2013 Finish List

As I typed my final list, I was disappointed.  8?  Just 8?  And then I remembered the Sew Eclectic Design Challenge, and the Thimble Towne Color Challenge.  whew!  Thirteen in 2013 sounds SO much better!

The first two were the surfboard memory quilts for Tiffany.  I'd spent much of 2012 working on these quilts, but it was not until the week of Road to CA in January, that they were finished and delivered.  I'm currently working on a third quilt, to pattern it, but the appliqued surfboards sit abandoned in a basket, waiting patiently for my return.

The surfboard quilts were followed by a blue and gold Log Cabin bed quilt.  No picture needed - it looks exactly as described.  Fourth to finish was my first Sew Eclectic Design Board-inspired quilt.  I had Sara Kelly's board.

Once I'd finished that quilt, I went into quilt-show mode, and quilting went by the wayside.  The only exception was an iris quilt, which I was determined to finish for the Calico Mermaid Iris Challenge in mid-April.  I finished it on time, and tied for first.  I love this quilt, as does my daughter, who received it as her Christmas gift.

In May, I finished my 2012 Valley Oak Quilt Guild challenge.  Seven months too late to compete, but it was done.  whew!

In May, I also finished my Sew Eclectic Design Board quilt, inspired by Cindy.

July saw the finish of my Sew Eclectic Design Board quilt, inspired by Barbara Daniel.

Two baby quilts were finished and delivered, and then it was time to throw together the Thimble Towne Color Challenge.  In August, I finished "Strelitzia."

In November, I finished the Sew Eclectic Design Challenge quilt inspired by Jeremy.

And last, but not least, was Penny's Big Girl Quilt, for Christmas.

Which brought my total to thirteen finished quilts.  An incomplete count of quiltlets (5x7") came to 26; an incomplete count of postcards (4x6") came to 58.

I am planning to be more productive in 2014, but as I contemplate my UFO list, along with other projects that have been suggested, I may be hard-pressed to meet my goals.

But January 1, being the popular time for goal setting, will see me finalize my potential list for 2014.  So far I have 41 quilts on the list.  That may sound like a lot to some of you, but in comparison, I began 2013 with...41!  Looks like it's a draw, even with the completion of thirteen.  Maybe I'll shoot for fourteen in 2014.

Progress Report

Well.  Last week's goal was to cut out two costumes, and work on the quilt-for-hire.  I hit a few snags in the costume-cutting department - wrong size, and not enough fabric - but eventually was able to cut out both.  I spent yesterday and today preparing to dress a princess.

When Penny saw the dress on FaceTime, I told her that it didn't fit anyone at my house.  She looked at it and said, "I want...I need to go to Gramma's house!"  She thinks it will fit her.  :)

It's size 4, and I'm concerned it might be a tad big.  That's why I made this one first, in case I need to make a smaller one.  Belle will be the focus of the coming week.

Here's a picture taken this morning of Malcolm (age 13), Happy and Homeless.  Over the past 2-3 weeks, he's lost half of his body weight, and is suddenly very boney.  He gives the dog the stinkeye, and they leave him alone.  Such a difference between their relationship and those with the other cats. One bark sends all the other cats over the fence.  I wish they could come to some sort of agreement.  While these dogs are here, the cat spa seems to have gone out of business.  :(  I miss seeing the felines hanging out around the pool, just chillin'.

Goal for this week:  Sew Belle.  Goals are good!

Catching Up

No pictures today, I have nothing to show.  It's been a week of catch-up and sit down.

I am happy to report that I made 4 cards, and delivered 2 of them.  The other 2 are set aside, to put into shipping boxes, once the rest of the contents have been assembled.

I made no progress on the quilt-for-hire.  In fact, I basically made no quilting progress at all, unless you count washing a few yards of fabric, buying 16 yards of fabric (40% off sale - who could resist?), and cutting out 6 surfboards for applique.

Last week was devoted primarily to nuts.  We got the first numbers, and the crop is down more than 25% from last year.  We're told that everyone's numbers are down.  Perhaps next year there will be more?  The good news for us is that the price is up.  Good for us, not so good for you, eh?

On Saturday, Wanda Dunavan, one of the key members of our Best of the Valley Steering Committee passed away unexpectedly.  Her funeral is today.  I'm still in shock, as I saw her on Monday, and on Thursday, first at Sew Eclectic, then at Valley Oak Quilt Guild.  She was an active quilter, in both CA and CO.  Her absence will be deeply felt.

Finally, on the dog front, I had Homeless neutered yesterday.  Both dogs (Happy and Homeless) have been at our house since Monday.  So far, so good.  Monday night I locked them in the dog run, on the side of the house.  There was very little barking.  Last night, Happy was loose in the backyard, Homeless was locked in the bathroom.  There was no barking at all.

