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.  

Weekend Stitching: Magnolia Mystery Solved

It's been a low key and relaxing holiday weekend.  I'm hoping to spend the last day of the holiday in the sewing room.  We spent yesterday in Tulsa hanging out with family.  So not a lot of stitching got done yesterday.  But we were home on Saturday and I finally found time to photograph the quilt that was finished last week.  

Magnolia Mystery by Cheryl Brickey of Meadow Mist Designs

The Magnolia Mystery quilt from the 2017 mystery program at Meadow Mist Designs is finally all finished.  It's definitely a very bright quilt, but I like it.  Purple and yellow is one of my favorite color combinations.  Though the purple is really closer to red-violet than it is a true purple.  Thankfully you can see the true color in these photos.  The violet always photographed as almost black when this project was on the design wall.  

The background fabric is a Connecting Threads sale acquisition that's been in the stash for a few years. There was enough of it to back the quilt as well. 

The yellow flowers in the backing reminded me of all the bright yellow wild flowers we have in Oklahoma in the summer, hence the slight change in quilt name on the label.  

Other than the background, the rest of the fabrics in this project are left over from other projects.  So the green ended up as the binding because there wasn't enough left of any of the the other fabrics.   

My Magnolia Mystery quilt is lap sized.  I love the bright colors and that floral print background (see that violet photographed as black in this image). Summer Magnolias is finish number three for 2018.  This project wasn't on the UFO list, as it wasn't a year old yet, so my UFO numbers stay unchanged.  That's OK, it's always nice to keep a project off the UFO list.  It is on my list for the third quarter of the 2018 Finish Along, so I'll be linking up there come October.  For now, I'm linking up with the usual Monday linky parties:

Making Monday
Main Crush Monday
Monday Design Wall
2018 Finish Along - Third Quarter Finishes

Weekend Stitching: Best Laid Plans and Such

It was a busy weekend.  The Scientist in Training is home for a week. We moved her out of the dorm on Friday, but she can't move into her new on campus apartment till next Saturday. Thankfully, one of her roommates was allowed to move in two weeks ago because she works on campus (Why the SIT can't move in as well is beyond me).  We were at least able to leave some of the bigger items (like her bookcase) in the common area of the apartment, so we didn't have to drag all of it home and then drag it back. Then Saturday was back to school shopping (and tax free weekend as well).  So I didn't get much stitching time till Sunday afternoon.  

The One Monthly Goal for August was to get the Twinkle Star blocks up on the design wall to establish the final layout and to get all the sashing strips cut. I was showing My Guy and the SIT my plans for the quilt, neither liked the EQ version with the sashing, both liked it much better without. Then, the SIT asked me if the quilt was going to be big enough for her friend's bed (Twinkle Stars is another college graduation gift).  It's not. So could I make more blocks?  Yes. Let's do that.  So now the plan is to put all the blocks up on the design wall and decide what colors to add. I mistakenly thought this quilt was ready for assembly.  Thankfully, this friend isn't graduating for a couple of years.  

So what did get done this weekend?  The binding is sewn on to the front of the Magnolia Mystery quilt.

So I'll have some hand stitching to do the next week or so. That's good as I'll be struggling to find my 15 minutes each night to sew.  Handwork is much easier to squeeze in. 

The Inverted Star blocks are all stitched together. 

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

The strips for the first border have been cut, next step is to get them sewn on.  Inverted Star needs to be finished this year. It's a college graduation gift that needs to be done by December.  

In addition to getting the center all sewn together, the black sawtooth stars for the border are also finished.

The gray stars are in various stages of assembly at the sewing machine and I've just started cutting the pieces for the brown stars.  So this project is still moving right along.  

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

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.  

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: Empty Nests

It's amazing how quiet the house was after the Scientist in Training left for college.  I know that's the new norm and we'll only see less and less of her from here on out.  Even though we knew it was coming, it's still going to take a while to get used to it.  Thankfully I had plenty to do in the sewing room to keep me busy the rest of the weekend.  

