ALYoF: April Progress Report and Goal Setting

Another month down, and I'm happy to say that I completed almost everything on my to-do list for March. Here's what was on my wish list.

1. For March, I want to finish up a quilt top that is my oldest UFO.  Complete! I'm calling this quilt "Joseph's Quilt".

My goal was to finish the top. I'll quilt and bind it a little later.

2. Quilt and bind "We're on a Roll". Complete!

3. Quilt and bind "Shine On". In progress.

4. Quilt and bind the "Outback Sunset" table runner. Complete!

As for my current WIPs, I'd like to make progress on these quilts:

4. Finish the top for "A Rose, is a Rose, is a Rose" table runner from last month's list of goals. No progress. This was the one project on which I accomplished absolutely nothing. I'm sort of holding off on it because I have a quilting friend from high school visiting toward the end of the week, and she'll be staying for a few days. She wanted to learn the curved piecing technique I learned when I attended the Transforming the Traditional workshop back in January. I figure I can teach her and work on this quilt at the same time since the technique is the same. And that means, it still looks just as it did when I posted it last month:

5. Complete the next block for the Folk Art Cats quilt. Complete!

6. Make the next blocks for the "Mumm's the Word" quilt. Complete!

7. Make the next block for the Pony Express quilt. Complete!

8. Make the next blocks for the Hobo quilt. Complete! 15 of 60 blocks are finished.

9. I'm a month behind on the Rainbow Scrap Challenge already. Last month's block was pink. I want to make the pink block and whatever color is selected for March (teal). Complete!

10. Make a quilt for my partner in the March Doll Quilt Swap. The March optional theme was "Keen on Green".  Complete!

 11. There's my March NewFO project to get started on. My official project for March is this table runner called "Chili Rounder". Started, and so Complete!

12. I've been participating in Sharon V.'s "Let's Book It" Challenge, and it is so much fun! For March, and in honor of the daffodils, I'm going to make this project.  Complete! (with frustration duly noted)

And since this was new technique for me, it also qualified as my Something Old, Something New project at

Never Too Hot to Stitch! My something old was finishing up my oldest UFO quilt top, Joseph's Quilt, pictured above.

13. Make a block for the Block Lotto which was the Star Chain. Complete!

14. Make a block for my guild Block of the Month, which was the "Rocky Road to Dublin" block from Quilter's Cache. Complete!

* * * * * 

And now it's time to turn my attention toward April. It's a shorter month than March, and I'll miss a few days of sewing while my friend is here this week. We're going to be having fun doing other stuff, even though I imagine sewing will be a part of the entertainment. Nevertheless, I'm going to try my very best to give myself a shorter list this month. I know I say that every month, and then I forge on ahead with an impossibly long list. So here goes:

I've been trying to quilt and bind one quilt and finish one quilt top each month. Usually, I set the quilting and binding as my goal for ALYoF, and this month will be no different.

1. As my "official" goal for ALYoF, I want to finish the Chili Rounder top I started in March (pictured above). It's going to be a gift for someone who has a May birthday, and so that is at the top of my list of priorities. 

2. As for quilt tops I'd like to finish, I have two in mind. First, I want to finish the top for the "Rose is a Rose is a Rose" table runner/wallhanging (pictured above). 

3. I'd also like to sew together my Rainbow Scrap project from 2013. This is going to go to the special granddaughter of a long-time friend, and I want to have it ready for quilting in May.

4. I'm signed up for a class at the end of the month at one of my LQS's to learn to use their long-arm machines. Once I'm checked out on the machines, I'll be able to rent time and use their machines for quilting my larger quilts. I'm kind of excited about that, but it also means I need to create a quilt for myself. Here are the instructions:

So I'll need to have that ready to go for my class on the 28th. And I'm looking forward to it!

As for my current WIP's, I'd like to make some progress on these quilts:

5. Complete the next door for the Doors of Ireland quilt. This is the door I'll be doing:

6. Try again to get going on the Forest Giants quilt. My friend who is visiting this week has some ideas about how to do this quilt without templates, and so I've been holding off until she comes. Recall that I've done some work on this quilt in the past, but it didn't work out as I'd hoped.

7. Make some progress on the Quiltmaker's Garden quilt. This was published in five parts, and I'm still plugging away at the first part:

8. Make Block 2 for It's Raining Cats and Dogs (the one in the middle at the top):

And then there are my monthly projects, including:

9. My next project for the Let's Book It Challenge:

This month, I chose one of my cat quilt books from my bin of cat books and cat fabrics. Specifically, I'm going to do a project from this book:

I'm going to make this project called Mom Cats:

Cute, huh? It ends up a doll quilt size quilt, and I'm going to dig through my cedar chest for some of the doilies and handkerchiefs handmade by my grandmother. I have literally hundreds of doilies, dresser scarves, and the like that haven't seen the light of day literally in decades. I'm going to use them in this quilt.

10. If I'm feeling really energetic, I'll make the next block for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, although I usually make these two at a time:

11. And I'm hoping to participate in the Block Lotto this month, called Triangle in a Square.

12. And, finally, my NewFO for the month of April. I decided to do a project that I've been wanting to do for some time, and only just recently got permission from the artist to make her mixed media work into a quilt. Portland artist, Rachel Austin, has graciously given me permission to make a wall-hanging from her original art. My goal is to hang this over an ugly access panel in the bedroom of our 5th wheel trailer. I first saw these pictures while having breakfast at one of my favorite haunts, the South Store Cafe. Here are the four pictures:

I'm going to put them in rows two by two like that, and I have some cute fabrics to use for the map background and also some fabric I just ordered today to use for borders and back. I'll give them a sashing too, but the whole project hasn't come together in my mind just yet. For now, I'd like to make the four blocks from fusible applique and then see where I am. You can see more of Rachel's work in her Etsy shop right here. I'm going to call this quilt "Happy Campers".

So last month's list had 14 goals listed, of which I completed 13. For the month of April, I have 12 goals listed. It's a little shorter...come on! Give me a little credit for my restraint.

What's on your wish list for April? As for me...better get busy. Time's a-wastin'.