Setting goals and actually completing them

 I am in a different season in my life. My husband and I are now empty nesters. Which is wonderful and sometimes sad all rolled into one. I enjoyed raising our daughter, but never thought  the time would fly by so quickly. I miss her.

I decided I am chosing a season of my life. I want to set goals and actually meet them. I want to become a finisher. I do finish things,but not at the pace I'd like to. So to challenge myself, I set the goal of finishing 6 of my quilt tops by the end of the year. I hope it isn't too lofty a goal, but I sure am going to give it my all! So far I have gotten two close to being finished. They are both quilted but need the binding put on. As soon as they are officially finished, I'll post pictures of them and report them to my UFO Challenge group.

A few of the non-quilt related goals I am setting  are to gradually clean out my house. I have talked about doing this for years! It was mostly just talk though. This time I really am doing it. I have been watching the Minimalist Mom on Youtube. I love her thought process on becoming a minimalist. I'm not sure I will completely convert to minimalism, but I sure would like to head in that direction!

I look around our home and see so much stuff that is not used nor needed. Since watching the Minimalist Mom videos, I look at our stuff a bit differently. I see it as things I need to manage. It is overwhelming to think of tackling the whole house. But if I do little bits at a time, it doesn't seem like such a huge undertaking. So that is where I'm starting. I go around the house and see things I haven't used in a year or longer and it goes. I'm fortunate to have a Salvation Army box near where I work. I bag up the things and drop them off before I go to work. It's funny, I haven't missed any of the items I have dropped off yet.

I'll keep you posted on my progress!

Forever and a Baby

   I started this quilt when I was a beginner.  There are lots of mistakes in it! It's ok, I still love it. I wouldn't make another one because it took me so long to finish, but I still love it.  I used phone book as paper piecing. I cut out squares from the phone book pages and drew lines on them to sew my strings. I decided I wanted to have each torquoise piece framed by two white pieces. I love scrappy quilts so I used a bunch of strings that I had on hand. This quilt was a really good education in what not to do. I did the borders without measuring in 3 places. I didn't know any better. 

 When I put it on the machine to quilt it, it was pretty much an hour glass shape. Wide at the top and bottom and narrow in the middle. Not easy to quilt. It all came out at the bottom in tucks and waves. 

I'm not writing all this to be negative or put my work down, I  just want to be real. Some quilts are great educators. This one was mine. I know so many quilters who get so upset when their work isn't perfect. I would love for my work to be perfect,but that just isn't me. I'm never going to be perfect and it's ok.  

Even though it was a bit of a bugger to quilt, I still love it just the same. It is staying with me. I have been asking my husband to name my quilts. He usually is spot on with naming and this one couldn't be more true!  He suggested naming it Forever. Because it took me that long to finish the top and then longer to finally get it quilted and finished. 

"Forever' is 70"x 86"

Below is a baby quilt I made for a friend who had her third child 4 months ago. It was sewn with a Corey Yoder charm pack and Corey's fabric. I wish I could remember the name of the fabric line. All of Corey's fabrics are so pretty! I quilted it on the longarm at work. I used a floral pattern.
                                                    This baby quilt is 35" x 40".

 Her Mom sent me this picture after I gave it to her. That sweet little smile made my day! 

Laura's Quilt

I finally finished the quilt I had made for my sister Laura. When I started working on it, I knew it was for her. It took me several years to finally get around to quilting it. I called it my Moby Dick quilt. It was always there taunting me to quilt it. 

I will make another quilt from this pattern because I love it so much. It was a quilt along with Crazy Mom Quilts blog. It was my very first quilt along. I am so glad I did it. I learned so very much making this quilt. It is far from perfect, but that's ok. 

 I had two orphan blocks leftover so I made her pillows to go along with her quilt. 

 A little about my sister. She has always been there for me no matter what. Even when I didn't realize it. When I was little I stepped on a nail and she carried me home. When I got married, she made my wedding cake. It was beautiful!! When I was pregnant, she made me PJ's. When my daughter was born, she made several afghans for her.  And so much more...She has been the best sister and Aunt to my daughter. I am so honored to give her this quilt.  She is the strongest, bravest woman I know. 

Paint Chip

I have gotten behind in posting my recent quilt finishes so here is one I finished in February. 

This quilt pattern is from Missouri Star Quilt Company. It's called Stack and Flip. As soon as I saw the video, I knew I had to use my Gradations jelly roll by Benartex. I fell in love with the fabric but didn't have any ideas of what quilt to make with it until the Missouri Star pattern came about.  I quilted it on the longarm at the shop I work at and used a flower pattern. I love how happy it is. 

The back is just as pretty as the front.  I was so excited to find the strips of graduating colors  in my scrap bin they just had to be  used in this quilt somehow!  It was a happy accident that they are horizontal. I intended them to vertical on the back, but I put it on the quilt machine frame wrong and viola'!  A happy accident!  

Lately I have involved my husband in the process of  my quilting. This one his contribution is the name. He thought it looked like a paint chip book. So it's name is Paint Chip.

Atlantis

Another finish! I always get excited to see my quilt tops become finished quilts. I have so many tops(flimsies) that it feels so good to see one get completed. 

 I asked my husband for help in naming this one and he came up with the name Atlantis. Because of the blues, greens and teals in it and also that I quilted it with a Bubble pattern. 

It was my first quilt that has been finished on a long arm. I loved using the it! It was so amazing to use! 

I don't keep many of my finished quilts so this one is going to stay with me. 

The pattern is called Quartered Stripes from Missouri Star Quilt company. It was so much fun to sew. 

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!
 Last year I had big plans to get a bunch of things accomplished. The year didn't work out like I had hoped but it's ok. I had made a list of all of the things I had gotten finished and I am pleased with what I got done. It isn't as much as I planned but it's all good. I'm starting a new list for this year.  It is neat to look back and see what I sewed each month.

For 2019, I'm not making resolutions. I'm working toward goals. One goal is to eat better, exercise more and take better care of myself. Our daughter is getting married in May. I would love to look nice in my dress for her pictures.

I joined the Stashbuster group's UFO Challenge again this year. I'm excited to get things finished. There is a bit of a difference this year though.  I'm now working in a quilt shop. One of the perks to working there is that I  have access to using a long arm machine. Next week is my first lesson. One of my coworkers is kind enough to teach me how to use it.

The main thing I am working on so far are rugs. My husband made me a rug loom for Christmas and so far I have made three rugs. They are so much fun and easy to make.  I love how each one comes out different!

 They use up a ton of scraps too!  I am keeping track of how many I get finished from my big bin of fabric strips. My loom was made from the book Rugs From Rags by Country Threads.