I let Homeless out into the backyard about an hour ago.  bounce!  bounce!  bounce!  Those two dogs could not stop bouncing.  Perhaps I should call them Happy and Hoppy?

There's a lead on a home for Homeless.  If that doesn't pan out, it looks like they're here to stay. 

But you all knew that long before I did, didn't you?

Goal for the week:  applique the surfboards in the evenings, quilt on that quilt-for-hire during the day.

And that's a wrap.

This n That

First off, I'd like to mention/remind you that the SAQA online quilt auction is underway.  I lost track of time, and did not submit a 12" art quilt this year, but 400+ other art quilters did.  The auction began yesterday, and continues throughout much of September.  Click here, to see the current offering of quilts.  The price changes every day at 1:59pm Eastern.  At this moment, the quilts are $750, but in a few hours, they will be $550.  Then $350, then $250, then $150, and finally $75.  I've purchased a number of these quilts over the past few years, and have never been disappointed. 

Today is Tuesday, and thus begins week 37 of 2013.  Have I set 37 goals?  No, I have not.  At least I haven't set them all down on paper.  I'm pretty goal-oriented, so I'd have to say that I've set more than one or two. I've even met a couple of them.

This week, I've got a few things on my list.  The top of the list continues to be to finish a particular quilt-for-hire.  This is a busy week, what with the County Fair and all, but I should find time to do a task or two at home.

A second goal is to make at least one card this week.  My list of "behind/belated" cards-to-make grew exponentially last month, as it was a HUGE birthday month, and I did not make a single card.  So much to do, so little time spent doing it.

And I think I'm going to stick with those two goals.  I know I will likely do other things instead or in addition to them, but those are the things that are at the top of my list.

Stay tuned.  I hope to post some quilt-related photos before too long. 

Until then, tally ho!  I'm off to tackle my to do list.

Finished

This has been quite the week.  The Thimble Towne Color Challenge was due today, at 2pm.  I screeched into the parking lot and turned it in at 1:57pm.  I literally tied off the last knot, threw it into the car, and drove.  I took a lint roller with me, to clean it up once I got there, to be sure I got it in on time.  I was number 37 of 50.  wow.  What a rush!

I gave you a hint a while back, as to what the quilt would look like. 
These

Inspired this:

I had actual pictures, that inspired the applique, right down to the colors used in the quilt.  Did you know that when the sun comes up and backlights orange petals, they turn a translucent yellow?  It's true.  I have photos to prove it.  Too bad I can't seem to track down the digital images.

The week was crazy, when it came to finishing the quilt.  Our farmer called, and said we needed to do one last irrigation.  Ordinarily I've got two sons to do the job.  This week?  They were hiking in the Sierras.

 It's beautiful out there, under the trees.

 But it can be a bit stressful, if you NEED to be quilting and you're irrigating 10 miles away from your quilt.

The payoff comes within the next two weeks, when these

 

Turn into these

 

And head to the dehydrator, then the buyer, then to you.

So there you go:  my week in a nutshell.  hardy har har!  ;)  

I think I'll take tomorrow off.  Catch you next week!

Goal Update

Last week, before heading to Alaska, I set a few goals.  I hit one of them.  I finished the little green piece for our Sew Eclectic Design Board Challenge.  It's the one inspired by Barbara Daniel's board.

I had planned for it to hang horizontally, but when I turn it 90 degrees, you get the feeling of taller "trees."  Her board was covered with evergreens.  (At least that's how I remember it.)  I bound it with "bark."  If you squint, maybe you can tell that the "stripe" is all vertical.  That was a bit tricky.  I'm pretty pleased with the way it turned out.  Such a simple piece.

Goal #2, to work on the quilt-for-hire, went by the wayside.

My sewing table is a mess.  Come Sept 1, I will focus on that quilt.  My intent is to finish it before touching anything else...come Sept. 1.

In the meantime, the Thimble Towne Challenge is due August 31, at 2pm.  I've quilted less than half of it.  I'm quilting it by hand.  I need to step it up desperately, if I'm going to get it in on time.  The winner will receive 20% off all purchases for a year.  Another winner will receive a $200 gift certificate.  Dangle those in front of me, and I'd call it good incentive!

The one thing that I did, that was not on my list of goals for the week, was to prep a few surfboards.  I needed something small to work on, as I sat in the airports.  The trip to Alaska takes a while, and involves layovers that last longer than it takes to run from one terminal to another.  I came home with these, all stitched and ready for the next step.  Six down, 19 to go.  I need to go on another Hawaiian shirt hunt.  I'd like to find some with vivid color.  Like orange.  Or red.  :)

Three of these boards came from shirts that my youngest wore.  The other three were made from shirts from thrift stores.

Stay tuned.  The next goal is to finish the Thimble Towne Challenge, and I've got less than a week to meet it. 

Have a great week!  I'm off and stitching!

