September Projects

It's always amazing to look back at the previous month's "to do" list and see how far I have strayed... What is most amazing is that I even work on anything I list!  I'm really challenged when it comes to staying focused on a project - there are just so many out there that I can't wait to start!  Here's the status report for August:

1. Applique Affair block 17 - didn't touch
2. My Garden Album block 12 - Finished!  Happy dance time!!!!
3. Hook Aug flowers - didn't touch
4. Runaway Mystery (finish Mar clue) - half way through this one
5. Primitive Gatherings BOW (pieced blocks for weeks 1-6, applique 5-8) - ouch!  Not quite...
6. Falling Leaves (three blocks) - one block finished
7. Sew Ewe-nique Baltimore block 1 - didn't touch
8. Begin snowman rug - about 25% finished

Wow - I thought I did more than that!!!  Looks like there will be a lot of repeats for September - here we go:

1.  Applique Affair block 15
2.  My Garden Album (begin piecing borders)
3.  Hook Aug & Sep flowers
4.  Runaway Mystery (finish Mar & Apr clues)
5.  Lisa's Flower Garden (pieced blocks weeks 1-6, applique 7-9)
6.  Finish snowman rug
7.  Garden baskets (two blocks)
8.  Falling Leaves (two blocks)

I'm really counting on making a lot of progress on projects at the retreat - we'll see how it goes!

August Update

First I must mention that my Lisa's Garden blocks look better "in person" than they do in the photos... The fabric is dyed to look antique, which kind of gives the appearance of wrinkles.  The wrinkled look really comes across in the photos. Honest - I ironed all of the blocks before taking the photos - it's the fabric, not me!

I fell short on a number of my goals for July:

1.  Applique Affair block 7 - didn't start
2. My Garden Album block 12 - started, but less than half done
3. Hook June & July flowers - Done!
4. Bind Bird Party - Done!
5. Runaway Mystery (finish Feb clue) - Done!  (Started the March clue, too.)
6. Primitive Gatherings BOW (all blocks for weeks 1-4) - Done!
7. Sue Spargo BOM block 1 - didn't touch
8. Sew Ewe-nique Baltimore block 1- didn't touch

I guess I didn't do too badly for being gone a week and having way too much going on at work.  I also started a block for my first Nancy Page quilt, made a bit of progress on my Crewel rug, and designed a new rug for Wool Club. Our theme this month is "Christmas in August".  My plan is to hook this little rug to donate to our quilt guild auction.

So....time to plan for August:

1. Applique Affair block 17

2. My Garden Album block 12
3. Hook Aug flowers
4. Runaway Mystery (finish Mar clue)
5. Primitive Gatherings BOW (pieced blocks for weeks 1-6, applique 5-8)
6. Falling Leaves (three blocks)
7. Sew Ewe-nique Baltimore block 1
8. Begin Snowman rug

I have a couple of other projects that I am dying to start (so what else is new?!?), but I will stop here for now.  Too bad I have to work today - I am anxious to dive in!

Home Again

What a crazy last couple of weeks I have had!  I headed to the Ozarks directly from the airport on Thursday. I finally made it home on Friday evening.  It's good to be back in the normal routine for a while!

It's once again time to review my progress against goals...this is starting to feel a lot like work! (Which reminds me...I never did write my mid-year review!) 

1. Applique Affair block 7 - started, but not very far along
2. My Garden Album block 11 - Done!
3. Hook June flowers - didn't happen...looks like a project for this weekend!
4. Finish Bird Party - Almost done - hooked and steamed, just needs to be bound
5. Runaway Mystery (finish Feb clue) - also didn't happen
6. Primitive Gatherings BOW (weeks 1 and 2) - week one applique completed
7. Sue Spargo BOM block 1 - didnt happen
8. Sew Ewe-nique Baltimore block 1 - partially completed

Hmmm.....it doesn't look like I did so well this month!  I did finish one item not on the list - the 2009 Summer BOW block.  That's about it for the month.  We were so busy on vacation that I didn't accomplish nearly as much as I hoped.

So here's another ambitious list for July...

1. Applique Affair block 7
2. My Garden Album block 12
3. Hook June & July flowers
4. Bind Bird Party
5. Runaway Mystery (finish Feb clue)
6. Primitive Gatherings BOW (all blocks for weeks 1-4)
7. Sue Spargo BOM block 1
8. Sew Ewe-nique Baltimore block 1

There's so much more that I want to work on such as my Baltimore blocks from Elly's workshops, but my list already seems too long.  I'm definitely going to make the best of the long holiday weekend!

The results are in...

And May was a fairly productive month!  Here's the final tally:

1.  Applique Affair block 5 - not finished (not started, actually)
2.  My Garden Album block 10 - Done!
3.  Bird Party progress - doing well, could finish in June
4.  Hook May flowers - Done!
5.  Applique Affair block 19 - Done!
6.  Runaway Mystery - finished cutting, started sewing Feb blocks
7.  Sue Spargo BOM block 1 - still not done

Not perfect, but not bad! June will be a crazy month - a couple of new projects to start, a lot of traveling (some vacation, some work), so planning is tough.  Here's what I am hoping to accomplish:

1.  Applique Affair block 7
2.  My Garden Album block 11
3.  Hook June flowers (this rug needs a name!)
4.  Finish Bird Party
5.  Runaway Mystery (finish Feb clue)
6.  Primitive Gatherings BOW (weeks 1 and 2)
7.  Sue Spargo BOM block 1
8.  Sew Ewe-nique Baltimore block 1

Probably a little too ambitious, but I've got big plans for vacation!

