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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