More to add to the list of things to do

Today my college classes started. College classes?? you say. Yes college classes. I am taking one class at the college and two online classes. I am very close to finishing up my Associate of Liberal Arts degree and the plan is to graduate this next December. YAY!!

My class at the college is Art History and my two online classes are Microsoft systems and applications ll & lll.  The S&A classes aren't necessary for my degree. I want to be Microsoft certified in Word, Access and Excel and that is what those classes are for.

Fortunately the art class is on MWF so that leaves me Tuesdays and Thursdays to do everything else.

So many challenges so little time.

I hope you all are having a great week and staying warm. It is bitter cold here in Iowa right now but it sounds like a little warm up on Thursday. 30's maybe. :)

Talk to ya soon.
Thanks for stopping by.

My Plan

Hi Everyone,
I was so excited about the UFO challenge that I got right to it and organized my projects. They are all ready and numbered to be picked at the beginning of each month. This is going to be so great for me because a month is about long enough for me to work on something and then I am ready to start a new something else.
Wouldn't it be great if I actually finished all 10 of my projects!? Most of them are close to completion, maybe needing a border or to be quilted and have the binding put on. There are a few (over half I guess) that still need to be pieced together yet so they may not get all the way completed but at least they will be looked at.

Here is my list of 10 projects:

And another picture of them piled up and numbered.

It is so nice to have a plan and I can't wait for February 1st to get here but first I have to finish up my January projects.
What I have on board for this month are my two March birthday pillowcases, finish up a baby quilt (just needs the binding) and work on the flannel crib quilt I have up on my design board.

Pictures please:

Pillowcase fabric is to the right and the pattern for the flannel quilt is on the left. I forgot to add the block of the month quilt that I also will be working on throughout the year as well. That pattern is at the top of the picture.
Pretty ambitious for me but I think I am ready for this challenge.

Flannel quilt. I love the colors.

Baby quilt - binding next to it needing to be cut and pieced together.

I really am off to a good start this year, and you may ask, how so??

Well, last weekend I finally finished up my nieces wedding quilt plus made a set of matching pillowcases to go with. It is boxed up and ready to go in the mail, I just have to get a card put into the box. I also completed my January birthday pillowcases and they are ready for the birthday girls later this month.

Pictures please:

I can see I need to work on my picture taking skills.
So there you have it, my quilting/sewing goals for 2016. My plan to implement those goals, and you my readers to keep me accountable.
Yes, 2016 is shaping up to be a wonderful year.

Let's get to it.

Happy New Year 2016

Everyone has their New Years blog posts in and as usual, I am running behind.

First off I wanted to show some of what I did get completed in 2015. The list is short so that is good.

Completed Projects for 2015

1. Pillow case for Areigna - Jan. 2015 (I didn't take a picture of it)

2. Pillow case for Judah - Feb. 2015 (I didn't take a picture of it)

3. Baby quilt for Scarlett. Feb. 2015  (I didn't take a picture of it)

4. Weekender Springtime quilt for Virginia - April 2015 - (Virginia is my mother-in-love).

                                                                  

                                                                     

                                           
                               5.  Makayla's birthday pillow case. (Granddaughter)

                                               6. Grant's birthday pillow case. (Grandson)

7. The Blue Quilt - 2015 (The binding isn't on it in this picture) This quilt went to my oldest daughter, just because.   :)

6. Pillow cases for Leo, Max and Bennett.  (Grandson's) (I didn't take pictures of these either, apparently).

7. Quilted Pocket Pillow - ME

My goal for 2015 was to complete 3 of my UFO's (unfinished objects)/WIP's (Works in progress).
The only one that was a WIP was the blue quilt so sadly I didn't even come close to completing my goal for last year.

BUT.....

Now it is 2016 and I am setting some MONSTER goals this year!!!

Here goes - 
1. To get at least ONE blog post a month on this blog (more would be nice but I don't want to set myself up for failure).
2. To work on or finish 10, yes, I said 10 UFO'S this year. They are unfinished objects because I am not actually working on them, they are started and sitting on a shelf waiting to be finished. I will be following this bloggers challenge and I encourage you (if you have 10 ufo's, I had more but chose these 10) to join in the fun and see how much you can finish this year. Here is the challenge: 

2016 UFO Challenge

We're changing things up a bit for 2016. Yes, there will still be numbers drawn and posted each month. But there will also be two "free" months. January is the month to work on your favorite UFO (mine is Ryokan!). And in honor of the sports fans among us, December will be a "bye" month -- you can choose to finish a UFO or just sit back and relax.

For the rest of the year, the UFO Challenge works like this:

1.  Pull out 10 of your UFOs.  (Notice I didn't say all your UFOs.  I know you have at least 10!)   These can be half-done projects, barely begun projects, or even quilt "kits." 

