100 Day Hustle finale

Time for a 100 Day Hustle recap!

1. Lizzy teacher gift, 2. Ashley teacher gift, 3. Vintage Holiday front, 4. IMG_1673, 5. Olivia's Quilt front, 6. The Grinch, 7. Totally Groovy, 8. Groovy back, 9. mosaicc622aaa0d425fe2aca04436e06c45899b21bb454, 10. Hurricane Blocks, 11. Leaf table runner, 12. sashiko coasters, 13. 3 x 6 solids mosaic, 14. preschool pillowcases, 15. sept star of africa, 16. Batik stripe in focus

Here is my list:

• 12  Bee blocks for the 3 x 6 Bee DONE 
• 3 blocks for the Star of Africa bee - 1 1/2 DONE - The Grinch needs a little more work, and I now have 2 more to do to get me through January.
• At least 1 block for the Leafs Me Happy Blog Hop - DONE
• Pillowcases for my daughter's preschool - DONE
• Finish Totally Groovy - DONE
• Quilt the Batik Stripe quilt - DONE
• small gifties for a few of my bee mates 
• Another small gift for my daughters' teachers (2) - DONE
• The Sashiko coasters - DONE 
• finish the Vintage Holiday QAL top- DONE
• Finish Olivia's applique quilt - DONE

Added:

• Hurricane Sandy Blocks - DONE
• Christmas decorations - DONE

So, not too shabby, right?  I really wish I had gotten some little gifties out for my bee mates, not to mention finished up the blocks that are due.  I suppose that not getting them done gives me the opportunity to send little surprises to them randomly in the New Year.

I really enjoyed doing the "Hustle" this year.  Just making a list and trying to figure out what was realistically going to get done, really helped me focus.  And of course, having others sharing their lists and triumphs motivated me to do the same.  I will definitely be participating again next year.

How did you do with your 2012 finale?

Jen

Olivia's quilt - a finish Friday

I just finished up Olivia's quilt for Christmas!

It was about this time last year that I started making these machine appliqued blocks with the intention of making matching quilts for both my niece and my daughter, Olivia, who are only 3 1/2 months apart in age.  It was also about this time last year that my niece was diagnosed with AML Leukemia.  The family quickly circled the wagons and helped out with whatever was needed while Nina spent the next 6 months in the hospital.  I was not able to be at the hospital for the first few months because, living in the petri dish that is having 3 small kids in daycare or elementary school, I had a continuous cold.  While Nina was receiving chemotherapy, no one that was sick was allowed to be near her.  I felt useless, so I sewed.  

(In case you are wondering, Nina is doing great.  She has been in remission since being released and is one of the most adorable little tikes I know.)

With little time to spare, I finished Nina's quilt on Christmas Eve last year.  I then put Olivia's blocks aside for another time when I wasn't so stressed, and wasn't so rushed.  They sat in a box until a few weeks ago when I FINALLY pieced them together.  It took another week for me to get around to basting it, and I finally started the quilting on Tuesday.  Once I get a quilt going, I can focus enough to get it done, but actually getting it under the machine is a struggle sometimes.  (For example, have you seen my Vintage Holiday quilt lately?  No, because it is still sitting there basted and waiting.)

closer up

I am so happy this one is done.  I felt a little guilty having my 3rd child, quiltless!

backing fabric - cheater!

I will be wrapping this one up and putting it under the tree.  

I even had a little fun with the binding.  After trying out the spirals on November's FMQ Challenge, I checked out some other designs my machine has.  There was this "Sweet" stitch.

Sweet binding

And this "love" stitch.

Love binding

Olivia is very "Sweet" and I "love" her very much, so it seemed a cute idea.

I am linking this up with TGIFF, Can I Get a Whoop Whoop, and Leah Day's UFO Sunday.  Since this one sat, languishing, for a year, I think it qualifies to be included in UFO Sunday.  Since it is still not labeled, it is still not completely finished - I hope the TGIFF people won't mind too much.

Thanks for reading,

Jen

Feels good - WIP Wednesday

Not a whole lot to report this week.  With Thanksgiving over, I hope that will change for next week.

I've finally started quilting Olivia's quilt for Christmas!  I am about half finished already.  I decided to quilt each block differently, but spirals seem to be predominant (more on that tomorrow).

I also started to hand quilt my Medallion quilt from the Handstitched class I took over the summer.  It seems to be the perfect project to take with me up to the mountains (IE when I am away from my machine).  I am nowhere near complete, but it feels good to have started.

