Category: Goals

Wrapping My Head Around WIPs on a Wednesday

1 Comment

I’m moving to Australia in a month, and my main concern is around crafts at the moment.  I guess I just need something else to fixate upon, now that passport applications, check-ups, dentist appointments, and optometrist appointments are complete.  I’m trying to get all my projects to whatever place they need to be before we leave, and I’m just about to the point where the constant reviewing of my plans in my head is starting to cause headaches, so I’m going to write it all down and let that list live somewhere else.

Current Projects:

  1. Junebug’s Star Spangled Diamonds Quilt
  2. Baby Girl Quilt #1:  Meadow
  3. Monkeyboy’s Rocket Age Quilt
  4. Friendship Braid Quilt
  5. Storybook Hexagon Label
  6. Baby Girl Quilt #2:  Pink
  7. Baby Boy Quilt:  Cowboy
  8. Aspen Frost Runner
Priorities:
  1. Storybook Hexagon Label–I always space the quilt label.  Do this immediately before I decide it’s not important anymore.  (I’m a historian at heart, and think there is significant historical importance in regards to labeling quilts.)  The main hold-up on this is buying a fabric pen for writing the information on the label.
  2. Baby Quilts–all three need to be completed and delivered before we leave for Australia.
  3. Rocket Age full blocks need to be assembled before leaving, so I can applique the hexie blossoms to them while we’re away.
  4. IF the above are done, I can finish the Braid Quilt before we leave.  It’s so close to being done, but it’s a random side project that I started working on because I was waiting for supplies for the other quilts.
  5. The Star Spangled Quilt will be pieced completely by hand, and it’s portable–work on this while at softball games, park day, etc.  It’s going to take a loooong time to complete, don’t worry about progress at this moment.
  6. Aspen Frost–this can wait until we come home from Australia.
Schedule:
June 18-21
  1. Piece Meadow top
  2. Bind Penguin’s blankie
  3. Purchase:  Fabric Pen, Meadow backing, Meadow batting, thread, binding fabrics for all three baby quilts, supplementary gift items to include with quilts
  4. Pre-wash fabrics
June 23-28

  1. Piece Meadow backing
  2. Create quilt labels for Storybook, Meadow, Pink, Cowboy.
  3. Applique label to Storybook, Pink & Cowboy; machine stitch label to Meadow
  4. Finish quilting Pink
June 30-July 5
  1. Quilt Meadow
  2. Create binding for all three baby quilts
  3. Purchase gift wrapping supplies for baby quilts
July 7-12
  1. Bind baby quilts
  2. Wrap quilts & ship
  3. Cut foundation papers for Rocket Age quilt (40)
  4. Start piecing Rocket Age blocks
July 14-19
  1. Finish piecing Rocket Age blocks, pack for trip.
  2. Finish piecing Braid strips.  Pack for storage.  Will have to finish when we return.
OK.  It just feels better to write it down and look at everything in a realistic time frame.  Everything was going fine until the baby quilts popped up onto the radar.  (All an issue due to my own misinterpretations of information.)  And now that I’ve posted my intentions, I can also check back in with progress updates, which are fun for me.  Happy Summer of Sewing!

Crafting Goals for 2014, or, Consolidation of Mental Energy Regarding WIP’s

1 Comment

Oh my, my, my…

I don’t have a lot of progress to show on any projects right now because I succumbed to a mean little germ late last week, which forced me to spend a couple days laying down, which then made my back go all wonky.  (Such a waste of a weekend!)

I came back to my craft room today for the first time in many days, only to feel overwhelmed by the plethora of different projects I have going on all over the place.

Intrigued, I decided to go through the entire house and round up all the works-in-progress that I have strewn about, and consolidate them into one pile so I could wrap my head around what needed to be done.

Alright, in no particular order, the molehill of WIP’s include:

Fabric-related:

  1. The “Blue Daffodil” quilt, started in 2006.
  2. The Matroyshka dress, started in 2013.
  3. The Cowboy baby quilt, started in 2008.
  4. The Pastel Flower baby quilt, started in 2008.
  5. Green & Pink Hexie bag, started in 2014.
  6. Free-motion quilting quilt-as-you-go sampler quilt, started in 2014.
  7. Storybook Hexagon baby quilt, started in 2014.
  8. Batik Hexagon quilt, started in 2014.
  9. Aspen Frost mini quilt, started in 2014.
  10. Patriotic ruffle skirt, started in 2012.  (Not pictured)
Yarn-related:
  1. Dragonfly Stripe Shawl, started in October 2013.
  2. Pink vest for my son, started in August 2013.
  3. Purple Echo Flower Shawl, started in March 2012.
  4. Purple Fingerless Mitts for my best friend, started in August 2012.
  5. Gray Rock Island Shawl, started in October 2013.
  6. Crocheted Christmas Granny Square Afghan, started in November 2012.
  7. Peach Fair Isle Baby Cardigan, started in January 2010.  (Not pictured)

