12/1/15

December Goals and Progress Report

November could have been a rather frustrating month of quilting. No doubt, I bit off a little more than I could chew trying to quilt a whole big quilt in one month, and tension problems thwarted me at every turn. Toward the end of the month, I decided to take a break from my big bad boy quilt and work on the items that were remaining on my list of goals. It turned out okay, and I'm hopeful that December will go a little more smoothly.

Quilting and Flimsies

1. Finally, finally, finally, the Doors of Ireland quilt has moved to the top of the quilts-to-be-quilted pile. In Progress and currently in time out for misbehavior. (Yes, we love our quilts, but don't cross us if you know what's good for you.)


2. Finish the top for "A Cat is a Cat". I kind of jumped ahead with my own kitty portraits and left Samson in the dust. Poor Samson still needs top-stitching. Complete!



3. And finish Smitty's pawtrait, of course. Complete!



Monthly Challenges


4. This is always a fun challenge, and I've ended up with some pretty cool quilts that would never have been made otherwise. Complete!




5. And I'll take another shot at the Block Lotto in November. Complete!



Join me on the Block Lotto Blog
blocklotto.com

Here's my Plus and X block for November's Block Lotto:



6. Make the next block for the Wind in the Whiskers quilt. Complete!





7. Continue on with the blocks for the Live, Love, Teach quilt. This time, I'll be doing Blocks 33-36 of the 56 total blocks. Complete!






No bonus points for me, I'm afraid since the Doors of Ireland and I couldn't come to a meeting of the minds. But that didn't stop me from finishing up one of my bonus projects.

8. Finally, for bonus points, I'll try to get the quilting done for the Feed the Cat quilt. Complete!


9. And I'd like to at least get a start sewing the blocks together for the Quilting Snowladies. No Progress.

In December, I'm going to change things up a little from my usual "meat and potatoes" projects. There are some things I want to finish before year's end, and so I think I'll start this list of goals with the projects already started.

Quilting and Flimsies

1. I want to finish quilting and binding the Doors of Ireland, pictured above.

2. At least get a start sewing together the Quilting Snowladies, also pictured above.

WIP's

3. I want to complete four more blocks for the Live, Love, Teach quilt. These are the ones on tap for December. When these are complete, I will have finished 40 of the 56 blocks.


4. There are three more blocks to finish for the Cats of a Different Color quilt, and that will bring the 2015 Rainbow Scrap Challenge to a close. 

RSC 15

There were three each of the four different blocks in this quilt, and it made sense to do the sets of three all at the same time. (Conveniently, this makes an excellent excuse for allowing the project to fall three months behind.) With that in mind, it's time to make the blocks for October (brown), November (green), and whatever color is chosen for December. These are the blocks I have so far:


5. This month's block for the Block Lotto is a simple scrappy block, and so I'll make one for that challenge.


Join me on the Block Lotto Blog
blocklotto.com
This month we're making the Wonky Strips block.

So those are the "meat and potatoes" projects for the month. Then I'm going to have some fun.

Just for Fun

6. First on the just-for-fun list is to make up the Scrappy Santa door hanger kit I ordered in November. 


7. Also, I want to make the orange Four Fabric Forest I talked about some time ago from these fabrics:

8. If I can get those finished, I'd like a winter table runner for my table. I've had Icy Blues on my list for quite some time, and I'll use this as my project for the Let's Book It challenge since I printed this pattern off eons ago. It's a free pattern from the All People Quilt website.




So that's a big enough list for one month, but I still need something for the elusive



9. At least get started on the quilt I'd like to make from my autumn leaves photograph.


So that's a pretty big list, but December is a long month. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?

What's on your list for this last month of 2015?

5 comments:

Ellen said...

Barbara, I enjoy watching your progress and marvel at your productivity! How do you store your WIPs so you have all the parts together and can easily find what you want to work on? That's why I can only work on one thing (or two) at a time. Would love some of your tips for organization. Thanks!

Barbara said...

Ellen, your settings are at no-reply, and so I can't reply to you personally. I'm hoping you'll see my response here. The answer is that I have a wheeled cart with narrow drawers that fits under my ping pong table work table. http://www.joann.com/storage-cart-double-wide-with-12-drawers-multi-color/2348266.html#q=wheeled%2Bstorage%2Bcart&start=4

Each project has its own drawer. Of course, some projects are too large to fit in these little drawers, and those have their own larger bins. When I'm not working on a project, I store it under the table.

Occasionally, I've taken a project out of its storage container after a long absence and then been completely lost as to which fabric was designated for which part, or else I've just lost the thread of the pattern. When that happens (not often) I'll usually just finish the top. Sometimes procrastination really doesn't pay.

Vroomans' Quilts said...

I like how you list the main stays of your monthly projects as 'meat and potatoes'! And glad you add fun into the mix.

Lyndsey said...

Well done with November's list. Some quilts are just like recalcitrant children and need a little time to cool their heels. The doors of Ireland certainly fits that description but is going to blossom into a fabulous finished quilt.

I'm already getting excited about the snow ladies quilt. I have one of these stitcheries so far, which I haven't started yet. I plan to stitch it in January and if all goes well I will do the lot as I really want them as a quilt. The santa door hanging is so cute and your autumn leaves will make an awesome quilt. December is a long month so time for a lot of sewing (even with Christmas in there as well). I'm looking forward to a lot of sewing this month as I have a two week holiday over Christmas and New Year. Roll on the 18th December my last working day for 2015!

Kaelyn Angelfoot said...

You had a great November and it looks like December is promising to be just as fabulous for you! Looking forward to seeing all your projects grow.