Quarter 4--the wish list

Well, this post should be easy enough to write--I could practically cut and past my quarter three goal list, and barely have to make any changes, since I only managed one finish.  Oh, well.  This quarter will be more productive.  But, I think that I'll also be a bit more realistic, so that should help as well.

I'm going to carry forward two projects big from last quarter, and add two new small ones.

1)  I've made a bit of progress with the Anita's Arrowhead quilt.  I've gone from this

to this.

Actually, that only about half the blocks I've finished.  Which is about a third of the number I need.  They're taking a while because I'm being really picky about making sure the points match.  And they are.  This one's going to be beautiful when it's done--how can it not be with so many truly lovely fabrics.  And I'm really looking forward to quilting it.  After the minimalist straight-line approach on my last quilt, I'm really craving lots of dense swirls and curves and loops. 

2)  The Christmas star quilt (Oh My Stars! designed by Sheila at Thought and Found.) is exactly where it was in July.  I haven't made a single cut or stitched a single stitch.  And, if I intend to use it this year, there's a built-in deadline.  So, I'd better get hopping.

3)  The first new project is a wall hanging.  And, dare I say it, it's an Art Quilt.  It's the second time that my friend Anne and I have come away from an exhibit and challenged ourselves to create something that reflects what we've seen.  Last time it was a single technique.  This time, it was a very eclectic show put on by the Vancouver Island Surface Design Association, so we decided to incorporate a number of elements--including something that sparkles.  So far, I've just made the foundation from a variety of different neutral cottons and muslins, but I've been thinking about it a lot.  And,  I've pulled a selection of possible embellishments--beads, ribbons, threads, and other fabrics.

This is so far out of my comfort range that I can't believe that I'm doing it, let alone posting about it.

4)  Also, I need new cushion covers.  I posted this last time in a vague sort of way, but this time I'm serious.  I need to replace the shattered fabric on the back of one, and finish this one started in September 2012 as my traveling project and needlepoint wool scrap-busting activity. I don't expect to do any more traveling in the near future, and I just want it done.

And those four items are the only projects that I'm going to set as concrete goals. I learned in the last quarter that a lot of time can be taken up with what you might call "off-list" projects. For example, the fall edition of Kid's Clothes Week is coming up, and while the timing doesn't coincide to allow that sewing to be included on this list, it will still take a solid chunk of time in addition to the actual sewing week (especially since I haven't yet decided what I'm going to make the kidlets, let alone bought any fabric).  And I'm doing a complete sewing room overhaul now that I've sold my huge loom (we didn't call it the loom room for nothing). And even if I may have started Christmas gifts, they can't be included in the quarterly list because unlike last year, this year's recipients are old enough to read about them.  And so on and so on. 

Keeping my fingers crossed that this quarter is more productive than last, and linking to Leanne's post.

Not my most productive quarter.

I managed to finish one--yes, one--of the items on my third quarter list of goals.  I'm not even going to address all of the things I didn't manage to accomplish, but instead focus on my one finish--my version of Kirsty's baby chevron. 

 Front...

Grown-up Chevron Quilt

...and back.

Loving that beautiful orange.

I love it, and more important, my son loves it.  I really should make more stuff for him--his appreciation is so gratifying.  The ta-da post is here.

Well at least I'm not giving Leanne too much to read this time.  Now to link this up and start thinking about my next quarter wish list--I mean goal list.

One Down!

I've finally finished mt version of  the Baby Chevron.   This was one of my Third Quarter Finish Along Goals.  I made it a bit larger than the original, so it's more a lap size than a cot quilt.  I'm quite pleased with the way it turned out.

Because the contrast between the fore and background was in hue rather than in value, I had to be very careful about my fabric choices.  I ended up removing a large number of both grey and orange pieces because they had too much white in them, and this tended to blur the crisp outlines between the chevrons.

I pieced the backing  using a variety of smaller grey squares, some sketch and solid orange.  The binding is sketch as well.  I'm starting to really appreciate the versatility of that nearly solid fabric.

I did a minimal amount of straight line quilting using Auriful 50--a solid grey top thread on the grey chevrons, and a variegated orange on the orange chevrons and in the bobbin throughout.  Straight line quilting is always a bit risky when you have a pieced backing.  You really have to be careful to ensure that both top and backing are squarely aligned.  Fortunately, it worked out for me this time.

While my initial thought was to quilt it more heavily, the recipient, my son, prefers minimal, so minimal it was.  He actually gave me quite a bit of input while I was making it, but he didn't know it was for him.  As a result, he's happy with it, and so am I.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.   

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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!

Just for a change...

I'm posting a finish that wasn't on my list of finish along goals.  It was a last minute thing that started with a phrase along the lines of "I sure hope I don't scratch the front of this e-reader while I'm travelling?" 

It turns out the the new Aura is just a smidgeon too big to fit in the Kobo Touch case.  And, since said trip was only a few hours away, there wasn't really time to go buy one of the flashy cases that are built for the Aura.  The only alternative was to make a cover.

So, after a quick rummage through my fabric collection (See, there is a reason why I just don't go out and buy fabric as I need it, I said.  I need a small stockpile for emergencies such as this.) and some time with a tape measure, and iron and my trusty sewing machine, I presented him with this.

I think that he was a bit worried that when I said I'd make him a case, it might look a bit girly, but he was pleased with this.  And he got some compliments on it, so I guess it's not too shabby after all.  These spontaneous projects can be so satisfying.