June - 2013 Year of the Finished Project

Lynne over at Never too Hot to Stitch decided that 2013 needed to be a year of finishes.  Since it's always more fun to deal with UFOs and other unfinished projects as a group, she's hosting a challenge to help the rest of us finish up our projects too.

I had some pretty ambitious challenge goals for May as I was hoping to finish up 5 quilts last month.  So how did I do?  

May

1.  Evening Star          Done

          Finish binding

2.  The Sofa Quilt          Done

          Make binding

          Sew binding on

3.  OSU Quilt          

          Make binding          Done

          Sew binding on

4.  Sweet Treats

          Make binding

          Sew binding on

5. Calico Cats

          Make 4 blocks                                 Done

          Assemble blocks and sashing            Done

          Add borders                                    Done

          Make backing                                  Done

          Ship off for quilting                         Done

          Make binding

          Sew binding on

Not a bad month at all.  I finished 2 quilts and had a third almost done.  Plus managed to finish the blocks for a fourth quilt and get it assembled and quilted.  Though I didn't get all 5 quilts done, it was still an excellent month.  Evening Star and The Sofa Quilt are my first finishes of 2013. 

So what are my goals for June?  One thing they are not is as ambitious as my May goals were.

June

1.  OSU Quilt

          Finish binding

2.  Sweet Treats

           Make binding

           Sew binding on

3.  Calico Cats

           Make binding

           Sew binding on

4.  Neutral Gems

           Make 23 blocks

5.  Mon Ami

           Make 12 blocks

I have a lot of binding to do this month, which is slow stitching.  I plan to mix that up with some machine stitching on some ongoing projects. Neutral Gems is a gift for a friend who just recently retired and Mon Ami is intended to be a QOV, so these are the next two quilts I want to finish. 

Lynn hasn't posted this month's linky party yet, I know she's been busy. Once that post is up, I'll link up with all the others striving to reduce their UFO piles.  

May NewFO

It's the last day of a very busy May.  We celebrated Mother's Day, took Drama Teen on her 8th grade trip and also celebrated her graduation from 8th grade.  I'm still recovering from all the fun stuff that went on this month.  Lots of sewing happened too, well except for last week.  I needed some recovery time after all the end of school activities, so I took a few days off to catch up on sleep and a few chores. By the time the Memorial Day weekend got here, I was ready to get back to sewing something new.  

Back in March, I pushed a few buttons and ordered some yardage from Connecting Threads' Neutral Love line.  

I wasn't sure what I was going to make with it, but not long after it took up residence in my stash, one of my friends from work announced that she would retire this summer.  These fabrics are just so her that they have to end up in her house.  About the same time, I got a copy of Patchwork Palette by Donna Lynn Thomas and found a beautiful pattern called "Gems".  

After mocking up the blocks in EQ and playing around with the fabric placement, I came out with this layout.  

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

After washing, pressing and cutting out all the strips needed, only 2 blocks have been assembled.  

I'm happy with how it's turning out.  Hopefully I can finish this project up before the end of the summer.  So far I'm 5 for 5 in 2013, five starts in five months.  

Not only did I add a NewFO this month, two NewFOs from 2012 were finished off.  The Sofa Quilt was the June 2012 NewFO.

The Sofa Quilt
Pattern by Judy Laquidara of Patchwork Times
Quilted by Trudy Lindemann

Evening Star was the September 2012 NewFO.

Evening Star

Pattern from Calico Carriage

Designed by Debbie Maddy

Quilted by Trudy Lindemann

That leaves 5 NewFOs from 2012, plus the 5 NewFOs from 2013 to make a total of 10 uncompleted projects from the last 2 years.  I have a lot of stitching to do!  

Hop over to Cat Patches to check out more NewFOs from across the globe.   

Design Wall Monday - May 27th

Monday, already?  It's the last Monday in May. June will bring us to mid year (I know, don't remind you).  Being busy sure makes the time go faster.  

We had so much going on early last week that I didn't have time to write a post for last week's Design Wall.  To be honest, there's not much up on the design wall.  I've been working on binding quilts when we weren't running around with Drama Teen's school stuff. Two of the five quilts that need to be done by the end of the month are bound, my first finishes of 2013.  

Evening Star
Pattern from Calico Carriage
Designed by Debbie Maddy
Quilted by Trudy Lindemann

I really like how this one turned out.  The quilting was done by Trudy Lindemann.

The meander in the white spaces really makes the star stand out.   

