I knew it wouldn't last

My vague quilting goal worked well for the summer.  Now it is starting to bother me.  A lot.  I've accomplished much in the last three months - started a bunch of new quilts - and have finished nothing.  Now that autumn is "officially here", I'm once again feeling the need for some goals.  I'm missing that marvelous feeling I get every time I finish something.

I'm almost done finishing the first block of "Sweet Memories" to take to the beach.  That's all I'm going to do on that quilt before I leave.  I have five small quilts that are in need of binding in order to have five more finishes.  It is now their time - I hope to have the binding machine stitched on each one so I can finish them at the beach. 

When I get back home in the middle of next week I'll do some serious goal setting.  I'm drawn to making progress on some of my long term projects.  "Civil War Diary" is calling for my attention - when I'm in the sewing room my eyes keep going to the design wall and wondering what the next finished row will look like.

"Progress made on many new and ongoing projects" was fun while it lasted, but now it is time to get back to the business at hand.

Goal achieved!

See this empty space on my ironing table (I know, it really needs a new cover) . . .

Not a single scrap left to cut into triangles and squares.  Hooray!  Soon I will have enough blocks to finish the first of the camper quilts.

Here are seven more small quilt tops finished - ready for basting for hand quilting.  The last of my partly finished small quilt tops are complete.

It feels so nice to accomplish one's goals!

Changing and rearranging

I like to be organized, as my regular readers know.  I'm always aiming for the perfect organizational system.  I will make changes that please me, and will feel that I'm finally "there".  Then time passes, my mind goes off in a different direction, and the organization no longer feels "right".  So I make changes and do some rearranging, until things feel "right with the world" again.

And so I've been reorganizing my left side bar AGAIN.  Putting projects in hibernation has never felt quite right.  It made me feel like I was "forbidden" to work on those projects.  I know - I can be very silly at times.  So I put returned the list to its former arrangement, and feel much better about it.

As many of you know, for years I was addicted to buying "kits".  Thus the list of 65 "Golden Hussies" on the sidebar, which really should be longer as I know there are some that never got added.  This list has been bothering me more and more.  I rarely buy "kits" any more - they defeat my goal to reduce the amount of fabric on my shelves.  And I have no place to store them.  Currently there are four large totes full of "kits" upstairs under the longarm, with more piled on top and to the sides of the bins.  I need this space to store yarn and fiber!  So one of the goals I've set for this year is to drastically reduce that number.

The majority of those "quilt kits" include applique.  So I've pulled many of the kits and prepared them so they are ready to be stitched whenever I pick one up.  I've already reduced the list by 23 kits!  Thirteen are currently sitting on the dining room table ready for tracing.  Since we rarely use that table any more - except as a junk mail catcher - I've set up a production station.  I'm thoroughly enjoying tracing and cutting out each pattern while I listen to audio books. 

So far, as soon as I prep half a dozen patterns, I've completed the applique and then the quilt top.  I will finish those currently in the sewing room, and then I plan to switch to quilting and piecing when I'm not preparing applique.  I've spent the last month doing little but applique, and I'm beginning to feel the pull of the machine.  I want to get back to my "shoofly" blocks, as well as my 30's baskets and my Civil War Diary.  I need to make blocks for another 30's swap.  Not to mention binding the five quilts that are currently waiting for their finishing touches.

April Goals

The less said about my March goals the better. I reached only on goal, and that was the easiest. The rest hardly got started. But then I was sick over half the month, and then tied up with family obligations for the rest of the month, so it's OK that I didn't get much done. It's not a race after all, and I do want to enjoy my quilting rather than being driven by it.

I tried to go easy on myself when I wrote my April goals. The most important thing I must do is complete customer quilts. I figured I'd get a good start on those this week - instead I've been occupied with watching Joseph and helping his mom and day. Thank goodness my customers understand, and agree that family comes first.

I have no recent pictures to post at the moment - hopefully later today.

February Goals

I've listed my February goals on my sidebar. As you can see they are - at least I think they are - much more realistic than my January goals. I really do hope to accomplish all of these during the month. I moved a few of the January goals back into the future for now as there are other things I feel I must accomplish this month.

The Circle Lord goal is of prime importance as I have a customer quilt that must be started by the end of the month on which the customer has requested Baptist Fans. It's a huge quilt that will completely fill my 12' table as it measures 120" wide. She told me she was in no hurry, but as I've already had the quilt a couple months and she insisted on giving me a down payment I feel it's time I got busy. I've not quilted anything for at least a couple months, so I'm doing a few of my own to help me "reacquire" skills that have gone stale. So I guess much of the month will be spent upstairs with Gandalf.

There are a few other things I hope to accomplish also that I'm not going to list. If I do get to them then that will be just "icing on the cake". (I'm not anything if I'm not full of trite sayings!)

