Weekend Stitching - Mysteries of Christmas Past

Stitching time was pretty much nonexistent this last week.  Between playing catch up on special projects at work, Christmas shopping and wrapping presents, my stitching time has been pretty limited.  I'm using a single fabric for Good Fortune's Clue 4, so not much to show off there.  The plan is to find out where clue 4 fits in and see how my color choice of black works with the other pieces.  If it doesn't work, I can change it out.  So for now, I'm not going to cut those rectangles.  

So while there is no progress to show on Good Fortune, it's been a while since I posted about the current leader and ender project. 

On Ringo Lake, Bonnie Hunter 2017 Mystery Quilt

I'm up to 18 blocks for On Ringo Lake, last year's mystery.  I need 32 blocks for an on point setting and 35 for a straight setting.  So I'm close to half way.  There is a growing stack of block parts over at the sewing machine, so there should be some more blocks going up on the wall soon.  Hopefully this one will be ready to assemble when I finish all the block parts for Good Fortune.  

Good Fortune is my sixth Bonnie Hunter Mystery.  Celtic Solstice from 2013 is the only other one that I've started, but not finished.  

Celtic Solstice the 2013 Bonnie Hunter Mystery

This was my first Bonnie Hunter mystery.  I've since learned to keep up with the blocks as a leader and ender project through the next year.  I've finished all the other mysteries that way.  

The 2014 mystery was Grand Illusion.

 Grand Illusion, A Bonnie Hunter Mystery (2014)

This is probably my least favorite of the Bonnie Hunter quilts that I've made.  Next was Allietare in 2015, my favorite finished mystery quilt so far. 

Allietare, The 2015 Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt

Allietare was donated to the Quilts of Valor program, so I'm sure it found a good home.  

My next favorite BH mystery was En Provence from 2016. 

En Provence, A Bonnie Hunter Mystery (2016)

En Provence went to live with my niece and she loves it.  

My holiday vacation starts Thursday afternoon, so I'm looking forward to clue 5 of Good Fortune.  Hopefully we'll start assembling the blocks. 

Linking up with the regular Monday show and tell linky parties.

Monday Making
Monday Design Wall  

2018 Ambitions: Uneven Progress, The Third Quarter Summary

Way back in December of 2017, I participated with Quilting Jetgirl's 2018 Planning Party by putting together a set of quilting ambitions for the year.  Now that third quarter is over it's time to assess how things have gone so far this year.  

Ambition #1: Shorten the UFO List

If you compare the above chart to the one I posted on the mid-year update, I've gone down by one.  So there's been progress, just not a lot of it.  I'm doing a good job of finishing my newer projects, but not so hot at finishing off my older projects.  I've been pulling out a new UFO a month to work on and there's been a lot of progress on each, but I've just not managed to get many to the completed quilt stage. 

Ambition #2:  Participate in select quilt along/mysteries

 Squared Away Sampler
designed by Mari (The Academic Quilter) and Angela (Soscrappy)
The 2018 Rainbow Scrap Challenge Project

            
I'm actually up to date on this year's Rainbow Scrap Project, Squared Away.  All but October's blocks are done, I just don't have an updated picture yet. 

I had planned to participate in the Meadow Mist Design's Plus Sign Sampler Quilt Along, but the sampler just didn't appeal to me.  So instead, I signed up for the Halloween Mystery quilt along at my local quilt shop.  

 Halloween Mystery
designed by Carrie Randall (Quilter's Hideaway)

The Halloween mystery was such fun, that I've signed up for the Christmas mystery as well.  That one isn't on my list, but it uses up stash (that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it).  I'm also planning to do Bonnie Hunter's annual mystery quilt that should kick off at the end of October with the fabric requirements.  

Ambition #3:  Find 15 minutes to stitch each day.

      Success rate = 93.95%

This ambition is on track.  I'm hoping to end the year at 90% or better. 

Ambition #4: Stash Management
     Purchase less than 5 yards per quarter - nope didn't happen
     Organize the stash - a little progress
     Use only stash fabrics for any new projects - on track

Ambition #5:  Blog once a week
      121 blog posts for 40 weeks = 3/week

So I'm on track here. 

So everything is on track except for finishing quilts and stash management.  Areas to work on for 2019. 

Here's the project progress since midyear:

February Project: Magnolia Mystery - Done

 

April Project: En Provence - Done

 




June Project - Red, White and Blue Stars (blocks finished)

 

July Project - Inverted Stars (border blocks finished)

 


August Project - Twinkle Star Quilt (blocks finished)

 

September Project - On Ringo Lake (made more blocks)

 


So there were two finishes last quarter, plus a lot of progress.  So it's all good.  Hopefully there will be at least two finishes for the last quarter.  I have a graduation quilt to finish before Christmas!  

Good luck with your ambitions for the fourth quarter.  It's always a busy time of year.  

