finished: two blankets

On Tuesday, my friend, D., from the Blue Mountains group of the Knitters’ Guild of NSW visited to help me sew some of the donated squares into blankets. We took a while to sort squares into colour groups then to decide on a layout for our first blanket.
We worked together to turn 28 squares into one blanket. D. sews faster than me but still it took us several hours to bring one blanket almost to completion. D. very kindly took all the crocheted squares home with her so my dining table looks a little less cluttered.
During the following days, I sewed the last ten inches of seam and darned in all the ends. I have named our collaborative blanket Scarlet Diamonds – for fairly obvious reasons!

I have also finished my Winmalee Blanket, which is a variation on the Moderne Baby Blanket, from “Mason-Dixon Knitting” by Ann Shayne and Kay Gardiner. I needed mine to be much larger so reinvented the pattern for my own needs. What should have been the length of the baby blanket became the width of my single (twin) bed topper and then I recreated the same layout in mirror image.
 
The photo was taken on a dark and dreary rainy day and the colours are wrong. It’s purple not inky black and the border is a lovely bright teal. I think knitting a whole blanket in just 38 days is pretty amazing (well, it is for me anyway)!
I am linking this post up with Thank Goodness It’s Finished Friday.
It would have been good if I could have written it last week when I was hosting but it’s really good to approach the end of the month with two finishes, even if only one of them is completely my own work.
And now, with the bushfire emergency over and the need for blankets passed (even though I still have a pile of squares on the dining table), I think it’s time to turn back to my UFOs and WiPs and see if I can end the year in style with 2013: The Year of the Finished Project.

2013: The Year of the Finished Project -- November edition

This year is moving so fast, I can hardly keep up with it!

As most of you would know, I put all my October goals aside and have been working on blankets for the victims of terrible bushfires which swept through parts of the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, a couple of weeks ago.

Here are the goals that I set at the end of September:

1. Scrappy Hearts quilt – I managed to finish all but the last four blocks but there was no way this quilt, which is not needed till April next year, was going to get done once the call-out for blankets and quilts for the victims of the fires went out!
2. Country Houses quilt – all I did with this is put it on the bed, quick what I needed to do next, and fold it up again.
3. Purple Cocoon Socks – finished 9 October
4. 
5. Westall Cardigan – replaced with Knitted Patchwork blanket -- finished and delivered to the charity collecting for the bushfire victims; I then started working on Winmalee Blanket (being knitted in one piece) and Knitted Patchwork II which is being made from the left-over blocks from the Knitted Patchwork blanket.
6. turn another set of blocks from the 2012 Rainbow Scrap Challenge into a flimsy -- not started! Replaced with a QAYG project from donated blocks which is still in progress.

I have not set any goals for my own projects for November. I am likely to be sewing knitted squares for most of the month. If not, I will return to my October list which will look like this:

1. Scrappy Hearts quilt – finish enlarging blocks, make flimsy, make backing, baste, quilt and bind!
2. Finish QAYG project -- possibly to be known as Scrappy Strings Again!
3. Country Houses quilt – get it off the shelf and onto our bed
4. Westall Cardigan – sleeves to be finished
5. turn another set of blocks from the 2012 Rainbow Scrap Challenge into a flimsy

So what about you? 

Have you been busy meeting your goals or have you been distracted by other things?

What do you have planned for November?

Please link here with the URL of your specific blog post so we can all visit and see your progress.

2013: The Year of the Finished Project – October edition

During September I came to realise two things: one about me, one about my lack of fore-thought!

Firstly, I am addicted to my iPad. Seriously! If I pick it up in the morning and start using it, I can still be on it when WM comes home at 2:30pm. Whole days have been spent (wasted?) browsing the internet, reading blogs, reading emails (and not even in answering them, sorry) and playing games like FreeCell, Spider Solitaire and Jumbline 2: Star Tower. I will now no longer allow myself to turn my iPad on until after lunch. Hopefully, by then, I will have started on some crafting project, and be keen to get back to it!

