Goals and Progress

     Before I get to my quilting, I want to share, “We had 2” of snow in West Columbia, SC”. It fell over Friday night so this was my yard Saturday morning. Previously we last had snow in 2014.

My major goals for this year are to:

1. finish UFOs

   --progress- I added a 3” pieced border to my “Seeing Stars” 2019 mystery UFO from ButterflyThreads and used a lot of stash fabric to piece the backing. 

   --progress- I pulled out a bag of 18 Chunky Churn Dash blocks and pieced 17 alternate blocks. Here they are laid out. Bonnie Hunter revised her free pattern in February of 2017. She made 6” finished blocks. I upsized mine to 9” finished and not sure when I started making blocks.

   
   
   

-- progress- I pulled out a bag with 3 orphan butterfly blocks and started working on a small quilt. The tulips were inspired by “Flower Power Kids Quilt” on Midnight Quilt Show S7E4 on YouTube. I also made 2 different flowers and improvised the stem and leaves.  Coriander Quilts shared flower blocks for her Spring Brook Blossoms BOM quilt and I made one of her flowers. The 3 D pinwheel was an orphan from a quilt class many years ago. My design wall went from this -

to this -

and finally this.

I love it and I'm pleased to use the butterfly blocks. It will become a gift for a great-niece expected in March.

2. decrease stash fabric

   Stash fabric used or added: 
           this past week- Used: 10.75 yds Added: 0 yd

             So far this year- Used: 16.25 yds Added: 1 yd      

2. control and use scrap fabric

   Some scrap squares of various sizes and strips were used for the flower blocks in the baby quilt top.

3. make charity/comfort quilts for church quilt group

      I didn't work on a comfort quilt .

2. clear out unneeded items in the house I tackled a box of old school files from when I taught elementary school. It felt good to upcycle usable folders and also fun to look back at some very dated science posters about such things as the US Space program.

Stay safe and healthy while enjoying some time sewing and quilting.

Small Finish and Progress

     I'm on a mission to make progress on UFOs this year. For many years I had this small square pinned to my sewing room bulletin board.

Not really a UFO since nothing was started; however, it wasn't doing any good just hanging there. I had wanted to make a small wall-hanging but decided a placemat would be more useful. Now it is finished.

     I also made progress on a larger UFO. I pulled out my “Seeing Stars” 2019 mystery UFO from ButterflyThreads and added a 3” scrappy pieced border so it will finish 78” by 87” to cover a full sized bed. I loved how the quilt is made up of 18" by 27" pieced panels. You make the number you need for the size quilt you want to make. I made 12.  Diane still offers the pattern along with others on her blog under the Free tab.

Check out projects for inspiration at Finished (or Not) Friday.

Stay safe and healthy while enjoying some time sewing and quilting.

Goals and Progress

     Last year I set weekly goals and tried to stay on track. I thought it was helpful for me; however, I want to change up a little.

My major goals for this year are to:

1. finish UFOs

2. decrease stash fabric

3. control and use scrap fabric

4. make charity/comfort quilts for church quilt group

5. clear out unneeded items in the house

    Thursday I finished the first UFO on my list for the year. ( Photos on Friday's post.) Plus I added a border on 2 more tops so they are ready to be sandwiched for quilting.

There are several quilt tops waiting so it may be awhile before they are finished.

Then I chose another easy UFO to work on. This week I hope to spend time quilting.

      I don't need a new project, but I started A Quilting Life's free BOM with a few members of my church quilt group. This is the color palette I chose. 

Here is my first block. 

Each month's block will have the churn dash frame, so I have those pieces all cut and am using them as leader/enders.

       Stash fabric used or added: as of 1/16/22

             So far this year- Used: 5.5 yds Added: 1 yd

Stay safe and healthy while enjoying some time sewing and quilting.

First UFO Finish of 2022

    This has been a great week to make progress on my UFO list for 2022. I decided to tackle projects closest to being finished. First up was my “Hope” quilt with pattern from G E Designs for her second quarantine quilt along in 2020. I love the pattern and it was fairly easy to piece.

   For the next  UFO I pulled the "Jewel Box Stars" top and added a simple border so it is ready to be sandwiched for quilting. These blocks were great for using scraps. The block design was from Bonnie Hunter for her 2018Leader/Ender Challenge. I added sashing between my blocks.  I found enough of the brown in my stash for the border.

Check out other finishes on Finished (or Not) Friday. 

Stay safe and healthy while enjoying some time sewing and quilting.

A Small Finish

     This first week of the new year I did some house cleaning and organizing before getting back to sewing. It took several days to get in the mood to quilt so not a fast start tackling my UFO list. Finally I quickly pieced and quilted the small version of “Stitches from the Heart” from Fat Quarter Shop. It is still free with 2 sizes. I chose to make the small one for a table top stand and I'm ready for February.  All fabric was from my stash.

     Next I pieced my Old School BOM top for a lap comfort quilt with simple sashing and border. I found the perfect navy fabric on sale. Quilting is not a priority since I have 2 comfort quilts already sandwiched and waiting for quilting, but I'm glad the top is done. Overall I enjoyed the Old School BOM. I learned a few new techniques and new quilt blocks. I especially love the last block (top left in the quilt) called “Christmas Blossom” from Little Bits of This and That blog.   

Thursday I started quilting on my “Hope” quilt from G E Designs and Gudrun's 2^nd quarantine QAL. Quilting is over half finished.

Hope your new year is off to a great start.

I'm linking up with Alycia for Finished (or Not) Friday. 

Stay safe and healthy while enjoying some time sewing and quilting.

Reviewing Past and Looking Forward

 Happy New Year! 2022

    The beginning of a new year is my time to look back at quilt projects worked on during the past year and set goals for the new year. I started 2021 with 19 projects on my list. The oldest UFO was from 2010. As I worked and organized I pulled orphans and planned to use them in projects so my list grew; the maple leaf blocks were orphans from a 2004 finished quilt. I made good progress on those leaves but got tired of working on them each week. I think I may have enough for a lap quilt or wall-hanging. 

     Many charity/comfort quilt projects were added and finished for a total of 13. In addition 17 quilt projects of various sizes were finished for family and friends. Six new projects were started and are not yet finished. I am mostly pleased. Many times it was easier to start a simple comfort quilt project than to work on one of my old UFOs. Several are improv and my design which takes more thought as they are not from a pattern. For 2022 I've taken what was left on my list and prioritized projects by which are closest to being finished. There are 9 tops just waiting for quilting. Three more just need a border.

I'm hoping to finish several early in the new year and then tackle a more complicated UFO. As of this writing I have 20 UFOs on my list for 2022. More will probably be pulled from hidden places and added as well as new projects. My main goal is to sew up my stash of fabric. 

      Stash fabric used or added in 2021- Used: 112 yds Added: 50 yds. 

That is moving stash in the right direction; however, I hope to do better in 2022.

Hope you are ready for a wonderfully fun crafting and quilting new year.

Stay safe and healthy while enjoying some time sewing and quilting.