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.  

Managing the UFO List

At the end of 2016, there were 17 quilts on my UFO list.  To be honest, that number hasn't changed much the last 3 or 4 years. When looking at what I wanted to accomplish this year in the sewing room, number one priority was to get the graduation quilts done before graduation.  Mission accomplished there (and it felt so good).  That took pretty much the first half of the year.  For the last half of the year, getting projects off the UFO list is the goal.  Participating in Patchwork Times' UFO-2017 challenge was one way to encourage me in that endeavor.  

I played pretty fast and loose with the challenge the first part of the year, as you can tell by how marked up the 2017 Quilt Plan is.  In order to get the graduation quilts done, I did a lot of substituting of one quilt for another.  But in May, I did start working on those UFOs.  The May UFO was Christmas Angels.  

It's still not done, but now only 3 of the angel blocks still need their borders.  This one should be ready to sew the blocks into rows in the next week or so.  

The June UFO was Blooms and Butterflies.  It just needs binding.

That is in progress.  

The July UFO was Scrappy Coffee Cups.  These blocks needed a setting before this UFO could move along.  

July was a good month, not only did the a final setting get decided on, but all the rows are sewn together and the sashings added. August's One Monthly Goal is to get this project into a finished flimsy. 

So that brings me to the August UFO.  This project dates from 2005, it's the oldest on my UFO list.  

These blocks started in a technique class focused on making these stars.  Initially there wasn't a plan other than making a red, white and blue quilt.  There are 7 blocks completed, but there is still no final setting plan.  With 5 projects working at the sewing machine, I don't won't to add another.  More than 5 projects and progress on each project slows to a crawl.  There will one weekend this month away from the sewing room, but I will have my computer.  So maybe it's time to come up with a final setting for these blocks so the next time they come up in rotation, I know exactly what's left to do.  

No that will not move that last UFO to completion this year, but my goal was to make progress on each project on the list, not necessarily get them all finished. 

Linking up with Needle and Thread Thursday over at My Quilt Infatuation.   

One Monthly Goal - January's Completed

I don't normally draft blog posts this late, but the head cold that materialized out of nowhere this morning isn't letting me sleep. I might as well do something to keep my mind off the fact I'm not sleeping.   That's why I was sewing this evening, I was tired of sitting in the recliner trying to nap.  At least stitching took my mind off the worst of the cold symptoms.  (I don't usually get sick this often, this winter has been very unkind to my immune system).  

Part of my 2016 goals is to finish 8 quilts this year.  The most I've ever finished is 7, so it's going to take extraordinary measures to be successful this year.  So I decided to join Heidi of Red Letter Quilts in picking One Monthly Goal. January's goal was to finish piecing the McCall's Mystery Quilt and piece a back.  The mystery quilt was a finished flimsy on January 16th. 

McCall's Mystery Quilt, From McCall's Quilting Magazine
Jan/Feb, April/May, June/July 2012 issues

The plan was to use the focus fabric as the backing.  But this was a much bigger quilt than I expected and there wasn't enough of the yellow and blue teapot fabric to make the whole back.  An old tone on tone pink was the best option to fill out the backing.  After a few problems with the quilt math, the back was finally finished this evening.  

There are still 2 days in January, so I finished my goal just a tad early.  After a bit of pressing and de-threading this quilt will be ready to go out for quilting. But that's on next month's list of things to do.  

I'm linking up with Heidi's end of the month One Monthly Goal linky party.  You can hop over there to check out all the other finished goals.   

January - One Monthly Goal

One advantage to the extended holiday vacation this year has been having time to explore a new blogs via both end of the year linky parties and checking out the blogs of those who comment on this blog.  That's how I found Heidi of Red Letter Quilts.  Heidi has started One Monthly Goal to fill the hole left by the retirement of A Lovely Year of Finishes. 

The requirement is to select one quilt related goal and finish it by the end of the month.  It doesn't have to be a finish. That's always my problem it's rare that I can finish a quilt in a month.  Since I have 8 quilts and plans to start 7, having a monthly linky where I have to show some accountability usually helps with my motivation.  So I'm going to give it a try. 


So for January, my goal is to get McCall's Mystery ready for to send out for quilting. The center is all assembled. 

