It only took fifty-something years but I finally found a New Year’s resolution that worked! Last January I took inventory of my Unfinished Objects (UFO’s) and resolved to see how many I could finish. I started the year with seven projects and was able to complete four of them and make progress on two others. In 2018 I also made four other quilts for myself as well as completing 41 customer quilts and 41 Quilts of Valor. I would say it was a successful quilting year!!
I’m fairly certain that I would not have made much if any progress on those projects that had been sitting around for several years had I not made a list and a determined effort to make progress on them. So I have been looking forward to doing the same this year and again keeping track of my progress. In 2019 I have 10 projects in my to-do stash. Three of them are carry-overs from last year, four of them are new projects, and for three of them I have the recipients in mind but no fabric or pattern picked out yet.
The three carry-overs from last year are the Star quilt and Advent calendar (both are kits that I purchased from Connecting Threads) and the English Paper-Piecing (EPP) quilt. The Star quilt just needs to have the squares and half-square triangles sewn together. The EPP quilt needs 3 hexagon and 2 diamond rows hand-stitched for the center and then an appliquéd border added. The Advent calendar is the one project on which I have not made any progress. I think that is because I haven’t had a lot of motivation to finish it. I made an Advent calendar a few years ago that I hang up during Christmas at our house. I bought this one soon after for a future grandchild which so far has not materialized.
The four “new” projects that I have added since the beginning of last year include two Limelight quilts (one with Nebraska fabrics and one with bright prints), my 2018 Row By Row quilt, and a kit I purchased at Needles I in Auburn on the Panama Quilt Guild’s bus trip last summer. I actually finished the Limelight quilt in bright prints a couple of weeks ago so I can already check one quilt off my list. The Rows are finished for the Row By Row quilt. I now need to sew them together with sashing and borders and then quilt it. The Nebraska Limelight quilt and the Needles I kit have yet to be started. In fact, I need to find three more red fat quarters for the Nebraska quilt before I can work on it.
The three quilts whose pattern and fabric are yet to be determined are for my daughter, Melissa, and her soon-to be husband, Kevin. I plan to make a throw size quilt as a shower gift and a bed-size quilt for a wedding present. As soon as Melissa has nailed down a few more plans for the wedding, I’ll have her look through Pinterest to see if she can find some ideas for the quilts. I also plan to make a quilt for Kevin as he is the only boyfriend/son-in-law that does not have a quilt yet.
So 2019 is shaping up to be a busy quilting year once again. I vowed last year not to start any new quilts until my UFO’s were finished. Let’s be honest! I knew that was a resolution that I wouldn’t keep the minute I wrote it down. So this year I will just look forward to all of the new quilting ideas that pop up along the way. What are the goals on your quilting to-do list this year? Whatever is on that list I hope you are successful in completing those goals! Happy Quilting!