Hi Quilting Friends,
Here we are, almost to the end of the second quarter of 2019! Whew!!!! Where did the time go? We’re here today with a progress report about our goals for 2019, from our post back in January. (So that would be called our “Goal Post”, right? LOL!) Progress has been made, but there is more to be done!
Susan’s update on her 2019 goals!
Goal #1: King-sized bed quilt
This has been on hold since I have been making our June (Blue and More Blue) and July (Pieces of Christmas) quilts (coming soon!). The photo above shows the quilt top in progress! I LOVE IT! The biggest news is that the quilt top is entirely sewn together and it is off to the quilter for quilting! Yay me!!! I’ll take a new picture once it is quilted and bound. Did I mention, I LOVE IT?
The down side to having a new quilt is that now my hubby has advised me that I need to repaint the bedroom to show off our new quilt in its best light. So now I have to pause my sewing to do some painting.
Goal #2: Quilt of Valor for my favorite father-in-law
This is a project for this summer since I don’t have anything I need to hurry and get finished for our shop until mid-August. You’ll see my progress on the next “Goals Post”!
Goal #3: Read already!
This quarter I have been reading a few chapters in the evening when I need help falling asleep. Here’s a list of the books that I have read:
- “A Dog’s Way Home” by W. Bruce Cameron. It is a delightful story about a dog named Bella (which coincidentally is my dog’s name) on a quest to find her “person”, which is written entirely from a dog’s perspective. I won’t give you any spoilers, but it is definitely on the recommended list!
- A mystery about a little girl who died in the late 1800’s and all the people surrounding her. It looked like it would get exciting towards the end, but, sadly, I found the book to be anticlimactic. Oh well! I’m not going to say the name of the book or the author since it could just be me!
- “Daughter of Time” by Sarah Woodbury. The book is about a modern girl who has been dealt her share of bad luck in her lifetime. She crashed her car and awakened to find herself in the Middle Ages. Being a fan of Outlander (yes, I have read all the books) and historical fiction, I found the book very interesting and bought book II of the series.
- “Footsteps in Time” by Sarah Woodbury. The book is about a two teenagers (the children of the main character in the first book) who crash their aunt’s van and awaken find themselves in the middle of a war during the Middle Ages. I’m not sure why all the time travel starts with an accident, but the story is interesting!
- “Winds of Time” by Sarah Woodbury
- “Prince of Time” by Sarah Woodbury
- “Crossroads in Time” by Sarah Woodbury
- “Children of Time” by Sarah Woodbury
Are you getting the idea that I am really enjoying The “After Cilmeri” series by Sarah Woodbury? The sad news is that there are only 17 books in the series! Luckily this author has three other series, so perhaps that is where I’ll go next!
Goal #4: Create, just for the fun of it!
I have been having a blast creating things that our outside our “normal” fare. (I’m still trying to figure out what normal even is, but that is a whole other thing!) For example, I created custom potholders for my daughter (see photo below), special Christmas stockings (with my own designs) for people I love and having lots of fun with all of it!
I am wondering, however, if I am creating new designs, why not eventually turn them into patterns too? What do you think?
Sharon’s turn now:
Goal #1- Organize my fabric storage area
Progress at last, now that school is out for summer! If you’ve been with us for a while, you might recall that all I had last quarter was a great big mess.
I started out by adding wooden shelves on one side of the guest room closet. I sorted the fabric by color and stocked the shelves with (mostly) neat folded piles. Oh the treasures that I found! It is so nice to be able to see everything again. I probably should consider destashing, but will wait until the reorganization effort is complete. In the meanwhile, my brain is spinning with the possibilities that exist on those shelves of folded fabric. So much fabric, so little time!
My next step was expanding the storage area for my scrap fabrics, to deal with my overflowing 3-drawer cart (see photos below). I purchased another 3-drawer cart to double the scrap storage space. I sorted the pieces by color, so that will make it much easier to find the fabrics that I want to use for future projects. You’d think that the volume would decrease eventually, since I use primarily scraps for many of my quilts, but that hasn’t happened. Plus, I discovered yet another large box of scraps while I was clearing out the small closet where the fabric had been stored. (I think that my scraps may be reproducing during the night, since the amount seems to be growing, LOL. At least they are quiet.) The carts fit into the guest room closet, just beneath the shelves of fabric. Much better, right?
The bookshelf at the back of the closet is great for storing my finished quilts, along with more fabric that doesn’t fit on the other shelves. Rolls of batting and other large items are stored on either side, beneath the fabric shelves. Bins with crafting supplies and projects in progress are stored on the upper shelves.
What’s next? I must return the guest room to a usable condition, since I’ve pulled everything out of the closet. What a mess! And the overflow from the guest room has spilled into the game room, so I need to deal with it as well. I anticipate a few visits to the trash can and a few more to Goodwill.
The sewing supplies that I use constantly will stay in my bedroom closet when I’m not using them, along with Nina and my serger. I’ve sorted and relocated to clear out things from the bedroom and closet that I don’t use often (or ever). I’m happy to report that the messy corner of my bedroom is now (mostly) clear of sewing supplies. Yay for finally seeing the pretty wood floors!
What will I do for next quarter’s update? I want to sew some colorful fabric baskets to keep my work area neat, and I intend to use up some of my scraps to make them. I’ve been browsing for ideas, but haven’t made a decision yet. And I intend to maintain order and enjoy my newly organized closet, so those scraps had best behave themselves! Stay tuned!
Goal #2- Complete at least one UFO per quarter
Check! You can read about my finished project in this post.
Goal #3- Make the garden great again
Well, this project isn’t progressing as planned. In fact, other than planting a couple of tomato plants and two pots with basil, and watering to keep everything alive in the Houston summer heat, I haven’t done much of anything in the back yard. I know- what a disappointment!
My allergies were bad during February and March, as expected, so I didn’t get outside to work (much). And then we discovered that my husband has some serious health issues (He spent six days in the cardiac ICU in April!), so I’ve spent my time with him instead of working in the garden. He is recuperating and following his doctor’s orders, and I’m SO grateful.
Now that June has arrived, it is getting really hot outside. If I were to force myself to go out back for a little while each week, I could get some of the clearing out done. It isn’t so bad once I get started; it’s the starting that is difficult. We’ve had rain, so that is another reason to stay inside with the AC on and sew! Perhaps I’ll have more to report for the next “Goals Post”.
Goal #4- Take some nice pictures!
Check! Here are some links for photos that I’ve posted since the last quarterly update: “Oh Shoot, Volume 2” and “Oh Shoot, Volume 3”.
Thanks for visiting today! Did you set any goals for 2019? How are you progressing on them, so far? We love to hear from you!
Happy quilting,
Sharon & Susan
Ms P Designs USA 
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