2014-specific crafting commitments and dreams I’d like to also (start and) finish this year:
  1. Faberge Shawl for a sister’s wedding day
  2. “Star Spangled” quilt for my third daughter.
  3. “Rocket Age” quilt for my son.
  4. Peacock Stole for my granny, which I promised to her four years ago.
  5. 2 Christmas quilts
  6. Baptism wall hanging for my 2nd daughter (And I should probably make one for my first daughter as well…never got around to that.)
  7. Church crayon bags for all four of my children.  (I’d like to keep their regular backpacks set aside for school-related stuff, instead of switching out contents all the time.)
  8. Advika mittens for myself.
  9. Winter accessories for my first daughter, which were supposed to be done already.
  10. Sample Tweedy Pumpkin hat for pattern re-market in the autumn.
  11. Sample Harmony Wave Cowl(s) for pattern re-market in late autumn.
  12. Woodland Winter Mittens, as many as possible
  13. Socks for me.  🙂
  14. Aprons.  There’s a serious shortage.  Aprons in April…I like the alliteration of that.  Easter?
Geez, no wonder I always feel overwhelmed!  I’ve found that writing a blog post like this helps me to focus, and then I can also come back and re-read it whenever I’m tempted to add in a new project.  Bear with me.
Some sort of eliminating criteria needs to be applied here.  Alright, two categories:  1. What’s close to being finished already?, and 2. What has a definitive “need by” date?:
Almost Finished (less than a week’s worth of work):
  1. Matryoshka dress, but only if I shelve all my ideas of embroidering and lining it.
  2. Cowboy baby quilt, only needs binding cut and sewn on.
  3. Pastel Flower baby quilt, needs the edge quilted, binding cut and sewn on.
  4. Hexie bag, just needs the sides sewn together and zipper, etc.
  5. Patriotic ruffle skirt…maybe.  I think I may have to start over, but it would probably take less than a week to make from beginning to end anyway.
  6. Pink Vest, attach pieces, add ribbing.
Needed by a Specific Date:
  1. Matryoshka Dress–spring/summer, daughter will outgrow it otherwise.
  2. Storybook Hexagon baby quilt–a gift for a friend, due this spring.
  3. Patriotic ruffle skirt–spring/summer, same daughter will outgrow it otherwise.  (She hates to wear pants.)
  4. Pink Vest–making slightly large for my son, but it’d be good if he could wear it this winter as well.
  5. Purple Fingerless Mitts–these need to get done, it’s been too long.  Best friend’s birthday’s in April, but otherwise they need to be done by October.
  6. Gray Rock Island Shawl–a wedding shawl with a weird back story, I’d like it to be done by October.
  7. Faberge Wedding Shawl–wedding’s this summer, I’d like it done by June to avoid last-minute stress.
  8. “Star Spangled” quilt–I’m re-doing the “Little Kids” bedroom this summer, so by August.
  9. “Rocket Age” quilt–ditto.
  10. Peacock Stole–this could win ribbons at the County Fair, so by July if I’m interested in that.  Otherwise, it’d make a great birthday or Christmas present for my granny, whose birthday is also in December.  It’d have to be done by Thanksgiving for that.
  11. 2 Christmas quilts–I know should give up on this idea, but I really want Christmas quilts.
  12. Baptism wall hanging–her baptism will be over Labor Day weekend, so preferably done by August.
  13. Church crayon bags–wonderful Easter basket gifts, yes?
  14. Tweedy Pumpkin Hat–done by mid-August so I can do all necessary photography and re-marketing.
  15. Harmony Wave Cowl(s)–ditto.
Alright, let’s see what we can do with that information.  Things nearly finished should just hurry up and get finished, while things that are needed by a certain date definitely need work no matter what, plus there should be enough “just because” projects because this is a hobby, not a career.
I’m going to think on this for a couple of days, just so I can weed out the unnecessary projects–there’s a lot of “must be done by” projects this year, so I’m going to have to be a little severe in my selections if I actually want to finish the stuff that’s important to me.

How are your crafting goals coming along?  I saw a bunch of posts about them at the beginning of the month, so now’s a good time to do a little assessment!