Quilting in the old year...and the new

At the start of the New Year, a lot of people are looking back at what they acheived in the previous year and making plans for the next year. I try not to make my plans too specific, especially now that I am working full time again and don't have nearly so much time for sewing, but it's nice to at least do a re-cap of a bit of the stuff one has accomplished, and look forward to the next year as well. Especially if you don't commit yourself specifically to too many tricky projects!

So, first things first - a recap of the quilts I finished this year...

From the top left - a quilt for a friend's 75th birthday, a comfort quilt for a friend undergoing cancer treatment, a baby quilt for a raffle prize for a fundraiser for my local library, a baby quilt for my new niece.  Second row: wedding quilt for Olivia's flute teacher, wedding present for friends, baby quilt for neighbour (not quite finished - binding needs sewing down, baby due in January, but I needed another quilt for the mosaic), baby quilt for colleague at work.

Third row: Christmas quilt for myself, 60th birthday quilt for my brother-in-law, 20 year present for a colleague of Geoff's who we know well; cat quilt for my mother.

I also made a load of quilt tops for charity (and a few to tuck away for future use, though not many of those). If you want to see those, you can look under the Project Linus tab at the top. 

In the new year, I hope to get some more quilts longarm quilted (actually, there's one with the longarmer at the moment) though I'm not sure if I'll have so many specific occasions for the quilts - maybe just a few to keep and a few to put away as spares...  I do have one baby quilt that I know of coming up - and I'm sure there will be more, as there usually are (though last year was a lot less full of babies than the year before). I've offered a small quilt to the Scouts for fundraising as well, so if they want that one, that will be another baby quilt to make.   Or rather, to quilt up from the stash of tops I have tucked away!

And as for personal quilting goals - well, I'm not really making any, though I want to make a quilt for my own quilt swap (Another Little Quilt Swap 8) and take part in Julie's round robin (Cotton Robin). I also want to follow along with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2014 - although if there's a month where I don't have a lot of scraps in that colour, I'll probably skip it. I don't have specific plans for how I'm going to play along with that - will probably let the colour choice dictate the type of project, though I'd guess that lots of them are going to be tops for Linus Quilts. This will simply be part of my ongoing project to use up scraps and other unwanted smaller pieces of fabric - a little direction, perhaps, as to how I want to do it. Although it won't stop me from doing something else if I feel like it!

And, as I usually do, I want to take part in the Block Lotto as many months as I am able to - this year, Sophie promises that the blocks will be largely geometric, which is something I love, so I'm guessing there won't be too many months I want to skip (in fact, I have already made blocks for January, which I will show tomorrow!)

Plans for 2013

I always hesistate to use the word "goals" because it seems like there's an element of failure already implicit in the term, but there are some things that I'm hoping to work on in the coming year...

• Flying Geese Circles. I made 7 or 8 of these last year and then bogged down (ooh, just checked my blog and I've actually made 9!) - I need to finish enough of the colours off to make a quilt top from them. I have a plan for the quilt, actually, so  that will give me the incentive to actually work on them. Maybe. I have red, green, pink, neutral, yellow, two purples (reddish and bluish) and two blues (light and dark). I'm thinking I need brown, black and orange to finish up. Shouldn't be too much of a problem.
• African blocks. Karol-Ann and I have been swapping these for a while and while I have a good number of larger (12") blocks, there are also some 6" blocks to consider - if I want to use them at all in the same project, and if so, how to use them and how many I need. And I need to work out  how to put the 20 larger blocks I have into a top of some sort.
• Lady of the Lake. Cathi and I have been swapping these blocks on and off (mostly off) for about 3 years - yikes!  I don't think there are really that many - I need to count how many I have, I guess - but again, I need to work out how many I want to have and whether I need to keep swapping. Cathi hasn't done much sewing lately, as she's really into fantastic papercrafting at the moment, so at least I don't have to feel too guilty about not holding up my end of the swap!
• Sawtooth Cat Quilt. I'm pretty sure this was one of my goals for last year, and I know I have barely worked on it, if at all.  Really must do some work on it this year!
• Sheep Wallhanging. When I visited Karol-Ann last summer, I brought home a selection of goodies which were the leftovers from a quilt swap package she had put together for a swap a while ago. The quilt which came back from the swap is sweet, but unfortunately, doesn't really suit the space where she'd hoped to put it, so I offered to try to make something more suitable.  I have actually made a start on this, but because she's a regular reader to my blog, I'm not going to post it as I go along. 
• Dancing Stars. On Vicki's blog, I read about the Dancing Stars Quilt-a-long which she is sponsoring this year and thought it was a fun pattern. Now, I'm not interested in a big quilt - I have neither the time to make it or the need for another large quilt, but the pattern has lots of sizes, and I did think it might be fun to make the baby quilt size, which uses 25 foundation pieced blocks - that's only 2 a month, more or less, and might be achieveable. I do need something for background fabric, though (the stars would be scrappy and white or off-white), so I thought I'd have a look next weekend at the Farnham Maltings Quilt Show and Fabric Sale.

