Last finish of 2017

Technically, this wasn't my last finish of 2017; the dinosaur sweatshirts were.  But this quit hasn't been blogged yet and I'm trying to catch up.

Someone donated this colorful (and a little bizarre) Noah's Arc fabric to my local Project Linus chapter.  I tend to get the novelty fabrics because the group all know those are my favorites.  It didn't make sense to cut it up so I decided to frame it as a large log cabin block.  The solids are Kona Lemon, Cabbage, Lake, & Malibu.  I used leftover binding in a variety of shades of gray.  I quilted it with a big spiral coming out of the center.  I call it "Noah Didn't Build a Log Cabin."

This was project #14 on my list of Q4 goals for the globally hosted finish along. 

A Pair of 2017 Finishes

I have a few 2017 finishes that didn't get blogged last year.  Two of them are I Spy scrap quilts.  I cut my I Spy scraps into specific sizes and use them up in scrap quilts.  These are frequently my leader and ender projects.  My pile of 3 1/2" squares was getting quite large so it was time to use them up.

The first uses Kona Lagoon as the alternating fabric.  The scraps were just pulled out of the pile randomly, though I intentionally did not use pink or purple in this quilt.  Frankly, I think "boy colors" and "girl colors" are crazy and I could rant about it, but this is going to Project Linus and I've been told by our coordinator that some places won't give boys quilts with any "girly" colors in them and we tend to be short boy-appropriate quilts.  So I don't rant and I try to make quilts that kids will like, and a kid can't like a quilt they aren't given.

I generally hand-sew my binding but not when a quilt is backed with minky.  I used the wave stitch on the binding and I really like how it came out.

The second quilt has Kona Morning Glory as the alternating fabric.  This quilt did get pink and purple I Spy scraps, as well as anything else that was in the pile.  The Morning Glory was left over from a quilt for my cousin's daughter and I just had enough for the squares, so the binding is a fun dot print that I had in my stash.

close-ups

You'd think this would mean I'm out of 3 1/2" scraps, but you would be wrong!  I have another top using 3 1/2" squares already completed and could easily make at least one more.   I swear that scraps grow on their own overnight!

These were projects #16 & #17 on my list of Q4 goals for the globally hosted finish along. 

2017 Wrap-Up and 2018 Goals

2017 was a bit of a milestone for me, quilting wise.  I took a quilt class in the fall of 1997 as a sophomore in college (not curricular!) so fall of 2017 marked my 20th anniversary with quilting.  And since I turned 40 earlier in December, I have now officially been quilting half my life!

As the year draws to a close, it is time to look back at 2017 and see how I did on my goals, as well as to set goals for 2018.  Yvonne aka Quilting Jet Girl hosts a yearly goal-setting party, which I really enjoy.  It's great to see what others set as goals for themselves as well as to have the opportunity to put my own goals out there and have some accountability.



First, a look at 2017's Goals

2017 Big Picture/Overall Goals

Goal: Big Quilts
I didn't so much tackle this one as give up.  I decided that I am okay not being comfortable with big quilts.  The one really large quilt that I made, I sent to a long-armer.  I have come to peace with not loving big quilts, especially the quilting part.

Goal: Focus on what's already started and what I own
As mentioned in the original goal, this is hard to quantify.  I bought a lot less than I have in previous years, and I bought very little fabric in the first several months of the year.  I also made far fewer trips to my LQS which cuts down on the buying.

Goal: Maintain Commitments
Success!  I was in 2 bees in 2017 and was on time with all my blocks!

Goal: Remember that "It's okay watch from the sidelines and still be inspired"
That phrase is in quotes because it comes directly from Diana at Red Delicious Life.  I will also call this one a success.  I sat out both the mystery quilt alongs I had done each of the 2 years prior and I sat out many other QALs so I could concentrate on other projects.  I did join 2 QALs that were unplanned and I do not regret either--they were chose somewhat intentionally and were fun, as opposed to a chore to keep up with. 

Goal: Blog Styling
More success!  My husband gave me a logo for Mother's Day and Valerie of Valerie of Inkblot Design Studio did an amazing job. I also moved to a professional blog template and am very happy with the overall look.