As for my lack of fore-thought: I have come to realise that it is a very good idea to check the calendar before deciding on how many projects can reasonably be completed in the month! This may sound obvious but I have gotten into such a habit of listing six or seven items that I just didn’t think about my schedule in combination with how much work needed to be done to complete each project!

I didn’t allow for the fact that I would be gone for one weekend teaching at The Knitters’ Guild of NSW biennial camp. I didn't allow for the fact that one of the two classes I was asked to teach needed a great deal of preparation time in writing notes, preparing patterns, knitting samples, etc. In fact, all the preparation, knitting and so forth, swallowed up most of a week!

I didn’t allow for the fact that we had a Conference at church for the last five days of September or for the fact that we would be billeting people for those five days. Preparation for those visitors in terms of making the spare bedroom habitable (we have been de-cluttering!) took more time than expected!

Basically, I really only had about fifteen days of “normal” life during September and all of the projects I listed for the month needed a great deal of work on them to bring them to completion. I did have the sense to realise that number seven wasn’t possible so took that off my list in the first couple of days.

Here is my September list and how I fared in my progress towards finishing:

1. Scrappy Log Cabin quilt (50” x 60”) – goal: quilting and binding
   – finished 4 September (see this post)
   
2. Westall cardigan, aka as “Cardigan for Me” – goal: get it done and on my back
   – I didn’t get it finished but I did pick up the stitches for the first sleeve, and knitted the sleeve cap twice. I wasn’t happy with my short rows (they looked very messy) so I did it all again. Eventually I got the sleeve done to the elbow where the lace pattern begins. This requires concentration so I didn’t get any further!
   
3. Scrappy Heart blocks – goal: enlarge all thirty and turn them into a flimsy
   – I didn’t get all thirty blocks enlarged, I have done a total of twelve, nine in September and three in August
   (show in the two pictures below)
   
4. Country Houses quilt – goal: get it off the shelf and on to our bed
   – this project wasn’t touched; I never remembered to measure it for the amount of wadding I needed! I only ever remembered when I was already in my LQS for classes!
   
5. Gift of Hope quilt #2 (24” square) – goal: backing, quilting and binding
   – finished 19 September (see this post)
   
6. Purple Cocoon Socks – goal: just get them done, they've been on the needles too long!
   – I finished the first sock on 19 September and cast the second one on at Camp on 20th September; I also knitted on the way to Conference one day but was too tired the other two mornings (the fourth morning I had to drive myself and have not yet mastered the art of knitting and driving at the same time!). I am almost at the heel of the (toe up)socks; I am still finding using the shorter needles of 40cm (16”) circulars quite clumsy – I much prefer dpns!
   
7. turn another set of blocks from the Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2012 into a flimsy – unrealistic and removed from list!

So that was September – not too bad considering my lack of time!

Now for October. Let’s see, I have not had any crafting time in the first three days and have my grandsons here from tomorrow night until at least next Thursday so there’ll be no crafting during that week. That leaves me about 21 days of “normal” life. Realistically:

1. Scrappy Hearts quilt – finish enlarging blocks, make flimsy, make backing, baste, quilt and bind!
2. Country Houses quilt – get it off the shelf and onto our bed!
3. Purple Cocoon Socks – to be finished
4. Westall Cardigan – sleeves to be finished
5. turn another set of blocks from the 2012 Rainbow Scrap Challenge into a flimsy

That seems reasonable for the amount of time I have.

What about you?
How did you go in September? Did you learn anything about yourself along the way?
What are your plans for getting those UFOs done in October?

Please link up with the URL of your specific blog post. Thanks for joining the party. Don’t forget to visit some of the other people who have joined in and leave a comment on their blog.

2013:The Year of the Finished Project --September edition

Warning: there are no photos in this post, sorry. My computer, with all my images, is in the shop undergoing treatment for spyware! I am posting this from my iPad.

Well, here we are; two thirds of the year over and less than seventeen weeks to go of 2013. A sobering thought, at least for me -- this year has not turned out at all I like I planned!

I wasn't expecting to spend three months renovating DD's house; at the beginning of the year, the idea of moving away had not even entered DD's head!