The backing is a very pale floral print and the binding is the same dark purple as the last border.  Evening Star was the first finish of 2013. The second finish was The Sofa Quilt.

The Sofa Quilt

Pattern is Nicole's Sofa Quilt by Judy Laquidara (available here)

Quilted by Trudy Lindemann

 I love this pattern.  My only regret is that I didn't make the final border just a bit wider so I could show off more of that print.  Otherwise, it turned out beautifully.  This quilt was also quilted by Trudy, she used a floral motif on this one. 

The quilt is backed with a floral striped print that my sister gave me 12 yards of a few years ago. This is the second back that I've managed to eek out of that gift.  

The binding is a green Andover Dimples. I had wanted to use blue, but I was out of the darker blue used in the blocks and the lighter blue in the blocks didn't look right.  

I'm busy binding the OSU quilt right now.  Don't know that I'm going to finish the last three quilts that I had hoped to have done this month, but I've got 4 more days in the month to make that happen.

That's it for what's going on in my sewing room.  Hop over to Patchwork Times to see what's up else where.  

Finishing Projects - Mid Month Update

Hard to believe we are already half way through May.  Lot's going on this month, especially with Drama Teen graduating from 8th grade this year.  Even with all the extra stuff going on, good progress has been made on this month's sewing goals.  

Goal number 1 was to finish getting the binding on the Evening Star quilt.  That's done.

Evening Star
Pattern from Calico Carriage
Designed by Debbie Maddy

That's my first finish of 2013.  If I get the rest of this month's goals done, I'll end the month with five finishes.  

Goal number 2 is to make the binding and get it sewn onto The Sofa Quilt.  The binding is made, attached to the front, and I'm working on hand stitching it to the back.  

The Sofa Quilt

Pattern is Nicole's Sofa Quilt by Judy Laquidara

(available here)

I'm just about to turn the corner on the first side.  This will be finish number 2, hopefully sometime this weekend.

Goal number 5 was to finish the Calico Cats quilt.  Since the beginning of the month all the blocks have been made, the blocks have been sewn together, and the borders added to make it a finished flimsy.  

Calico Cats
Pattern is Fat Cats from the
The Quilter Magazine (July 2006)
by Lucy A. Fazely and Micheal L. Burns

It was sent out for quilting, which is finished now.  It should be back here next week all ready for binding.  

I'm feeling really good about what's been done so far.  Goals 3 and 4 were to make and sew the binding on the OSU Quilt and Sweet Treats.  No progress on those two goals as yet, but I'm sure it will happen this next week.  

Hope your sewing plans for the month have been going well.  I'm ready to get these 5 quilts done.  It's been a bit of a forced march with these as they are gifts that need to be done this month.  It's definitely made me manage my time more effectively, but I'm ready for a few months being able to sew without deadlines.  Too bad, I really should start looking at what I want to get done for Christmas gifts.  

Design Wall Monday- March 18th

It was a nice quiet weekend, so sewing happened on Saturday.  Not so much on Sunday as whatever is going on with my sinuses has given me a fever, a hacking cough, a sore throat, and a bit of dizziness.  I'm hoping the Bendryl kicks in soon, not that it makes me feel a great deal better, but I can at least sleep.  

I did manage to finish getting all the borders on The Sofa Quilt on Saturday.  

Pattern is Nicole's Sofa Quilt by Judy Laquidara

(available here)

I think the last border needed to be a bit wider, but I was fabric limited there, so it stayed at the pattern's suggested 3.5 inches. I love how this project turned out.  I'll probably change the name (Sorry Judy) to better suit the person who is getting this quilt.  

The back was pieced yesterday before I started feeling so bad that I had to quit sewing.  Now it's all ready to go out for quilting.  This will be finish number 2 for the year.  I'm still working on sewing down the binding on Evening Star which should be finish number 1. Not much progress on any of the other projects, as I was concentrating on getting this project done and out the door.  

I did give myself permission to start a new project since The Sofa Quilt made it to the flimsy stage.  I pulled out the Vienna Stars pattern (from Calico Carriage) and all the collected fabrics.  

 


It's been a few years (at least 6) since I bought the pattern and the fabric.  I'm not sure I still like the pattern.  I may choose to make a different star pattern with these fabrics.  I'll play around in EQ a bit to see what direction I want to take this project.  

That's it for my design wall this week.  Check out what's posted over at Patchwork Times to see what pretties others are working on.  