McCall's Mystery Quilt, From McCall's Quilting Magazine
Jan/Feb, April/May, June/July 2012 issues

Now it just needs the borders pieced and attached, as well as the backing pieced before it can go out to be quilted.  So that's my one monthly goal for January.  

You can check out the rules, the giveaway and the other one montly goal posts over at Red Letter Quilts.    

WIPs - Bordering on Another Finish

It's been slow, but steady progress in the sewing room.  Most of my stitching time comes on the weekends, but I do manage a few minutes here and there during the week to pin and then stitch a few seams.  I spent a few minutes to cut the strips for the next round of borders for Back to Square One.  The log cabin/star borders are all assembled and attached. 

 Back to Square One by Judy Laquidara (pattern available here)

With the addition of the last round of borders, it's now too big for the design wall.  The purple fabric looks almost black in this photo, I just couldn't get the lighting right to get the true color. The quilt is actually much brighter in real life.   All that's left is a narrow purple border followed by a dark blue border.  Borders always take longer than I think they will, so it will probably be the end of next week before this one is finished.  

Progress continues on the Square in a Square blocks for the Midnight Mystery quilt.  I should have all those blocks finished in time to start on October's clue when it is issued.  I still need to trim up the Layer Cake Quilt Along project and make the binding so I can finish it.  I did come up with a better another name for that project, I'll share that when the quilt is finished. The current plan is to get  Back to Square One sent out for quilting before finishing off the Layer Cake project.  That's assuming I have backing fabric for BTSO. So locating the backing fabric I think is in the stash also goes on the to do list.  

Linking up with WIP Wednesday, WIPS on Wednesday and Needle and Thread Thursday.  

Weekend Stitching - On the Way to a Finish

It was a wonderful three day weekend, which makes it so much harder to go back to work today.  Add in that I've picked up a new project at work with a tight deadline and it's doubly hard to want to go into work.  Since I have to work to support my fabric habit, I will eventually head into the office this morning, but I really don't want to.  

Having a whole day devoted to stitching made a big impact on moving one UFO closer to being off the list.  The back for the Layer Cake Quilt Along project was finished off Saturday.  

Sorry it's not a great photo.  This back and the previously finished flimsy are all de-threaded, pressed and packaged for mailing.  So the LCQA project will soon be finished and off the UFO list.  The backing used up the rest of the layer cake.  The black tone on tone used for the sashing and borders was the left overs from the back made for OSU quilt.  I think there is enough of it left to make a binding for the LCQA. So this finish moves some of the older stash fabrics into the used category.  

With LCQA headed out for quilting, I can pull another UFO from the list. The choice isn't hard.  I need a Christmas gift for a very special family that hosted Drama Teen and I for a week this summer.  Back to Square One will look great in their living room.

UFO: Back to Square One
by Judy Laquidara (pattern available here)

I haven't worked on this project since December of 2013, so it's definitely time to finish this one up.  I've got the log cabin blocks done, but need to make 9 star blocks before I can start assembling the next round of borders.  

Linking up this week with Design Wall Monday, Monday Making, and Main Crush Monday.  Check out all the fun projects posted on those three blogs.  

UFO Parade

Patchwork Times suggested a UFO parade to take our minds off tax day here in the US.  I haven't really looked at what's on my UFO list in a bit or what stage they are all at.  Back in 2010 I had 9 UFOs on my list.  By the start of 2012, I was down to only 2.  Not bad progress in two years.  But the numbers have crept up again.  I define UFOs as projects that are older than 1 year.  Any thing newer is a WIP.  So what's on my UFO list?  

Scrappy Stars

Pattern is Folk Art Christmas Stars by Robyn Pandolph

Started November 2003

Scrappy Stars still needs 16 star blocks made before I can start setting it together. 

Red, White and Blue Stars

Started April 2005

Another 5 stars, plus 12 nine patch blocks are needed to finish the RWB Stars project.  

Grandmother's Flower Garden

Started in September 2007

I've completely stalled on the GFG quilt.  It was started as a take along project when Drama Teen had 2 hour soccer practices.  I've since rediscovered embroidery and I've been working on that as my travel project. 

Moose on the Porch

Layer Cake Quilt Along

Started November 6, 2010

I held off on sending The Layer Cake Quilt Along flimsy out for quilting so I could use it as a practice piece for learning to quilt on my new frame (which is still in boxes). 

