Planning Can be Fun ~ Sometimes

EDIT: I am renaming this a WISH LIST, fun to think about but not realistic. I hope you can njoy my dreams and plans.

Good morning! Today I am looking at the Dreaded To Do List. I don't do New Years Resolutions [and if you do, are they not oh so last year already?]. I do however like lists as we've talked about before, but my winter planning list this year has me bug eyed and confused before I have even gone into the sewing room. 

I keep telling myself, Focus, focus!

Snow is coming this week. Projects pre-Number One are Hearts for my etsy shop [or to sell here via my blog due to photo issues], will start them today!

Then  to prep hand work for sewing during power outages. I have my Snowman's hat and face etc all ready to be attached. 

And I want to get these two tiny bowl fillers set up. They are kits I found on FB. I was disappointed that the shapes are not precut, just teeny tiny bits of wool and a pattern. I didn't need to spend $8.oo for that! I also have a mini quilt ready for hand quilting, it's just 4" square, how cute.

Back to The List [you may notice it is a very Jan Patek year! She is my most favorite designer!]:

 Number One project is to piece the remaining 11 Stars for Silent Night. That's 44 Geese blocks that make the stars' points. I plan to go scrappier with this batch as sorting them perfectly really slowed me down.

#2 item was to make more Hideous blocks and finish that 2018 sewalong. But now I'm not sure where I want to go with it.

The blocks are called Hideous because in my original post I showed a set of fabrics [first set of fat quarters I ever bought], a group called Jamestown by Nancy Gere. I said I loved the fabrics but thought they'd make an absolutely  hideous quilt. That challenge, to make the ugly quilt still looms. I do like the blocks in this colorway; I set aside the blue and white blocks I was also making; unexpectedly they were the ugly blocks, too ugly to bother with or finish.  Aren't they depressing? Eeeew.

I stalled on this sewalong because I found the history lessons that went with each block were offensive and unpleasant, not inspiring like Westering Women had been. And I was put off from following Brackman's sewalongs when I sent her a photo of WW and got a tepid, snippy reply. Quite rude! Oh my, took the wind right out of my quilty sails, lemme tell you. But that is, uh, history. What to do with the Hideous blocks though?

#3- Make a fast Blue Pineapples throw for this coming summer. Try-out pattern made.

#3A- Work on Winter Wild Geese and Blackbirds quilt. Black, grey, blue flannels, winter on the marshes.

4- Put together these wonderful Wagon Wheel blocks and layer and pin for hand quilting next summer.

5-Prep the rest of Silent Night's appliques 

and start the border for Coxcombe. 

You can see Lori's quilt HERE  HUMBLE QUILTS with her beautiful machine applique work. I plan to hand applique. I love this quilt and want to make it, very challenging. But I'm put off by its real name, Anniversary Quilt, since I have no anniversary to celebrate or be proud of. Hence my rename of Coxcombe. And another boggle, it's immense. I want to reduce it to 75%. More thought needed.

I know I'm not good at prepping applique, usually just do it as needed. But I am seeing that this will be another lost to Covid summer, a summer spent alone on my deck and I want to use my time more productively that I have this past year. So I'll leave it on the list for now.

Last these are patterns I'd love to make but realistically will not have the time:

This I love! I'll hang it on my door to welcome everyone if we ever have Thanksgiving again. I'll probably make the Pineapple's body one weekend, really want to work on it!

And this sweetie too! To replace Bitty in my Grandma's hope chest, it is about 44" square, just one giant darling basket. Hw cute is that!

The other crib quit, on  the right, could even be a gift quilt for a child. It's also adorable but simpler and not quite as whimsical. I might try to do it very low volume, almost colorless.

An Easter quilt, also for my door. I was planning to make it last winter but made masks instead. All the fabrics are gathered.

 And because I have so few patriotic quilts and now with the new leadership in our country, I feel less embarrassed  and more celebratory. Love the soft colors too. This is called Dawn's Early Light.

Below, from TQC. Just fun and charming, lots of sit and piece. These are 2" and 4 " blocks, very tiny.

Fun again. Lately a lot of ABC quilts are showing up online; numbers is so different. I'd use many of the colors from Festival of Life.

And last a far-fetched dream project. I adore this early Jan P quilt. All these small appliques would create excellent beach time hand sewing for years to come. It is very vintage, found the book on Thrift Books for under 5.oo.

I think the book is Snowbound, the quilt is Snow Day.

Organized? Or overwhelmed? Both! I do like having it all written up here on my blog to guide me through this year. But no deadlines, no competition. I plan to make it a wonderful year, I plan to embrace to restrictions and solitude. Yes Covid is winning, just today it is said the vaccines do not work on the newest mutation found. Instead of worrying, I will be satisfied to get Silent Night on the way to completion and to finish Blue Pineapples, plus have plenty of hand sewing for this summer. 

My mom had a slightly macabre sense of humor, at New Years she'd toast: "Eat, drink and be merry!" leaving out the rest but we all knew the rest of the quote.

How do you work? Do you enjoy juggling many projects? How do you prioritize?

Mo has HIS priorities straight: 

love

lizzy

gone to the beach......