I certainly didn't expect to get shingles either!

De-cluttering wasn't unexpected but it did hit rather suddenly!

However, as host of this here Linky party, I'm tired of excuses and tired of my UFOS. I'm planning for the final third of this year to be more productive, craft-wise, than the previous eight months.

So, first, a reality check on my August focus list:

1. Country Houses quilt -- untouched due to forgetting to buy batting whenever I was at LQS
2. Ambassador of Love mittens -- untouched; can't find the yarn to finish
3. Westall cardigan -- untouched
4. Scrappy Log Cabin quilt -- flimsy and backing finished, to be basted in class 2 Sept
5. Purple Cocoon socks-- untouched
6. Gift of Hope quilt #2; substituted by Gift of Hope quilt #3 -- finished 29 August

There's no more to be said; it's a sad indictment on the host!

Lets turn our attention instead to my focus list for September:

1. Scrappy Log Cabin quilt -- quilting and binding
2. Westall cardigan, aka as “Cardigan for Me” – get it done and on my back!
3. Scrappy Heart blocks – enlarge all thirty and turn them into a flimsy
4. Country Houses quilt – time to get it off the shelf and on to our bed
5. Gift of Hope quilt #2 – get it finished
6. Purple Cocoon Socks – just get them done, they've been on the needles too long!
7. turn another set of blocks from the Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2012 into a flimsy

Edited to add that I'm linking goals #1, #3 and #4 with Nothing but UFOs over on Carrie's blog, A Passion for Applique. 

We're only five days into this month but I've already made a start!

The Scrappy Log Cabin quilt was basted on Monday. The quilting was finished on Tuesday and the binding will be attached this afternoon.

I've decided that waiting for my "desire" to knit to return is fruitless, best I just take control and move on. To this end, I dug out the Purple Cocoon Socks on Tuesday evening. You may recall that I stopped knitting these socks because they were for me and I thought they were a bit too small in the  foot. Having decided to just get on with it, I determined that if they didn't fit me, they will fit either DD or mum, so it was time to get them finished. I found using two 40cm (16") circulars very awkward so I only managed twelve rows on Tuesday night. Last night I did another twenty-four rows of the pattern and the final twelve rows of ribbing. Now I just have to bind off and the first sock is done!

Things are looking up for me now -- no turning back, onwards and upwards! I want to finish the year with a flourish!

How about you? Did you meet your goals for August? What have you planned for September?

Please link here with the URL of your specific blog post so we can all pop in and cheer you on!

2013: The Year of the Finished Project – August edition

I hope that July was a more productive month for you than for me.

The month started well with a trip north to spend three precious days with DD, SIL and the grandsons. I posted about that here.

While I was away I had an itchy back. That became excruciating pain which caused a trip to the hospital in the wee hours of the morning with chest pain; followed by a diagnosis of shingles by my GP the following evening.

In the three weeks since that diagnosis I have balanced my pain medication so that I now only feel slight pain but am not so dosed up that I can’t walk straight. Because of that, I have been reluctant to use my sewing machine – that needle moves too quickly for me!

I have also avoided fine detailed knitting, like picking up and knitting the sleeves for my cardigan.

All that to say that my July goals remain just dreams – all projects totally untouched.

So my goals for August are basically my goals from July.

Country Houses quilt

Ambassador of Love mittens

Westall cardigan

Scrappy Log Cabin quilt

Purple Cocoon socks

Gift of Hope quilt #2

What about you? How did July turn out for you? And what plans for finishing those projects do you have for August?

Please put the URL of your specific blog post here when linking up to join the party!

2013: The Year of the Finished Project – July edition

Is it just me or does this year seem to be flying past?

Despite the fact that I was on vacation for the first twelve days of June and did little crafting between my arrival home and the last few days of the month, I managed five finishes! You can read the posts about finishing here and here.

Of course, it helps that most of those were nearly completed before I went on holidays.
In fact, most of them were on my list for May!

