One of my favorite times of the year is when I can look through my projects and decide which ones will make it onto the new year’s to-do list. Often I find projects that I have forgotten about and can now look forward to completing. This year’s to-do list has a challenging number of eleven projects.
The first two projects have been on my to-do list for several years now and I think it is time to either make at least a little progress on them or remove them completely from the list. The Quilt Worx Flowers for My Wedding Ring and Dear Jane are both large quilts with complicated patterns. In addition I have no real reason to make them except for the challenge of doing so. So which option do I choose? Since I would have trouble giving up on them completely I think I will aim to make some small progress on each and call that a win. My goal will be to strip piece the Unit A sections on the QuiltWorx pattern and to make ten blocks on the Dear Jane quilt.
The next three projects on the list have to do with our family’s upcoming big life event which always mean more projects for me. We are looking forward to welcoming Baby Dawson to the family in July and I will need to make a quilt for the nursery, a counted cross-stitch stocking to hang on the mantle, and an advent calendar to count down the days until Santa comes. I have already ordered and received the stocking kit but the other projects are still to be determined.
Project #6 is a kit that I purchased from Connecting Threads on their daily Stash & Save sale that they email to me every morning at 10:00. I had been watching for a kit because the prices were so good but was usually too late as they were sold out by the time I checked my email. I got lucky on this one and bought it with the intention of making it for our Quilt Guild’s charity donation. When the kit arrived in the mail I realized that it was called “Almost” and knew that I had to make it for Lindsay. She came up with that title for herself when she was the Iowa Czech Queen Runner-up in 2016. She dubbed herself the “Almost Queen”. The “almost” title also fit in high school as she was vice-president to Jeffrey Wallman’s president several times. And the “Almost” quilt will look nice with the decor in her living room.
The 7th project is another quilt that has been on my list for several years but I think this is the year to get it completed. My intent is to make this quilt to donate to my quilt guild’s designated charity. Although it has a lot of small squares in the pattern I’m hoping it will go together quickly by using the chain-piecing technique.
One of the fun things about the Panama Quilt Guild is the challenge that we take on each year. Sometimes we are given a pattern and asked to make it in any size and with the fabric of our choosing. Sometimes we are given a theme and asked to come up with a block, wall hanging, or larger quilt centered around that idea. It is fun to see the different projects that are inspired by the challenge. This year we decided to tackle the bargello design when one of our members made a large bargello quilt and brought it for show-and-tell. At first I was drawn to some complicated large quilt patterns but quickly came to my senses and chose a simple wall hanging for my first attempt. And I already had most of the fabric needed to start since I had some leftover batik strips from my QuiltWorx project.
#9 is a project that I forgot that I had - a wool kit that I purchased at a garage sale last summer. There were many such kits to choose from but this one caught my eye as it would add to my Valentine’s Day decorations. I guess that means I need to get it done by February 14th!!
Project #10 is a quilt that has been on my list for the last two years and is one that I like to work on in the evenings. I have no special purpose for it yet so will feel good if I can add on three to four rows this year. That doesn’t sound like much but the rows get larger as I go around the center so that translates to a total of 144-204 hexagons.
Rounding out the list is a project that I’m making for Ruby and would like to have it done by the time she is no longer using her crib. I have all of the pieces cut out and sorted so I’m ready to begin stitching.
Will this be the year that I achieve all of the goals on my to-do list? What projects will be added to this already ambitious list? And you know there will be some! Stay tuned for updates throughout the year to see just what I have accomplished.