Of course, there will be the usual things, like playing along in the block lotto and trying to do some ATC swaps and trying to make some quilt tops  for Project Linus and for my friend Sarah's quilt ministry, but those are smaller things I will fit in as and when. Or not, as the case may be!

Goal review

So, July was a fairly busy month, though luckily, I had some time after school finished to do a bit of stuff...  Did I manage to achieve my few July goals?

• Blocks for July block lotto - yes, three blocks made
• At least one charity baby quilt top - actually, I did amazingly well with this, even before I finished school. I made a quick top with neutral squares, a crumb block top, using up some African fabric, a partly scrappy log cabin top, a curvy four patch, using up some of the scrappy log cabins, a little strippy quilt, a little blue stripy rail fence, and two little blue tops.  So that's 8. 
• Rainbow Scrap Challenge flying geese block - yes, done. I actually did two - light and dark blue. I haven't blogged them yet, but they are finished.

What's on the cards for August?

• Blocks for August block lotto - these are already done - I did them in the sneak peek period, although I haven't blogged them yet.
• At least one charity baby quilt top - I'm sure I'll get there on this one - two are either done or nearly done already, though again, I haven't yet blogged them!
• Rainbow Scrap Challenge flying geese block - not sure what the colour is this month - her blog is still blue!
• Bind Red & White quilt  - got this back from the longarmer recently, but haven't done anything with it since
• Quilt and bind pastel pinwheel quilt for commission
• Quilt at least one other small quilt

As I am home for a lot of the time in August, a few more goals than in a normal month!

Goal review

June goals - I never did get around to blogging these, but here are the June goals in retrospect:

• Blocks for June block lotto - no, just never did get around to these. It's been a busy month.
• At least one charity baby quilt top - also nope - same reason!
• Rainbow Scrap Challenge flying geese block - yes, two of these in different types of purple
• baby quilt for Darcy - done.
• quilt for Wendy - done.

Not too bad, considering how little sewing time I've had this month.

Now, July:

• Blocks for July block lotto
• At least one charity baby quilt top
• Rainbow Scrap Challenge flying geese block

I've only set a few goals, because July is going to be a very busy month. I might have a little time once school finishes, but who knows, don't want to set myself up for failure!

Goals!

So, now that it's May, I should probably go back and make sure I did what I was meant to in April...

• April blocks for block lotto - yes, done. Need to mail them!
• circular flying geese blocks for March and April - no.  But I hope to do them this weekend.
• at least one charity quilt top  - yes, a bumper month for tops. A little Irish Chain, some Criss-Crosses, a sashed top to use up some crumb blocks, a strippy block top, one in dull browns and greens,  a simple top with squares using up a herb fabric, a top in pink and blue,  one of these two framed four patch tops (the other I'm keeping), and these two little batik tops. I also have a feeling there's one I haven't blogged yet, but that's ok, I can count in in the month I blog it!  That makes 10 for April. 
• two baby quilts quilted - yes, both done. One with the disappearing nine patches, one with the stretched stars. 

As for May, I shouldn't think I'll be getting up to quite as much, as I don't, unfortunately, have two weeks off in May.  But still, there should be goals:

• May blocks for block lotto
• circular flying geese blocks for March, April, May
• at least one charity quilt top
• baby quilt for Cally
• work on Nadia's batik quilt

March goal roundup

Time to look at my March goals - I know I've not done well with these, though I don't worry about it, as I got a lot done in other arenas, which balances out...

• 5 Farmer's Wife blocks - didn't do any of these. I decided that I really like the idea of this quilt in principle, but in practice, it's not really me. I'm going to give it up.
  
