not only get this to finished flimsy stage, it's also to piece a back and get it ready to go out for quilting.  

Since I can't seem to work on just one thing, writing up a priority list helps me keep those multiple projects moving. Here's this month's list:

1.  Magnolia Mystery, finish flimsy, piece back, prep for quilting
2.  Bind Geek Chic
3.  2018 RSC Squared Away sampler blocks in purple
4.  2017 RSC Fan blocks - finish the last two
5.  Sawtooth Star blocks in purple - make 5
6.  On Ringo Lake - leaders and enders project

My priority list is down to 6 items from the 7 on the January list.  I'd like to get it down to just 4 items each month.  At least I'm going in the right direction.  

Good luck on your goals for February.  Linking up over at Elm Street Quilts for the February One Monthly Goal.   

2018 UFO Challenge: The Quilts and the Plan

In 2017 my plan wasn't so much about finishing UFOs as it was about finishing quilts that had deadlines.  Namely the graduation quilts that had to be done by May.  All three of the graduation quilts got done, as well as four other quilts that came off or were kept off the UFO list by being finished.  So seven finishes all together, that ties my best ever total in a year.

In 2017, I learned that setting priorities is key to moving things off the list. Participating in the the One Monthly Goal over at Elm Street Quilts will help set the priority each month.  Linking up with American Patchwork and Quilting's 2018 UFO Challenge and with Patchwork Time's 2018 UFO Challenge will provide some accountability.  Hopefully all of this leads to finishes in 2018.  

There is one rule for the UFO challenges that I've decided not to follow.  I won't be selecting the UFO by following the monthly drawing. Some of these projects have deadlines, so they'll need to be first in line no matter what numbers get drawn.  

January:   Geek Chic (aka Scientist in Training Quilt)
     Status:  Assembling quilt (no photo as the SIT follows my blog)
     Due Date:  January 14, 2018

February:  Magnolia Mystery Quilt
     Status:  Piecing blocks
     Due Date:  Finished Flimsy by February 15, 2018

  Magnolia Mystery by Cheryl Brickey of
Meadow Mist Designs

March:  Vintage Dresses
     Status:  Framing blocks to standard size
     Due date:  May 2018 (graduation quilt)

 Vintage Dresses blocks by Charise Randell, Setting by Kate

April:  En Provence, Bonnie Hunter 2016 Mystery
     Status:  Needs backing pieced

 En Provence, A Bonnie Hunter Mystery (2016)

May:  Christmas Angels
     Status:  Piecing Blocks
     Due Date:  December 2018

 Christmas Angels  Pattern by Kate

June:  Red, White and Blue Stars
     Status:  Piecing Blocks

  Red, White and Blue Stars, Setting by Kate

July:  Inverted Stars
     Status:  Piecing border blocks

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

August:  Twinkle Star Quilt
     Status:  Piecing blocks

Twinkle Stars
Tutorial by Andrea Feldbush of Soscrappy

September:  On Ringo Lake, Bonnie Hunter's 2017 Mystery
     Status: Piecing blocks
     Due Date:  November 22, 2018 

On Ringo Lake, Bonnie Hunter 2017 Mystery Quilt

October:   Fans (2017 RSC Project)
     Status:  Piecing blocks

November:  Scrappy Butterflies
     Status:  Needs setting plan

Scrappy Butterflies
Block is available in EQ 7 Block Library

December:  Neutral Gems
     Status:  Piecing Blocks

  Neutral Gems Pattern is "Gems" by Donna Lynn Thomas
found in the book Patchwork Palette

So that's the UFO list for 2018.  If I finish one project early, I'll just move on to the next.  Even if I don't get all of these to the finish line, I'm hoping to advance each to at least the next step.  Hopefully that will mean more finishes in 2019.