April Plans

I know better than to be too ambitious with my list this month.  I will be out of town for two full weeks and won't be able to get much done on any of my upcoming trips.  I am going into this month with a very positive attitude... I am absolutely positive that I will end the month significantly behind where I started!  I am headed to the IQA show in Chicago (Primitive Gatherings, here I come!) immediately followed by a week in Paducah.  What's really sad is that I have found a few other things to purchase online over the past few days so I  started my traditional month of crazy, impulsive shopping a bit early this year!

So, being realistic:

1.  Complete My Garden Album block 8 (I'm almost there - it was two weeks late getting to me!)
2.  Finish Sue Spargo BOM block 1
3.  Continue making progress on Bird Party
4.  Hook April flowers
5.  At least start cutting the Runaway Mystery Quilt

I won't commit to anything more.  If block 9 of My Garden Album arrives before the end of the month, I will try to get it started.  My Applique Affair assignment for this month is block 5, which I am pretty sure I already have completed, so I get a break there.  If block 20 arrives I may try to get it prepped so I can eventually play "catch up" for last month.  Any progress on these falls into the "bonus" category.

Time to get to work!

March Accomplishments

If the first two days of this month are any indication of how the rest of it will go, I should make my list for March extremely short!  I'm going to hope that my slow start is the result of being on vacation last week and that things will pick up soon.  So, thinking positive, here's my list for March:

1.  Complete Applique Affair block
2.  Complete Block 8 of My Garden Album
3.  Make significant progress on Bird Party rug
4.  Hook March flowers
5.  Finish Sue Spargo BOM Block 1
6.  Complete first and second Runaway Mystery quilt clues
7.  Add a few more pieces to Baltimore album block

I suppose I had better stop there - I am probably being far too ambitious.  Well, it can't hurt to aim high!

Back to Work

I'm down to the final hour of my vacation...so sad to see it come to an end!  Rug camp was lots of fun.  I absolutely love my pattern!  I made quite a bit of progress - I will have to take a photo for my next post.  I am thinking about challenging myself to try and finish it in March.  I can't wait to get it finished!

While I don't have a picture of my rug to share, I have one that I took of my friend Barb's rug from last year's camp.  It's huge!  I can't believe she finished it.  She collected wool from all of her friends (including me!) to use for the tongues.  What a fun idea!

As February comes to a close, it's time to look back at my list of planned accomplishments and see just how many I actually managed to complete. 

1.  Angel block - finished!
2.  My Garden Album block 7 - finished!
3.  Applique Affair block - finished!
4.  Fabrics for Runaway Mystery quilt - assembled, but not cut (I think it counts!)
5.  February Wool Club flowers - finished!
6.  Paint Chip Project - finished!
7.  Kansas Memories blocks - didn't touch them...
 
I did work on my Everything But the Kitchen Sink quite a bit at the retreat, and finished two more baskets (I have nine or ten now).  Here's my paint chip project:

It ended up being quite a stretch from the original paint chip colors - I used two of the four - but it turned out very nice.  Only one problem...I intended to use it for my rug frame, but can't fit the silly thing through the opening!  Oh well - guess I'll have to come up with another use for it!

First Accomplishment for February

I'm happy to report that I am now able to cross the first item off of my "to do" list for February! I completed this month's Applique Affair block (okay, so I had to substitute one since I don't have the assigned one yet, but it's my block for the month!) in less than 24 hours. I did the prep work on Thursday night, but didn't start stitching until after work yesterday. Granted, it isn't the most complicated block in the world, but it's FINISHED! Now on to another item from the list...

Friendship Quotes

I did a little web surfing this morning and found a couple of quotes that just might work for my block:

• A friend is someone who reaches out her hand and touches your heart.
• Friends are the sisters that God (or destiny) forgot to give you.
• Some people make the world special just by being in it.

One of the best that I found, although completely inappropriate, has been bringing a smile to my face all day:

• A friend would lend you her umbrella. A best friend would take yours and yell "Run, bitch, run!"

I'm a huge fan of Pat Sloan and follow her blog daily. At the beginning of the year, Pat encouraged her followers to choose a word for the year. Her word was "possibilities". I've been pondering the idea for weeks, and haven't been able to come up with a word that represents what I want to accomplish this year. Then it hit me - "accomplish" is it! I need to focus on actually accomplishing rather than just planning, buying, and starting. So, for the month of February, my "accomplish" goals are to:

• Finish the angel quilt block
• Complete My Garden Album block seven
• Complete an Applique Affair block
• Assemble fabrics for Runaway Mystery quilt
• Hook flowers with February Wool Club colors
• Finish paint chip project
• Begin piecing Kansas Memories blocks

I'll report progress and set new goals at the end of the month.