April Goals and Progress Report.

Happy April Fools Day! No kidding around here, but I'll celebrate by saying I'm a fool for cats and quilting, and it doesn't need to be April 1st for that.

It's time to be accountable for my March Goals, so let's see how it went.

Quilting and Flimsies

1. Quilt and Bind Psycatdelic. Complete!

2. A new project that I'm calling "Rubber Duckie".  Complete!

3. There are still two more challenges left in:

I didn't participate in either one, so No Progress.

Neither challenge theme really appealed to me...or maybe I'm just wanting to get on with my WIP's. In either case, no harm, no foul.

4. I'll need to make two blocks for my bee hostess. Complete!

This month we made scrappy wonky star blocks for our hostess.

5. I always enjoy participating in:

This month I'm starting fresh with a plan to make a small project from this book:

Complete! I'm calling this little quilt "Stitching for Spring". It's 12.5 x 12.5 inches.

6. And I'm going to use this quilt as my project for

and so I'm calling this goal Complete! as well. I love it when I can kill two birds with one stone, don't you?

7. I'm hoping to get a start on my guild's challenge. The challenge is called N+C+Z, which stands for Neutral (fabrics from a range of neutrals), plus one Color, plus one Zinger (something bright and eye-catching).  No Progress. 

WIP's

8. Make four more blocks for Lisa's Retirement Quilt. Complete!

9. Make the next door for the Doors of Ireland quilt...this one:

Complete!

Well...I guess no bonus points for me this month, because I have to finish everything to get extra credit. My dratted guild challenge is holding me back. Still, I did finish my bonus points project.

10. Still hoping to get the quilting finished for Sew Helpful. Complete!

Pretty darned good I'd say. I'm happy with what I did during March, even if I don't get my bonus points.

So let's see what's on the docket for April.

Quilting and Flimsies

1. My top priority for April is to quilt the Rubber Duckies quilt I've been making for some friends' first grandchild, due in May.

I've been working so hard at getting my oldest quilts finished, that I've plum run out of quilts to turn into flimsies for the month. All of my remaining quilts are still WIP's. With that in mind, I've selected the one closest to being finished for this next goal.

2. Finish the remaining two blocks for the Doors of Ireland quilt. I've selected these two images for my final two doors.

This first one is technically a gate, I guess, but I wanted to include this castle since I saw so many ruins of structures just like this one on my trip.

And this one that I chose for its color as much as anything else.

Swaps and Monthly Challenges

3. It's always fun to participate in:

In April, I'd like to make this table runner from Patrick Lose called Sunny Trio:

I tore the pattern out of a Fons & Porter magazine absolutely forEVER ago. It even has fabrics matched up to the pattern. April always brings out the flower quilts in my sewing room, and so it's high time to get this one done.

4. I'll need to make two blocks for this month's block bee:

As of this writing, our April hostess hasn't yet posted her chosen block. And since I'm the hostess for May, I'll need to choose and make two blocks for next month's bee. I'm planning to choose a star block for mine, but I haven't selected one yet. I might just ask folks to make any 12-inch star they want. In case you lost count, that's four blocks to complete this goal.

5. I didn't participate in last month's

and so I haven't seen the block for April. My plan is to participate, but I like to see the block we'll be making first. Let's just call this goal a "maybe".

6. As is my way, I'm officially now two months behind in

so I'll want to catch up with the yellow block for March and whatever color is chosen for April.

7. I didn't get a start on my guild challenge for last month, and so I definitely want to at least get it started for this month. It's due at our June meeting. I've decided on an adaptation of this pattern from Esch House Quilts:

Recall that the challenge is to use a neutral (fabrics from a range of neutrals), plus one color, plus one zinger (something bright and eye-catching). I'm thinking I can use this design to make something very cute. I purchased the pattern on Etsy. It's a little too large for my needs, but I think I can use the pattern to get me started and then make it the size I want. And yes, you can probably figure this out without the pattern, but I'm lazy that way. I don't mind paying someone else to do the math for me.

WIP's

8. I want to make at least four more blocks for Lisa's retirement quilt. I'll start with this one:

9. Since I've been working hard to get caught up on the oldest of the old WIP's, I'm moving one up from the "backburner" list. It's been ages since I worked on this one too, but so far I have just one block. I'd like to start moving it along a little. It's this quilt called "It's Raining Cats and Dogs".

I'm a little embarrassed to say that I started it way back in December of 2013 when I made this block:

It's cute, huh? When I started this, I found I didn't have enough pastels to do it in the colors I wanted, but I purchased more long ago. I think the time is right to get it into the regular rotation of WIP's.

So that's probably enough to get me started, don't you think? But you know my list is never complete without a project for:

Even though I really hate this quilt, but I'm determined to finish it. For bonus points, I'll sandwich it to be ready for quilting in May. It's a large quilt, and so it'll need to be rolled on boards and thread basted...no small task.

I had planned to piece together a back for it, but then decided that perhaps a decent back would help me to like it a little better. With that in mind, I ordered some backing fabric for it...this one from Fabrics.com:

And there you go. What's on your to-do list for April?