Design Wall Monday - Feb 25th

It was a nice, relaxing weekend.  Drama Teen was much improved on Sunday, she's had a cold since Friday.  She still has a nasty sounding cough, but she was a lot more lively yesterday.  She's hoping that this is the last thing she can catch for a while.  

Most of Sunday was spent in the sewing room.  One of the goals this weekend was to get the binding made and sewn onto Evening Star.

I did get that far.  Trudy Lindemann did the quilting and it's gorgeous. More on that when the binding is done.  

Borders 1 and most of 2 were added to The Sofa Quilt. 

The Sofa Quilt

Pattern is Nicole's Sofa Quilt by Judy Laquidara

(available here)

The farther along this one gets, the more I like it.  So just 4.25 borders more before it's a finished flimsy.

Mon Ami has been a leaders and enders project for most of February.  A couple more blocks have been finished.    

Quilt of Valor
Modified from Mon Ami
by Miss Rosie's Quilt Company

Whoops, I didn't notice that I had that first blue block in the third row turned wrong.  I'll have to watch that when I start sewing these together.  That may be a while, I've got deadlines on several other quilts, so this one isn't taking priority at that moment.  

So that's what is up on my design wall this week.  See what else is in progress over at Judy's Patchwork Times.  

Design Wall Monday - February 18th

It was a  long, relaxing weekend. Some things got done around the house and there was time left over to get some sewing done.  A few other sewing room chores got done too.  I washed some fabric, pressed some other fabric and moved a few things so I could try out a new to me way to store fat quarters.  More on that tomorrow.  I also worked on my NewFO for February.  I've got the pattern worked out, some of the fabric cut, but didn't get enough of it cut so that I could make the first block.  Hopefully that will happen sometime this week.  

My big goal for February is to get The Sofa Quilt to the finished flimsy stage.  All the blocks are sewn together now and I can start adding on the 6 borders.  

The Sofa Quilt

Started June 27, 2012

Pattern is Nicole's Sofa Quilt by Judy Laquidara

(available here)

I'm really happy with how this one is turning out.  Though I'm a bit less thrilled with the the task of adding all those borders.  Looking at the practical side, that will burn up a lot of fabric.  OK maybe it won't be so bad after all.

Progress was also made on Calico Cats.

Calico Cats
Pattern is Fat Cats from the
The Quilter Magazine (July 2006)
by Lucy A. Fazely and Micheal L. Burns

Block 5 is done and block 6 has been started.  So I'm a quarter of the way along, only 15 more blocks to make.  It's been fun to see how each fabric works in the block. 

That's what's on my design wall.  To see others, check out Patchwork Times.  

Design Wall Monday - February 4th

Sunday was definitely a day of rest around here.  All three of us took naps in the afternoon.  My Guy is recovering from the flu (poor guy got sick when he was on a business trip last week).  Drama Teen is still working on getting back to full strength after her bout with the flu.  All three of us were involved with the Science fair this weekend, My Guy and I as judges and Drama Teen as a contestant. Then we had school auction which kept all of us out late, (DT babysat).  I signed on for clean up duty after the auction which kept me out late and then up early on Sunday.  After a morning spent breaking down tables and hauling chairs, I wasn't able to stay awake once I sat down.  

Needless to say, there wasn't a lot of sewing going on this weekend. I did pretty well during the week at getting in some sewing time.  I finally finished all the "B" blocks for The Sofa Quilt. 

Pattern is Nicole's Sofa Quilt by Judy Laquidara

(available here)

I like how this one is working out.  One of February's goals is to get this quilt to the finished flimsy stage.  I started squaring up the blocks this weekend, hopefully I'll get them all sewn together this week.  

I'm hoping for a slow, quite week where I have some time to take a peek at the other design walls posted over at Patchwork Times.   

2013 - The Year of the Finished Project: January

Lynn over at Never Too Hot to Stitch is determined to finish up her UFOs and WIPS by hosting "The Year of the Finished Project".

Since I only finished 3 quilts in 2012, but started 8, I obviously need a few more finishes this year.  So this challenge should be helpful in getting me there.  Lynn has set up some rules that she plans to use for herself and encourages participants to set up their own rules for the year long challenge.   So here's my goals for the challenge:

1.  Actively work on one UFO each month.  I don't have to finish one per month, just make progress on it.  The ultimate goal is to finish the two UFOs that have been on the list for more than 2 years.

2. Actively work on one of the quilts started in 2012.  Again, I don't have to finish it, just make progress on it.  I'd like to finish all 8 quilts started in 2012. 

