Taking Stock

It's time to take stock of where it's all at (or not) as the case may be.

By nature, I'm a finisher.  I like things to progress in their natural order towards a conclusion.  But of course, I'm also a quilter/sewist and I have far more ideas than time to finish - hence the WIP and UFO list of 11 items.  It might not sound like the biggest list in the world to some of you, but now that I find myself without any regular or lengthy time to tackle those items, it feels honestly rather HUGE to me.  

Ultimately, I'd love to reduce this list to three projects at any one time - one machine WIP, one hand stitching WIP and one crochet WIP.  This would leave choice of project when I spy an opening for some stitching amid the chaos of life, and also allow for small projects to be undertaken along the way without having loads of mid-progress projects cluttering up space (which they do).

Of course, that wish is the stuff of unicorns (I know... some of you believe).  Still, maybe I can do something to make headway reducing this list and freeing up headspace and storage space for the unfinished projects.

 Let's see what needs to happen -

Quilt Now BOM - I haven't taken any pics of this Quilt for quite some time, but there have been occasional efforts to progress the hand quilting. I've made it as far as the motifs in the outer border now and while it's slow, it is going to be worth it (eventually). 

Cosy Christmas Quilt - This one stalled somewhere after appliquéing the gingerbread man I believe. It's all in a box somewhere and I will get back to it.  However, Little Miss CT is still a wee bit wee to appreciate it, so there's no big rush.

Sarah Fielke's Happy Days BOM - There hasn't been any progress since this last shot of the completed quilt top.  In the absence of any free motion quilting skills of my own, I think that this might get some hand quilting attention when the time is right.

Dear Jane Quilt - there are 21 blocks stitched now (not all pictured here).  Still a VERY long way to go.

French Knitting Yarn Crochet Rug - I love crocheting with the yarn results from the French Knitting dolly.  It's chunky and squidgy but boy is it slow!  Though I have spied a gizmo being advertised which might speed up the yarn production aspect.  I need to investigate - could be a swizz.

Twister Quilt - Just binding and labelling required to complete this quilt now.

 B&C Around The World Quilt - Also ready for binding and labelling.

30's Repro Bed Quilt - Quilted and ready to be bound and labelled.

B&C Scrap Vortex Quilt - I have a small stack of scrappy shapes now from this leaders and enders project. Not one for a speedy finish yet though.

Crocheted Hexagon Throw - This project has been sitting on my UFO list because I really haven't touched it for an extremely long time.  It's too lovely to leave unfinished, so I need to think about how to bring it back into progress.  Maybe one for the autumn.

EPP Hexie Diamond Quilt - Another untouched project languishing on the UFO list.  I think I left it aside when I felt a bit 'meh' about the diamond shapes and didn't really know if I wanted to keep going with this plan.  I need to give it some more thought.  Though I have a lot of hexies already prepared that it would be a shame not to use.


So, while there are still a number of longterm projects to tackle, it seems the obvious place to start in reducing my WIPs is to finish the three quilts that just need bound and labelled.  After that I have plenty of options, don't I?  I'm not expecting to suddenly discover hours of stitching time each week (more's the pity) but I just don't want to NOT finish the projects I still love.  Progress is progress, even if it is just a little here and there.  Keep an eye out for my efforts to keep things moving!

2014 - the year of the ...

..WIPs!

Yes indeedy folks, I am declaring that 2014 needs to be the year of the WIPs around here.  I'm not big on New Year's Resolutions but looking around my sewing space I realise that I really need to make plans to tackle the gathering piles.

For purposes of this 'plan' I am also going to include Projects in Waiting (PIWs).  These aren't just projects that are random ideas in my head, but ones I've actually already gathered the fabrics for and are sitting awaiting my time and attention.

So, having had a good old root around, here are the WIPs and PIWs taking up space in my sewing room right now:

I think the pile of blocks is actually larger than this now.

1 & 2 - Siblings Together Churn Dash Quilts
Generously donated blocks enough for two quilts have arrived so my first step will be laying both quilts out before getting cracking.  They need to be donated to the charity this summer, but my aim is to finish them by the end of February.

3 - hipBees Quilt no 2
I kicked off year 2 of hipBees in September by asking the Bees for black and white concentric square blocks with a pop of colour.  All of the blocks have been in for some time but I just haven't had a chance to get to them, so again laying out is the next stage of moving this WIP closer to completion.  I would like to see a finished quilt by the end of March.

4 - Scrumptious Brick Layer Cake Quilt
Started with much enthusiasm and haste the Brick Layer Cake Quilt top has been hanging on the back of the door awaiting its backing and basting.  Maybe if Feb and Mar are kind to me if could be finished by the end of March too(?)

5 - Mystery Medallion Quilt
If you followed the beginnings of this quilt, you'll know that I have no set plans and am simply working it up border by border and recording it all for you in case you'd like to join in or come back to it another time.  I now know what I want to do for border 4 but it's going to take more time than I've got in January so it looks like it will be Feb before I pick this one up again.  Would give you a chance to work on a centre and the first three borders to catch up if you wanted to work the rest along with me when the time comes ;-)  Anyway, hopefully Feb will see me picking up progress with this one. I'm not setting a finish date since I have no idea how much more there will be to it yet.

6 - Ruby Churn Dash bed quilt

I started these blocks on my hols last summer and have made a dozen or so more since.  There are still quite a few to make but they are all cut, so fingers crossed when I knock a few of the other WIPs off the list it will be easy to get stuck into these again.  Since the plan is to have this as a summer quilt for our bed, I hope to finish it by the end of May if possible. (Yes, optimistically predicting a nice warm June!)

7 - Crazy Scrappy block quilt
My scrap busting efforts from time to time over the past year or so have produced 16 of these cheery blocks and there is navy fabric on standby for sashing.  Could this be one to tackle over the summer aiming for a late September finish perhaps?

8 - Kaffe Fassett Sparkling Gemstones Quilt

Now this fabric has been patiently stored in a box for about two years (to my shame).  I even knew the pattern I wanted to use for it (from one of the Lintott's Jellyroll books).  From time to time I have toyed with using the fabrics in other projects, and while I can't promise that still won't happen, they were destined for this particular quilt so I think I should just get on with it. Hoping that 2014 will see those fabrics out of that box!

9 - Grey and Aqua quilt
These fabrics and a few more that have since been stashed in a bag under my sewing table feel so calming to me and I have wanted to whip them into a quilt from the moment Di sent the gorgeous curtain as a backing fabric.  Just never got around to it.  So, even though there's no hard and fast plan as yet, it's all there for the playing with in 2014.  I'm thinking maybe a quilt of oversized blocks, but I'm happy to see what grabs my attention as the year progresses and while the other WIPs get ticked off my list.  I'd like to see it finished by November.


Of course, it's going to be very dull if this prescriptive list is all I allow myself to tackle during the year.  After all, one needs room for creative deviation from time to time, so there will be Bee blocks and gifts and (hopefully) more cushions for my lounge too.  I really would like 2014 to be a year when I finish more than I start (for a change) and when I make use of the fabrics and stash I have collected purposefully.

Now that I've laid all of that out, I should warn you that there will be little activity on the sewing/blogging front for the next few weeks (Bee commitments excepted).  I'm taking a wee breather from the blog and the sewing room while I catch up or just keep up with the rest of what's happening here just now.  I am soooooo looking forward to getting back into the swing of things and resuming normal service before the end of the month, so don't forget about me!

I hope you all have fun sewing plans for 2014 and cannot wait to see what creativity and inspiration will abound this new year!

Ta ta for now!