Goal: Use my Quilter's Planner
This one didn't go so much for me, though I did say in the original goal that figuring out if it works for me was the goal, so in that sense I guess I was successful. I really like the idea of the Quilter's Planner, but I found that I didn't use it really at all after March.  I'm going to try something new for 2018.

2017 Quantitative Goals

12 quilts donated to Project Linus -- Even better--13!
6 mini quilts or pillows completed -- Yup!  Several small projects completed!
6 scrap projects completed --Yessiree!  I lost count but did finish many scrap quilts.

I also made a list of 12 projects as a part of All People Quilt's 2017 UFO challenge.  I completed 6 of 12 projects on that list.

2018 Goals

Goal: Maintain Commitments
I'm in 2 bees again this year and am Hive Mama for both.  I'm also part of a secret project in the spring and would like the opportunity to take on more commitments in the quilting community.

Goal: Finish The Big Five
I have five bed-sized quilts in various stages of completion that I would like to finish: Laura's Quilt, I Spy for our bed, I Spy for Mom, Bookshelf quilt, and food-themed picnic blanket.

Goal: Track Fabric Usage (aka use more than I buy)
Overall, I want to use far more than I buy and I think tracking usage will help.  I also plan to track fabric purchased. I don't have a quantitative goal for yardage out but I am curious to see the numbers.

Goal: Try simpler version of Quilter's Planner
Using the Quilter's Planner didn't work for me so for 2018, I bought a pretty blank book and plan to use it to track just a few things.  I'm hoping that going simpler will mean I keep up with it.  Part of this goal is to figure out what I want to keep track of.  I like the idea of tracking yardage.  I wish I had a better record of when I finish projects. Kate at Life in Pieces tracks the days she spends at least 15 minutes sewing and that sounds intriguing to me.  So I guess I'll start with these and see how it goes.

Goal: Remember that "It's okay watch from the sidelines and still be inspired"
That phrase is in quotes because it comes directly from Diana at Red Delicious Life. This is a repeat from last year and I'm hoping I can do as well again.  I like to join in on the fun but I have so many projects already that taking new ones on can stress me out when I feel like I need to stay caught up.  I felt like I had a good balance this year and I strive for that again in 2018.  So I guess one way of looking at this goal is "join some of the things but not all of the things."

Goal: Clean Up/Organize Sewing Room
It's so hard for me to spend time cleaning up or organizing, partly because I don't really enjoy it (though I enjoy the finished product) but also because I'd rather be sewing with that time.  This is an example of where I'm hoping that writing it down helps me make it happen.  I don't have dreams of it being completely neat or organized, but better than it is would be nice. Part of this is likely to include giving away abandoned projects. 

Goal: 12 Quilts for Project LinusThis is my standard yearly goal since I got involved in 2015 and works out to one a month, though that's never how they actually get finished.  I tend to work in spurts. I also attend monthly meetings of the Charlotte chapter.

And 2 personal goals:

Goal: Weight Loss
In 2017 I lost about 15 pounds. I'd like to lose at least that much again in 2018.  Ultimate goal is 40 pounds from starting weight.

Goal: Learn Spanish
My husband is from Mexico and is a native Spanish speaker and of course so are my in-laws.  While all of them are fluent in English, they would much rather speak Spanish when they are together.  It is past time for me to learn Spanish.  I've made a few attempts but nothing has lasted.  One of the perks of my job (I'm a librarian at a community college) is that I can take 1 class per semester for free.  I am registered for a Spanish class that starts in January.  I am aware that the class will cut into my sewing time but I think that the time investment will be worth it.  And I have a live-in tutor!

I had a good year in 2017 and am ready to see what 2018 has in store for me.  Happy New Year!

Almost Finished: December OMG

Christmas is over but I'm still working on my I Wish You A Merry Quilt Along quilt.  My goal for the OMG linky party hosted by Patty at Elm Street Quilts for December was to complete my blocks and assemble each of the four rows.

I'm happy to say I made it and got a little bit further than anticipated.  I finished all my blocks: the 12 original blocks and 4 bonus blocks.  I did quilt-as-go, so everything was quilted before assembly.

Nope, not quite complete.  It's currently in 2 sections.

