Life In Pieces: The Best of 2018

Hard to believe Christmas is over and the end of the year is less than a week away.  It's the time of year for reflection.  Cheryl of Meadow Mist Designs makes reflection fun by hosting her "Best of 2018" Linky Party.

What constitutes "best" is up to the blogger.  So here's my top 5 from 2018.

1. Largest Number of Views (427), A Little of This and That. That post highlighted the first assembled blocks from Bonnie Hunter's 2017 mystery, On Ringo Lake.

2. Most Comments (28), Stars and Stars.  The post showed the finished Red, White and Blue Star blocks that is currently my oldest UFO.

3.  My favorite quilt finished in 2018, Chain Reaction.  This quilt was made for the Scientist in Training to use in her dorm room. She loves it and I really loved making it.  

4. My favorite quilt started in 2018, The Christmas Mystery Quilt.  This quilt was the second mystery quilt along offered by the local quilt shop.  This one was so much fun and I'm really happy with how it turned out.  Now it just needs a backing so I can maybe get it finished to enjoy next Christmas. 

5.  Most requested tutorial, How to Make Quilt Labels.  The most common question that shows up in comments on the blog is how do I make my quilt labels.  So I put together a tutorial on the basic process. 

That's my top 5 for 2018.  Now I'm off to check out more top 5s over at Meadow Mist Designs.  

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?  

Weekend Stitching: A Bit of This and a Bit of That

Snow on Saturday and light sleet Sunday made for a miserably cold and nasty weekend.  A perfect weekend to spend stitching.  It was nice to spend some quiet time in the sewing room after all the hustle and bustle of March.  

First priority was to get the backing made for En Provence.  

Done.  This is one side of the backing, the other side has the same pink/magenta strips.  The backing used up all of the Geisha yardage and I have about a quarter yard left of the other two.  It feels good to get some of these older stash fabrics into a project.  My stash report will look really good this week.  Next on the agenda is to get this back and En Provence pressed, prepped for quilting and packaged to send out.  I'll probably wait till next weekend to tackle that.  

A bit of hand stitching on the binding for Geek Chic also got done. 

Chemistry Geek: Pattern is Under Construction by the Missouri Star Quilt Company

Two corners done, so just passed halfway with stitching down the binding.  Hopefully this will be a finish by next weekend.  

A bit of progress was also made on Vintage Dresses. 

 Vintage Dresses by Charise Randell

  
The third row is assembled and has been sewn to the bottom two rows. Just two rows left to assemble.  I'm really liking how the sashing is working out.  I'll need to make a finial decision on the borders soon.  

So it was a good week in the sewing room.  There was also progress on a couple of Rainbow Scrap Projects, but didn't get any photos of that progress.  It was so nice to have the time to putter in the sewing room.  Now I'm good to go on the sanity front, at least till tonight when I'm sure I'll need another dose of stitching to be prepared for what's looking like a really busy Tuesday. 

Linking up with:

Monday Making
Design Wall Monday
Main Crush Monday 

Week 4 of 2018: 15 Minutes to Stitch and Stash Reports

It's been much warmer the last few days.  But it is January, so that won't last much longer.  We have the potential for snow by the end of this week.  Still it was nice to have weather in the 60's for a couple of days.  As the weather has gotten warmer, I've been feeling better.  The cough is almost gone and my energy level has returned.  Which made for a nice weekend of stitching.  Even better, we had Friday off.

The stash report definitely benefited from the additional time off this week.  

Fabric used this week:  4.95 yards
Fabric used in 2018:  8.02 yards
Fabric purchased in 2018:  0 yards
Net fabric out for 2018:  8.02 yards

Most of the outgoing fabric this week comes from piecing the backing for Geek Chic.

Now there are just a few strips and partial fat quarters left over from this project.  One my challenges is trying to buy just what I need for a project and not much more.  It's another area of stash management I'm still trying to master.  

