Setting March Goals

It’s time to set my OMG (One Monthly Goal) for March.  OMG is a monthly incentive program for quilters, seamstresses and needleworkers (etc.). We set ourselves a monthly goal, and if we complete it are entered into a prize drawing. I’ve been participating for a couple of years or more, and my current running streak is 14 consecutive months of setting a goal and completing it.

But this month may be my undoing! I’ve had the following quilt in my backlog of UFOs for more than two years. This month I’m going to move it along, come hell or COVID-19. So, I’m linking up to Elm Street Quilt’s goal-setting post and then will set to work.

Here is how my Bonnie Hunter quilt “On Ringo Lake” has looked For.Ev.Er.  What I’ve finally decided is that instead of one huge, complicated quilt, I am going to make two smaller quilts. So, my first step will be to deconstruct what I’ve got so far. And then I’m going to simplify the setting(s) and sashing and see what I come up with

So, to summarize, my March OMG is to (1) deconstruct the existing half-quilt and (2) reconstruct it into one (or likely two) smaller, simpler quilt tops. I’m anticipating that I’ll have lots of leftover sashing components. So be it; they’ll go into my stash for use in the future.

And speaking of stash, I had a very sweet surprise yesterday. Bruce brought a Priority Mail box down to my studio. I wasn’t expecting anything. It was from my sweet friend Nann (With Strings Attached), and it was stuffed to the gills with fabric scraps! If you know Nann, she is the queen of both scraps and acronyms (she is involved in so many volunteer groups). She labeled the box as a B.O.R.S. (a box of random scraps). Well, thank you dear Nann, because you are O.A.Q.F. (one awesome quilting friend)!

The picture doesn’t do them justice of course. Just that baggie of black and white scraps (center top) took me two (heavenly!) hours to sort through! I realized that the drawers I’ve been clearing out by making my scrappy fabric bins will now be filled with neutral and low-volume scraps (black, brown, gray, white/black, etc). But it’s all good! I’ve already pulled all the yellow, gray, black and white scraps from what Nann sent, added some of my own scraps and fabrics and will be making (this spring) a fun kid quilt with those. And that floral in the bottom right corner just screams for orange, yellow-orange and blue squares to help it along.

And if that wasn’t fun enough, this weekend held another surprise. Preeti and I chatted/face-timed for an hour or more on Sunday! She is a hoot. We were sharing blocks, fabrics and ideas. When I came upstairs after the call, Bruce said “it sounds like you two were having fun down there”. I hope we do it again soon! And we floated the possibility of going to the Sisters quilt show in Oregon possibly this year or next.

But, coming back down to earth today after all that excitement, I’m all about laundry setting goals for March. So, besides the deconstruction and reconstruction of On Ringo Lake above, I’ll quilt a couple kid quilts for Quilts for Kids. I help out our long-arm quilters by doing a few of the smaller kid quilts every month. As well, I’ve brought home two panels for our chapter’s challenge to get over 100 donated panels made into quilts this year. Here are my two panels, along with some fabrics I’ve pulled as potential borders, backing, etc.

The panels were folded up into baggies, so I selected them solely by the exposed colors (BRIGHT!)
The idea is to keep these quilts as simple as possible so the group can whip through them this year.  On the first quilt below, there are four blocks to cut out and do something with (add borders?) and I may add that blue fabric hanging on the left as a quilt border if necessary. The check print on the right will be the back/binding. I could do some fun wavy quilting.

The next one will probably be a bit more straightforward. I am just going to add that green as a border around the quilt and call it good. It’s cute as is and doesn’t need to be chopped up (like the one above). Again, as simple as possible.

Yesterday I broke down and ordered a roll of Warm and Natural batting (40 yards) from Amazon. For years I’ve used the Warm and Plush, but it’s pricier and only comes in 25-yard rolls. With all the kids' quilts I’m doing, it makes more sense to save the thicker stuff for personal quilts and use the basic lighter weight for the kid quilts.

And finally, I’ll be working on my Rainbow Scrap Challenge color of Teal/Aqua for March. I’ve already made headway, but I’ll show that on Saturday. I am hoping I have enough of that color to do a Creature quilt in March. And if a squirrel project crosses my path, I may have to run off to chase it...