• March blocks for block lotto - done. 
• at least one charity quilt top (again, if possible, using a piece from the 1/2 metre stash) - a couple of tops made. A scrappy strippy top (plus the blocks for another, which I will put together soon), and one made from scrappy HST units. Plus loads of scrappy log cabin blocks, which I have yet to put into a top (or several tops - there are lots of blocks!)
• circular flying geese block for Rainbow Scrap Challenge. (Pink this month) - not yet, but it's on the list for the Easter holiday
• work on Cat Quilt some more - no.

As I said, though, I have made great progress in other areas, especially in clearing out scraps. I've now made about a jillion scrappy log cabin blocks, and cut about 3000 2" squares - lord knows what I'll do with those, but enders and leaders projects loom, I'm sure.

So, April.  I have high hopes for April, as it begins with a two-week holiday. There may be lots of sewing, especially if the weather stays a bit blah. Still, I am going to be reasonable about my goals

• April blocks for block lotto
• circular flying geese blocks for March and April
• at least one charity quilt top
• two baby quilts quilted

Feb Goal Roundup

I keep forgetting that we're in a new month (repressing it, perhaps!) and that means a goal review and new goals to set.  So, here goes - what was February like?

• 5 Farmer's Wife blocks (hope springs eternal!) - didn't get any blocks done on this project. Partly this was due to being busy; partly it was due to not really wanting to work on the next block I picked out of the pot.  But you never know, I may get to it someday!
• February blocks for block lotto  - done.  The month was a heart sampler, in orange, pink, cream and grey.
• 1st Round for Cotton Robin - done. Technically done in March, but so what, it's done!  Can't show it, though I did show a tiny peek on my blog yesterday.
• at least one charity quilt top (this time, using a .5 metre piece from stash) . Done. I made three scrappy tops: a red scrappy rail fence which used up lots of little bits of red, a green stripey scrappy top, and a free-form, stack and whack four patch, which also accomplished my goal of using a 1/2 metre piece from my stash.  
• circular flying geese block for Rainbow Scrap Challenge (not sure of colour yet) - the colour was green; the block is done.
• work on Cat Quilt some more.   Nope. maybe next month.

So. Goals for March:

• 5 Farmer's Wife blocks
• March blocks for block lotto
• at least one charity quilt top (again, if possible, using a piece from the 1/2 metre stash)
• circular flying geese block for Rainbow Scrap Challenge. (Pink this month)
• work on Cat Quilt some more

Goal review

So, now that January is drawing to a close, time to look back and see what I actually got done!  Here's what I had as my goals:

• 5 Farmer's Wife blocks (new ones, using the taupes) -I did three: no 26, Cut Glass Dish, no 43 Garden Path (which I still might yet redo in part) and no 110, Wood Lily
• January blocks for block lotto - done
• Starter block for Cotton Robin - done, but can't show it!
• at least one charity quilt top - one done (a Bright, Scrappy top); I was hoping to do another,  using a .5 metre piece from stash, but didn't manage to do that. 
• red circular flying geese block for Rainbow Scrap Challenge - yes, done. 

That's not bad, especially considering that I also got out the Cat Quilt and worked on that - which wasn't on my goals, but which I really needed to do.  So, February:

• 5 Farmer's Wife blocks (hope springs eternal!) 
• February blocks for block lotto
• 1st Round for Cotton Robin
• at least one charity quilt top (this time, using a .5 metre piece from stash)
• circular flying geese block for Rainbow Scrap Challenge (not sure of colour yet)
• work on Cat Quilt some more

Goal review

As I suspected, there wasn't a vast amount of free time in December, but I did still manage to get some things done...  Here's a review of my goals:

• 5 Farmer's Wife blocks (hope springs eternal!) - I have to say, I'm a little disillusioned with the blocks for this - should have perhaps chosen one fabric which would feature or something, and then incorporated it into each of the blocks. Perhaps might start again, doing just that! Not like I've made that many blocks, anyway.  - As discussed on my blog, I decided to drop this and start over. Which I will do, in January. Hopefully!
• October block for Oh My Stars BOM - done.
• Piece BOM together - done. Woo hoo!
• at least one scrappy charity quilt top. - didn't get one made in December (although I might end up giving this one away, when I decide if it's finished or not). But I have already made one in January, so there's a good chance I'll get more than one done for this month!. 
• Baby quilt for my SIL- done. 

So, what's on the cards for January?

