Design Wall Monday and Grand Illusion Progress

The last weekend of vacation wasn't what I had planned.  Most of it was spent either in the recliner or in bed dealing with some sort of sinus crud.  I didn't feel like doing much of anything, so not a lot of stitching got done.  Consequently, there's not much to show for progress on Grand Illusion.  

One row of sashing is partially assembled and two blocks were completed.  I've got a lot of the sub units done, but just didn't get them sewn into blocks as yet.  My version needs a lot more work before it's even close to being a finished flimsy.  

I'm looking forward to seeing how everyone's Grand Illusion projects worked out.  I'm linking up with Bonnie over at Quiltville and with Judy at Patchwork Times for the regular design wall Monday posts.  

First Stash Report of 2015

We live in a small town.  It's a company town, most of our neighbors either work for the same company we do or the other big company in town.  For the most part we're pretty urban, it's not a farming community which is more typical in rural Oklahoma.  So it was rather surprising when one day Drama Teen stated that she'd seen a chicken running down the street.  We gave her grief for the next week or so, till we saw a group of neighborhood men chasing something through the neighborhood with a net.

There really was a rooster running the streets.  Animal Control came out and we thought that was the end of it.  But the rooster is back.  He likes our rose bushes and can often be found hiding out in them during the day.  Drama Teen has dubbed him Roger.   Not sure where he came from, but the neighborhood seems to have adapted to his presence.  His crowing is the first thing we hear in the morning.  Adds a unique ambiance to the neighborhood.

Moving on to the real topic of this post, I do have a stash report this week. The outgoing and incoming was reset to zero on January 1, so this week I've only got 3 days of stash usage to report.

Used year to date:  0.72 yards

I'm going to stick with just reporting the outgoing as I did the end of last year.  I way over did on the incoming last year, so I'm on a strict fabric diet this year, so there should be nothing to report on the incoming anyway.   Besides with 22 quilts on my "in progress" list, it's time to finish off a few quilts. So there aren't plans to start many quilts this year.   

I'm linking up with Patchwork Times weekly stash report.  Check out all the links there to see how happy everyone is that the stash meter has been reset for 2015.  

Rainbow Scrap Challenge - Beginning Again

I've been off work the last two weeks.  There was a lot of Christmas prep in the days before the holiday, but the last week has been mainly about de-cluttering the house, with a goodly amount of stitching thrown in.  It's been nice.  That all ends on Monday, but I still have two days to enjoy before then.

After spending what seemed like an eternity pressing the background fabric, I was able to start cutting out the pieces for this year's Rainbow Scrap Challenge block.  Searching through the blue 2.5 and 1.5 strips cut last year, I found 4 strips that were long enough to make the friendship star centers, but I've only finished two of those so far. 

You may recognize this block as one of the sampler blocks Angela included in the 2014 Rainbow Scrap Sampler.  It's called Twinkle Star and her tutorial for making it can be found here.  I added the corner triangles to make a secondary pattern when the blocks are all put together.  Otherwise there is just too much background.  So far I'm loving these blocks.  

The plan is to make 80 of these 6" finished blocks in 2015 to allow for an 8 by 10 layout in the final quilt.  That means I'll need to make 6 to 7 of these blocks each month.  Three blocks will probably be made using just the color of the month.  The remaining 3 or 4 will use another color as the sawtooth star points.  I had played with the idea of choosing those accent color based on schemes from the color wheel. One would use the complimentary color (for blue that's orange), another would use an analogous color (like green) and so on. But since variety is what I'm going for, a random approach will work just fine. 

I'm going to grab a second cup of coffee and then hop over to Soscrappy to check out all the new Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects for 2105.  

January Project for A Lovely Year Of Finishes

After reviewing my quilting project list the other day, I discovered my UFO list had blossomed from a low of 4 in 2012 to what I suspect is an all time high of 16 at the end of 2014.  I can lay the blame for the quadrupled numbers on a bad case of startitis in 2013 aided and abetted by Cat Patches" seductive NewFO challenge.  What quilter can resist a challenge that only requires you start a new project and not have to finish it?  Well if there is one, it definitely wasn't me.  It was a really fun challenge and it helped me start some projects that were on my bucket list.  But with a total of 21 projects on my list, it's really time to start finishing up a few of those UFOs and WIPs.  

Kathy, who blogs at Kathy's Quilts, regularly linked up with a Lovely Year of Finishes sponsored by Melissa of Sew Bittersweet Designs and Shanna of Fiber of All Sorts as one way to motivate herself to finish up projects on her UFO list.  So this year, I'm going to play along in hopes it will help me get to the finish line on a few quilts.  

For January, the plan is to get all the blocks for the 2014 Rainbow Scrap Challenge Sampler set together.  

 Rainbow Scrap Challenge Sampler
By Angela Feldbush of Soscrappy

That should be doable this month. There are just two more rows of blocks to square up and then add the sashing.  I've got a good idea what to do for the borders.  So there is no reason why this project can't be a finished flimsy by the end of the month.   

2015: Wishful Thinking Again

Happy New Year!  My Guy and I toasted each other with a glass of champagne followed by a kiss.  Hope your New Year's celebration was full of good cheer.  

Have you made plans for 2015?  I've spent the last few days contemplating what my focus should be in the sewing room for the next 12 months. 

Quilt Goals
1.  Finish 9 quilts in 2015, 5 UFOs and 4 2014 WIPs.  
          The quilts on the "to be finished" list have been added to the
          tab above labeled "2015 Quilt Plan". My plan is to link up
          with a Lovely Year of Finishes each month in hopes that will
          keep me motivated.

2.  Start 5 new quilts this year.
            A new scrap challenge quilt - Twinkle Stars
            The Bonnie Hunter Mystery when it comes out
            Three quilts to be given to DT's friends at graduation in
                  spring 2017.  If I start now, I might just finish all 6 by
                  graduation.

3.  Use stash fabrics in any new quilts, minimize buying new
                 fabrics
     Use 50 yards of fabric during the year

4.  Spend at least 15 minutes a week working on hand stitching
           projects.  

That's it for the stitching related goals. The sewing room needs some clean up.  I need to put up all the Christmas wrapping stuff that's under the sewing table and deal with a few piles of scraps that are hard to see in the photo.    

Plus the stash closet needs a bit of work as well.

The shelf on the left is nicely organized, but the shelf at the back still needs some work.  All the fabric in the floor needs to be washed and/or pressed.   No specific goals in these areas, but I'm hoping to make some progress in both areas over the course of the year.  

I do have plans to work on my photography skills this year as well.  So you'll see a few more photography related posts in 2015.  The last and least favorite improvement area is to take better care of myself, which means making some big changes to my exercise habits and diet.  Those are by far the hardest goals to adhere to as the year goes on, but it's past time I made some changes.  

For today, the plan is to work on the Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt this afternoon since she did the big reveal at midnight last night. Wishing you and yours a very happy 2015.