What to do? What to do!

Maverick Stars are my L&E project.

     I've been working on UFOs this year, or I thought I was until I sat down and made a list. Off the top of my head I came up with 5 or so projects that I want to finish next year. Then I had to look up the size on one of them and when I went to my Official UFO list, I began to understand the extent of my problem.
     I have WAY more than 5 or so projects that need attention! In 2012 alone I started 13 new projects, finishing only four. That's not a good completion average (.307). I've been working like this for a long time and it's time for that to change.
     I'm a process person. I enjoy the journey of conceiving and making a quilt top. The layering and quilting are not my favorite parts of the process. Once the top is done, I've satisfied my creative urge and I'm ready to move on. Thus all the UFOs.
     I'm going to try something new for 2013. Accountability. I'm going to make a public committment to finish some selected UFOs. I've been making a list. It's already pretty long, but these are ones I can reasonably expect to finish. By finished, I mean pieced, quilted and labeled.
     UFOs that I mean to finish:
     Christmas Diamonds. This top is pieced and mostly bordered. I need to add the last two borders, piece a backing and send it off to Michele for quilting. This is a huge king-sized quilt. I love it and want it done so I can enjoy it!
     Sophie's Butterfly Challenge. Sophie gave each of us a butterfly panel for Christmas last year and issued a challenge to make a wall hanging with it. I've pieced the top, now I need to layer it and quilt it.
     Catharine's Wheel. This is a really old UFO, a king-sized one, probably at least 8-10 years old. I was using a quilt-as-you-go technique and ran out of steam as it got bigger. My Janome Horizon should make this process easier and I'll begin on this right away. Getting this huge quilt done will give me a big boost!
     Linus Quilt. This top has been done for months, but I haven't gotten around to quilting and gifting it. I thought I'd do it on Judy's longarm machine but that hasn't happened, so I think I'll just layer it and give it some straight-line quilting using my Acufeed foot on the Janome. It will get the job done and get me another completion.
     Anita's Arrowhead. I started this in 2010 and I'm not sure why it went into timeout. I loved doing the blue blocks. Then, I don't know. Now I have 've a plan. I've decided to make this a blue and gold quilt set 7 by 9. I have 37 blocks done, so I need 26 more. I'll do a couple in blue and gold and rest in gold and either light blue or cream. As far as quilting, I'm not making any promises! I want this top done and that's my focus. I certainly will consider having Michele quilt it.

     Others on my list are Antique Divas Pyramids, Crazy Cats & Fishes, Smith Mountain Morning, Batik Log Cabin Flowers, Wyoming Valley Stars and Hawaiian applique, and I have plans for most of these. I'll revisit them when I've made some preogress on the first five.
     I'm also working on Maverick Stars as a Leaders and Enders Project. I'm not sure where this fits in the picture. I made two blocks to see how they're going to look. Love them!
     That being said, I know I'm going to begin some new projects in 2013. I will keep them to a minimum, but there are five that I really really want to do:
     Orange & Gray Kaleidoscope, Big Zig (cut out but that's all), Dresden Plate, MMQ Quilt Show Challenge (not even a glimmer of an idea, but I plan to make this at my March Quilt Camp), and the Block Lotto monthly blocks. I have ideas for all these, but this post is already too long, so I'll come back to this another day.

     I'm linking to Judy's Design Wall Monday. Go there and see all the wonderful projects on display!



    

Design Wall, March 5

   It's really my design sewing table. I'm preparing the parts for a Jelly Roll 1600 quilt. Instead of joining the strips with a diagonal seam, I've decided to insert a 4-patch between them. Also, I've cut this from my stash, so I have fat quarter strips as well as width of fabric ones. I haven't seen that many 1600 quilts, so I don't know how this experiment will work. I love the  look of the black and white with the batiks. The questions is: how will it look when it's assembled? I'll know next week at Quilt Camp. We're going to have a "race" with prizes! It should be fun. The second picture, below, shows a jumble of the fabrics with the 4-patches added to one end. I'll sew them all together and then I'll be ready for the race!

    Quilt Camp is a twice-a-year getaway that I've been attending for 10 years. A group of 25-30 of us gather at a nearby church camp. Well it's near for me, a 30 minute drive. Some of the campers drive for three hours!

    It's a little different than many getaways in that we have to bring all our sewing gear, as well as bedding, bathing supplies and our food if we go early (I do). Because of all that, I try to start getting organized early. I'm planning to take five projects that I will work on, and additional fabrics in case I decide I want to do something different. Because I'm a scrap quilter, I always take a LOT of fabric.

    Texas Braid is packed up and ready to go. I'm to the point where I need to trim the edges and assemble the top. Then I'll decide about the border. I'm iffy on it. I think it will depend on its size.

I'm linking this to Design Wall Monday. http://www.patchworktimes.com/2012/03/05/design-wall-monday-march-5-2012
(I know there's a neater way to do this butI don't know how.)

Jeanne

Cold and snowy!

It's cold and snowy outside, so I'm staying inside today. We had a wonderful visit from my sister. She just left for the drive back to Indy and I know she'll be cautious on the roads. It's about 4 1/2 hours to her home, but she's heading for sunnier weather according to the forecasts.

As for us, we'll enjoy a rare day at home. DH probably will watch college basketball as long as there's a bouncing ball. I'm going to clean up some and then sew (I hope).

M and I picked out a pattern we want to sew at our getaway. I think I'll pull out some fabrics for it. Quilt Camp is the middle of March, so I'd like to get organized. The original is made with country-style fabrics. We're both thinking of using batiks to get a more contemporary look. I don't usually work with batiks, but I do have some so I'll see what I have in my stash. If that doesn't work, I'll probably choose something bright. (Imagine that.)

While she was here, we went to a nice yarn shop in Wooster, Calla Lilly Yarns (http://www.callalilyyarn.com/). She carries some wonderful yarns at reasonable prices. I bought yarn for a scarf I want to make. I need to finish my Liesl first, but that will be my next knitting project.

We also had a light lunch at Broken Rocks Cafe (http://www.brokenrockscafe.com/), next door to the yarn shop. It's one of our favorite eateries. Wonderful, wonderful food in a neat atmosphere. We had crab chowder that was really good. Their desserts are outstanding, but we passed on that.

Jeanne