• 5 Farmer's Wife blocks (new ones, using the taupes)
• January blocks for block lotto
• Starter block for Cotton Robin - done, but can't show it!
• at least one charity quilt top - one done, but want to try to do another one, using a .5 metre piece from stash
• red circular flying geese block for Rainbow Scrap Challenge

Ambitious, perhaps, but you gotta have something to aim for, right?  And I've managed to cross off two items already and it's only the 5th, so it's not all bad...

Goal review

So, goals for November - how did they go?

• 5 Farmer's Wife blocks (hope springs eternal!) - well, no. It would be surprising, wouldn't it!
• Blocks for November block lotto - done in the sneak peak period!
• October block for Oh My Stars BOM - partly done. Though it was technically December when I did it...
• Assemble pieces for Oh My Stars BOM - again, partly done
• birthday ATCs - finished, mailed. That's the end of that, as there are no December birthdays...
• at least one charity baby quilt yes, accomplished. Made two blue and brown tops for PL, plus a brown scrappy top.
• Lynne's quilt (needs quilting and binding) done.

Will December be better? Do I have more time in December? Almost certainly not! But here goes anyway...

• 5 Farmer's Wife blocks (hope springs eternal!) - I have to say, I'm a little disillusioned with the blocks for this - should have perhaps chosen one fabric which would feature or something, and then incorporated it into each of the blocks. Perhaps might start again, doing just that! Not like I've made that many blocks, anyway.
• October block for Oh My Stars BOM
• Piece BOM together
• at least one scrappy charity quilt top.

October goal review

Just realised, we're almost a week into the month and I haven't yet managed to review my October goals. Perhaps I know it's not going to look good, lol.

October goals:

• 5 Farmer's Wife blocks - no. Just didn't have the time.
• Block for October block lotto (maybe - might not make any this month) - yes, made five. Here and here.
• Sept & Oct blocks for Oh My Stars block of the month - finished September, still need to work on October.
• finish quilt for ALQS6 - yes, finished, and swapped.
• no 6 of 7 baby quilts (top made, needs quilting and binding) - finished, and given to the mum-to-be, who greatly admired it.
• birthday ATCs - done.
• at least one charity baby quilt - yes, this month I managed to make one specifially for Project Linus and will probably also give one of the two rainbow string heart tops to Linus as well. (I have a third top, in a different pattern, which I will also keep)
• Lynne's quilt top made, just needs quilting - no, but it's first on the pile for tomorrow, so hopefully I will soon rectify this!

So, not as bad as I feared - it felt like a month where there were a lot of things which didn't get done. So, my aims for November:

• 5 Farmer's Wife blocks (hope springs eternal!)
• Blocks for November block lotto - done already - did in the sneak peak period!
• October block for Oh My Stars BOM
• Assemble pieces for Oh My Stars BOM
• birthday ATCs - finished, mailed. That's the end of that, as there are no December birthdays...
• at least one charity baby quilt
• Lynne's quilt (needs quilting and binding)

Goal roundup

Not quite sure where September went, but there you have it - it's gone, and there's nothing we can do about it. How'd I do with my goals?

September Goals:

• 5 Farmer's Wife Blocks - hmm. Not so good. Got two done, though I did have to make one of them three times - does that count? No 64: Peace and Plenty, No 53: Jack Knife
• Blocks for September block lotto - done - actually did these in August during the sneak peek window
• September blocks for Oh My Stars BOM - nope, not done yet.
• birthday ATCs - done, sent.
• nos 4 and 5 of 7 baby quilts - both finished, both gifted, both well received (r/w/b log cabin corners, green & purple Buckeye Beauty).
• at least one charity baby quilt top - yes, two: black and white scrappy, End of Day blue and cream
• Lynne's quilt - top made, just needs quilting

Not too bad - some of the things I didn't do were conscious decisions as I've just been so busy. We'll see how October goes - might be a little less frantic.

October goals:

• 5 Farmer's Wife blocks
• Block for October block lotto (maybe - might not make any this month)
• Sept & Oct blocks for Oh My Stars block of the month
• finish quilt for ALQS6
• no 6 of 7 baby quilts (top made, needs quilting and binding)
• birthday ATCs
• at least one charity baby quilt
• Lynne's quilt top made, just needs quilting

A long list, but hopefully not prohibitively so. Especially if I actually get some time to sew in the afternoons now that I'm supposedly not working all day every day...

Goal roundup

I used to do this all the time - have a review of my previous week or month's goals and see how much I accomplished, then set new ones - haven't done it lately, but feeling I want to again, so, although it's a few days into September already, who cares - here goes for August/September.

