Saturday, January 23, 2010

2010 UFO Challenge

Nancy of Patchwork Penguin started a UFO challenge for this year. For this challenge, you create a numbered list of 10 UFOs. Each month a number is randomly chosen, that that is the UFO you work on for that month. At first I was quite gung ho to sign up and do this, but then I realized. Gee! I'm enjoying focusing on something and seeing it through to the end. And, what If I'm in the middle of something else? And the odds are pretty good, I wouldn't actually finish in the month. But I really liked the idea....

So, I'm going to do a modified challenge for myself. I ended up choosing 11 (apparently I've never been good at following the rules) things I'd really like to finish this year. I've taken pictures and I'd like to track how well I do against this over the coming year.

This is a quilt I've always loved. (Yes, I actually quite enjoy curved piecing.) I fell in love with the two fabrics many years ago and bought them with the eye to making a winding ways quilt, just so I could justify buying the fabric. :)


2) Several years ago we made aprons in my guild. I was one of the people that really really wanted to make the aprons. I forget what happened that night, but I showed up that night but all my supplies were at home. Fast forward a couple of years and I still really really want to make that apron, with the same fabrics I'd originally picked.


3) This is a cute little kit purchased from one of the local quilt shops. Within a week of buying it, I got it to this point. (That was last year) Now all it needs is a little embroidery and I'd have a cute adorable little Valentine's wall hanging just in time.


4) This is the quilt top for a baby quilt that I started years ago. I picked pink/blue/yellow so that it would be gender neutral but it ended up girly. (And my friends had a boy!)

5) This is from a class I took at the Houston quilt show in October. All it really needs is a little quilting (I'm seeing quite the theme here), and maybe some applique in the middle. One thing that did slow me down a little is that they're not really my colours (it was a class provided kit) so I'm really not sure what I want to do with it when it's done.

6) This was also from a class at the Houston quilt show. I love it *and* it's already quilted! All it needs is a little ribbon and a binding. I got a little sidetracked from this one with all the pre-Christmas crafting but I can't wait to get back to this one.


7) This quilt is called Soaring Complements. This is a class that I took many many years ago. I finished the top within a week of the class and it's sat there ever since. This one, I felt my quilting skills weren't good enough to do the top justice. I've been practicing over the years and have started progressing beyond stitch-in-the-ditch and basic stippling, so I think I just have to get my nerve up and just do it.


8) This top is made from a 'Cape Cod' charm pack. It was a charm pack that I just threw into the bag before leaving on a quilt retreat. At the retreat I got board of working on Dear Jane blocks (A *whole* weekend of Dear Jane was a bit much) and pulled this out.

9) That some swell Swell
This quilt is made from a 'Swell' charm pack. I was playing with fractured 9-patches. I really love how it turned out (and once again, just need to quilt it)

10) This is made from a 'Cherries Jubilee' charm pack. I just loved the bright cheeriness of this charm pack. It's another one that just needs the quilting.

11) And last, but definitely not least...
This is a border round robin that I did with my guild a couple of years ago. Each person started off with the centre block and passed it onto the next person who added a border, who passed it onto the next person who added a border, and so on. At the end of the cycle, we had the grand unveiling and got to see the fabulous quilts (that just need quilting!) everyone made together.
We've challenged ourselves to finish these quilts this year because we'll be entering them into the local quilt show this May! as a group project.


With a little steady progress and a little focus, hopefully this is the year that I see these quilts done. Here's hoping that everyone working on UFOs this year have a wonderful year full of finishes and lots of enjoyment of the process.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

15 Minutes - Update

Wow!

It's amazing what a little consistency and focus will do.
I'm still managing with 15 minutes a day. Yeah!!!

I can't believe that just last week I was so excited to be part way through step 2.

Now I've finished step 4 and have started on step 5!

It's really started to give an idea of what the final blocks will look like.


I hope everyone else is enjoying an upswing in their crafting mojo too.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

SSCS

I just realized that I neglected to post a picture of the SSCS gift that I made this year.

This is the little ornament.


And here is the quilt. This is a Kim Diehl pattern.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

15 Minutes a Day

I started off this year with the idea to spend 15 minutes a day sewing. I figured finding 15 minutes in a day shouldn't be too tough, especially for something so enjoyable.

It's been amazing to see what can be accomplished with 15 minutes a day. (Granted some of the days turned into more)

This pile you see before you started the beginning of the year as two intact pieces of fabric. I now have step one done for all blocks.


And I even made a pretty good dent in step 2!


Last night I went to a friends house for some sewing and a visit, so instead of winding ways (above) I finished another Dear Jane block. It's the applique block here with the other blocks I finished over the holidays.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

First Finishes of the Year

In my guild we did a 12 days of Christmas swap. At the beginning of December we gave our lucky recipient their 12 gifts to open as they chose for a count down to Christmas. (Who we were getting these lovely presents from was a secret until the last gift)

These are the wonderful presents I got to open throughout December.


I also got this ball of yarn.


Which magically transformed itself into this cute hat! (And my first finish of the new year)
Plus, I finished this strawberry pincushion. It feels amazing. The body of the strawberry is velvet while the leaves and stem are beads.