August Already!!? A 13 in 2013 Update

My friend Krista asked me yesterday how I was coming on my 2013 WIPs and I had to admit that I've kind of lost track.  (Love that girl for reminding me!)

Since it's August 1st, it seems like a good idea to figure out where I am if I want to achieve my goal of finishing 13 WIPs in 2013.  I had a look back at my New Year goal-setting post, and I am proud to say that I have made some progress.  I have finished 6 quilts goals so far in 2013, although it only counts for 5 goals, since one bunch of blocks made two quilts.

So, here are the finishes:

1.  Fairy Tale Friends - February, 2013

2.  Jelly Roll Race Quilt - March, 2013

3.  Granny Squares Quilt - April, 2013

4.  Anthropologie Knock-Off Duvet Cover - April, 2013

5(a).  3x6 Bee Blocks Quilt (#1) - June, 2013

5(b).  3x6 Bee Blocks Quilt #2 - June, 2013

And even though I'm not sure I will finish my GMFG quilt in 2013, I've made amazing progress on it so far.  It could happen.  Maybe...


So that's the scoop of quilts on the original list.  I've finished a few others this year too!

The Lark Swoon quilt for Amanda.

The Madrona Road Challenge Quilt.

Krista's Reverse Rainbow Chemo Quilt...

And too many other quilt tops, bags, pouches, fabric baskets, and swap items to count.

So it's time to set a goal for August, isn't it?  And I really need to finish at least 2 quilts this month to actually reach my goal this year, don't I?  What shall it be??

First, I think I'm going to work on the Citrus Quilt.  I've had so much help with this recently, it will be fun to get this one done.  I have a whole basket of blocks in there just waiting to become a quilt.  (And hopefully my photos of the finished quilt will be better than this one!)  This will be my August goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes.

And then, if I have the chance, I think I will try to finish the Fresh Cottons Basket Quilt. 

So there you have it.  August goal(s).  I hope August is full of lots of quality quilty time. 

Don't you?

Fun Mail!

This has been another great week for fun mail here at the M household.  WH is in awe that there have been fun packages in the mail nearly every day.  If you read this post, you will remember that for once I had very specific ideas about what kind of journal cover would make my heart sing.  My partner for this round was ValeryAnne, and she really hit the nail on the head!  We've been partners before, so she knows my style...

And she met all the criteria:

It is pretty enough to take to work.

It is bright and cheery.

It has embroidery and embellishment.

It has this nifty snap latch so that I can tuck papers in and they won't escape.

And it even has an adorable pen holder on the inside.

She really pegged it, didn't she?

And I hadn't gotten around to taking pictures of the cool name tag that Wendy (lovethesky40) sent me in the RATZ swap.  This is one swap where I thought I had signed up and something went wrong.  Wendy came to my rescue and we swapped with each other.  We have also swapped before, so it was great fun.

And I just have to show you the back of my new name tag.  Love it!

I got a whole bunch more GMFG blocks in...

And some more basket blocks...

And even some blocks for a special project I'm working on...

So all in all, it was a great week for mail around here.

Wish I could say I had made this much progress on the outgoing mail this weekend.  Oh well....  Maybe next weekend.

Fun Mail!

It has been quite a while since I did a fun mail post, but there has been some fun mail coming all along.  I'm not sure where I left off, but here are some goodies that have come recently.

I'm still working on my Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt blocks.  I've tortured the members of several bees to accumulate my GMFG blocks.  I figure I need 80 blocks and these 8 bring me to 64.  I'm getting closer!!!

I finally chose the color for the connecting hexies and ordered a bolt from Westwood Acres.  I'm not going to count how many of those I need - I think I'd be really discouraged.  I'm sure it's in the hundreds.  And all the same =( but I'll get through it.  And my friend has offered to help.  Yay for good friends!

Nope.  Not the one with the pin.  That one is just too bold, I think.  I chose 9900-24.  It's a bright yellow, but I don't think it will take away from the blocks. 

And I've gotten a bunch of the basket blocks for my basket quilt from the ladies in the Bee Awesome Bee. Many, many thanks to them!  These blocks have been sitting in the WIP pile for at least two years, so it's nice to finally see some progress on this one.  This is a finish-it bee, so I should be ready to put this quilt top together when I get the rest of these!!!  Yay!  I'm starting to get really excited about this quilt.

And in other news, I talked to the sewing machine doctor on Monday and Stella is ready to come home.  He even offered to come by my house and put the rest of her together.  He says when you know what you're doing, it doesn't take long.  I'm sure she looks much better now!

Woo-hoo!  I can't wait. 

Bee Awesome!

Hello, my name is Wendi and I'm a swap-aholic!  They say that admission is healthy, right?  I just can't seem to resist a good swap.   As I mentioned in my last post, I joined another bee.  But this one is a "finish-it" bee.  The ladies in the group are going to rehab/finish projects that are already started so they can move along to the finishing stage. 

A couple of years ago, I purchased 2 charm packs of Fresh Cottons.  I hadn't quilted in a long time, and these were the first pre-cuts I ever bought.  I got excited about a pattern in a booklet called "Just Desserts", and came home and started sewing.

I hadn't sewn in so long that I forgot that the presser foot on my Pfaff is not 1/4 inch until I had a bunch of them done.  Did I rip them out?  Nope.  I just kept sewing.

And then I stopped. 

I don't remember why, I just stopped.  And those blocks have sat there in the WIP pile all this time.

So the other night, I went and found the half-finished bottoms.  Yesterday, I searched for - and found! - the fabric for the top half. 

I went to JoAnn's and bought some Jumbo ric rac. 

And today I finished Block #1.  Easy peasy, really.  Must have taken all of 10 minutes, including changing the thread on the machine to sew the ric rac. 

Despite it's non-standard seam allowance and general wonkiness, I think this will be a pretty quilt. 

I'm sending the blocks out to the bees tomorrow.  I can't wait to get the blocks back and make the quilt!