Linking up with Quiltpaintcreate for the weekly stash report.  

The stash report is headed in the right direction.  So is the effort to find at least 15 minutes to stitch each day. 

 Work was a bit slower this week, so no homework.   That made it easy to climb the stairs each day.  

Days with stitching this week:  7 out of 7 (Sunday to Saturday)
Days with stitching this month:  27 out of 27 
Days with stitching this year:  27 out of 27
Success Rate:  100%

How did you do at fitting stitching time into your schedule?

1. Sharon 2. Melissa G 3. Julie in GA 4. maggie f

5. Meloney 6. Val:) 7. Shasta 8. MartiDIY

9. newsurfiegirl 10. Susanne 11. Christina's Handicrafts

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Weekend Stitching: Geeky Progress

The weekend was pretty slow paced, I didn't leave the house at all.  There were a lot of naps, this sinus crude is proving difficult to shake.  I'm in the cough till you drop stage.  

Even with the naps, there was a decent amount of time spent in the sewing room.  Geek Chic is now a finished flimsy.

  Chemistry Geek
Pattern is Under Construction by the Missouri Star Quilt Company
found in Missouri Star Quilt Company Block Idea Book (Summer Vol 4 Issue 3)

I'm happy with how it turned out.  More importantly, the SIT likes it.   The fabrics really make the quilt and this block allows each to shine.   

The block shape is pretty close to some of the stick figure molecular diagrams used in chemistry, which helps with the geeky theme.  The back will be pieced from the left overs.  I've got all the pieces cut, but didn't have the time or energy to start on the assembly. Hopefully the back will be done by the weekend.  Then all that is left is prepping the quilt for quilting.  It will be nice to get this one finished and to SIT for her dorm room before the semester ends.  Plus getting Geek Chic out the door for quilting is this month's OMG. 

Linking up with:
Monday Making
Monday Design Wall
Main Crush Monday

2018 Finish Along - First Quarter Projects

This year has been dubbed the year of the UFO in my sewing room.  There are 18 quilting projects on my list that were started more than a year ago.  My goal for 2018 is to get the number of UFOs below 10.  So that means at least 9 finishes for 2018.  The most I've ever managed to finish is 7 quilts in one year, so completing 9 is definitely a stretch goal.  I'm using every source of motivation available to help keep me on track.  That includes participating in the 2018 Finish Along.  

It's time to select the projects for the first quarter of the challenge.  For this quarter I'm going to stick pretty close to the quilt plan I drew up at the end of December.  

Project 1:  Geek Chic (Chemistry Geek)

Chemistry Geek
Pattern is Under Construction by the Missouri Star Quilt Company
found in Missouri Star Quilt Company Block Idea Book (Summer Vol 4 Issue 3)
Started: September 5, 2017

Chemistry Geek was one of those squirrel moments.  I used to work with the lady who owns the local quilt shop and she knew that I'd love this chemistry themed fabric.  The Scientist in Training is studying chemistry and the fabric couldn't be more perfect.  This was supposed to get done for either Christmas or her birthday, but that didn't happen.  I'm hoping to get it finished in the next few weeks so she can have it for most of this semester.  This one isn't technically a UFO, but getting it finished will keep it off the list. 

Project 2.  Magnolia Mystery Quilt

Magnolia Mystery by Cheryl Brickey of
Meadow Mist Designs

This is the fourth mystery quilt from Cheryl Brickey who blogs over at Meadow Mist Designs.  I've participated in all but her first mystery.  This is another project that isn't technically a UFO on my list because it's not more than a year old. Getting it finished keeps it off the list.  Cheryl is having a parade of Magnolia quilts in March 2018 from last year's mystery, so this has to be at least a finished flimsy by February 15th.  