We are also 2/3 of the way through the 100 Day Hustle.  I have made pretty decent progress on my list, but the drawback is that I am considering adding some projects to my plate - not necessarily 100 Day Hustle projects.  For instance, last year around this time, I was intrigued with Bonnie Hunter's annual mystery quilt.  Last year it was "Orca Bay", which turned out just beautiful.  Well, she just started this year's mystery, "Easy Street", one she promises is less intense than previous years.  It sounds like the perfect opportunity to try out a mystery quilt along, doesn't it?  The practical side of my brain is screaming, "NOOOOOOOO!!!", but the go where the wind takes me side of my brain is saying, "But why not?"  I think if I can manage to cross Olivia's quilt and my teachers' holiday gifts off my list by next week, I might just try it.

Have you ever done a mystery quilt before?  What was your experience?

Jen


This Wednesday......

Completed Projects:

• 2 blocks for the How Far Will You Go? QAL - as posted yesterday
• November Free Motion Quilting Challenge - post coming tomorrow

On-going Projects:

AKA - "stuff I plan to touch this week or next".

• Vintage Holiday Quilt Along - awaiting quilting.
• Totally Groovy Quilt Along - patching in progress
• How Far Will You Go? QAL - Catch up in progress. 
• Miscellaneous sewn gifties - time to get started on gifts!
• Olivia's Appliqued Quilt - quilting in progress!

Back Burner:

These will likely be touched in a couple of weeks.

• Handstitched Medallion Quilt - quilting in progress.  It will be a long process, so that is why it is still down here.
• Star of Africa Bee - November's Block is due December 15th 
• Charity quilt for the guild - not started.   

The Back, Back Burner:

Lightning would have to strike twice.

• Handstitched goodies - several small projects in limbo.  
• Beginner Quilt Along at Quilting Gallery - top needs to be put together 
• EPP project - in progress.

This week's stats:
Completed projects - 1+
New projects - 0
Currently in Progress - 5 - ish

Don't forget to link up any blocks you have been working on to yesterday's post!  The linky stays open for a whole week, so feel free to add them as you complete or wait for next Tuesday (or both)!



Linking up with Freshly Pieced WIP Wednesday's and .

Fingers crossed - WIP Wednesday

I put together Olivia's quilt top yesterday.  In doing so, I realized that I gave all the properly sized blocks to my niece in her quilt, and left the imperfect ones for us.  I made these blocks over a year ago, and it is funny to see how far (I perceive) my piecing has come from then.  Luckily, I know my little girl won't mind a few wonky seams.   Now I just need to figure out how I want to quilt it.

With my niece's quilt, I made the mistake of quilting it too heavily, and it wasn't as soft as I wanted.  Now that (hopefully) I've learned a thing or two about scale, I won't make that mistake again.  Fingers crossed!


This Wednesday......

Completed Projects:

• Preschool Pillowcases - 9 in all completed
• Star of Africa Bee - October's block is done (come back Tuesday to see it)

On-going Projects:

AKA - "stuff I plan to touch this week or next".

• Vintage Holiday Quilt Along - awaiting quilting.
• Totally Groovy Quilt Along - patching in progress
• How Far Will You Go? QAL - Catch up in progress. 
• Miscellaneous sewn gifties - time to get started on gifts!
• Olivia's Appliqued Quilt - this one is part of my 100 Day Hustle List.  I moved this one up in the hopes that working on it might satisfy my desire to be working on a new quilt.  It's been a while since I've seen this one, so maybe I can trick myself into thinking it is "new".  And so far it worked!  I put the top together yesterday and even managed to get it backed and basted.  Now to quilt.
• November Free Motion Quilting Challenge - I know the end of the month will be here soon.

Back Burner:

These will likely be touched in a couple of weeks.

• Handstitched Medallion Quilt - The last borders still need to be redone and sewn back on.
• Star of Africa Bee - November's Block is due December 15th - details haven't been released yet.
• Charity quilt for the guild - not started.   They gave me one that is flannel, with fleece backing.  Oh, how I now despise fleece!  Moved this one up to Back Burner so I might be able to deliver it at the next meeting I attend and get this fleece atrocity out of my sewing room.

The Back, Back Burner:

Lightning would have to strike twice.

• Handstitched goodies - several small projects in limbo.  
• Beginner Quilt Along at Quilting Gallery - top needs to be put together 
• EPP project - in progress.

This week's stats:
Completed projects - 2
New projects - 1
Currently in Progress - 6

Don't forget to link up any blocks you have been working on to yesterday's post!  The linky stays open for a whole week, so feel free to add them as you complete or wait for next Tuesday (or both)!



Linking up with Freshly Pieced WIP Wednesday's and .