McCall's Mystery QuiltFrom McCall's Quilting Magazine Jan/Feb, April/May issuesStarted 1/20/2012

Only parts 1 and 2 of the mystery were completed, the fabric never got cut for parts 3 and 4.  

Scrappy Coffee Cups
Block patterns from Karen F. Srebro and Janet McCarroll
published in Block Magic and Block Magic Too by Nancy Johnson-Srebro
Started 2/27/2012

Scrappy Coffee Cups was last year's Rainbow Scrap Challenge project.  I need to pick fabrics for the sashing and borders.  

Just 6 projects on my current UFO list, so the upward creep isn't too bad.  The oldest is approaching the 10 year mark.  I'd been working on it as a leaders and enders project, but then this year I set myself a May deadline on a few quilts, so it got put away.  My goal this year was to finish it (Scrappy Stars) and the RWB Stars as they are the two oldest on the list.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the Grandmother's Flower Garden Blocks.  I'm not sure I like how that project is turning out.  It will probably sit on the back burner till next year when it becomes the oldest quilt on the list.  

That's my parade of UFOs.  Check out all the links over at Patchwork Times for more UFO displays.  

Where Do PIGS and UFOs Come From?

We survived the storm of 2011.  Not sure we can get out of the house due to all the drifts in front of the doors, but we are warm and dry.  Despite the snow and the high winds, we've didn't loose power, though it did flicker a few times yesterday.  No school today, work is opening at 11:00 AM and closing at 4:00 PM.  We have the option to work from home with supervisor approval.  I'm going to check on that option, my office will be an ice box in this cold (it's all windows).  I'd get more done from home! 



http://jillquilts.blogspot.com/2011/01/year-of-pigs.html

 
Moving on to today's topic, PIGS and UFOs.  Jill over at Ramblings of a Fabric and Yarn Obsessor has challenged us to share why projects became UFOs and how enticing pattern/fabric combos morphed into PIGS. So how is a UFO or a PIGS created in my sewing room?  

The number one activity that results in the creation of UFOs in my sewing room is taking quilting classes.  When I first started quilting, I was lucky enough to live in a town with a quilt shop that offered great classes.  And I took a lot of them.  I wouldn't finish one class project before I started a new class project.  Before I knew it, I had 4 or 5 projects that I'd started but didn't have time to finish.  Maybe it's a good thing I moved, or my UFO list would be a lot longer! 




http://moosequilts.blogspot.com/2010/09/layer-cake-quilt-along-2010.html

The other UFO generator is Block of the Month programs.  I love BOMs and typically do a really good job of keeping up with the monthly assignments, but once the program is over I have to decide what to do with the blocks.  Designing a final setting that I really like can take me a year or more. 

Most of my PIGS came about because I was in the middle of other projects that I wanted to finish before I started on that bundle of new fabric.  Here and there I've had projects with definite due dates, so those got started and completed before I dug into my pile of PIGS for the next new project. 

That's where my UFOs and PIGS come from.  With the move to OK in 2006, I don't have the opportunity to take classes like I did, so my UFO list is gradually shrinking.  Since I've been on a "No New Fabric" binge since last October, I've not accumulated any new PIGS. 

How about you?   Do you know where your UFOs and PIGS come from?   Jump over to Jill's and check out other original stories about where UFOs come from. 

Quilting ABCs: PIGS, UFOs (PhDs) and WIPs

Jill over at Ramblings of a Fabric and Yarn Obsessor, has proposed a Year of the PIGS support group. All you have to do is answer a question twice a month and share your deepest, darkest secrets about your PIGS and UFOs.  Well maybe not those kinds of secrets, but tips and techniques you've found to tame all those PIGS which are hogging shelf space in your closet.   (PIGS are Projects in Grocery Sacks.  Those projects you have the pattern and the fabric, but stalled on start up). 

Jill's question for this week is "How do you store your UFOs and PIGS separate from your fabric stash?"  

I use various storage containers for PIGS, UFOs and WIPs.