Plugging Along

When last I left you, I stated that I would be setting some goals.  hmmm.  Which ones to set?  I've been trying to get reorganized after so much time away.  And wouldn't you know?  I've still got places to go and people to see.  It's a good thing, but traveling does eat up quilting time.

I finished another UFO. 

This baby quilt is very similar to the last one, with the exception of the back and the binding.  It is set aside for the next vet baby to pop its head out.  To my knowledge, none are in the oven, but that doesn't mean much.  I believe I've found out about the last half-dozen, a week after their appearance.  (Had they been cows, not babies, it might have pinged harder on husband's radar.) ;)

I finished another quilt-for-hire.  I've told you deadlines are my best friend, haven't I?  The maker of this particular quilt is Pat Bell.  She's to the be Featured Artist at the Kings River Quilt Festival in Reedley, September 21-22, 2013.  I needed to finish the quilting in time for her to bind, sleeve, and label it.  My part is DONE.  whew!

This is the back of the quilt (it's actually blacker than it is charcoal):

 And this was on the front.  It's a teaser - you have to go to the show to see the whole quilt.  :)

Now that those are off my plate, it's time to set some goals for this week.

This is an abbreviated week.  Travel will take a good chunk, leaving me with very little time for quilting.  For that reason, my goals will also be abbreviated.

1) Finish the "Inspired by Barbara D" piece for Sew Eclectic.  This was the small green strip-pieced quilt that I put together in La Jolla.  I'm about halfway through with the quilting of it.  It would be nice to have it completely finished by next Tuesday.  Goals are good.

2) Get back to work on a quilt-for-hire that I've had in my possession for much too long.  I don't know what my stumbling block is, it's a beautiful quilt.  I suspect it is the open-ended, "I'm not in a hurry" encouragement from the maker, that has inspired my procrastinative tendencies to reach for new levels of excellence.  (I once got an "A" on an essay, extolling my excellence as a procrastinator.  I wrote it in the bus, on the way to school, and turned it in first period.  yikes.)

3) Continue to make progress on my Thimble Towne Color Challenge.  This one has a deadline, I believe it's  August 31.  I'm hand quilting, so it's not something I can put off for any length of time.  I've been quilting 2-3 hours/day on it.  When I return, that's going to have to ramp up a lot more, to meet the deadline.

And there you go:  my goals for week 32 of 2013.  Finish, make progress, make progress.

Being able to check off any one of the three will be a good thing.  Goals are good!

Jiggety Jog

Home again, home again...oh.  my.  I left a moist overcast 65 degrees - complete with a threat of rain - in La Jolla, and arrived 12 hours later to a moist, heavily muggy 87 degrees at 10:45pm in Visalia.  I really had to ask myself why I came back.  Really?  I drove 12 hours for this?

Good thing home has more to offer than weather, even though this summer has kept weather awareness on the forefront.  I think part of it is that I'm a lot older than I was even 10 years ago, so I don't bounce back the way I used to.  I feel it more.  Boy, do I feel it!

When I set out for LaJolla, I had four goals:
1)  Completely construct green tree-ish art quilt top, for Sew Eclectic Design Board Challenge.
2)  Completely construct 25 backgrounds for surfboards, and begin writing pattern.
3)  Finish hand applique for Thimble Towne Color Challenge.
4)  Finish cutting and constructing 12 strips of background for this year's (hopeful) show quilt.

Three outta four ain't bad.
1)  Green top:  DONE

2)  Surfboard Backgrounds:  DONE

4)  12 pieced strips for background:  DONE

3)  Hand Applique for Thimble Towne Color Challenge:  not quite done.

I'll give you a sneak peek, on what I'm up to, first the inspiration, then the interpretation:

I am thrilled with the productivity allowed by relief from the weather. 

Yesterday, I hoped to baste 3 quilts, and trim the 12 pieced background strips from Goal #4.

I basted 1 baby quilt, and trimmed 2 strips.  It was almost 100, and quite humid.  That made it tough to get motivated, even though I have very little time for quilting in August.  I have to make the most of the remainder of July.

I'll leave you with pictures of one of my stops on my trip back north.  I was driving through Oceanside, in search of thrift shops as a source of Hawaiian shirts for the surfboard quilt.  I stopped at AmVets, but didn't find any to my liking.  On my way to AmVets, I spotted a banner that said, "Vintage Marketplace - today!"  I turned around and went back.

What looked like an abandoned building, had been transformed for the weekend.  Apparently they do this a couple of times each month.  My timing was excellent!

Various vendors had set up throughout the space, and there was a communal checkout desk in the back.  Simply delightful.  I found a few treasures, that were irresistible:

  I've been fascinated by Franki's succulent wall, as seen on her blog, here.  I've wanted to try it, but hesitated to make the commitment, because of our harsh weather.  The basket was the perfect way to experiment, and see if the plants can survive.