August Goals:

• 5 Farmer's Wife Blocks - made 4
• blocks for August block lotto (31st) - done
• August blocks for Oh My Stars BOM - done, thanks to Julie, who worked out the layout and emailed it to me.
• nos 2 and 3 of 7 baby quilts - one completely finished and ready to give, the other is quilted, and binding attached, but I've not yet stitched down binding.
• at least one charity baby quilt top - two made - a little nine patch with an extra block and the Hawaiian shirt white string top

So that's not too bad - just the one Farmer's Wife Block not done, but as that's an arbitrary number of blocks to achieve each month, I'm not really that worried. I've also done a lot of other things as well - attached binding to a few other quilts (and sewn one down), quilted a lap quilt which my mother made, done a couple of sets of ATCs, and other bits and pieces. Even did some mending, and made a tote bag!

So, on to the new list...

September Goals:

• 5 Farmer's Wife Blocks
• Blocks for September block lotto - done - actually did these in August during the sneak peek window
• September blocks for Oh My Stars BOM
• birthday ATCs
• nos 4 and 5 of 7 baby quilts - one quilted, just the binding to sew down
• at least one charity baby quilt top
• Lynne's quilt - top made, just needs quilting

We'll see how I did next month at this time (more or less)

So, now what?

Now that I've named and shamed all my outstanding projects, what's next, you may ask. Well, I'm not going to set out to finish all of them - or even most of them - this year or anything unrealistic like that. But what I would like to do is this:

• Finish several of the larger quilts. The brown pineapple is the first larger piece on the list; then maybe the two single bed sized ones for the girls.
• Finish 4 or 5 baby quilts. Two I have pinned up already, so that's a good start. I'll need at least two this year anyway - and that's just the babies I know about already.
• Finish the little flying geese quilt, the multicoloured string quilt and the two quilts for the girls - even if they don't get quilted - to completed top stage. It's silly to have them so close without being done!
• Move as many groups of blocks as possible to the finished top stage - this might not be possible with all the birthday blocks and the Japanese lanterns, but there are at least 5 or 6 sets of blocks which will go together into baby quilts or small lap quilts with a minimum of effort - then at least they aren't hanging around as block sets.
• Not add more sets of blocks which don't get completed - except for the new birthday block swap (which finishes for me in June, so I won't stress if I don't do anything with those blocks for a while - besides, they may be hard to find something to do with, straight away) - this doesn't mean I won't make more block sets, which I might - or I might win on the block lotto again - but I plan to do something with them relatively quickly - like within a few months of getting them - at least moving them to the finished top stage.
• Finish at least two more of the Japanese block of the month blocks by the end of the year. In fact, I am going to start on the one which is already cut out and ready to applique today - not sure how far I will get as I may have to stop to buy the right colour thread for some of the pieces, but tomorrow I have to go to New Malden anyway, which is where my local haberdashery is, so it's a good time to see if I need anything in the way of thread before that!
• Finish at least one cat per month on the sawtooth cats.
• Don't start any more BIG quilts. This shouldn't be too hard a resolution to keep, as I am tending towards smaller works lately anyway, but I am going to resist the temptation entirely. I won't promise I won't start any new tops at all, but I am going to keep them all under 60" square, so that they at least stand a chance of getting quilted someday. And frankly, I shouldn't think I'll start many even at baby quilt or lap size as I have so many sets of blocks I could use for that size quilt now. Obviously, there will be mini quilts started this year, as I have signed up for several mini swaps already, but the nice thing about mini quilts is that they do get finished.

I think all of these things are realistic goals - many of them involve only NOT doing stuff, which at least I know I'll have the time for. Of course, there will be lots of work done this year (I hope) - a lot of which won't involve these quilt tops or blocks at all - there will be a few sets of postcards (though not so many this year), some ATCs, some miscellaneous swapping of various objects, some mini quilts, my house front swap, the Exquisite Corpse and so on. There will also be blocks made for others (birthday block swap, block lotto, African & Dear Jane swaps). But what I'd like to do is control the chaos and get it down to a point where I know that first of all, I like all the blocks and tops I have hanging around and that second of all, there's a reasonable chance the pieces will someday be finished.

Cross stitch, goals, birthday

I didn't think I'd done much on this cross-stitch until I compared the photos - it's not too bad, really, given that I only have had a few evenings to work this week. (It's my busy social life cutting into cross-stitch time, LOL.) Next week, I might get a bit further on it.