Those are pretty simple goals, but with the crazy schedule around here, I need simple.  So what's on the list for January:

1.  Finish at least 5 Scrappy Star blocks.  This is my oldest UFO (started in 2003).  I've cleaned up my UFO list over the last couple of years, but this one is still around because it needed a lot of work to get completed.   When I pulled it off the shelf in 2012, it only had 3 blocks completed (48 are needed for the pattern).  I'm almost half way there. 

Pattern is Folk Art Christmas Stars

by Robyn Pandolph

 

2.  Finish the borders and backing for Evening Star, then get it shipped out for quilting.  This is one of the quilts started in 2012 and is the closest to being finished. 

Evening Star
Pattern from Calico Carriage
Designed by Debbie Maddy

3.  Complete all the "B" blocks for The Sofa Quilt.  That way this one will be ready for assembly, borders and backing in February. 

Pattern is Nicole's Sofa Quilt by Judy Laquidara

(available here)

 

That should be enough for the month of January.  

Monday Design Wall - December 31st

Happy New Year's Eve!  Hard to believe it's already the last day in 2012.  We don't have any plans for this evening.  We'll stay home, maybe watch a movie together, watch the ball drop and then go to bed. Not an exciting evening, but it works for us.  I'll probably get to stitch a bit as well. 

I've been on vacation since before Christmas, but holiday preparations kept me busy for about 3 days, then we spent about 5 days visiting family over the holidays.  Since last Friday, I've been able to sew for a bit each afternoon and have made a lot of progress on several projects.  I thought Evening Star was done, but then realized it still needed the borders added. 

Pattern from Calico Carriage
Designed by Debbie Maddy

More stars have been added to December UFO, Scrappy Stars.

Pattern is Folk Art Christmas Stars

by Robyn Pandolph

This is the oldest UFO on my list, dating from 2003.  This project will at the top of my "to do" list for 2013.

The Sofa Quilt has been a leaders and enders project for months now.  I finally got enough pieces made to complete a few more "block 2s". 

Pattern is Nicole's Sofa Quilt by Judy Laquidara

(available here)

 I like how this one is going together.  I'll continue to work on the blocks as a leaders and enders project, so progress will be slow, but at least there will be progress. 

That's it for my design wall this week.  It's been nice being off work.  The house is cleaner and my design walls are fuller.  To check out what else is showing up on design walls, click over to Patchwork Times.

Monday Design Wall - October 29th

The weekend was way shorter than normal. Working on Saturday really put a crimp in a number of things.  Thankfully, working on Saturday isn't something I have to do often.  I did take most of Sunday off, just spent some time on a bit of housework in the morning.  Quite a bit of sewing happened Sunday afternoon. 

Those half square triangles that were on the design wall last week are now being sewn together in sections. 

Evening Star
Pattern from Calico Carriage
Designed by Debbie Maddy

Section one is complete, section 2 is almost done.  This project goes together pretty fast.  If I get time in the sewing room this week, it could be pretty close to being a completed top by the end of next weekend.

Progress was also made on this month's UFO project.

 Scrappy Stars

Pattern is Folk Art Christmas Stars

by Robyn Pandolph

The pattern calls for 35 of these little stars. Not quite half way there yet. 

Remember the Sofa Quilt?  It's been my leaders and enders project for the last couple of months.  I'm finally getting enough pieces done to start assembling the "B" blocks.

The Sofa Quilt

Pattern is Nicole's Sofa Quilt by Judy Laquidara

(available here)

Hopefully by the time the Evening Star is together, all the "B" blocks will be done and then the Sofa Quilt can take center stage on the design wall. 

That's it for my design wall this week.  Now click on over to Patchwork Times to see what's decorating other sewing rooms. 

Monday Design Wall - October 1st

It's October. Why does typing that put just a bit of apprehension into my brain?  Is it because the year is almost over?  Or because the holidays are just a few weeks away?  Or is it the deadlines hanging over my head at work?  Hmmm. 

Moving on to more fun stuff, like what's up on the design wall.  I had a really productive week, having Friday off really helped.  The center row of the "B" block for the Sofa Quilt is done. 



Pattern is Nicole's Sofa Quilt by Judy Laquidara

(available here)

Next step is to cut and assemble the corner pieces needed for block B. 

Progress was also made on block 4 of the Grandmother's Choice BOW.   I'm not sure that one is going to turn out, but I'm not giving up yet.  Block 5 was a bit easier and it's done. 