Project 3:  Vintage Dresses

 Vintage Dresses blocks by Charise Randell, Setting by Kate

Vintage Dresses was my 2016 Rainbow Scrap Challenge project.  My first effort to work with a complicated paper piecing project.  In 2017 the focus was on getting coping strips adding to all the blocks so they were the same size.  This year I'm hoping to get the blocks into a flimsy and then finished before May.  This quilt is intended as a graduation present. 

Project 4.  En Provence

 En Provence, A Bonnie Hunter Mystery (2016)

The 2016 Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt made it all the way to finished flimsy stage just before the end of 2017.  It needs a backing before it can go out for quilting.  This project is listed as my April UFO, but I'd be happy to get it finished before then.  I really doubt that happens, but I'll be hopeful and include it on the first quarter list. 

That's my list for the first quarter of 2018.  I did really well the with the challenge the first three quarters of 2017, finishing 3 quilts a quarter till the last one.  Can I do as well this year?  I hope so.  

Linking up with the 2018 Finish Along Q1 over at She Can Quilt.

January 2018 One Monthly Goal

It was back to work on Tuesday.  It wasn't a bad day, just a lot of  "where was I?".  The last day of the holiday vacation was used to sit back and assess all the in progress projects laying around the sewing machine.  There were eight.  That's too many to be effective on any one project.  So after finishing off the blocks that were in progress, it was time to decide on this month's priorities including selecting the One Monthly Goal for January.  

That was actually a pretty easy selection process.  The Scientist in Training's birthday is this month and I promised her a quilt.  The top 4 rows are pinned together to be stitched and the last row for the bottom of the quilt is pinned ready for stitching too. 

I'd like to get this into a finished flimsy so I can wrap that for her birthday. But the OMG for January is to get the flimsy done, a back made and get it shipped out for quilting. That should be doable this month. It won't be a finish till next month, but I think the SIT will be OK with that.  

My overall priority list looks like this for January:

1.  Geek Chic - finish quilt assembly, make back, prep for quilting and shipping.
2.  On Ringo Lake - decide on a path forward (my fabrics didn't work so well in Bonnie's layout, but there are a couple of other assembly options that might work OK)
3.  Vintage Dresses - (old leaders and enders) finish adding coping strips to the blocks - DONE
4.  Magnolia Mystery blocks - new leaders and enders project, finish piecing the blocks. 
5.  Finish the 2017 RSC fan blocks
6.  Make Inverted Star border blocks in light blue for RSC challenge
7. Start 2018 RSC Scrappy Sampler project

Well, at least now I'm down to just 7 active projects. 

Linking up over at Elm Street Quilts for this month's One Monthly Goal.  

Stash Stuff for Week 33 of 2017

It's been an eventful week.  We became empty nesters on Wednesday.  

Drama Teen (aka Scientist in Training or the SIT), moved into her dorm room last Wednesday.  She's been keeping really busy, she's already working on her first assignment for the school's newspaper. I've been keeping busy too.  To avoid the quiet house on Thursday when My Guy went out for his bike ride, I went to the local quilt shop for some fabric petting therapy.  I did more than pet, there was a fabric line that just had to come home with me. 

Geek Chic by Studio E Fabrics was just too geeky for me to pass up. Plus the Scientist in Training is enrolled as a chemistry major and she really needs an extra long twin quilt that fits better on her dorm bed.  I am now in search of an equally geeky quilt pattern to start and hopefully finish before Christmas.  

Needless to say, I did some damage on the incoming side of the stash numbers, but those numbers are being ignored since the train has long left the station on having any success on using more than I buy this year. There was a little fabric in the out column this week.  

Fabric used this week:  0.5 yards
Fabric used year to date:  42.58 yards

I didn't do so hot on the finding time to stitch this last week.  Between helping the SIT pack, trooping through 100 F+ temps on move in day and a major bought of dizziness due to sinus issues, there were only 4 days this last week spent in the sewing room.  There are just weeks like that sometimes.  

Linking up with Quiltpaintcreate for the weekly stash report.