Design Wall Monday

I had a project on the design wall this weekend, but a conversation with my husband resulted in that quilt being taken down and a very old project of his being put up there.  

We are scheduled to go on a trip in May and we were discussing that. Jack really wants to do some hiking, but has admitted that might not happen because of health issues. We were talking about things he could do and I mentioned that he could work on the quilt he started quite some time ago. He said he would think. We wrapped up that discussion and each got busy with other things.

About an hour later, I went to the kitchen to do a few things and when I returned, I found this on the cutting table.

This tub has been packed away and stored on a shelf under my pressing table for quite some time. It was put there after Jack last worked on his quilt. He had spent quite a bit of time playing around with the fabrics and making the blocks. He had started to sew the rows together and was excited to get it ready for the quilting. I remember him putting it up on the design wall to talk about it with my brother Jerry, only to find a mistake in the bottom row. 

Do you see the mistake? Right there in the middle of the bottom row. He had even started playing with border options. (Ok, what was I thinking to have dyed that design wall fabric that color???)

Fast forward to yesterday... 

While I was preparing dinner, the quilt top that I finished sewing together Saturday (I can't show it because it's a pattern test), was taken down and this replaced it. 

The mistake has been taken apart and placed correctly. Jack inventoried the contents of the storage container, typed out the hand-written notes, and has once again started thinking about border and quilting options. :-) The quilt is being removed from the wall as I type up this post, and all of the rows are being labeled and organized. I don't think he plans on working on this until our trip, but he is excited to finish this. I am excited for him!

Maybe it's the new year, but the idea of finishing a project that has been put away for so long is really appealing to me. This got set aside because it needed "fixed" and other things took precedence. (Most likely those other things included me reclaiming the design wall and rarely having it empty. But that's another story...)

The reemergence of this project has me thinking. I have A LOT of UFOs and I think it is high time that I pull them out and evaluate them. I need to be honest with myself and prioritize these projects. Who knows; I might fall in love with a project that found it's way into storage and move it to the front of the "to do" list. 

But in reality, I am sure that will not happen to most of the projects and I'm ok with that. It's ok to decide that it's not perfect, but that doesn't mean that I can't finish it and give it to someone who can use it and maybe even love it. It's also ok to decide that I no longer have a desire to work on something. If that is the case, I then need figure out how to give it a new home and a possible new life.

I will do this slowly, as I know myself well enough to know that I will fret about how much money I have tied up in each of these projects. But, it needs done and I know that I will feel better after having done this. It's a way to clear my sewing space and my head. After that, I can proceed with what gives me pleasure.  

From Leader/Ender to Main Project

I love it when a leader/ender projects moves from that to the main project. It feels like progress to me.  :-)

On New Year's Eve, Pat Sloan started her Traffic Jam Quilt Along. I already had a bunch of correct-size pieces left from various projects, so I decided to jump in and sew along with the group - sort of...

I've got lots of projects on which I'm working, but I always need something simple to use as a leader/ender project; and making simple, scrappy, blue four patch units was perfect. 

 
I really didn't think about how I was placing the squares. The only "rules" were that they had to contrast at least a little and no two same fabric squares would be used in the four patch. I didn't care if there was only one "light" and the rest were dark or medium. I just want a bit of contrast between the value and or design. 

Here's a few of the 100 four patch units I needed to make. I've adjusted the pattern layout from Pat's version so that I can use the quilt as a Quilt of Valor.

I am working on a pattern test for Rachel Rossi and these four patch units were perfect as leader/enders. Yippee! 

All 100 four patch units are made and since I'm at a stand still for the pattern test (an adjustment is being made and I have to wait for more info), I've started to make the Traffic Jam blocks. (It's not like I have nothing else on which to work, but I decided using up these scraps were like finishing a UFO. That's logical, right?)

I already had most of the light corner pieces cut, but I needed a few more so I trimmed down some charm pack leftovers that had made their way to the scrap drawer.  

