Thursday, July 4, 2013
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
July - 2013 Year of the Finished Project
It's time to link up with Lynn over at Never Too Hot to Stitch and confess how well things are going with the year of the finished project. June was a really good month for me on the finishing front.
June
1. OSU Quilt Done
Finish binding
2. Sweet Treats Done
Make binding
Sew binding on
3. Calico Cats Done
Make Binding
Sew Binding On
4. Neutral Gems
Make 23 blocks Only 9 blocks completed
5. Mon Ami
Make 12 blocks Only 3 blocks completed
Three quilts were finished last month, bringing my 2013 total up to five completed quilts. Only two of those were quilts started last year, three of them were recent starts. At least that's three quilts that will not be on next year's UFO list. I'm pretty happy with how the finishes are going. I hope to get one or two more done by the end of the year, but I'm not going to rush to get them.
So what are the goals for July? We have a busy month with a lot of family stuff on the weekends, which is my prime sewing time. I finished up all of the quilts that I had deadlines on, I'm thinking that it might be wise to lay back a little bit this month. So just three goals this month.
July
1. Back to Square One
Finish Clue 4
Finish Clue 5
Finish Clue 6
Finish Clue 7
2. Mon Ami
Make 3 blocks
3. Neutral Gems
Make 5 blocks
Number 1 is a pretty ambitious goal, but it's good to have at least one "stretch goal". Hopefully it will inspire me to keep a regular presence in the sewing room this month.
So what are planning to work on that might get you closer to a finish on a project? Link up over at Lynn's if you want to bask in your success or if you need moral support it's a good place for that as well.
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
15 Minute Challenge - Does it Help?
After yesterday, we are officially in the second half of the year. I didn't have any goals for the 15 minute challenge, other than to just continue it. But now that we've passed the mid year mark, I thought I'd take a cue from my employer and do a mid year review to see where I'm at, then check if there are any adjustments to be made. I'm one of those sick individuals who adores spreadsheets. I track all kinds of things, like how many days I manage to find my 15 minutes each month.
So far, I've found 15 minutes to sew a total of 155 days. By this time last year, I'd only managed 92 days. That translates into finishing 5 quilts, when I only finished 3 all of last year. If I finish just 2 more, I'll tie my record.
Fabric usage is up too (which with the stash I have, is really good news).
So I'm on track for a record year on the fabric usage front. Now that I've finished those 5 quilts that were on my to do list, there are no firm plans for any finishes. I'm just going to try to keep getting at least 15 minutes most days and see what happens. I was a bit lax this week.
Only 5 days out of the last 7 days saw any action in the sewing room. Which really isn't bad. I don't remember why I bailed on Friday. Last night I decided to indulge one of my other creative endeavors, I took a walk with My Guy so we could photograph some of the wildflowers growing in the open fields near us.
Speaking of creative endeavors, it's a new month. That means a new fostering creativity theme. The next tip in the 12 Step Guide to Fostering Your Creativity is to get involved in a good cause. Spending time supporting a worthy cause and working with people who appreciate your efforts can go a long way towards making you feel good about yourself and what you are doing. I always feel way more productive and am encouraged to try more things when there are positive vibes in my brain. That's always a nice boost to creativity.
We'll talk more next week about worthy causes. But now it's time for you to link up and share your quilty/crafty adventures over the last week.
So far, I've found 15 minutes to sew a total of 155 days. By this time last year, I'd only managed 92 days. That translates into finishing 5 quilts, when I only finished 3 all of last year. If I finish just 2 more, I'll tie my record.
Fabric usage is up too (which with the stash I have, is really good news).
So I'm on track for a record year on the fabric usage front. Now that I've finished those 5 quilts that were on my to do list, there are no firm plans for any finishes. I'm just going to try to keep getting at least 15 minutes most days and see what happens. I was a bit lax this week.
Only 5 days out of the last 7 days saw any action in the sewing room. Which really isn't bad. I don't remember why I bailed on Friday. Last night I decided to indulge one of my other creative endeavors, I took a walk with My Guy so we could photograph some of the wildflowers growing in the open fields near us.
Speaking of creative endeavors, it's a new month. That means a new fostering creativity theme. The next tip in the 12 Step Guide to Fostering Your Creativity is to get involved in a good cause. Spending time supporting a worthy cause and working with people who appreciate your efforts can go a long way towards making you feel good about yourself and what you are doing. I always feel way more productive and am encouraged to try more things when there are positive vibes in my brain. That's always a nice boost to creativity.
We'll talk more next week about worthy causes. But now it's time for you to link up and share your quilty/crafty adventures over the last week.
| 1. Pat 2. Julie in GA | 3. Susanne 4. Marti | 5. Kate @katiemaequilts |
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Monday, July 1, 2013
Design Wall Monday - July 1st
It's Monday again. Weekends really are too short. Oh well, I can look forward to this week. Just three days of work and then a 4 day weekend due to the 4th of July holiday. I'm looking forward to having a few days off. I'm sure there will be some stitching time in there somewhere.
Most of this week was spent on getting the binding sewn onto the Calico Cats quilt, so there's not a big change on the design wall. However, I did get Calico Cats finished off this weekend.
This quilt has been on my bucket list since I saw it in the July 2006 issue of The Quilter Magazine. The original pattern was done in black, white and red. I immediately wanted to make it blue, with delicate florals for the cats. I'm happy with how it turned out. Trudy Lindemann did a beautiful job with the quilting.
Drama Teen adores the "meows" that show up randomly in the meander. The binding is the same dark blue as the outer border.
The backing is a yellow/blue/green wide floral stripe. It doesn't match the front real well in color, but it works.
This was finish number 5 for 2013. Calico Cat's is the last of those 5 quilts I was trying to finish by the end of May. I was just one month late. Which was fine. Even though it was late, it's new owner was still pleased with it.
That's it for my design wall this week. Hopefully next week I'll actually have enough new stuff up on the design wall so it's worth posting pictures. Check out Patchwork Times to see what else is in the works.
Most of this week was spent on getting the binding sewn onto the Calico Cats quilt, so there's not a big change on the design wall. However, I did get Calico Cats finished off this weekend.
 |
| Calico Cats Pattern is Fat Cats from the The Quilter Magazine (July 2006) by Lucy A. Fazely and Micheal L. Burns |
Drama Teen adores the "meows" that show up randomly in the meander. The binding is the same dark blue as the outer border.
The backing is a yellow/blue/green wide floral stripe. It doesn't match the front real well in color, but it works.
This was finish number 5 for 2013. Calico Cat's is the last of those 5 quilts I was trying to finish by the end of May. I was just one month late. Which was fine. Even though it was late, it's new owner was still pleased with it.
That's it for my design wall this week. Hopefully next week I'll actually have enough new stuff up on the design wall so it's worth posting pictures. Check out Patchwork Times to see what else is in the works.
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