The top bin with the vinyl window contains all the purple and yellow fat quarters that are being used for the purple and yellow scrap quilt (a WIP/UFO).  The little yellow sticky note tells me what project the fat quarters are associated with. The bottom gray container has the patterns and fabric for 5 or 6 PIGS.  Both of these containers reside at the back of my sewing room closet.  I use the same gray containers for some of my fabric stash. 

These "Super Satchels" are stored on a shelf in the sewing room closet. They contain UFOs and PIGS.  You know, out of sight, out of mind?  All the fabric associated with a project is in these satchels. One of the UFOs has more than one satchel for that reason.   

Here is the one PIGS that is actually in a sack of sorts.  It's one of those Minky strip quilts and it stays in the bag so as not to shed all over the other projects. 

I have more satchels which sit on the chest in the sewing room.  These are the WIPs and UFOs that I'm actively working on.  Once I finish sewing the binding on a quilt, I empty out the satchel.  Extra yardage gets rolled back into the stash.  Scraps go into my scrap bin.  I don't do any preparation of the scraps, but I'm going to start cutting the smaller scraps into squares, strips and bricks for scrap projects this year.  The recently vacated satchel usually has a new project in it within a day or too, so they don't stay empty for long. 

So that's how I store all my past, present and future projects.  Check out Jill's post to see other storage solutions. 

Design Wall Monday - November 22nd

Not much sewing this weekend due to kiddo's out of town swim meet.  She did well, taking time off almost every event she swam.  We also had the opportunity to see my Mom and Sister for dinner on Saturday, which was nice since we are spending Thanksgiving with my in-laws. 

So what's up on the design wall?  The Seeing Stars BOM is still up and so is the purple/yellow scrap quilt.  But no progress to show on either of those projects.  Last weekend I made the binding for the a mystery quilt I ordered from  Homespun Hearth in Monument, CO.  They have a quarterly mystery quilt program called Agatha & Sherlock's Quilter's Mystery of the Week.  I ordered one of the kits last year and had a lot of fun with it.  I'm still hand sewing the binding to the back of the quilt.  Hopefully I'll get that done this week and I'll be able to post about a finish which takes one more quilt off the UFO list! 

I decided on my fabrics for the Layer Cake Quilt Along going on over at Moose on the Porch Quilts.  The squares are all cut, so hopefully that block will come together tonight. 

The pattern calls for 4 colors, but I couldn't make that work with the layer cake I'm using, so I decided to just use two fabrics.  \It's a good thing they don't give grades for these blocks because the block definitely will not look like the one given with the instructions! 

Check out all the other design walls over at Judy's Patchwork Times. 

Off to Be Quilted

The 2008 BOM top was sent off yesterday to be quilted by the very talented lady at Keep'in You in Stitches.  Over the last week, I posted the story behind this top (here and here).  For some reason getting this sewn together seem to stretch out forever!  Maybe it was that I didn't just sash this one, but actually added other pieced blocks?  Here is the completed top. 

Other than a couple of UFOs that need to be bound, I think this is the last quilt from the UFO list I'm going to tackle this year.  I'd like to spend time catching up on some current BOMs, plus some time working on new projects. 

What are you going to work on for the rest of the year?  Meeting your UFO goals, finishing Christmas gifts, or non quilting stuff? 

New Project Lust (Or How to Update Your UFO List)

I've been a really good girl this year in terms of quilt finishes.  I've finished all the new projects I started (well not quite, I still need to bind the one day mystery quilt from back in July, but I'll get there).  The other two projects I started this year are BOM's, so those are WIP's in my book.  Plus, I finished up 5 quilts from my UFO list, including the two oldest from 2001 and 2002.  I'm ready to start something new!

It's like I've been on a new quilt diet. You know how that works, no new projects till you clean out the old.  But now I want to do everything!  I've already pulled fabric for the Layer Cake Quilt Along over at Moose on a Porch Quilts (fabric choices are here).  Now Judy over at Patchwork Times is starting a mystery quilt on Oct 19th.  Bonnie Hunter is starting also starting a new mystery quilt called Cotton on Nov 19th.  I also have a couple of quilts that I've been working in EQ7, an Asian theme for my niece (fabric choices posted here) and some designs for an Oklahoma State University themed quilt to donate to the kiddo's school auction.  I do have a day job and the Holiday's are coming up!  Decisions, decisions!  I really, really want to do all of them! 

Well it's time to go to work, I'll have to contemplate the future of my sewing life another time. 

