Goals for 2019

       I hope your new year is off to a fabulous start.  

       It is here whether we are ready or not.  In the past few years, fabric and projects have TAKEN OVER my home.  My major goal for this year is to get it all under control and clear out “stuff” from a career of teaching and life.

Here are some of my sewing/quilting goals for 2019...

1 – Organize my quilting scraps and use them. ( I love crumb piecing and made-fabric.  I just need to organize better.)

2 – Finish many on my UFO Focus List. (Five are left over from 2018 list but I made good progress on 2 of those.)

3 – Finish 2 wall-hanging quilt kits I have. (These will probably be donated after finishing.)

4 - Make quilts for my church quilt ministry and local children’s hospital. (This is the easiest to spend time on. I will try not to let this overtake other goals.)

5 – Use a significant amount of my clothing stash fabric to make outfits for granddaughters, great nieces or for donation.

     

2019 UFO Focus List

1.  Rainbow star and brick quilt - started 2017, center together, needs border 

2.  Four Patch Swirl ( stack ‘n whack blocks) - started 2007, 60 blocks made, sashing and layout planned

3.  Blue and white Day Bee Mystery - started 2012, top together

4.  Made-fabric hexagon improv quilt- started 2014, add borders

5.  Gypsy Wife type quilt from orphan blocks – started 2015

6.  Bright Strings top – 2018

7.  Wickedly Easy quilt for day bed- 2018, blocks

8.  Make more Christmas placemats using children’s drawings – 2010-2018

 Wishing all a great day and a healthy Happy New Year with lots of fun sewing time!

Review of 2018 Quilting

     As I look back at projects I worked on and finished this year, I am satisfied.  I believe making my focus list for the year helped me finish more UFOs even though all on the list were not finished.  Seven of 12 were finished and good progress was made on 2 more UFOs.  Along with those on the list, I made and gave 3 baby quilt gifts and a long quilted buffet runner.  Following Angela Walters’ first FM Quilt Along I finished a lap quilt which I have yet to give away.  She is starting a new quilt along with a new technique you can check out on YouTube.

   More quilting was accomplished to finish and donate 3 quilts for the local children’s hospital and 9 to my church quilt group plus 4 quilted duffle bags, placemats, numerous mug rugs and even 5 costume squirrel tails. I had the perfect amount of brown long fake fur in my stash and it was great to use it. Sorry I did not get a photo from the show with children in costume. 

    

More sewing this year included dresses for granddaughters and doll outfits.

     Today I plan to sandwich my “Have Faith” top. Sarah shared Jamie’s pattern on her blog here.     

 Later in the day I plan to consider my many remaining UFOs and make my focus list for 2019.

Wishing all a blessed Happy New Year with some fun time to sew and quilt.

Holiday Sewing

     My UFOs have been sitting while I have been inspired to work on holiday themed small projects for gifts.  Wish I could get inspired to make them earlier in the year.  I have enjoyed making a few.

     I used Julie’s Holiday Mug Rug Tutorial to make a couple using scraps. I did change mine  some.  Instead of sewing on a binding, I folded the back over to the front for a binding.

I appliqued a snowman face onto 2 kitchen towels.

I thought he was so cute I made 2 mug rugs with the same snowman face.

Next I shrank the snowman from the Imagine pattern by Art to Heart.  I love this snowman and made 2 mug rugs.

    Some years ago I made some quilted postcards with silk poinsettias.  I decided to use some flowers still in my stash and made a couple more mug rugs.  I hope they will hold up to washing.  I did test a flower in the sink.

     When my sons were young, I had them draw a Christmas picture each year on our holiday table cloth with fabric crayons.  When my granddaughters came along, each year I have had them draw a holiday picture with fabric markers on fabric squares stabilized on freezer paper.  I have been considering what to make with them.  This year I finally started making placemats.  I chose 2 drawings for each and used a variety of holiday fabrics.  This is just the start.

Hope you are enjoying the season.  Happy Holidays!

I'm linking up with Whoop, Whoop Friday at Confessions of a Fabric Addict blog. Hope you check out what others are doing.  I find it inspiring.