New Year and a new Focus

EDITED:  After reviewing my UFOs for the year, I feel the need to update my goals a bit.

I have been working on UFOs for so long that I seem to be having a little trouble coming up with my new plan for the year.  Happy 2015!

These are a few of my quilting goals for the year:

1. Finish 20 more quilts that are already in process (I still have plenty to pick from)
2. Make some new fun things while sifting through my scraps- finishing the new projects that I start
3. Make a quilt for my bed that actually matches my room
4. Use some of my fabrics that I have been collecting so I can enjoy them
5. Play with some of my new rulers and gadgets

Theses seem like achievable goals.  I did not meet my goal of finishes last year, but I did make huge progress on my UFOs.  I didn't use a lot of fabric for the last 2 years since I was focusing on finishing my UFOs.  I am not going to quit shopping this year, but I do want to use some of the fabrics I have accumulated.  I want to enjoy it while I still love it!  I want to bring new things to retreats.

Each month I have decided I want to play with a specific color of fabric.  This month I was inspired by red.  Why was I inspired?  The red scrap drawer simply wouldn't shut any more!  I have a vision of sort of working my way through my scraps this year.  

So for the month of January, I have already started 3 red projects.  I have been cutting and cutting and cutting the little bits that I have been saving  hoarding for way too long.  

 The first project was the pixel heart.  I just loved this project when it was first posted on the internet.  I am going to make this into a pillow.  I put it together in less than an hour.  The background for one block takes 1 1/2 strips (if you are using 2 1/2" squares like the tutorial)  I love how it reminds me of candy hearts.  One block is the perfect size for a pillow or small wall hanging.  This is a great way to use up some of those left over charm squares.  It takes exactly 42 squares for one heart (yes, that is how many are in a candy pack).

The next project I started was from the book Stripology.  There are some great patterns in the book for 1 1/2" strip.  Most of my scraps are at least 1 1/2" wide so this book is perfect for those little bits.  Of course if you are a math brain, you can convert them to all different size strips.  This will be a Valentine's runner for the cabin.  All the colored sections are the same size which makes it a fun pattern to cut out while sifting through scraps.  Notice all the color pieces are staggered so there are no seams to line up.  There are some typographical errors in the book (just so you are aware), but it has some great patterns.

The 3rd pattern I started is from the same book, but I haven't started putting the pieces together.  

I am looking forward to sewing with friends this weekend.  I hope to makes some more blocks for my runner.

My word of the year is 

Organize

I am told that re-organize way too much.  I am always looking for a better more efficient way to do things and store things.  This word applies to my quilting, family, and home life.  I want to spend more time doing, and less time looking for things.  

Do you have a great organizational tip you would like to share?

The Cabin

Several friends have asked about a cabin that my family recently acquired.  I finally had my camera and remembered to take pictures (of course the pictures are a month old).

 This is a picture from the deck the river is just  beyond the trees.  We had a local farmer plant the tillable acres with soybeans.

 This is also from the deck.  The river wraps around the bottom ground like a horseshoe.

 This is the cabin.

This is also part of the property.  The windmill pumps water into the pond.

This is a little bit of photo overload, but the fall colors were so amazing.  We have several deer that live in the bottom ground along with the wild turkeys.

Delaney took these last 4 photos of the river low ground.  Her photos of the reflecting trees were so great that I wanted to share.

December goals

It is hard to believe November is already over.  This year is flying by!

November goals were:

1. Quilt 2 customer quilts
2. Put borders on 2 quilts
3. Quilt 3 quilts from the UFO parade
4. Cut out the pieces for the new Bonnie mystery.

I did not do much quilting in November.  I did manage to put the borders on 1 quilt and I have the border pieces ready to go for the second quilt.  I quilted two things of my own from the parade (very small items).  I had enough pieces already in my precut bin for Bonnie's mystery, so I am off and running on another UFO.  I fell short on my goals, but I made a little more progress.

December goals are mostly the same:

1. Quilt 1 customer quilt
2. Quilt 1 of my own
3. work on the Bonnie mystery 
4. Put borders on 2 more quilts

Those seem like pretty simple goals, but every weekend seems to be filled with activities.

Lots of color

My new dishes-one of every color.  How could I pick just one or two colors?

We have been using our wedding dishes since the beginning.  When Daughter #2 was young she left us with only a few salad plates after a mishap.  Most of my bowls have cracks or chips.  It was past time and I have been looking at the same Fiesta dishes for a couple of years. 

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Black Friday shopping go for me and I do not feel any remorse.

I am still working away on my quilting goals.  I am ready to look at my accomplishments for the year and set some new goals for 2015.

November Goals

I didn't post my my accomplishments for September because frankly I didn't get much accomplished. I am hoping to do better in November.  I did quilt 2 quilts for others already this month.  One was a runner, but I think that counts too.

To entertain you, I thought I would post some pictures of the chaos in my studio last month.  I believe this to be the worst disorganization that it has ever been in.  It is such a lovely space, however, it is hard to get inspired when this is the first look in the door.  

 The other side of the studio wasn't any better.  I have since done quite a bit of cleaning, purging, and organizing.  That is mostly what I accomplished in September and October.






Since it is the beginning of November, I want to set a few goals.

1. Quilt 2 customer quilts
2. Put borders on 2 quilts
3. Quilt 3 quilts from the UFO parade
4. Cut out the pieces for the new Bonnie mystery.

Still here

I I haven't disappeared.  I am just having trouble getting into the routine of regular blog posting.  I am still working away on the UFO mountain.  I haven't counted recently, but I think I am in the downward decent.  I plan to get a count at the end if the year with a new parade.  Two more months to meet my goal.

I have lots of large projects ready for borders.  I have been struggling with the border selection on this one.

I think the problem is......I need to do a pieced border.  I love the blue, it has been my best option, but I just don't think it makes the quilt sing.

I am also doing a little scrap management this month to prepare for the quiltville mystery.  I had plenty of helpers for sorting today, but I think they might have been a little confused about the method.

Have a happy Halloween!

Denyse Schmidt Fabric Palooza

I did get a little bit of sewing in this month.  I am so much happier when I get even 10 minutes of sewing time in.  It truly is therapy for me.

My daughter is doing such a great job of blogging that I feel like I need to get busy so I am not an epic failure.  It is hard for me to believe that she has been gone for a month already.  It is very exciting that she selected textiles for one of her course subjects.  Maybe she will become a quilter some day after all!

I worked a little last weekend on borders (that was one of my goals for this month).  I have 2 borders attached to my log cabin quilt.  I am still deciding on a final border.  I am leaning toward the top border which is navy with a tan star design.  I also like the brown on the top right.  I love this log cabin setting with the stars.  I think it was worth the effort to finish the stars in the border (even thought it seemed like it took forever).  This quilt is on my UFO list, so I am happy to have the first 2 borders on it.  At one brief moment I thought about a pieced border. I decided there was enough going on in this quilt without adding a pieced border.

I have been hoarding my Denyse Schmidt fabrics from Joann's for several years.  I have made a few things with them, but I still have quite a collection.  I decided I would cut 10" off each print so that it would be easier to actually use them in a project.  Now I am on the hunt for the perfect projects.  When I last counted, I had over 90 prints.  My sister inquired as to what more than 90 DS fabrics looked like.  Here they all are stacked up.  

They look a lot more impressive when they are all spread out!!!  I divided them into 2 piles - Warm and Cool (a trick Ellen taught me long ago).  I think they look pretty amazing like this.  I have far more cool than warm.  I have used this trick to balance the color when arranging blocks.  

If  anyone has the dots in the lower left in the orange color, I am sure we can work out a trade.