January Goals - review

How did it get to be January 31st already? Time sure flies faster and faster as one gets older. I feel like I accomplished next to nothing today yet the day is almost gone. I did get in my walking to Starbucks and back and continued going through clothes and other things, tossing what I don't need any more. I took another big load to Goodwill, as went by the credit union to get some cash. Had coffee with Rebecca and Joseph. Other than that I'm just not sure where the day went!

OK - on to my January goals and what I accomplished. It's obvious to me that I was a tad bit unrealistic when I set these goals. How did I think I could actually complete all that applique? Especially now, when my eyesight is getting poorer and poorer. That was really overly optimistic. So - what did I get actually accomplish?

Completed round 2 of the sewing room redo - which wasn't on my original
January list
Finished the Peace on Earth top
Finished the Angel Dance top
Bound and labeled two quilts
Started applique on a Times Remembered
block

I also completed four pillowcases and almost completed my last UFO top - both of which I forgot to put on my January list even though I intended to do them in January. Getting all this done gave me a great feeling of accomplishment even though I didn't make it all the way through the list. I will try to be more realistic when I set my February goals.

January Goals

It's already January 5th - past time to set my goals for this month. Since I set pretty lofty goals for this year I want to set monthly goals to help me achieve them. So - without further ado - here's what I'd like to accomplish this month.

1. Appliqué both Peace on Earth and Dance of Angels and sew on the borders
2. Finish Emma's Quilt
3. Finish the two quilts that just need binding and labeling
4. Sew five Civil War Diaries blocks
5. Sew five Dear Jane blocks
6. Quilt, bind and label the postage stamp quilts and the double four patch.
7. Complete two blocks for the Girl Gang feathered star
8. Complete one block for Times Remembered

I have added both my monthly and yearly goals to my sidebar. I think I have my work cut out for me!

Goals for 2009

I've actually been thinking about next year's quilting goals for several weeks. Many different ideas have been marching through my brain, and it's hard to know which to choose and which should be discarded for another year. I want to challenge myself, but I also want to be realistic so I don't set myself up for failure.

Setting yearly goals has worked well, but having monthly goals worked well also. So I've decided to give both a try. I'll start with a list of things I want to accomplish in the next 12 months, followed by what I'll focus on in January. I figure if I take smaller bites it will be easier to finish the whole by this time next year. Worth a try, anyway - don't you think? So here's the list I've come up with:

1. Complete a minimum of at least two quilts per month, including quilting, binding and labeling. (The pictures in this post are some of my finished tops waiting to become true quilts.) I will strive for three, but will be happy with two.

2. Make steady progress on my long-term projects. I like the way Judy has listed hers on her sidebar with a bar graph to show the her progress on each one. I'm hoping I can figure out how to do this as I love the graphic, pictorial quality of the progress charts.

3. Use more fabric than I purchase so there is a decrease in the size of my stash - even if it's just a small decrease. I've given up fabric diets - they just don't work for me. I get too much pleasure and joy from bringing new fabric into the house now and then. I've started a weekly fabric journal, and hope to keep better track of yardage bought and used this coming year.

4. Use enough strips, strings, squares, triangles, and bricks from my scrap drawers and boxes so they are no longer stuffed to overflowing. I'll be happy with five or six quilts finished quilts from scraps by the end of the year - though I'll strive for more.

5. Now that I've successfully conquered the major part of my UFO problem, I will start working on the HSY's listed on my sidebar - pronounced "hussies". Almost all my hussies are "brazen" - meaning they are over a year old. I will strive to complete a minimum of 6 quilts in the coming year from this list - though I'd like it to be even more.

6. I will teach myself how to do invisible machine applique, and complete at least three small or one large project using this technique.

7. Learn to use new tools for my longarm - specifically my Circle Lord.

What are your quilting goals for this next year? Please either leave me a comment with the answer or answer on your own blog. If you've never set goals I encourage you to try it this next year - I promise you will accomplish more of you do.

2008 accomplishments

I know I've said it many times before - I can't believe how fast this year flew by! I think it must be my age - I know time never passed this quickly when I was younger. And it never passed this quickly when I was working either LOL!

Since the new year is less than 48 hours away I figured this is a good time to look back to see what I accomplished this year quilt-wise. I've been calling each year of the last 6 years "the year of the UFO", but by the end of each year I never seemed to have fewer UFO's than I started with. Granted, the list was different because I'd finish some, but I always seemed to start as many new quilts as I finished. I guess retiring was the key, because I'm really happy with what I accomplished this year.