I could not resist the giant S.  I have no idea what I'm going to do with it, but I couldn't walk past it without appropriating it.

 

My third and final purchase was this chunk of antique coral.  I'd been looking for a piece, to put with the large conch from San Carlos, and the watercolor from Monterey.  Now I should probably think about framing the watercolor.

And that's about the end of my week away.  It was glorious, but it's already fading into a distant memory.

Until next time...

Keeping On Track

So. Day #5 of my escape from the heat.  go, go, go!  That's been the order of business.  Sure, I've got my sewing goals, but oh my.  There are SO many distractions!

First, I will show you proof that I have knocked Goal #2 off of the list:

There you go.  What had earlier looked like this:

Has been cut, stitched, pressed, and turned into 25 background blocks for a surfboard quilt.  For those of you asking for a pattern, it is finally in the works.  yay!

Today's project is to transform this:

into 6" strips that will be cut and cut and cut again, and mixed and matched and pieced and pressed and...well, I have great plans for Goal #4.  Perhaps, by the end of tomorrow, I will have completed the background of this organic quilt.  :)

Goal #3 is progressing quite nicely.  It's to get the top for the Thimble Towne Color Challenge ready for quilting.  Two of the four applique are secure.  Two down, two to go.  And two more evenings of hand-stitching and movie-watching are on the docket.

In the meantime, it's SO easy to get distracted. 

 Last night's distractions included dinner with my sister and my dad.  They seem to be VERY interested in the progress of the Dodgers.  :)

It's a good week.

Back to production!  :)

Goals vs. Dreams

Have you ever listened to Dave Ramsey?  He a financial counselor with a radio show.  His primary goal is to help people achieve financial freedom by getting out of debt.  completely.  Even the house.  I love to listen to him talk to people.  Doesn't matter the amount of debt, the steps are always the same.

Anyway, I was listening to him as I drove south on Friday, and he was having a fascinating discussion with a guy who wrote a book called Rich Habits.  (Remind me to check on that when I'm done here.)  Part of the conversation broke down the difference between goals and dreams.

"I want to lose weight," without a plan, is simply a dream.  Goals are concrete.  They are set, they are written down on paper, and you determine the steps it takes to reach the end.  Wow.  I knew that stuff, but merely on an intuitive level.  I may tell myself "I want to...whatever," but unless I start making a plan and moving forward, I can be pretty sure it's never going to happen.

Like, "I want to travel/vacation/get away for a while."  Over this past year, I made plans, and followed through on them.  I think I've been gone more in the past 9 months than the previous 5 years combined!  I stopped dreaming, and started doing.

If you've ever stopped by this blog, you know that my favorite phrase is "Goals are good!"  They can be little goals or big, they can be short term or lifetime, but without setting the goals in the first place, for me, it's never going to happen.

When I packed to come down here, I thought about the week.  What, exactly, did I want to accomplish?  I brought five projects with me.  I'd love to finish three of them, and make a lot of progress on the fourth.  The fifth came along, just in case I blew it and forgot something more than my hairbrush and my socks.  (I think they're still on the bed.)

So far, I have conquered Goal #1, which was to "sew out the quilt that has been in my brain since I first saw Barbara Daniel's design board in March."  whew!  Do you even know what I am talking about?  It our Sew Eclectic Design Board Challenge.  I was so wrapped up in the quilt show and the Calico Mermaid Challenge that I filed away "Inspired by Barbara D," sewing date TBD.  Yesterday was the day.

I'll have to admit that I had a tough time achieving my goal.  I finished it at noon today, rather than bedtime last night.  I spent too much time walking around town, looking at everything.  This place is amazing.

This is Barbara D's board.  (There are two Barbaras in the group, just to make it fun.)

I dreamt about it the night I got it.  Funny, because in looking back, it now says "wood."  When I first got it, it said "trees" and "overgrown greenery, with a few flowers thrown in for good measure."

I imagined a foundation pieced quilt, of radiating rays of green, reaching down like the branches of pine trees.  Bear with me.  I'm trying to sound like an Artist.  ;)

Anyhoo, I drew the pattern months ago, and cut and sewed the thing during the past 26 hours.  I'm not sure if I'll add anything besides quilting.  My goal was to get this far, and now I'm done. 

Check #1 off the list.

Stay tuned for Goal #2.  It's a doozy!

In the meantime, here is some LaJolla eye candy to satisfy those left behind.

Okay, I'm getting carried away.  I'll leave you with one reason to be happy you are NOT here.

I don't know if you can see the bottom board, but the price for regular "full serve" is $5.69!  And you can see that there is actually a car at the pump, paying these prices!  Wow.  They must have a company gas card, or be totally on "E"!  (It's 30 cents cheaper at Chevron, 2 blocks away.)