2018 Quilting Goals

My mind is like a steel trap. Rusted shut with everything on the outside....  Therefore, I create lists. I make daily to-do lists on my iPad, mostly just to space out the essential housework and let me spend my time doing something - anything - else. Sometimes it's just shopping lists (that I often leave at home or in the car). But I find that even the act of writing things down helps me remember the items better.  

So, it seems only natural to take this list thing a step farther and join in with the many bloggers who are posting their goals for 2018.

Rainbow String Blocks

I participate in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, (see link in sidebar) where a monthly color is assigned and we dig into fabric scraps of that color and sew whatever block(s) we want. I’ve also committed to participating in OMG (One Monthly Goal - see link in sidebar) because we can choose our own goal each month. Perfect for me, as some of mine will be time sensitive. The Block Lotto has started up again this month. There, we make anywhere from 1-9 blocks of the assigned pattern and color way, then a drawing is held at month-end and the winner(s) take all. Voila! Instant Quilt. I’ve also agreed to be the Host/Leader of Block Lotto for the month of March.

In 2018 I will endeavor to make a couple dozen kennel quilts (about placemat size) to use up my remaining pet scraps. As well, I will make between 2-6 baby quilts for the local church charity drive. And then there is Covered in Love, a worthy cause where blocks and quilts are made then gifted to families of persons who have died of cancer. Based in Texas and run by Kat from Kat and Cat Quilts, it’s been going strong for 3 years now.

Plus Blocks

The above goals are general in nature, and I expect that often I can work on two or more simultaneously. For example, using small leftover scraps of the Rainbow Scrap Color of the month, I can piece small kennel quilts, baby quilts or a donation block if the colors dovetail.

In the first quarter of the year, I usually finish up the Rainbow Scrap Quilts from the previous year, if I can. There are at least a half dozen in various stages of progress, but the ones I have my eye on for the first quarter are Friendship Stars (see previous post), Rainbow Strings, and perhaps The Plus Quilt.

Bruce’s Guitar Quilt

After Friendship Stars, probably the next quilt I’ll work on is my brother’s Hot Rod Quilt. No pictures yet, although I do have all the fabric and a general idea of what I need to do to accommodate the large-scale prints. I’m hoping to whip a flimsy out in a couple days of intense sewing and cutting. I want it off my plate.

Then I can get back to DH Bruce’s Guitar Quilt, which has aged nicely in the corner of my sewing studio. I’m hoping it’s ready to behave now. What that means, of course, is that I hope my brain can wrap around working backwards (fusing reversed images).

Sometime in the first half of the year when I just need a break from thinking, I can quilt my Autumn Sampler Quilt. It’s already backed and basted and waiting for it’s turn under the needle.



And speaking of Under the Needle, Bernadette (my Bernina 550QE) is spending a week at the spa for her annual “spa treatment” (servicing). I miss her fiercely. In her place right now I’m using Ken - my 1974 Kenmore that I had serviced a couple months ago. Ken is terminally ill, and it breaks my heart. The bearings in his motor are going, although he still runs. I can sew regular cottons (like for piecing), but denim and several layers are just too much for his weakened “heart”. Bruce and the repairman talked, and we will be able to fix Ken if we can find an appropriate replacement motor. We'll be scouting yard and estate sales, or may even resort to purchasing one online if reasonably priced. Bruce will do the transplant. I’ll keep you posted.

Another first-half-of-the-year project will be a baby quilt for our daughter Stacy, who is pregnant and due in July. I will have to wait to begin that for another month or two until we know if it’s going to be a girl or boy.

In addition my Rainbow Scrap projects (at least one of which has not been introduced yet, but will be over the course of January Saturdays), I have promised my daughter Megan another quilt. We’ve decided on a medallion style, although it will be rectangular, not square. Drafting THAT pattern was a nightmare. While she was here visiting in December, we picked out the fabrics. The picture below is an old one, but while most of the specific fabrics have changed, the color way is still the same.

And I hope to finish this WISP - Work in Slow Process - this year. I believe all the lozenges and most of the white corners are cut. Now I just need to cut the black corners (they will alternate with the white) and put the pedal to the metal! I’ll work on this during the RSC orange month.

Finally, without showing more pictures, I have a linens quilt in process that will be worked on as one of my monthly goals; another pineapple quilt is planned for my nephew Wes; I have some lovely Kaffe Fasset fabric I’m itching to cut into for a quilt; and I want to make a Spiderweb Quilt this year too.

Somewhere in there, I’ll pull out On Ringo Lake, the Bonnie Hunter December-January Mystery Quilt and work on that. I have all the pieces to Clues 1-8 cut and just need to begin sewing blocks together and then doing sashing, etc. I did make two blocks, and I love the colors. However, my precision leaves a lot to be desired.

As luck would have it, my Sewing Supervisor Darla was on hand when I finished these, and I asked her what she thought of them. This was her reaction:

 Enough said.

And today I sewed up these four blocks for the January edition of Block Lotto.  They look rather Mondrian-like, don’t you think?

Tomorrow it’s back to more blue sewing for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. And at some point I may talk about personal goals, most of which have to do with weight loss and exercise (so what else is new?)

For my friends on the east coast, please stay warm and safe away from the awful storms that are being forecast.