In terms of my goals:

1. To use more fabric than I purchased - well, I didn't do so good with this one. My shelves and baskets are emptier, which was really my goal - well done there. But I bought several bolts of fabric - 60 yards alone of Kona cotton - a red, a cheddar, and a bone. Plus a 15 yard bolt to use for sashings on my Civil War Diaries and Love Letters quilts. Plus a 50 yard bolt of background for my mid-Century album and Civil War applique quilts. Plus a couple others that escape me, and since I'm at Joseph's house I can't check. So even though my shelves are emptier the bolts sitting on top of them are bigger and more numerous that at the beginning of the year. I must do better with this goal this next year!

2. To have less than 10 unfinished tops on my list by the end of the year - I'm very happy with the results of this goal. I started the year with close to 30 unfinished tops. This has been reduced to nine long-term projects, 4 of which were started this year. Only one unfinished top (other than long-term projects ) remains from the beginning of the year - the project I showed in yesterday's post.

3. Make at least three quilts from my scrap bins - I completed 5! Unfortunately the bins are fuller than ever!

4. Reduce the number of unquilted flimsies to less than 20. As you can see I didn't do that but that's OK. When I wrote this goal I forgot that all the finished tops that were unfinished tops at the beginning of the year would be added to the list! I did reduce the list by a total of 28 quilts - that's more than two finished quilts per month. I'm very happy with that result! Several I thought would be finished aren't, but several others that I thought I wouldn't complete are completed. That makes me a happy quilted.

5. Finish organizing all of my scraps - Done! Everything is stripped, squared, triangled, bricked or otherwise cut into usable sizes and shapes and sorted into the appropriate plastic drawers and boxes. I gave out when I had a small number of scraps left, so I sent them off to another blogger who put them to good use making charity quilts. I was also crumbed out, so I tossed the rest of my crumbs. This set off such a flurry of comments objecting, so I've since found a happy recipient of all the crumbs I produce.

In addition to the above I started and finished one quilt during the year - Lily Abigail's baby quilt. I also turned two VERY old stitchery projects into finished pillows. Lastly, I pieced a backing for every finished top, pressed them all, and hung each top and backing together in my longarm room closet - all ready to be quilted.

I hope everyone else reviews their accomplishments for the year - I find these posts very interesting. Tomorrow, as 2008 winds down into history, I hope to post goals for 2009. If not tomorrow then Thursday at the latest.

Have a happy and safe New Year's Eve celebration everyone!

************

Gratitudes:

1. My love of fabric and sewing, plus the skills I've developed over the years, that have enriched my life so very much.

2. All the wonderful people I've met through quilting over the years, both near and far.

3. My wonderful Tangled Thread friends - I love you all!

4. My kind, patient, and understanding husband, who has put up with my fabric and quilt obsession for many, many years even though he doesn't understand it at all.

5. My marvelous kids, their spouses, and grandkids, who are always happy to receive another quilt!

2007 Wrap-up

I decided to stop kidding myself. I'm sure I'll do some type of quilting in the next couple days, but I'm not going to finish any more UFT's or quilt any more flimsies. So now is as good a time as any to evaluate my accomplishments of 2007.

I started the year with four goals. I decided early on there was no way I'd accomplish the fourth goal - to use more fabric during the year than I bought - so I erased that one.

I finished Sophie's quilt and Joseph's quilt top. I didn't pressure myself to quilt Joseph's quilt because as the year progressed the date of his arrival was pushed farther and father back. Now we are hoping for the end of January, though early February is probably more realistic.

I started 2007 with 21 unfinished tops. I'm ending the year with 18 unfinished tops. That doesn't sound like a lot of progress, but when I consider that I finished nine tops during the year, including all but one of the new tops I started, I think I did OK. The only new top that I didn't finish is the mid-century Album quilt, which I never expected to finish as the class goes through next March. I admit that for the most part I still have the same unfinished tops that have been hanging around for years. Next year I'll have lots more time to sew so hopefully that will change.

I started this year with 41 unquilted flimsies and now have 34. I finished several flimsies that have been hanging around for quite a few years as well as a few that were started and finished this year. I added only four new flimsies to the list that are still unquilted. I feel really good about this goal

So . . . . I accomplished my goal of decreasing my number of both unfinished tops and flimsies. The drop in number is less that I'd have liked, but since I completed quite a few quilts from start to finish this year - something I didn't expect to do - I can live with it.

Now bring on 2008 and retirement - I hope to get WAY more done this next year!

Another finish!

I accomplished at least one of my goals for this weekend - I finished this wall hanging. This is one of my very oldest UFO's. I started it in 1992 from what are definitely fabrics of the 80's - pin dots, tiny calicos, mauves and blues.

In 1992 I was lucky enough to attend both the International Quilt Market and Festival in Houston. I was teaching quilting for Daisy Kingdom, and they agreed to pay for my room, food and classes if I covered my plane fare and helped set up their giant booth.