2018 Finish Along - Third Quarter Projects

Half way through the year and I'm not even close to having six finishes.  Getting the UFO list trimmed down to at least half was the plan for 2018.  So hopefully linking up with the 2018 finish along for the third time this year will be the charm and there will be a flurry of finishes before October. 

So what's on the list for third quarter, pretty much most of the list from first and second quarter, plus a couple of new additions.  Might as well be ambitious right?  

1.  En Provence (from the first quarter list)

 En Provence, A Bonnie Hunter Mystery (2016)

I was stitching on the binding for En Provence at the end of second quarter and just wasn't able to get it completely finished before June 30th.  So this quilt is a definite finish for third quarter. 

2. Magnolia Mystery (from the first quarter list)

Magnolia Mystery by Cheryl Brickey of
Meadow Mist Designs

This project is back from being quilted and needs to be trimmed and bound.  So this one is definitely going to be a finish this quarter. 

3.  Vintage Dresses (from the first quarter list)

 Vintage Dresses by Charise Randell

This was supposed to be a high school graduation present for a niece going into fashion design.  The plan now is to finish it in time for Christmas.  It needs borders and a backing before it can go out for quilting.  Adding borders and making a backing always takes longer than I think it will. So we'll see if it actually gets done 3rd quarter.   

4. Christmas Angels (from the second quarter list)

Christmas Angels Pattern by Kate

Another quilt that needs the borders, backing and prepping for quilting.  It's another Christmas present. I'm not sure this one will actually get done, though I'm hoping to at least have it out for quilting by the end of the quarter. 

5.  Inverted Star (new for third quarter)

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

This is a college graduation quilt for one of the Scientist in Training's friends.  She graduates in December, so I'm hoping to move it to finished. Being honest, this one will likely make it to the finished flimsy stage by the end of the quarter. I doubt it makes it to finished quilt.  But I'm adding it in so it stays on my priority list for the quarter. 

6. Twinkle Star (new for third quarter)

 Twinkle Stars Tutorial by Andrea Feldbush of Soscrappy

Another college graduation quilt for one of the SITs friends.  But she doesn't graduate till May. Still it would be nice to have this one finished well in advance for a change.  I'll be happy if it's ready to go out for quilting by the end of the quarter.  Again it's here so it stays on the priority list for the year.  

That's a pretty ambitious list isn't it?  The first two on the list are pretty easy finishes, so that really only leaves 4 quilts that are going to take some effort to move to finished.  If I can finish another 2, to make for a total of 4 for the quarter, I'll be pretty happy.  

Linking up with She Can Quilt for the 2018 Quilt Along Third Quarter Dreaming of Finishes List.  

Finally a Finish!

I'm not looking forward to a full week of work.  It was so nice to have a few days off over the 4th of July holiday.  We visited the family, spent some time with the SIT and I did get in one full day of stitching.  Enough time to finally finish getting the binding on En Provence.  

 En Provence, A Bonnie Hunter Mystery (2016)

I like how this one came together and it may be my favorite Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt so far.  My version is made from yardage, not scraps.  The fabrics used in this quilt are left overs and rejects from the Geisha quilt made for my niece several years ago.  She's been asking me if I have a pastel quilt as she'd like a lighter colored one for the spring and summer, so I think she's getting this one too.  she has a birthday in August, so that works out nicely.  The feature fabric from the Geisha quilt got used up on the back of this one, as did the pink and the burgundy. 

After piecing the back, all that is left of these fabrics is pretty much just scraps.  It's nice to finally find a final home for them and have them out of the stash.  

Trudy used an all over floral motif for the quilting. Very pretty and it gives the quilt a nice drape.  

So that's one off the UFO list for 2018. 

I can't seem to make it below 17 UFOs.  I've done a pretty good job on finishing off most of my newer projects within a year, but I'm struggling to finish off the older ones.  Progress has been made, so at some point I should start seeing lots of finishes.  

Here's one last look at En Provence. 

The next finish will probably be the Magnolia Mystery, the Meadow Mist Designs 2017 mystery quilt.  All it needs is binding.  But since that one isn't a year old yet, it will not lower my UFO numbers (It will keep the number from going back up to 18, so that's good too).  That one should be finished by August.  At the moment, I'm trying to finish off the Red, White and Blue Star blocks that were last month's OMG.  Then those will go back to the project box till probably next year.  

En Provence is also on my 2018 Finish Along list for third quarter 2018.   

Linking up with:
Monday Making
Monday Design Wall
Main Crush Monday
2018 Third Quarter Finish Along

2018 Ambitions - Checking in for Mid-Year

Hard to believe we've passed the mid-year point for 2018.  I just finished doing mid-year reviews at work. It's a chance to look at the goals from the first of the year, make sure they are still appropriate and that you are on track to complete them.  Back in April I  reviewed how things were going on my quilty ambitions (that post is here) for the same reasons.  Yvonne over at Quilting Jetgirl is hosting a mid year review linky party to encourage us to take a look at where we are mid year. 