Let’s look at my list for June:

1. Bed Socks for Beulah -- finished 3 June
2. Blanket for Emily -- finished 30 June 2013
3. cardigan for me -- knit sleeves (untouched)
4. bind the Earth and Sky quilt -- finished 29 June 2013
5. add border to Scrappy Log Cabin quilt (untouched)
6. finish Hexagon Project Bag -- finished 28 June 2013

What's that? You thought I said five finishes? 

Yes, I did say five. I also finished a pair of socks that had been on the needles too long. At the beginning of the year I stated that I had to finish one old knitting project before I could start a new one, and two quilting/sewing projects before I could start a new one. I also stated that “plain” socks are not  counted in my “new” projects because I always have socks on the needles – they are the perfect travel companion and are great for knitting in company (unless I’m up to the heel).

So perhaps I shouldn’t count this pair as a  “finish” either; but the fact of the matter is they are finished! So I did have five finishes in June even if only four count as part of the challenge!

Hey, it’s a linky party! It’s not life and death. Crafting is our hobby and we’re not supposed to take it too seriously. We’re here to encourage each other to finish those UFOs and WIPs – any finish is worth celebrating, right?

So, what's on my list for July?

1. Country Houses quilt – to be finished
   I want this on my bed this winter; it’s been hanging around for two years now!
   
2. Ambassador of Love mittens – to be finished
   No more Second Mitten Syndrome allowed!
   
3. Westall Cardigan –  to be finished
   I’d really like to be wearing this instead of looking at it gathering dust on the table.
   
4. Scrappy Log Cabin quilt – get the border on and turn it into a finished flimsy
   It’s been hanging around here waiting long enough!
   
5. Purple Cocoon socks – make a decision and follow through
   These have been on the needles for nearly two years while I tried to make up my mind whether to frog (rippit!) or finish!
   
6. Gift of Hope #2 quilt – to be finished
   I started this in March but I was waiting to acquire some white flannelette for wadding. I have it now so it’s time to get it off the list.
   Sorry, no photo, I haven’t taken one!

I also have samples to knit for the workshop I’m tutoring on 20th July so I’d better get moving on those too!

And I’d like to make some progress on Deb’s Diamond (knitted) Blanket, my current embroidery (outside of class) and my Dutch Caps hexagon project.

So, I’ve got quite a list but it’s winter, it’s cold and it’s great crafting weather.

I’d also like to clean out my sewing room and make the storage more functional – I’ll start by moving all yarn not in use to the spare bedroom! But that’s another post…

How did you go in June and what’s on your list for July?

2013: The Year of the Finished Project – May edition

Here I am; a little bit late given that it’s already evening here in eastern Australia but it’s still the first Thursday in May – so really, I’m right on time!

How did you go in April? What are your plans for May?

The work at the “renovator’s delight” (DD’s former home) is slowly being done, and soon I hope to have more time to get more done on my crafting projects.

WM and I are going away for our annual vacation on 25 May , plus we are taking a weekend off to travel 538km (335 miles) to my mum’s for Mother’s Day (the second Sunday in May) so this will be a short month for me in many ways! However, the travel may give me a little more hand-stitching time!

But first, let’s have a look at how I went in April.

This was the month where DD and family moved away and I lost my desire to craft, instead I lost myself in reading fiction for a few weeks! Then I got sick with an upper respiratory tract infection!

WM and I have also spent much of our free time at DD’s former home working to turn it from a “renovator’s delight” to rentable accommodation, however we took a day off to celebrate my birthday in style. Therefore April, like February and March, is not looking too good. Perhaps I’d better only have one project a month in future! LOL

This is my April list:

