The Best of 2019 at Life In Pieces

As 2019 winds down, I start to look back at the year.  Cheryl over at Meadow Mist Designs encourages a review of the year's blog posts in her 5th "Best of" linky party. 

So here is my Best of 2019 Life in Pieces posts.  

1.  Most Views (615):  November One Monthly Goal - Bordering Twinkle Stars.

Twinkle Stars

Tutorial by Andrea Feldbush of Soscrappy

I'm still working to get the borders on this quilt, but I keep getting side tracked with new projects. Twinkle Stars started as a Rainbow Scrap challenge project. Hopefully it will make it all the way to finished quilt early in 2020. 

2. Most Comments (34):  Finally a Finish

 Sophia's Closet (Vintage Dresses)
block pattern by Charise Randell

Vintage Dresses (Sophia's Closet) is another long time favorite project.  Getting this project to the finish line is one of my biggest accomplishments for 2019.  

3.  My Second Favorite Finish:  Finally A Finish (apparently this is a favorite blog title for 2019 too).  
 

Inverted Star (Second Star to the Right)
 Inverted Star block by Jessica Boschem of Common Threads available from Blueprint 

Inverted Stars is another Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilt that's been a lot of fun to work on.  Adding on the alternating up/down star border was so worth the effort.  Vintage Dresses is my favorite finish, but this quilt is a very close second.  

4.  My Favorite New Project:  Stormy Stuff

Storm at SeaPaper Piecing Class by Carrie Randell (Quilter's Hideaway)

Storm at Sea was a class offered by the local quilt shop. When My Guy saw my planned colors and layout, he said this one should go on our bed when it's done.  So that's the plan. I've still a couple of borders to add to finish this one off. Hopefully that will happen early in 2020.  

5.  Most Linky Party Participants (13): Week 3 of 2019

The 15 Minutes to Stitch linky party goes live every Sunday.  Since 2011 it's been one of my weekly goals to stitch for at least 15 minutes each day. It helps me keep my projects moving. The linky party started in later 2011, but I stopped it in 2012 or 2013 due to lack of interest.  In 2017, there was enough interest in the concept to start up a new linky party.  The plan is to continue the linky party in 2020.  

That's my top 5 for 2019.  You can see more "Best Of's" over at Meadow Mist Designs.  

November Plans - The One Monthly Goal

The One Monthly Goal hasn't gone so well for me this year. I've gone from being wildly successful with OMGs the previous two years, to missing the mark more often then not this year.  Due in part to trying to finish a UFO each month and then not having the stitching time to do it.  Work has been a bit more nuts this year than the previous two.  So the key to being successful is not being over ambitious when setting my November One Monthly Goal. 

So what's likely to get done?  We'll have a lot of family stuff the week of Thanksgiving, so I won't have as much time to stitch as normal that week.  And we have some commitments this weekend that will impact my stitching time.  So the goal for this month needs to be a pretty small one.  There are two projects in the queue that are closed to being finished.  The first is the Halloween Mystery quilt (BOO!).  

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

It needs a label and the binding pieced then sewn down. That's doable.  

The second and probably higher priority is to get Inverted Star finished.  

Inverted Star block by Jessica Boschem of Common Threads
available from Craftsy as a free download, setting by Kate

It needs a backing pieced and then both have to be prepped so it can go out for quilting.  Piecing the backing is probably doable.  Cleaning off the loose threads from the back of the top and getting it all pressed is going to take some time.  That's going to be a tall order when I've got two weekends with limited sewing room time.  

So looking at the time available, I'm going to go for getting a back pieced for Inverted Star as my one monthly goal.  If I can get it prepped for quilting and out the door even better.  But I honestly do not think I'll get that far.

Linking up at Elm Street Quilts for the November One Monthly Goal.  

Weekend Stitching: Second Star to the Right and Other Stories

It was a good weekend for recharging.  Too windy and cold to do much outside, it was a nice excuse to spend most of the weekend sewing.  Though I did manage to tame Mount Laundry and even made a run to Goodwill which decluttered one corner of the bedroom.

One thing I've learned this year is that pulling out a project a month will not help me finish off my UFOs.  It does move projects along, but not all projects can be finished in a month. I did better on finishes last year when I set priorities and stuck with a project till it was done. So as I put my goals together for next year, that will be the plan.  Inverted Stars is the first one this year I've done that with (The fact that it's a graduation gift and needs to be finished just after Christmas pretty much forced the issue).  The final plain border has been added, so it's now a finished flimsy.

Inverted Star block by Jessica Boschem of Common Threads
available from Craftsy as a free download, setting by Kate

   

I'm really happy with how this one worked out.  This is for one of the Scientists in Training's friends who will be graduating from college in December.  The SIT and I agreed on "Second Star on the Right" as the name for this quilt since her friend will soon be heading out on her own to pursue her dreams of being a screen writer (with an accounting degree as her safety net).  Next step is to figure out a back.  

The other goal this month has been to keep up with the clues for the Christmas Mystery quilt.  I've finished two thirds of clue two and all of clue three. 

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

The second wreath is still being stitched to the background, but Rudolph is finished.  Those antlers took forever as I kept putting the pieces together in the wrong order.  The seam ripper got a good work out with that block.  I've made a start on this week's clue, but it's still mostly in pieces at the sewing machine. 

That's it for me this week.  Linking up with the typical Monday show and tell linky parties. 

Monday Design Wall

Monday Making

Main Crush Monday