You can see that I printed Pat's Traffic Jam pattern and made my version change notes right on it. It looks like scribble, but I understand it.  :-)  

With this progress, it's time to start another leader/ender project so I'm adding triangles to charm squares. I'll be making 42 square in a square blocks that will have two alternating triangle fabrics. 

What I find quite exciting about this new leader/ender project is that these fabrics have been packed away for quite some time and I know exactly when and where I bought them. I am using the three fabrics on the right side of this very bad picture. The two on the left were used a long time ago.  :-)

I am somewhat embarrassed to admit that these were purchased during one of our annual sisters' weekend back in 2012. I had an idea for how I was going to use them when I bought them; but I decided against that plan and just set the fabrics aside - until now.

Just like the four patches, it's a simple sewing step, so this project will be ready to become the main feature pretty quickly too.  

2018 Planning Party

I've decided to join the 2018 Planning Party Linkup hosted by Yvonne - Quilting JetGirl

Yes, I waited until the last day of the year to decide to do this. Of course I've been thinking about it, but I just wasn't sure that I was ready to commit. You know, once you put something in writing, especially on a blog, there are a number of people who find pleasure in reminding you that you forgot to do something or that you are late in posting something. 

Nevertheless, I've decided to do it and not stress out about it. 

In terms of quilting, I am not going to do what I have in the past and pick particular UFOs to complete. Although it would be nice to do that and get them all done, I'm being realistic and purposely not forcing myself to work on something that just doesn't "fit" my mood. I'm purposely going to be a bit vague on other quilting goals as well, but they will be quantifiable and attainable.

I will do the following, in no particular order:

1) Complete at least six UFOs in the next 12 months. That's one every two months and I think that's realistic.

2) Complete at least 12 donation quilts in the next 12 months. These will include quilts for Hands2Help and Quilts of Valor. There may be more, but I'm not sure. If all goes well, some of the UFOs will be used for donations. 

3) I plan to participate in at least one Quilt Along. I enjoyed the Wayward Transparency QAL and learned a lot doing it. Since I always want to learn something in each of my projects, this Quilt Along surpassed my expectations and has encouraged me to participate in others. I'll be kind of picky in terms of which one(s) I chose to participate, but there will be at least one.

4) I am involved in a pattern testing right now and have been enjoying that. I have already found ways that I can write better patterns myself as well as be a better teacher, so I would like to participate in at least one pattern testing during 2018. 

5) Since I mentioned bettering my pattern writing and becoming a better quilt teacher, I want to revisit at least six of my patterns during 2018 and make updates and changes as needed. 

6) Write at least two blog posts per week. Included in this will be learning to take better photos so they enhance my posts. With that enhancement, I hope to offer much better tutorials, especially for when I participate in blog hops, etc. 

7) I want to actively help spread the joy of quilting. I've been involved with Scott Fortunoff, President of Jaftex, in helping to secure sewing machines for people who have lost theirs due to disasters, etc., but I want to do more. I'm not exactly sure what I'll do, but I'll do something. If you are interested, check out Scott's Facebook page or his blog on the Studio e website.  

8) And finally, as many of us always say, I want to be more organized in my quilting adventure. This is not limited to just cleaning up my space, but includes being better prepared for classes I offer, not procrastinating when making class samples or completing custom orders, and also be careful to not overbook myself, which creates chaos and tension.  

Personally, I would like to do the following:

1) Travel a little with Jack. There are a number of places that we've talked about, but just never seem to get around to organizing the trips. These are not necessarily BIG travel plans, but just some short trips that could last anywhere from one to five days. 

2) Read more for pleasure - not just quilting related books. You'd think that belonging to a book club would help that, but I think I missed at least five meeting nights in 2017. I don't want to do that again. 

3) Get more sleep. Because of my lack of organization, I often find myself not sleeping well. Hopefully this goal will be easily accomplished because of better organization.

4) Write more letters. While e-mail and texting are fine, I want to send actual cards and letters.

5) Enjoy family time more frequently. This not only includes my immediate family, but extended as well.

Ok, I think that's enough for now. Many of these goals overlap and working on one will affect the success of another.

What are your goals for 2018? If you choose to set goals, good luck with achieving them and Happy New Year!