All four rows are assembled and have been paired and sewed into the next step. Now I just need to sew those together and bind!  To get two for one, I'm making completing this quilt my OMG for January 2018.

Christmas Dinosaurs

My son and my niece are both 4.  This means they are both at an age where dinosaurs are particularly interesting.  My public library has a great book called Playful Hoodies by Mary Rasch that has 20+ costumes you make with a hooded sweatshirt.  Dinosaurs are one of the patterns and I decided to make both kids dinosaur sweatshirts for Christmas.

ROAR!

The dinosaur scales are made out of fleece.  Since I back most of my Project Linus quilts with fleece I have lots of fleece scraps, making this a scrap project for me.

My son's sweatshirt has 2 different shades of green in an alternating pattern.  He loved it and put it on as soon as he opened it.

My niece is crazy about rainbows, so her sweatshirt is a rainbow dinosaur.  I was lucky enough to have fleece scraps of all the rainbow colors (though the purple is a very pale purple) and put the scales down her back in rainbow order.

 Happy Dinosaur!

The dinosaur sweatshirt was project number #19 on my list of Q4 goals for the globally hosted finish along.  (Only Munchkin's sweatshirt was listed in the goal.)

 

Since this is technically a scrap project, I will be linking up with Oh Scrap! hosted by Cynthia of Quilting is More Fun Than Housework.

Orange & Pink Elephants

For most of 2017, I kept up pretty well with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. Until September.  Fall is always busy in my house and the rainbow elephants fell by the wayside.  The pattern I'm using is Elephant Parade by Lorna of Sew Fresh Quilts.

I got a little sewing time at the end the week and I spent some of it getting caught up. Here is the orange elephant family, originally meant to be September:

And here is my pink elephant family, meant to be completed in October:

Each color family has now been sewn into rows and 4 of those rows are sewn together.  Sadly, that's when I ran out of background fabric, so I am stalled until I can get some more Kona Fog.  I was at my LQS 2 weeks ago and they didn't have any so it's an online order for me. That means I won't actually finish my 2017 rainbow quilt in 2017 but this hopefully won't bleed too far into 2018.

I Wish You a Merry Quilt Along: Last 3 Blocks

The final block has been released and I've finally finished them all!  I Wish You a Merry Quilt Along has 12 blocks and they've been released every two weeks since August.

One of the great things about this quilt along is that we are encouraged to make the blocks our own.  I've done some minor adaptions to various blocks, but I went a little farther out of the box with block 11: The North Star designed by Kathleen McMusing.

I've been planning to make 4 extra blocks so I can get a 4 x 4 setting.  I made a list of possible things to include, and my list was *way* longer than 4!  So as we've gotten closer, I've looked for ways to incorporate things from that list into the original blocks.  When I saw the North Star, my first thought was to put it on top of a tree with lights, as lights is one thing I really want to include.  But I couldn't get the placement of the star figured out and the scale would have been really far off.  So I put my North Star on a mug of hot chocolate!

I used the paper pieced pattern for the star points and reduced the to 50%.  I took my inspiration from the In From the Cold pattern by Kate Spain.  This is essentially mug #3.  I love how it turned out!

Block 12 is a string of Christmas lights.  Lights were one of the things I was hoping for so I was really happy to see this one.  This was my first time making and using bias tape.  I did not enjoy making it, but it did bend/flex quite easily. This is one of my favorite blocks!

I did make the original block 8 which was the presents block designed by Alice Samuel's Quilt Co but I wasn't crazy about how mine came out. 

Version 1

So I made a different present.  I modified a tutorial to be the correct size. But it was too...messy looking and not distinctly a present. 

Version 2.  I wanted to like this one!

I left it around for a few days hoping it would grow on me, but it didn't.  So I created a simpler present and found that the third time was the charm. 

Final Version

 

 

 

 

I am now working on joining the blocks.  The quilt as you go method that I'm using involves some hand sewing, so this will sadly not be done by Christmas day.  Our celebration with Husband's family is Christmas Eve day so my time will not be spent sewing.  Still, I've really enjoyed the quilt along and love the project so far, even if it won't be done for the big day.

Wishing everyone a joyful holiday!  Merry Christmas!