Today's The Day

My bladder woke me a little earlier than usual this morning, so I took advantage of the earlier time to check for the Quiltville Mystery Quilt Intro. I think it's going to be a wait-and-see as to whether I'm going to do it, based on the color scheme. The one color that appears to maybe be predominant aside from the neutrals is orange. I use very little orange, so there's little in my stash - even if I included FQs and yardage; the total would be not much more than 1/3 of the requirement. I'm considering yellow, but am sure I would have to cut into some FQs and yardage to accommodate the requirement as well.

Sum total of my orange "scraps".

Following along, saving and printing the instructions and getting the paint chips are still on the agenda, so we'll see where it goes from there in the months ahead. I can't deny that I have plenty to do! All one has to do is review my UFO Parade and see how many projects need to be finished. There are a few that aren't even showing on there yet. Digging out of my 'black hole' has been challenging!

Happy New Year

2017 is upon us and you're probably pretty tired of hearing and reading about how quickly those years are changing on the calendar.  They sure do though, don't they?

Upon checking all things on my computer, before once again hitting online church (in my defense of not making it in person, I was experiencing quite a bit of sciatic discomfort again so stayed home).  Sitting in a pew for nearly two hours with sciatic pain is not on my list of joy.  At home, I can stand and stretch or move about frequently with my headphones tethering me to my computer.

Bonnie at Quiltville provided us the final clues and the reveal of the 2016 mystery quilt.  While it's a little more purple than fits my personal preferences, it is a beautiful pattern, and I'm enjoying the process.  I'm looking forward to getting it together and put into the queue for the quilting process....before I die I hope!

Judy at Patchwork Times selected the first UFO to work on for 2017.  It falls within one my top three (those are the ones already layered and pinned), and it's a wall-hanging size, so I'm hoping I can get it finished.  My #3 is my Loveland Log Cabin.  

Loveland Log Cabin

I started this quilt in October of 2009.  Remember how quickly the years pass?  It's been pinned since February 2010.  Remember how quickly the years pass?  That's almost embarrassing!  It seems only months ago.  Well, send prayers for strength, energy and determination to get it finished, I need them.  My biggest hold up has been deciding how to quilt it.  Maybe echoed hearts?  Need to practice that FMQ stuff.

Wouldn't it be nice if I did get it finished in January so that it could hang on my wall in time for Valentine's Day?  That was a goal I once had; to have a themed wall-hanging quilt for each month and/or special holiday throughout the year.  I have the perfect wall which can be seen straight ahead as you enter my door.  I have Christmas wall-hangings that I hang, and when it isn't Christmas, I have my very first quilt, an Alex Anderson sampler that takes up that space, but I've no others done.

May 2017 be the best year, and may all we say and do bring glory to God!

UFO Business

I've been following Judy Laquidara's Patchwork Times for quite a few years, or more.  Back when I first started, she was hostessing a UFO Challenge to quilters to get their unfinished quilts done.  Don't we all, or at least most of us, have at least a few of those?  I know I have far more than just a few since my favorite part of quilting is just about everything up to the actual quilting, and I hit that brick wall mostly because I haven't perfected my free motion quilting skills.

Judy is making a reprise of her UFO Challenge which she is calling "Get It Done" [you can see the details at the link].  The basics are that we select a dozen of our unfinished projects (one for each month), make a list, and link that list up at her site.  Each month, she will choose a number and during that month, we work on our quilt with that number from our list.  

My own list of UFOs has been on my blog under a separate tab for ages, and I can see I need to update it some; mostly by adding a few more to the list.  I have over 35 unfinished projects - wow!!  I'm thinking I should jump on Judy's bandwagon and see if I can't get a few of those finished up during 2017.  

I have three that are already sandwiched and pinned which are "must do"s. They hold all my quilt pins!  They are: 

1.

Project #020: Churn Dash/Hidden Spools

2.

Project #054: Tiddly Winks

3.

Project #031: Loveland Log Cabin

Beyond these three, I'm compelled to get my older projects done.  The oldest was started 13 years ago_I find it so hard to believe that many years have already passed.  I will show just the names and photos of the remaining nine projects to work towards finishing in 2017.

4.

Project #010: Country Charms/Dragonfly

5.

Project #015: Feathered Star

6.

Project #016a: Bricks

7.

Project #016b: Bricks 2

8.

Project #018: Case of the Mysterious Voter

9.

Project #019: Asher's Quilt

10.

Project #021: The Puzzler

11.

Project #026: Victoria's Wedding Quilt

12.

Project #032: Bella Luce

And there we have it, 12 of my quilt tops that need to be finished.  I'm going to give it a try to "Get It Done", so if you have projects for which you need that extra push, or encouragement, maybe this will be what you need too.