June will be half over by the end of this week, which means the year will soon be half over.  It's been pretty productive year, there has been progress on all the projects on my list.  But there's only been one finish so far this year, the SIT's Geek Chic quilt. I was hoping for at least 8 finishes for 2018.  Obviously a change in strategy is needed if I want more finishes. So this week the focus has been on doing what's needed move a few more quilts closer to finished.  The binding for En Provence is pieced, pressed and ready to be sewn on.  

The label is finished, but needs the framing strips before it's ready to go onto the back.  That should happen this week.  En Provence should be a finish before the end of the month. 

The Magnolia Mystery quilt has been finished since February, but needed to be prepped for quilting.  That's my least favorite step in the whole quilt making process, so no surprise that it's the one easiest to put off.  But I bit the bullet, cleared off cutting table and spread out the flimsy for it's final pressing and de-threading. 

  Magnolia Mystery by Cheryl Brickey of Meadow Mist Designs

Three hours with the iron, lint brush and the small scissors yielded a back that was clear of any dark green and purple threads that might show through after quilting. 

Now both the flimsy and backing are ready to be boxed for mailing to Trudy for quilting. 

Not the most exciting design wall subjects, but necessary steps in order to move projects along.  I should get at least En Provence finished this month.  The Magnolia Mystery quilt probably won't get finished till July.  That's OK, the goal was for the end of the year.  

Next up?  I'm not sure. Both Vintage Dresses and Christmas Angels need the final borders added and backs pieced.  Since Christmas Angels is still up on the design wall and has pieced borders that are already laid out, it will probably be next on my "get it finished" list. 

You can find more exciting design walls below. 
Monday Making
Design Wall Monday
Main Crush Monday

2018 Finish Along - Second Quarter Projects

This year is supposed to be all about finishing up a few UFOs.  My plan was drafted back in December, twelve finishes for 2018.  I was so optimistic linking up with the first quarter of the 2018 Finish-A-Long, there were 4 quilts on my list.  

But here it is the second week of the second quarter and there are no finishes from my list.  😢   It's not that nothing happened, all the projects have been moved along, just not to the finish line. So looking at what's on the list and what's doable this quarter based on what I know is scheduled at work and home, here's the list for this quarter.  

1.  Geek Chic (Chain Reaction), from the first quarter list. 

This quilt is partially bound and will definitely be finished before the end of April. So unlike last quarter, there will be at least one finish this quarter. 


2.  Magnolia Mystery, from the first quarter list

  Magnolia Mystery by Cheryl Brickey of Meadow Mist Designs

The backing is made, the quilt just needs to be prepped for quilting, packed up and sent out for quilting.  I need a weekend for that and March was very shy on free weekends for quilting.  Hopefully April will be better on that front.  This one should get done this quarter.


3.  EnProvence (French Cherry Blossums), from the first quarter list

 En Provence, A Bonnie Hunter Mystery (2016)

This is my April UFO.  It was on last quarter's list as all that was needed was the backing and I had hoped to fit that in somewhere. Didn't happen.  But now the backing is made and plans are to prep it for quilting this weekend, package it up and send it out for quilting next week.  This one should also get finished this quarter.  


4.  Vintage Dresses, from the first quarter list

 Vintage Dresses blocks by Charise Randell, Setting by Kate

This project was my March UFO.  Due to business travel, spring break and several nights where I had homework, this just didn't make it to finished top. The plan was to give this as a graduation quilt. Not sure I can finish it by May, but hopefully I can finish it off this quarter. 


5.  Christmas Angels

 Christmas Angels  Pattern by Kate

This is the last picture of it's status, but I'm pretty sure all the blocks are made, the quilt just needs to be set together, backing made and then sent out for quilting.  Hopefully all that happens in time for me to get it bound before the quarter ends.  


6.  Red, White and Blue Stars

  Red, White and Blue Stars, Setting by Kate

This is my oldest UFO, from 2005.  I still need to make a few more star blocks, plus the alternating blocks.  I doubt this one gets done, but I'll add it on as my stretch goal for the quarter.  

There are some easy finishes on my list and some I'll be really challenged to get finished this quarter.  But even if I don't get things finished progress will be made and that counts for a lot.    

Good luck with your finishing plans for second quarter.  I'm linking up with the 2018 Finish-A-Long over at She Can Quilt.