Design Wall Monday - September 27th

The 2008 BOM project is still up on the design wall (well the floor actually).  I  determined the final layout and started sewing it together.  I almost have all the rows sewn together.  I still need to cut and piece the borders, but hopefully I'll get this all assembled next weekend. 

I think it's time to start something new after this quilt goes off to be be quilted.  I've completed 5 quilts from the UFO list this year and that has made a significant reduction in the numbers.  Plus I have all those new blenders I've been buying so maybe a stash busting project is in order.   Still uncertain if I'll make a quilt for my daughter's teacher who is leaving.  I don't think I have enough time to actually finish something by the end of October.   

See what everyone else has on their design walls over at Judy's Patchwork Times.

The Trouble with BOMs

My local quilt shop doesn't offer a lot of night classes, but for 2 years they did offer a monthly BOM on Thursday nights.  The last BOM series called for us to bring in a brown paper bag containing at least 2 to 3 yards of at least 2 different fabrics to the first meeting.  We then went home that night with someone's bag of fabric with instructions to make a block that finished to 12".  I decided to make a practice block out of my own fabric before I cut into the fabric in the bag. 

So thus was born my second BOM for that year.  I chose a second set of fabric to make these "practice" blocks from.  I decided to pick only blocks that had a center square in them and worked my way up from simpler blocks to blocks with lots of pieces in them by the end of the year.  It was interesting to see how my fabric choices looked compared to the fabrics in the bag of the month.  Talk about a lesson in color theory.  The bags contained everything from just black and white, 1930 reproduction fabrics, bright\ yellow with orange, to one bag that had only white, solid blue and a black with blue print. 

This was in 2008 and I've been trying to figure out how to set my "practice" blocks so I can finish the quilt.  I've been playing around with designs over the last 2 years.  Here's what I've come up with:

Version A

Version B

Version C

Version D























I'm pretty sure I know which layout I want to use.  Which one do you like?

Is There Method to the Madness?

About a year ago I came to a startling revelation, I had only finsihed 1 quilt a year for the previous 3 years.  In 2005, I finished 4 quilts in that year alone.  I also noted that not only was I not finishing quilts, I wasn't starting any new projects either.  After looking at my "data" (sorry day job jargon) which consisted of my journal of completed quilts and my newly completed list of UFO's, I came to a couple of conclusions:

1.  I had a lot of UFO's just sitting in the closet
2.  I hadn't taken a quilting class in almost 3 years

Obviously I needed some "stretch" goals (again day job jargon).  The UFO's were the easiest to deal with.  I had just joined "Karen's UFO Quilt Along" at Connecting Threads "Quilt With Us" community.  Picked up a lot of tips on how to deal with all my UFO's, plus joined their monthly challenge where we had to commit to what we were going to work on each month.  My commitment was to work on a UFO for the first 15 minutes of any sewing session.  I finished 2 UFO's by the end of the year. 

Starting new projects was a bit harder.  There were only a couple of occassions where I started a project on my own, most of my quilts were the direct result of a class.  Why wasn't I taking classes?  Well we moved in 2006 from a community with a quilt shop that had a lot of evening and Saturday classes to a community with a quilt shop that didn't offer many evening or Saturday classes.   My goal was to find an alternative to the quilt shop classes.  I ended up finding an on-line shop that offered a mystery quilt program.  I also signed up for one of the quilt shop's few Saturday class, but the class didn't make so they canceled it.  So I just pretended that Saturday the class was at my house and started the quilt on my own.  I didn't finish either of the new projects till this year, but I at least was feeding the project pipeline (there's that job jargon again). 

I ended up with 3 finished quilts for 2009.  Which was 2 more than the previous few years.  That was when I realized the value of goals for my quilting life.  If I didn't think and plan what I wanted to get done, I wasn't going to find the time to do anything.  So on January 1st this year, I wrote up my quilting goals for the year.  Does it make a difference?  Well to date for 2010, I've finished 6 quilts (5 of those were UFO's),  have one quilt that just needs to be bound, just shipped off a completed top to be quilted, and have 3 active projects on my design wall.  So for me it made a big difference. 

Do goals work for you?  If not, how do you motivate yourself to finish UFO's and start projects for you own pipeline?