2009 resolutions

I have made some quilty New Year’s resolutions. Let’s see how this goes.

Resolutions

I resolve to update this blog at least once a week with my quilty progress. I’ve been really bad about it and I just need to be better about it. It’s just that simple.

I resolve to put pictures up on this blog. Blogs with pictures are better and that is a fact. I also just have been too lazy about learning new computer things and have relied on Ted. Well, after Ted broke BOTH PCs in December, I feel the need to be a bit more proactive.

I resolve to have 52 crafts this year of some sort or another. This is for another challenge somewhere else, but since 90+% of them will be most likely be quilty, here’s a good place to talk about them.

I resolve to bust 100 yards from stash. I work my stash inventory like the IRS – everything you’ve got, plus everything you’ve bought this year is inventory. No one told me it had to age in the stash a certain amount of time to be considered stash. If the time elapsed is 5 minutes, who cares? Makes my math easier.

I resolve to make sure my husband Ted and my DD each get quilts from me. Somehow, they always get the short end of the stick.

How To’s

I’m not sure how to accomplish all of that. I do know that when I am in grad school, I quilt a lot less, especially if I am also taking insurance exams for work. Fortunately, for all of 2009, I have decided to take only one insurance exam and it is January 28. So one crisis is solved. However, quilting during grad school still is a challenge.

I have figured out that the picking of fabrics, cutting of fabrics, piecing, and making units and subunits and blocks requires an attention to detail I do not possess during the school term. So I have decided to work a lot on UFOs. A UFO, as defined by me, is any project that has been committed in some way to cloth – from fabric and a pattern have been selected to blocks are done and anything and everything in between.

I’ve also decided that working on groups of 5 at a time seems to make sense, so I will tweak a Stashbusters idea, and have the Fabulous 5. My goal right now is to get as many of the Fab 5 to the ‘ready to be quilted’ stage. Quilting is something I can do with ease during the school term, so if I can get lots of things sandwiched and ready to quilt, life is good. I go back to class on the 12^th, so I may try to get 10 or even 15 items ready to go, so that I have an inventory of quilt sandwiches to work on. I hate making the quilt sandwich, but hey, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. I need enough inventory to get me through to spring break in early March.

That said, here are my first Fab 5 (if no goal is stated, then it’s completion):

1. Christmas Blue Ridge Beauty (BRB) – For you Bonnie Hunter fans, I took her BRB and made each diamond either red or green. This took some thought, but it did bust a lot of Christmas stash, which was the point. I have fallen out love with my Christmas stash and I really do the holiday low key anyway, so this seemed like a good idea. The top is all done and the backing has been selected. Part of my holiday quilt collection, representing December.

2. Watermelon Slice – For you Dorothy Young mystery quilters on A Pocketful of Mysteries, I did her Christmas quilt for the second time and it turned out great. It was what I needed to get back in the quilty groove. I got fabrics selected, the top is made and the whole monster is sandwiched and ready to quilt. Part of my holiday quilt collection, representing June (maybe August – not sure).

3. Patches & Pinwheels – Another Bonnie Hunter pattern. When I made the pinwheels, I made 80+ spinning each way, which meant I had enough for 2 quilts. The first quilt is done and went to a silent auction. The second quilt, which will be for my family room, is in rows.

4. Flannel quilt – You know the type, flannel front and back in squares, and sewn together and snip the edges and all of that. It was abandoned long ago and it’s been unearthed. So let’s get this done and donated.

5. Chiclets #1 –The Chiclets pattern was running around Stashbusters for a while there and I started a bazillion blocks. The reason for starting them no longer exists, so I now have a bazillion finished blocks. I plan to set them 4 x 5 and use my roll of plaid fabric (my official charity backing fabric for now) to finish these off into Project Linus quilts.

Thoughts for the next Fab 5:

1. Ted’s birthday quilt
2. Chiclets #2
3. Inauguration dresser quilt (election challenge)
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