13 Finishes in 2013 - The Recap

Last January, I set a rather ambitious goal to finish 13 projects in 2013.  Call them UFOs or WIPs, or whatever, the truth is these quilts-in-progress were just languishing in a basket in the sewing room, taking up space and making me feel guilty.  Here was my original list:

 1. Jelly Roll Quilt - Finished March 9, 2013

2.  Fairy Tale Friends Finished - February 21, 2013.  Donated to Project Linus.

 

3.  3 x 6 Bee Blocks - I thought I had enough of these aqua & red blocks to make one quilt.  Turns out I had enough blocks to make two quilts.  I didn't quite get them finished to complete my May goal, but they were both finished by June 8, 2013 and both were donated to Project Linus.

4.   Citrus Quilts - I thought I had 10 blocks.  Turned out I had 48 blocks! so I ended up making 3 quilts and asking for a few more from the most recent round of the  3x6 bee so I could make one quilt a little larger.  These 3 were completed in August.  I have the final one on the list for 2014.  Two of these were donated to Project Linus, but somehow, I couldn't part with the third one. 

5.  Granny Squares Quilt.  These blocks were from a couple of online bees in 2011, so I had plenty of squares to finish this quilt. It's one of my favorites, in fact.  It's also the only quilt I've had the pleasure of quilting on a long arm (thank you, Marcy!)  This one was finished in April.

6.  The String Blocks Quilt  was finished in October. 

7.  The Bow Tie Quilt was finished in September.  I really had fun quilting this one.  I called the quilting motif a Double Daisy, but the ladies in the guild thought it looked like Sand Dollars.  Whatever it was, it is finished.   Yay!

8.  Bento Block Quilt - I finished this one in December.

9.  Breath of Avignon Quilt - I haven't made any progress on this one, so it will be tops on the list for 2014. 

 

 

 10.  Ari's anthropologie knock-off duvet cover was finished in April, 2013 as a graduation gift for Ari and her husband, Mitch.

11.  My Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt is really coming along.  I am actually amazed at the progress I've made on this one, so while it's not really finished, I'm not going to count this as a fail, either.  It's a great project for wintertime, since it's all hand-stitched, so I'm going to put it on the list for 2014 again and see how far I get.  I'm really pleased with my progress on this one.

12.  I have made 2 Weekender Bags from the leftover HSTs from the Swoon quilt, so I'm going to count this one as finished, July, 2013.

13.   I've made virtually no progress on my Basket Blocks quilt.  It's still sitting there in it's little zip lock waiting for some attention.  So this one is going to the top of the list for 2014.

There were a bunch of other finishes in 2013, and one day I will get around to figuring that out, but that's it for this list.  While I didn't get to everything, I'm not going to beat myself up about that.  Overall, I'm pretty pleased with what I did accomplish, and that's good enough. =)

I'm debating whether or not to try to do 14 in 2014.  Is that too much?  Especially considering that my WIP pile is considerably smaller than it was last year.  There are these two unfinishes of course - the Breath of Avignon and the Basket Blocks.  

And then there are a bunch of others.  Some have been sandwiched.  Some are just finished quilt tops. 

And a few are just unfinished blocks - or blocks yet to be made.

It will be interesting to see what quilty pleasures 2014 brings, won't it?

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?

13 in 2013 - Granny Squares Quilt FINISHED!

It.  Is.  Done.

Love that many of the squares were bee blocks.  Love the quilt.  Love the binding.  Love that I got to quilt it on a long arm...

Love that I had a couple of extra squares to put on the back. 

Did I already say I love the binding?  I even hand sewed the binding, which I rarely do.

Oh yes, I think this is destined to be a favorite quilt.

13 in 2013 - April goal

I'm working on the binding for my granny squares quilt.  Finishing it up was my goal for April in A Lovely Year of Finishes on Flickr.

photo by Westwood Acres

I had debated about the binding until I saw this print in Amanda's "Stripes That Bind" bundle in her shop when I was visiting last week.  They're all so pretty!  I knew this print was just the thing.  And I have 9 lovely stripey prints left to make other bindings if I want.  Or, maybe I'll make a quilt with them.  Wouldn't they be pretty as HST's with a collection of solids???  I think I'm drooling.

And this print is finishing up my granny quilt just as nicely as I thought it would.  I love that it looks like it's cut on the bias - but it's printed that way!  Saved me a ton of work and a ton of fabric.  I also love that it pulls out so many of the colors in the grannies themselves.  See how great it looks with the yellow Bella solid backing?

I think I'm in love!  Again!

Oh, and in other news...  you can now follow prsd4tim2 on

13 in 2013 - April Goal

If you are looking for my blogiversary giveaway, go here.

I know I say this every month, but where - exactly - does the time go?  It seems like just last week I was setting a goal to finish 13 WIPs in 2013.  At the time, I didn't really think I could - or would - do it.  But now I'm beginning to think it might actually be possible, you know?

So far this year, I've finished

Fairy Tale Friends and

Jelly Roll Race

So I'm a month behind.  I'm going to have to double up on some projects in a couple of months if I'm really going to meet that goal.  And I'm really debating, but since I'm going to be out of town for about two weeks in April, I'm going to set an easy goal.

My goal for April is to bind - and therefore finish - my granny square quilt.  If I get something else completed, it will just be gravy.

So there you have it.  A SMART goal for April.  Can I?  Will I?  For accountability's sake, I'm linking up with A Lovely Year of Finishes.

What do you hope to accomplish in April?

A Super Fun Play Day

You would think that now that I'm not working I would be a more diligent blogger, but honestly, I'm just too BUSY!  Yesterday, I had a super fun day.  My friend Marcy invited me to her home to play with her long arm quilting machine. 

It.  Was.  A.  BLAST!

When I arrived she had a practice "quilt sandwich" already set up on her machine for me to play with.  After she showed me what is going to be her beautiful new studio, she introduced me to the machine.  It was easier (and more fun) than I thought it would be.

You can FMQ from the front of the machine, or use the pantograph designs from the back.  Like on your home sewing machine, FMQ requires a lot more thinking and planning.  I liked the pantograph for that reason.  You follow this little laser light along the paper design to guide the machine, which stitches the design on your quilt.  Complete with your mistakes - LOL.  But it is very cool.  And if I had more practice, and better hand-eye coordination (something I've struggled with since elementary school) I would have gotten better results.

After I practiced for awhile, we loaded my quilt onto the machine.  First the back... 

And then the batting and the quilt top.  Then I went to work play.  It was really, really fun. 

I really had to concentrate, though, to follow the design.  A moment's inattention = messed up quilting. 

No, I didn't unpick any.

Would you look at how cool this is???  It would have been fun to actually be able to divide my attention and watch the design take shape.  But alas, I certainly don't have those skills.

Marcy was an incredible hostess, and even fed me a delicious lunch of salad and sandwiches.  Yummm.  I honestly didn't realize how hungry I was until she suggested we stop for lunch.

After just a couple of hours, I came home with a completely quilted quilt!  How cool is that??

Certainly not perfect, but not too bad either.  Marcy says the mess-ups won't show after the quilt is washed.  I hope she's right.

I almost missed the light, but here's the  FINISHED front...

And the back...

Now all it needs is binding and I'll have a quilt. 

It was a really fun way to spend the day.  Thank you, Marcy!