2.  I put each project in its own 2-gallon size plastic bag.  Saves time I would have spent looking for the pattern or the special template required!

3.  Number each bag 1 - 10.

4.  Come to 52 Quilts the morning of the first day of each month and I will have posted the number for that month's project.

 Remember, at 52 Quilts, you decide what is "finished." Is the piecing finished? Are the blocks sewn together? Or do you consider "finished" to be "quilted, bound, and ready to give away?" When you've finished your quilt, take a photo and email it to me at AuntMarti at 52Quilts dot com.

This is from Aunt Marti's Blog 52quilts. Here is the link to the PLAN that goes into more detail:

 http://www.52quilts.com/2016/01/2016-plan.html

I really think this is a challenge I can do. How about you?

On my next post I will show you how I have organized my projects and what I am doing for the month of January. Stay tuned.


Thanks for stopping by, we will make 2016 the best year yet!!




Ps. #3 goal is to take more pictures - smiley face - Have a great day.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas Everyone,

2015 is coming to an end and I still have some projects going on that I want to get finished before the year is over.
How about you? Are you rushing with last minute Christmas projects? Good job, You can do it and I know that whoever you are making them for will love them.

Hopefully I will have some pictures to blog before the year is out.

God Bless.

Feeling Good, Feeling Productive

Good Morning,
I had a great weekend - how about you?

I did a lot of cleaning, ya know, the deep kind of cleaning that we are always putting off.
It started in my bedroom, which has been feeling neglected for quite some time. Piles of clutter, books, clothes, you name it. Here there and everywhere, and me always thinking I will get to it later.

Well later came this weekend.
I made out my lists of what I wanted to get done and what I hoped to get done.

The big list for my big projects (hoping to get done) and the little list for immediate projects (wanting to get done).  I nearly finished all of my immediate projects as you can see.
The little list seems kind of simple but really there was a lot -  4 loads of laundry (laundry is all done - YAY!!!),  3 quarts of kefir made and refrigerated, vacuumed nearly the whole house (didn't do the second bedroom - and hubs did the living room) and mopped the sewing studio.  All in all I was feeling really good about myself and the house.

The big list does seem a bit overwhelming but really it is a reminder of the projects I want to keep in the fore front of my mind. I did get sidetracked a bit working on these....

Aren't they sooo cute? Those are the first 3 blocks of my Vintage Farmgirl quilt. I think I am really going to love this quilt. I have one more block in  progress. I cut these out all at one time and then just set them aside, not doing anything with them. Then this weekend I thought I would just put one of them together and next thing I knew, I had 3 done. They are quite challenging and fun to do.

OOps, sorry, I got a little sidetracked, anyways, back to the big list (which these blocks were not on),
here is the blue quilt...

I am not sure if you can really see,  but it is next in line right behind my last vintage block.
(smiley face)

Here is my binding and thread all ready to go.

BUT the one project that I can scratch off of my big list is #2 - Finally!! This quilt is a gift for someone special.

This girl is off the long arm and now needs to be trimmed and bound and then she will be ready to go to her new home.

So that was my weekend.
I hope your weekend left you feeling good and maybe a little bit productive too.

I would love to hear about it. You are welcome to leave me a comment and tell me what you worked on this weekend and maybe even post your lists.

As always,
Thanks for stopping by.

Ho Hum

Hi there,

A ho hum day it is.
I haven't been in my studio (except to do some cleaning and organizing) in over a week. I started back on 3rd shift a couple of weeks ago, so I am having to work out a new routine. My DSD Amy, started a new supervisor position so haven't heard much from her in a few weeks either.
I am just going to have to pull my socks up and get in there today and stitch something.

On the plus side, I have been exercising more consistently. I am trying to lose a few pounds and gain more energy. So far not so good but this is week two and I am determined.

I hope you are having a great week.
Thanks for stopping by.

June To Do List

It seems that quite a few bloggers make to do lists, either daily, weekly or monthly. So I decided to make a June month to do list and here it goes.

1. Quilt and bind my nieces quilt

2. Piece, quilt and bind baby quilt for my friend

3. Make 2 pillowcases for up and coming Grandson birthdays

4. Make 2 pillowcases for spare bedroom

5. Make up at least 4 blocks each week for my Farm Girl Vintage quilt for a total of 16 more blocks this month.

6. Bind the Blue quilt

That is way more than I probably will get done this month but I thought I would challenge myself, push myself really and I am totally ready to go.

What about you, do you make a to do list for tasks you want to complete? Is it daily, weekly or monthly?
I would love to hear what your June quilting/sewing plans are for this month.

Have a great day and Thanks for stopping by.