PhD in 2019, plus a finished quilt

Gail of Quilting Gail created a great year-long motivator of finishing up quilts--a PhD, meaning Projects Half Done.  Her idea has two parts: first, you make a list of unfinished projects and set a goal to complete as many as you can; my goal was at least half of my list of 25.  The second part is trickier--you must complete any project started in 2019 so that you don't add more projects to the unfinished list.  I'm pleased to report that I completed my PhD for 2019!  With three days to spare!

First, let's look at the projects on my list at the beginning of 2019.  I had twenty-five.  I have completed fourteen of those, though one project on the list got split into four projects (the boats) so I actually finished seventeen. Note that the last finish on the list hasn't been blogged yet; hopefully I can get it photographed tomorrow.

Disney Princesses	1	March 17, 2019
Fish pillow for Samantha	2	March 24, 2019
*Dandelion Embroidery	3	March 26, 2019
Fall fat quarter quilt	4	March 31, 2019
Horse fat quarter quilt	5	March 31, 2019
Devin’s baby quilt	6	May 6, 2019 (estimate)
Giselle & Mario’s baby quilt	7	May 16, 2019
Hidden Stars/Sherry’s QAL	8	May 19, 2019
*Doggone Cute	9	May 20, 2019
Dad’s tea cozy	10	June 5, 2019
Postage Plus	11	June 23, 2019
Penguins (Stash Bee)	12	August 10, 2019 (delivery date, don’t know completion date)
Sail boats Bee Inspired Charity Quilt: Became 4 quilts.  Boats #1 (bubbles)	13A	October 25, 2019
Boats #2 (clouds)	13B	October 28, 2019
Boats #3 (Emerald)	13C	October 29, 2019
Boats #4 (Regal)	13D	November 29, 2019
Elizabeth	14	December 28, 2019
*Food themed picnic blanket	15
Extra for Miren	16
*Giraffe Pillow	17
*Magical Forest	18
*Lion Pillow	19
Smitten Kitten (Rainbow Scrap Challenge)	20
Blue Forest Animals	21
*Laura’s quilt	22
*Bookshelf quilt	23
*I Spy for our bed	24
*Snowmen	25

* Denotes on list in 2018

Now, the harder part.  Projects begun in 2019.  The trickiest one was actually the first new project started in 2019.  Patty of Elm Street Quilts co-hosted a hand-stitching sew along for hand piecing.  I tried hand piecing back when I first started quilting and didn't like it, but figured it was time to try again.  I took some very basic supplies with me to Oregon when I went to care for my dad post-surgery.  I made the first block, a simple 16-patch.

Turns out that I still hate hand piecing.  Like, could not make myself make another block, despite having the pieces already cut out.  So this one orphan block has been sitting alone since February.  But I couldn't let this one 6" block ruin my chances for my PhD! So last week, once I finished and mailed out the Christmas gifts, I got out the bag with this one block and the fat eighth bundle of Blueberry Park.  I planned a super simple quilt with 6" blocks.  First, I needed to make 4 more 16-patches--this time with the sewing machine.  Then I cut very, very carefully to fill in a diagonal pattern with the other fabrics in the bundle. 

It's only 30" square but that will be fine for a kids' donation quilt.  I'm calling it Path Through the Park since the yellow squares cut a path down the center of the quilt and the fabric is Blueberry Park.  They are such gorgeous fabrics!  I actually really like the in big pieces so that Karen Lewis' beautiful screen print designs show up well.  My favorites are the two big floral designs. The white in the pieced blocks is Kona Snow and the binding is Kona Ash.

And with that, I finished my second PhD--I played along with Gail last year, too.  Here's a list of the 2019 starts:

Started in 2019

Hand quilted QAL/Path Through the Park	December 27, 2019
Pillowcases for me	May 24, 2019
Dress	May 31, 2019
Utility apron	June 9, 2019
Baby June’s repair (turning a damaged quit into 3 smaller projects)	July 11, 2019
Disappearing 9-patch QAL	July 15, 2019
Tracy’s Panda	September 15, 2019
Dog quilt with Elliot	September 28, 2019
Cheryl’s Quilt	November 19, 2019
Treasure Hunt Twist (leader & ender)	November 22, 2019

 

I did not include any of the Island Batik challenges on this list, or the recent Christmas gifts, but I promise that all of those were finished!

Want some motivation for 2020? Gail is hosting another challenge; you can find the details here if you want to play along.  I'll be trying to complete the projects that I didn't finish this year, as well as stay on top of anything new I start in 2020.  Thanks, Gail, for such a fun motivation to get quilts finished!