I took a one day "Peaky and Spike" class from Doreen Speckmann. She was a delightful teacher that the quilting world lost when she died much too young of a heart attack. I loaded this on the machine last evening and finished most of the quilting before bed. It didn't take long to do the border this afternoon. I used several different quilting designs that I've not ever done before - I'm still very much a beginner when it comes to longarm quilting. I'm very happy with how it turned out - as long as I don't look too closely. After all - done is better than perfect, right?

I've hung this over the piano - I think it will be a nice decoration for the first half of February. It's so nice to have it all finished!

I too am declaring war!

Judy has declared war on her stash. She's also declared a monthly stashbusting challenge. I love the general idea, but just as Nancy did, I am modifying it for myself. My struggles are different from theirs, so I need a different plan of attack

I declare this war to be of six months duration, at which time I will reassess the situation and create new battle plans.

(1) I will NOT pull fabric from my shelves for a new project (Joseph Logan's baby quilt being the exception). Any new quilt I start in the next 6 months will be from either my scrap boxes, bins, drawers, etc. or my HSY's list. No more pulling 60 to 80 or more fabrics off my shelf, carefully cutting two or three squares or triangles or strips from them, then refolding them and putting them back on the shelf.

(2) For every new scrap or HSY quilt that I start I must either quilt, bind and label two flimsies or take two UFO's from their current status to completion.

(3) I have unsubscribed to all quilt shop email lists. I have tossed my Keepsake Quilting and Connecting Threads catalog in the recycle bin without opening them.

(4) I will NOT go to the Superbowl Sale at my favorite quilt shops!

As you can see my focus is still on my UFT's, flimsies, and HSY's, with the addition of using up scraps. I love to use the fabric from my stash, and never have trouble cutting into a piece so I'm not worrying about that. I'm not prepared to forbid myself to start new projects, so I'm counting on this compromise working. I can start new projects - they just must be HSY's or something from my scrap bins.

The best laid plans . . . .

As far back as I can remember - even when I was a small child - I have hated to stop in the middle of a project. Once I'm on a roll I like to proceed to the end - no interruptions, no breaks. I even forget to eat if I'm really deep into something. (Unfortunately for my waistline I don't seem to get that deep into anything any more!)

That's the way I felt about that scrap fabric on my table that was still waiting to be cut. I just couldn't go upstairs to quilt knowing I'd not finished that task. I kept thinking it would take only a little longer. I said that at 10:00, I said it again at noon, and finally just before 3:00 I finished. It took a little longer to put all the different shapes and strips into their various containers and then straighten up the room. What a great feeling to have that done! However, it wouldn't be a good idea for me to spend all my weekends this way. So I filled a small plastic tote with scraps from the big tub and then put the big tub away. The small tote can sit on the corner of my ironing board and I can press and cut a few each day. The big tub really looked emptier when I'd shifted this to the tote. I like this idea - as long as I don't get so involved I forget to do anything else.

The second picture shows the four postage stamp blocks I finished last October, plus the two more I made on Friday night. I have a rich royal purple that I'm going to sash the blocks with - it's a fabric I bought for Sophie's quilt but then didn't use. I need to make 6 more blocks in order to have a quilt of the proper size. This has been my leader ender project for a long time, but now I have enough sewn together to finish it I think. I'm going to shoot for this being one of my UFO finishes in February.

If anyone is interested in reading the story of these postage stamp blocks you can find part 1 here, part 2 here, and part 3 here.

Stash Busting

This year I mean it. This year I'm really going to be serious about limiting my buying. I did OK most of last year, but the few times I fell off the no-buy wagon I fell very hard. Now I have two stacks of fabric waiting to be prewashed and no place on the shelves to put it. All kidding outside, this need to own all the new lines I love has become a real problem. I've not put us into debt, I've not taken the food from our mouths, I've not spent money we didn't have - but I've bought much I really didn't need. I have enough for at least five lifetimes! So this year I'm really knuckling down. I've rejoined Stashbusters. I have a pact with my friend Kathie in New Jersey. I've cancelled my charm club and not signed up for any blocks-of-the-month. I've joined the UFO challenge both in my guild and on Stashbusters. I've also joined the WHIMM challenge - that is to start making the quilts I bought kits and/or fabric specifically so I could make them. I've set a very worthwhile goal - to save enough money to allow me to retire at the end of the year. That is a certainly a goal worth striving for!

Kim at A Peach in Stitches has posted a great "No Buy" button for January. Kim is always so generous at sharing her creativity! I've tried to post the button on my sidebar but somewhere I've messed up the HTML code. I'll keep working at it - in the meantime you'll know that's what that funny thing is below my goals for the year.



Badge from A Peach in Stitches