And my goals for the week had a little work done on them as well - not a lot, but some:

• Last journal quilt - done! I have enjoyed this project, but I am glad I'm done with it...
  
• November birthday block - done and in the post
  
• coasters for dyehard swap - nope, maybe next week
  
• work on Angela's quilt - yeah, well. maybe some day!

Next week, I'm going to try again to get a few things done, LOL:

• coasters for dyehard swap
• November arch
• finish testing December bag pattern
• November ATC - leaf motif
  

And finally, I'll show these little buttons - they came in an envelope from my mother with my birthday card - she left me a little present when I was visiting (which I haven't opened yet as my birthday isn't until Wednesday) which squishes promisingly, so I will probably show that to you later in the week.

Goals & cross-stitch

I haven't discussed my weekly goals much lately, though I have continued to set them in the sidebar - a quick update tonight, along with some cross-stitch photos, and then off to bed, I think!

Last week's goals were few and modest:

• journal quilt for the week (deadline 8/11) - done.
• sew down binding on Twisted Mystery quilt - finished, and off in the post. hoorah.
• quilt Holiday Booty quilt - quilted, bound, sleeved. Now for a label and a few small goodies to throw in with it, then it too will be on its way.

This week, we shall also not strive too hard:

• journal quilt for the week (deadline 15/11) - this is the last one, week 52. Wow.
• November birthday block
• coasters for winter swap with Dyehard
• work on Angela's quilt

And now, for some cross-stitch update and so forth.

Last week, I had finished the robins and the nest but for the outlining/backstitching - this week, I have finished the backstitching, so everything is just a bit better defined. I'm going to set this one aside now until after the holidays, and will come back to it then. In this festive period (ha) I am going to tackle these two:

The "Noel" piece I bought last autumn at the Knit and Stitch show and made fairly good progress on - I will finish it this year, barring catastrophe - there's not a lot more to do - it's just the four planters - three have topiary, the other is a birdhouse (the "E", I think). The main boring part will be the rest of the snow, which is probably why I put it aside last year. (They had this sort of pattern with a variety of different words - I resisted "Christmas", which was a lovely pattern, but would have taken much longer to finish - and all that snow!

The angels I started many years ago - not sure how many - and I work on it a bit each year, though often not much. I don't expect to finish this, I just want to make some noticeable progress. Maybe get the blue angel done and most of the green one (there's a third, in the centre, as well).

I also have a lovely Bent Creek piece with an alphabet and the word "snow" with some snowmen - I think it would be a quick one (that one's not started yet at all) to do - I might do that one after Christmas, when I am tired of Christmas things but still feeling wintery. We'll see. I do love the Bent Creek patterns - just the right level of country and naive for me, and very open to stitch, so really quick.

Cross stitch, goals

Real progress this week - I have finished the word "America" - now to start down the side and do the two robins in the nest. I think after that, I may dig out the Christmas pieces and put this down until mid-January or so (when I will be tired of Christmas pieces). I have one Christmas piece I might finish this year - it's a group of topiary planters with the letters "NOEL" on the planters, and is about a third done; the other is a group of angels ringing a bell with a border and the words "Hark the Herald Angels Sing [etc]" going around in a red border - I've been working on that one for years - but only about 6 weeks of the year!

Anyway, that's the cross-stitch update - here's a goals round-up

• journal quilt for the week (deadline 18/10) - yes, it's basic, but done
• set of star ornaments (deadline received by 1/11 in the US) - done, posted.
• finish October birthday block - I'm calling this done - I have one 2 inch seam to sew and it can go in the post.
• start ALQS2 - made good progress here - nearly finished, just need to bind and add a sleeve
• work on Angela's quilt - nothing done here, but it's been a difficult week to work on any larger projects - maybe this week will be better for that

On to this week's goals:

• journal quilt for the week (deadline 25/10) - I only have 4 more of these to do - last week's was number 48. As fun as it's been, I am definitely stopping when I get to the end of my year. I might do occasional pieces as journal quilts, but no more weekly committment - hoorah!
• put binding on ALQS2 (deadline 11/10)
• quilt mini for birthday swap with Andrea (deadline 1/11)
• work on Angela's quilt
• 
  

Stars, Crosses, Goals

Despite a busy morning (well, I have a yoga class - so not unusually busy, just out of the house) I did manage to get some work done today - got 6 star ornaments made for a swap over on Creative Swaps - even got them in the post, too. One more thing to tick off the list. It's beginning to be a little less scary - only a few more October things to finish. Of course, there's a week of holiday coming up at the end of October, so it might be best to get as many finished before then as possible!

