The Parallel Road

So far this year I think I can say I have been keeping up with keeping goals, just not necessarily the specific goals I set out with. And that's OK. ​

As I've mentioned in previous posts, I am quite certain I will not complete my entire list of hopefuls for the 1st Quarter Finish-A-Long, hosted this year by Leanne at She Can Quilt. I HAVE been making better progress than I initially thought, though! Of the original 7 items (including the pattern thing) I have finished 4 so far! Granted, I probably will end up going back in to do more quilting on the Icy-Cool diamond quilt, but technically it's finished and bound! And perhaps by the end of March, this

just basted yesterday!

will be crossed off that list, too!

But how did all of these other UFOs and new, exciting things creep in as well??

Not to mention bee blocks! ​Oh the fun I've been having!

And the best part... I've been reacquainting myself with my stash. Do any of you other quilters out there ever have that issue? I feel as though I got so caught up in either projects that I HAD to work on, or new inspirations which relied on particular prints in the world and was out seeking bits and pieces to finish things up...​ and neglected my stash. But I'm trying to be better. There are some great prints I have languishing on those shelves! 

​Erin McMorris for Free Spirit

​Kitty Yoshida's "Brooklyn Heights" for Benartex

​Those good ol' Dogwood Blooms from Joel Dewberry for Free Spirit

​A classic Amy Butler print from her "Belle" collection for Rowan.

Just to highlight a few.

One of the reasons I rarely take part in fabric swaps - not because I'm stingy but because I can't think of anything I am ISO (in search of) that I couldn't find a suitable mate or substitute on my own shelves. Hilarious, I know. 

So UFOs, WIPs, unrealized sketches, I'm callin' on you now! Finished quilt tops waiting to be quilted, well, y'all might have to continue to wait, but I'll get there eventually too. And in the mean time, you're getting new friends and neighbors every day this week.​

Finish A-Long 2013, Q1

As I briefly mentioned in my previous WIP Wed. post (and as I am sure many many of you other quilty bloggers out there are also doing), I've decided to join in the online FAL 2013 for this first quarter. We'll see how my follow-through is before I commit any further ;-)

This Finish A-Long tradition was begun last year by Rhonda of Quilter in the Gap and is being hosted this year by Leanne of She Can Quilt. Essentially it's a forum for keeping up on one's own and others' crafting goals for the next 3 months. What are you going to put out there to the world and say, "THIS IS going to be complete next time we meet again!"? And by complete, they really mean completed!

So, here is my list for the next few months. And perhaps there will even be other projects sneaking in before the end of the quarter... but I certainly don't want to get ahead of myself (as it is, I am already wondering if I am up to all of the basting and quilting I've set myself up for).

1.) Power through the stack of pot holders I have going. I currently have 12 pairs in progress.

2.) Mystery wall-hanging project... stay tuned!

3.) My icy-cool diamond throw quilt

4.) And maybe the warmer russet one as well??

5.) My smaller Warm/Cool quilt along quilt from Jeni's QAL last year (or was it more than a year ago??)

6.) This cute little preppy elephant lattice baby quilt

7.) This one is a bit more amorphous... among my goals is to successfully "print up" a pattern or two from my own designs. Skill-building at its core!

Okay, if I'm to have any hope at all of getting through this list I suppose I ought to wrap up this post and get to the sewing machine! Good luck to all of my fellow quilters in your endeavors this year! I look forward to seeing all of the beauties y'all produce that offer me so much inspiration every day!

WIP Wednesday

I gave this the ol' college try last year, and kept with it for a while. But I think I approached it unrealistically. At least that's what I'm telling myself.

So let's try a new start in this new year and see if we can keep each other on track. I promise to check in with other folks linking up at Freshly Pieced, and if there was a project that I mentioned at some point that piqued your interest and then you never heard about again, ASK me about it. Let's stay involved, okay?

Without further ado:

New

Bee Block #1 for the first month of the second round of Friends + Fabric {A Modern Stash Bee}, for Jessica {Euphoria...}.

I also started working on the January bee blocks for Shelley {Brookquilt} in the Design Camp 2 improv bee, but neglected to take any process photos just yet. However, if you follow the link to the group page you can get a hint at what we're doing for her - I LOVE her background colors, by the way!

In Progress

Pot holders to be... I've quilted about a third of these guys, and am currently working on bindings on them. I have about 5 more of the pairs sandwiched and ready to be quilted, while I need to get more Insul-Bright in order to finish them all.

Quilt tops awaiting quilting:

This is one of those things I'm going to try and keep reasonable. I'm considering also taking part in the Finish Along hosted this year by Leanne at She Can Quilt, in which case I'll be ticking away at these at a *hopefully* steady pace. For my nearly full semi-active list, visit this post I wrote last month, but for these purposes I'm approaching only what I have begun quilting and those that I truly intend to take a stab at in the near future. Gotta leave some UFOs in the background, right??

Russet 60/30

Icy cool 60/30 - still have to piece the backing, too!

Encapsulated

One more of the simple, lattice crib quilts.

And then of course there're the bee quilts from last year...

My one foray into the Nubees block swap through flickr.

Backing for my Seams Perfect spider web quilt.

And Completed (I saved the best category for last):

My first official finish of the year!!

My boyfriend thought this one was a bad omen for any house flies, so I call it The Demise of the Flies... soon to be making an appearance in my Etsy shop.

A terrible photo! This is one of 3 pairs of pot holders I've managed to bring to completion this week. Will share more photos in a separate post soon.

Phew! Did I say I was going to keep this list reasonable??? This is the trouble I get myself into. Anyone else feeling the rush of motivation brought on by a new calendar year?? How are you using that creative energy?

Tally for this week: (I'm going to need to figure out a new way of formatting this so I don't have these paragraph breaks with every new line... sorry for the odd look)

New: 2

In Progress: 12 out of 15 sets of pot holders

Completed: 5

Quilts awaiting quilting: 6

Now, linking up to Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday (it is still Wednesday, isn't it??)

The Back is where it's at!

It's recently come to my attention just how many quilt TOPS have accumulated in my studio over the last year or so that have yet to be truly finished. In some cases I've been itching to get them quilted and see how they really turn out, but have just not been able to find the right backing fabric.

So, this past week I was on a mission.

And thanks to the help of some wonderful gals, namely Marie at Cool Cottons, and Linda and Michelle at Pioneer Quilts, I was able to come up with some stunners!

As in most of these cases, it was evident that I'll have to piece the backing, and that little taupe fabric fit perfectly with the vine stripes in the other piece. A combo about which I am most excited!

A top started in a class nigh on 7 years ago, taught by Portland quilt artist Lee Fowler. It took me until this past year to finish the top, but hopefully won't be nearly as long to see it quilted!

And then we get to the white whale(s)... I've made a couple of these 60° diamond quilt tops in the last couple of years, HOPING that they'll turn out as well as the twin crib quilts I did originally. But it seems there's no good way of knowing until I get them quilted. But look at this combo that Marie helped me find...

And how could I doubt that ultimately it would be Philip Jacobs to come through with the winning number here?  Courtesy of Pioneer Quilts.

Is anyone else out there scrambling to bring some of their UFOs a step closer to completion as the calendar year is winding down? What's at the top of your "unquilted top" list?