Grandmother's Choice
Barbara Brackman BOW

There is a new project up on the design wall this week, Evening Star. 

Pattern is "Evening Star" from Calico Carriage
Designed by Debbie Maddy

That's probably about a quarter of the half square triangles needed for this project.  The HSTs make up fast, so I'm hoping to see some significant progress on this quilt over the week.  I'm really loving the various shades of purple with the white. 

Check out Judy's Patchwork Times to see what else is showing up on design walls. 

Design Wall Monday - September 24th

We weren't home most of the weekend.  Not a lot of sewing happened, so there is not anything new up on the design wall.  I have made progress on The Sofa Quilt.

I'm about halfway finished assembling the flying geese units. 

I've got the yen to start something new.  So while I didn't sew, I did pull out one of my PIGS and do a few mock ups in EQ to see exactly how I wanted to use the fabric.  At the moment, this is the front runner. 

Pattern is Evening Star from Calico Carriage
Desigend by Debbie Maddy

I considered adding some yellow, but Drama Teen liked the monochrome purple color scheme with white.  I do too.  So the real deal may start showing up on the design wall next week. 

Check out more productive quilters over at  Patchwork Times. 

Monday Design Wall - August 13th

Vacation is over, it's back to work today.  Nothing on my calender, so most of the day will be spent unpacking boxes as the Facilities guys moved my office while I was out.  Then I have to get serious about figuring out the new position.  I've worked in this group before, but in a very different role.  Change is good right? 

Since sewing is my stress reduction mechanism, there should be a lot of that going on in the next few weeks.  Not a lot of sewing happened while we were on vacation, but I did finish hand stitching a block for the Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt.

It's been a year since this project was up on the design wall.  I'm not loving this set of blocks, a change in strategy may be needed.  Or maybe it just gets finished as a small throw quilt after a couple more blocks are stitched.  

The sewing machine did get some use yesterday and all the "A" blocks for The Sofa Quilt are done.



Pattern is Nicole's Sofa Quilt by Judy Laquidara

(available here)

These blocks would make a pretty quilt all on their own.  Too bad there is not enough fabric to make a quilt of just these blocks.  The "B" blocks should get started tonight.  

The label was sewn to the Purple and Yellow quilt last night, but I didn't get it downstairs while there was enough light to get a good photo.  It should show up on the design wall next week. 

I'm linking up with Patchwork Times as usual this week.  I'm hoping to have time to check out some of the design walls this week.  We didn't have Internet in the cabin, so I had to wait till we went out for coffee to get my blog fixes last week.   

Design Wall Monday - August 6th

Weekends are just too short!  How can it be Monday again already?  Well, then again, most of my Sunday was taken up with travel, so that's probably a big factor.  I am starting the week with the laundry all caught up, too bad I'm not home to enjoy it.  Some sewing happened this weekend, but not near enough for my taste.  Then again, that always seems to be the case.

If you replace "weekends" with "July" and "Monday" with "August" in the first two sentences above, you'll see I'm in the same boat for the change in calendar pages.  Some sewing happened, but not nearly as much as I would like.  I didn't finish my UFO for the quarter that ended in July.  I've been working on the Red, White and Blue Stars quilt for the last 3 months.  Block 7 was finished this week.

When I pulled this project out of the box three months ago, there was only one finished block.  Now the project is about half done.

This quilt needs another 6 blocks before it can be set together, plus it will also need a set of "B" blocks made based on the setting I'm considering.  Maybe I'll get back to this project later in the year.  If not, it will be there for next year's UFO challenge.  As much as I would have liked to have finished it, it's enough that significant progress was made. 

Work continues on the The Sofa Quilt.

Pattern is Nicole's Sofa Quilt by Judy Laquidara

(available here)

Half of the "A" blocks have been assembled.  So far I'm happy with the color choices and how the blocks look.  I'm having some doubts about the colors selected for the "B" block.  There may be a bit of fabric auditioning going on before I start those blocks.  Not a bad week in terms of design wall progress.  The Sweet Treat blocks did have to come off the design wall to make room for The Sofa Quilt blocks.  Not sure when I'll get back to the Sweet Treat project, hopefully before it ends up on the UFO list. 

I'm linking up with Judy over at Patchwork Times (I hope anyway).  I'm actually on the road this week.  Internet access is spotty and even if I have access, there may not be time to post.  I do hope to find some time (and access) to check out at least a few of the design walls before the week is out.