1. Earth and Sky quilt – finish
   It's nearly finished; it just needs the binding done. Of course that means pressing the fabric, cutting and joining the binding before I can attach it to the quilt!
2. Scrappy Log Cabin quilt – at this stage, an unfinished flimsy
   This project remains untouched as yet, I really can’t decide what to do about the border. I think I’ll leave this for another post and maybe seek some advice!
3. Scrappy Strings II quilt – finished 11 April 2013; you can read the post about this quilt here
4. at least one quilt for Gift of Hope
   This one didn’t get very far: I joined four blocks (made by someone else) into a flimsy and that’s as far as I got. But there is a reason – the Big Box Store had no white or cream flannelette (for wadding) when I went there so I was stalled until I could get some. That happened on Monday this week but I haven’t had a chance to work on it since then.
5. Westall cardigan – WIP – finish ribbing, knit sleeves
   I finally finished the ribbing on 5 April but just haven’t been in the mood for the concentration needed to pick up stitches around each armhole to commence the sleeves!  Instead I broke my own rules and started a new knitting project – but that’s a whole other post!
6. hexagon project bag – WIP – my “slow stitching” project
   I have done a little work on this project. WM and I worked both days of last weekend at DD’s house and we were extremely tired; too tired in fact for me to lift my sewing machine in and out of the car so I took this project to class on Monday – and now I find it hard to put it down!

Sorry about the shadow over the photo - I had to take it at night under fluorescent light, using my iPad -- but at least you can see there has been some change since this post. And yes, it does curve up like that -- it will be a bag so it needs shaping! See those yellow star pieces: pentagons, not hexagons -- that's where the bag gets it's shape. What you're looking at now is the base of a drawstring bag turned inside out!

So, what do I plan for May? Well firstly, ease up and take some pressure off myself! The list is the same length (six items) but the goals are not so ambitious!

1. Blanket for Emily
   I had hoped to get this finished in time to deliver it in person when we see her for the first time on 10 May but there’s no way I could do it! I estimated that if I knitted for six hours every day until 9 May it would get done – but I don’t have that kind of knitting time, nor do my hands like knitting with cotton for long periods of time! So Emily will have to patient! (That’s a big ask for someone who’s just nine days old! LOL)
2. Westall cardigan – WIP – sleeves?
   This should be my #1 priority this month, it’s been hanging around for too long. It’s a cotton/acrylic blend so if I don’t get it done soon I’ll have to wait until spring to wear it. But Emily’s blanket somehow seems more important!
3. Earth and Sky quilt – finish including label!
4. Scrappy Log Cabin quilt – finish the flimsy!
5. hexagon project bag – again, my “slow stitching” project for the month.
   This project will go with me on my travels so hopefully the end of June will see it done!
6. Gift of Hope quilt #2: Now that I have the flannelette there can be no more excuses! 

Projects 3, 4 and 6 are my goals to be included in Nothing But UFOs in 2013 (although we all know that I will work on things that are not UFOs, right?) which is hosted by Carrie over at A Passion for Appliqué.

So, how about you?

Write a blog post detailing your progress (or not) in April and your plans for May. You can be working in any craft – please don’t feel it has to be quilting, knitting or hand-piecing; they are just the crafts on my list at the moment (later there could be cross-stitching, embroidery or even crochet!) .

You can make your own rules or follow mine, it doesn’t matter: what is important is getting those UFOs out of the pile/closet/basket and getting them finished!

You don’t even have to have a blog to join in – post your photos to Facebook or Flickr or Picassa or Pinterest – wherever. Just come back here and link up so we can visit and see what you’ve been up to and what your plans are!

Good luck with deceasing the number of UFOs/WIPs at your place during May.
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2013: The Year of the Finished Project – April

I'm also linking this post with Carrie's Nothing But UFOs in 2013 (although I will be working on things other than UFOs) and Thearica’s April To-Do List.

            

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March was less than successful for me in terms of reaching my stitching goals.

Perhaps it was all that extra time I spent over at DD's house helping get it ready for the rental market.

Perhaps it was all the extra time I spent with my grandsons who are the loves of my life (apart from WM and DD, of course). 

Perhaps it was my sadness that sent me into the fictional world of romantic novels (by Christian authors -- the worldly stuff is just too erotic for me) for hour upon hour.

Nonetheless, I did have one finish -- albeit a very small one.

And I came close with another one --  three days before the end of the month I had only to cut the binding, attach it and sew it down. But it was Easter and I chose not to sew but to spend my long weekend with family -- a day for us (WM and I), two days working at DD's house, and a fun Easter Sunday filled with family.

