Wednesday 10 July 2013

Finish Along 3rd quarter goals


It's time to put together our list of goals for the 3rd quarter.  I'd like to use the same strategy as I did last quarter--that is, seriously over commit so that I don't waste so much time dithering about which project to start next.  Deciding is such a painful process.  The problem is that having been out of commission for the last month, I don't actually have that many projects started that require finishing.

The first project I want to finish is a summer dress.  It's been years since I made a dress for myself, but it's time for me to start sewing again.  There are just so many beautiful fabrics out there.  The plan is to make this dress...
Photo from Sewing Patterns.com
...from this beautiful Kaufmann Essex linen/cotton blend designed by Melissa Crowley.
Essex Linen Blend La Femme Blossoms Spa
Photo from Fabric.com


I've made the muslin...


(no, I never sew in both the sleeves) and I think that I've worked through all of the fitting issues, so now I just have to sew it up. Should be a piece of cake, right?

The second project is the modified Baby Chevron.  It was on the list for last quarter, but life had other plans.  I'm really looking forward to working on this again. The strips are ready to be sewn together.

Pieces for the Baby Chevron sewn into strips

Third, is an arrowhead quilt.  I recently signed up for a Craftsy course on making traditional blocks--Traditional Blocks Made Simple.  It was an accident--I'm not really a traditional block type of person, but as it turns out, I loved the course. The instructor--Anita Grossman Solomon--was a delight. And, while this may be a traditional block, it looks modern to me.


Anita's Arrowhead Block

Fourth, I'm going with the Christmas in July theme, and getting an early start so that I can make at least one quilt, and perhaps a couple of runners and wall hangings by December.  For now, though, I'm going to make a Christmasy version of Oh My Stars! designed by Sheila at Thought and Found. Yes, I realize that the quilt along has been over for a long time, but it really is the perfect Christmas Quilt. This is the first block, and I need to make six more of them. Then on to the other 14 variations.

Sawtooth Star Blocks

And fifth, I'm going to deal with this leftover block from my Mystery Stars Quilt.  I made a slight miscalculation and the block ended up being too large.  But I love the block and I think that it would make the perfect centre for a medallion quilt.  What looks like very noticeable seam allowances on the white pieces are actually strips of paper that make it easier to whip stitch those sections to the paper pieced star.

English Paper Pieced Centre of the Medallion quilt


And, there are a few more projects I need to get started--some big and some tiny.  For example, there is the summer edition of Kid's Clothes Week.  I want to make some pretty summer things for the girls. I have the patterns and the fabrics ready to go, but I haven't started cutting yet.  That will have to wait for the launch on the 15th. The backs of my cushions have worn out--it was one of those fabrics that, while lovely, just tend to shatter with age and exposure to light. And there are the bench cushions that need recovering.  But I'll be happy to finish up the five projects I've identified as priorities for this quarter. 


I keep saying that I need a start-along more than I need a finish-along, but I think that this finish-along is helping me get out of project monogamy rut. It encourages me to start things so that I can add them to my quarterly list.  I need to thank Leanne (and Rhonda before her) for their help with this.

Now, I'll link this list up to Leanne's 3rd quarter page to make it official.   

r




Friday 5 July 2013

2nd quarter wrap up

Well, I was on a roll, and then I wasn't.  I just blasted along in May, then I spent June out of commission.  Of the seven projects on my finish-along 2nd-quarter goal list I finished five.

First, the successes.
 1)  The red and white quilt.  Finished and delivered.  I think that this is the first time I've given someone a quilt that they didn't know was coming.  It was a complete surprise.  I definitely have to do that more often.  I love this one, and so did the recipients.  And it was definitely worth the challenges.


2)  Dresses for the kidlets--I'm counting these two as a single finish because just finishing one was not an option.   Completed and loved.  I'm glad that they're still little enough to like dressing the same-ish.  I have to use this fabric again--it's so soft.  Blogged here.
 3) The vintage dresden.  Yay for this one!!  I've blogged about this one a lot over the last year, but this will be the last time!  It's done!! Can you tell that I'm happy about this?

4)  The tool case.  This was intended for a conference/workshop that I'd planned to attend in June.  I didn't make it to the workshop, but I do have a very cute little folding case, that will still likely see a lot of use.   I blogged about it here.


 5)  Tova Tunic.  Rather than make a muslin first, I decided to use some voile that I had on hand.  I didn't get a nice photo of this immediately after I finished it, so I'd been wearing it for a while when this snap was taken in the garden.  Still, finished is finished.  I just blogged about this a few minutes ago.  Talk about getting it in just under the wire.


That leaves the two projects I didn't finish.
1) I didn't make any progress at all on the tote bag.

This was a complete fail, and since I really wanted it for that conference I didn't get to, I don't know when I'll finish it.  I'm lacking motivation.

2) The modified Baby Chevron quilt.  It's well beyond this stage now.

The pieces have all been cut out, arranged, mixed up, rearranged, sewn into strips, been partially unsewn, had all of the squares made from two of the fabrics removed and replaced, and is now back in strips just waiting to be sewn together.  This one, I'll definitely carry over to the next quarter.  I'm still motivated.

So, that's it.  Not a perfect score, but not bad at all.

Now, I just have to link this up on Leanne's page, and check out what everyone else had made in the last three months. 

2nd quarter finish number 5



I actually finished this the first week of June, but blogging hasn't been in the cards for the last few weeks.  Now that I'm back on my feet, I'll have to make it official quick if I want to check it off my 2nd quarter finish along list of goals.

The jury is still out on whether I like it or not.  My husband thinks that the top is nice, but the fabric is frumpy, and he may be right.  Still, if I' make it again, at least if I make it out of voile, I think that I'll interface the placket and the collar.  Or maybe I'll make it out of linen.  That has enough body on it's own.  It's a comfortable top, and it's nice to have something cool and lightweight that also provides some protection from the sun. 

And, it was certainly easy enough to make, although I don't quite understand why the pattern tells you to insert the sleeves after you've made them up and sewn up the side seams.  It's so much easier to sew them in while all of the pieces are flat, then just run a single seam up from the hem to the sleeve cuffs.  Oh well, to each their own, and my own tends to be whatever is easiest!


she can quilt