So here's how I'm doing on my quilty ambitions as of the end of June.  

1.  Shorten the UFO list.  

I started 2018 with 17 quilts on the UFO list. As of the end of June there are 18 quilts on the UFO list.  I consider a quilt a UFO once it's been on the project list for a year.  There's only been one finish this year and it wasn't on the UFO list yet.  So I'm not doing so hot on this ambition. It's not from lack of trying. There has been good progress on the six projects I've worked on this year. It just hasn't been enough to get those quilts to the finish line.  

2. Participate in quilt alongs/mysteries.  Since the goal is to finish up the old stuff, I limited myself to just three this year.

     2018 Rainbow Scrap Challenge - Started
     Meadow Mist Designs Plus Sign Sampler Quilt Along
     Bonnie Hunter Mystery


I've decided not to do Cheryl's Plus Sign Sampler, but may start one of the quilts in her Modern Plus Sign Quilts book.  Or since my goal is to clear off the UFO list, I may skip out on that quilt along completely. 

3. Find 15 minutes to stitch each day. 

I'm doing well with this ambition.  The success rate for the year is 94.54%.  So I'm not sure why I'm not seeing any finishes.  

4.  Stash Management/Stash Organization
       Limit purchases to 5 yards per quarter: at 18.91 yards incoming
       Spend 30 minutes each week on organization:  hit and miss
       Any new projects must use stash fabrics only:  good here
       Pick a RSC project that uses precut strips:  Sampler uses strips

Well 3 out of 4 ambitions on this point is pretty good.  I'm over my goal for incoming fabric as of the mid-year point, but as long as I don't add more than one more yard the next 6 months, I'll be OK on that one for the year.  I'm not doing so hot on organizing the stash.  It's been hard to find time to sew this year, so spending time organizing has just not been as high a priority. 

5.  Blog once a week.  
I've managed at least 2 posts a week since the first of the year. So I'm doing OK on this front too.  

Other than getting quilts to the finish line, the year is going pretty well.  I'm linking up with Yvonne's mid-year review party where you can see how well other's are doing on meeting their quilty ambitions.  

Since finishes don't seem to be happening, I'm going to use the rest of this post to document the progress for the year.  I need the morale boost.  The picture on the left is where the project was as of 12/31/2017. The picture of the right shows the status as of the last time I worked on the project. 

January Project:  Chain Reaction (aka Geek Chic) Done 

 


February Project:  Magnolia Mystery Quilt (Needs binding)

March Project:  Vintage Dresses (Needs borders)

April Project:  En Provence (Sewing on binding)

 

May Project:  Christmas Angels (Needs borders)

 

June Project:  Red, White and Blue Stars (Finish making blocks)

So I'm close to finishes on two quilts.  But only one is on the UFO list.  Magnolia Mystery wasn't started till September last year, so it's still a WIP.  Well I got this far in the last 6 months and there is still 6 more to go.  Time enough to move a couple more off the list you think?  

Week 25 of Stitching and De-stashing

Happy weekend. Mine has been fairly low key, though I have some homework that needs to get done by Monday.  Still, I was able to to get in a bit more than my 15 minutes of stitching time during the afternoon yesterday. 

Actually, the whole week turned out to be a pretty good one for finding time to stitch.

15 minutes stitching days/week = 7/7 days
15 minutes stitching days/June = 23/23 days
15 minutes stitching days/2018 = 164/174
Success rate = 94.25%

How did your stitching week go? 

It was also a good week for the stash report as I actually did enough stitching to be able to count a bit out. 

Fabric used this week:  0.88 y
Fabric used in 2018: 24.46 y
Fabric added in 2018: 18.91 y
Net fabric out for 2018: 5.55 y

I'm still in the black as we approach the mid year mark.  It certainly seems like I've not used as much fabric this year as last.  Maybe that's because most of my projects this year are UFOs where the blocks were mainly done and all that's left is getting the blocks set together. That doesn't seem to use as much fabric. Linking up with Quiltpaintcreate for the weekly stash report. 

I've also got a bit of slow stitching going on this week.  

En Provence is finally getting bound.  I'm hoping to get this one finished up before the end of the month. Getting in the sewing room for 15 minutes each day and using the One Monthly Goal to set my priorities has meant that I've made  progress on each project, but I'm not getting them all the way to finished. So I've been tweaking my work flow process to see if I can do better on that front.  Linking up with Kathy's Quilts for slow stitching Sunday this week. 

So how are you doing on making time to stitch each day? 

1. Melissa G 2. maggie f 3. Marti at Plain Stitches

4. Julie in GA 5. Meloney 6. Jennifer in Indy

7. Aileen K 8. Deana 9. Christina's Handicrafts

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