Anyway, the ornaments. I used two pieces of hand-dyed fabric - the one you see is actually quite a purply blue, but that colour doesn't photograph well. On the back is a more red purple. Fused them to a rectangle of vilene, then quilted the whole piece before cutting stars out (traced around a cookie cutter). I then satin stitched the edges, and added grommets, faces and danglies. The stars are about 3 inches across or so.

I said yesterday I'd do the cross-stitch update and goals list today when I had fewer pictures - so here they are. I decided to start the central panel of the cross-stitch rather than work on any more boxes this week. It's coming along nicely. Obviously the word "America" is there, and then there are two robins on a nest below it. Probably take another 2 weeks or so to finish that bit, especially as I have some other hand work to do this week. I'm keeping an eye on the time, as I would like to work on my Christmas cross-stitch projects for a while around Christmas, so it's possible I will set this one aside for a few months while I do those - I'm not really in the mood for the Christmas ones for a lot of the year, so they tend not to get worked on, even when I'm really in a cross-stitch mood otherwise. But come November or so, I will feel like doing Christmassy things - at least some of the time!



And finally, the goals list. I think I mentioned last week that I might go to the Knit and Stitch Show - obviously, I didn't. In the end, I decided that I really just needed the time at home on Sunday to sew, so I did that. Maybe next time... Anyway, a review of the week's aims:

• journal quilt for the week (deadline 11/10) - done.
• start October birthday block - yes, all ready for the hand sewing bits, which I have started tonight, actually.
• work on Angela's quilt - nothing further done with this this week - just didn't have a day I could work on quilting the border. Maybe this week!
• set of postcards - "starts with V" (deadline 15/10) - done and mailed.

So, this week:

• journal quilt for the week (deadline 18/10)
• set of star ornaments (deadline received by 1/11 in the US)
• finish October birthday block
• start ALQS2
• work on Angela's quilt

I know, I already have one of those things accomplished, but I promise I had intended to put it on my goals list before today - in fact, I worked on it today because I knew it was on the list!

Cross stitch, quilting, goals

The problem with this cross-stitch - or rather, the problem with the way I've been photographing it is that each photo is a different angle... Anyway. Here's a view from about 3 weeks ago (left) and another from 2 weeks ago (centre) and finally, tonight - I didn't take a photo last week, as I'd only done about one box. So. 13 blocks to go, and then the centre panel. I might actually move to the central panel before I do all the boxes, as two of them are initials and date - seems silly to do them before I'm really finished. But progress is definitely being made.



Spent a lot of time today quilting the diamond quilt - did spirals with meandering - looks kind of funny in this photo, but looks good on the quilt. I've only done this in the centre - the diamonds and into the black border a bit. On the floral batik border, I'm going to go around the flowers, I think - and continuing into the rest of the black border in the places where the spiral meander quilting doesn't touch.

And finally, a review of the week's goals:

• journal quilt for the week (deadline 4/10) - done. and I managed to make it fit another requirement - the October challenge on Textile Challenges
• second September blocks for birthday swap - done. whew.
• September arch for Textile Challenges - yep.
• add border to Caroline's sister's quilt (a commissioned piece) and pin together for quilting - done, and started quilting it.

So, not sure what this week is going to be like - hopefully I will get at least a few hours of quilting and sewing time. Sunday, I am hoping to make it to the Knit and Stitch show at Ally Pally, which at least will be fibre related!

• journal quilt for the week (deadline 11/10)
• start October birthday block
• work on Angela's quilt
• set of postcards - "starts with V" (deadline 15/10)

Some goals

A quick review of last week's goals:

• journal quilt for the week (deadline 27/9) - and last week's too, if possible - yes, got both of these done - well, mostly. I do have to attach a back to one, but it's essentially finished.
• bind Ursula's quilt (deadline 30/9) - done. label attached. ready to go.
• work on September block for birthday block swap - yes, got one of two finished. a good start.
• fibre & yarn ATC (deadline 30/9) - done.

And next week - not sure what the time will be like - but at least I hope to have a little time...

• journal quilt for the week (deadline 4/10)
• second September blocks for birthday swap
• September arch for Textile Challenges
• add border to Caroline's sister's quilt (a commissioned piece) and pin together for quilting