So my April list looks almost identical to my March list.

1. Earth and Sky quilt – WIP – at this stage, an unfinished flimsy
2. Scrappy Log Cabin quilt – UFO –  at this stage, an unfinished flimsy
3. Scrappy Strings II quilt – WIP – needs binding
4. at least one quilt for Blankets With Love – my new project for April
5. Westall cardigan – WIP – finish ribbing, knit sleeves
6. hexagon project bag – WIP – my “slow stitching” project

What about you?
How did you go with your March goals?
What plans do you have for April?

Link up here so we can all see your progress.

Black Stump Creek quilt finished

I finished this quilt three weeks ago but had forgotten to take photos so that I could post about it!

This is the quilt that I had concerns about whether I had pulled the top tight enough when basting. My teacher told me it was fine and to “get it done”!

So here is Black Stump Creek quilt.

Why the name? If you look closely at the four corners in the border, you’ll see why.

Can’t see it? Do these photos help?

Each of the corners shows a different view of old Australian houses for common folk. “The Black Stump” is an Australian saying meaning a long way out, remote. You can read more about it on Wikipedia if you’re interested.

I’ll show you the back of the quilt but it’s not that exciting although I do love the way the pattern looks so different from a distance.

The fabric, which I bought on clearance, is “Fireworks” from the Colourblast range sold at Spotlight (Australia).

Blue dye came out of this quilt when I was sewing the binding on.

At first I blamed the backing but afterwards realised it was probably the binding fabric that was at fault.

So I have yet to wash this baby – I need to remember to buy colour catchers when I am next in the supermarket.

The good news is WM was able to clean my machine (with methylated spirits) and now it looks as good as new!

Which leads me into my trick question: can you work out what this is?

Come back tomorrow and I’ll tell you!

Linking up with TGIFF over at Marit's blog, Sew. Love. Live.
Speaking of which, I'll be hosting Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday here next week -- be sure to come back then to see another finish in March!

2013: the Year of the Finished Project -- March

The second half of February was a non-crafting fortnight for me. Apart from attending my weekly quilting class and knitting some hats for the local hospital's neo-natal unit, I did almost no knitting, and no sewing of any kind!

There is a reason for all of that but this post is not the place for sharing what I can of my family situation.
This is the place to review last month’s goals and publish new plans for the month of March which, I’m sure, you are already working towards given that the first week of the month is already behind us!
Please link below with the URL of your review/goals post (not just your blog URL).

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Here is the list I wrote for February:

1. Ben's birthday surprise – every time I tried to work on this I just couldn’t; I didn’t think he would like it so I didn’t devote any time to it!
2. Westall cardigan  – managed to knit a few rows and am about half way through the bottom ribbing.
3. Black Stump Creek quilt  – finished 9 February; there will be a separate post about this tomorrow (I hope)
4. hexagon project bag  – didn’t touch it
5. Scrappy Log Cabin quilt – didn’t touch it
6. Earth and Sky quilt – didn’t touch it
7. Deb's Diamond Blanket  –  didn’t touch it during February, this is a long term project  
8. placemats for the Grandsons – this was to have been my new project for February and I could have started it because I had finished two quilting projects since 1 January but, like everything else, I didn’t touch it!
9. piano cross stitch – didn’t touch it

Here is what I hope will be a reasonable list for March (although the first seven days are over and I still haven’t done anything!):

1. Earth and Sky quilt – WIP – at this stage it’s still separate blocks, by the end of March I plan for a finished quilt
2. Scrappy Log Cabin quilt – UFO – at this stage it’s a flimsy requiring a border, by the end of March I plan for a finished quilt
3. Scrappy Strings II quilt – UFO – at this stage it’s a too big flimsy with a too big backing, by the end of March I plan for a finished quilt
   
4. at least one quilt for Blankets With Love – this will be my new project for March
5. Westall cardigan – WIP – finish ribbing, knit sleeves
6. hexagon project bag – WIP – my “slow stitching” project

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need supersedes planning

As you would know, I have a focus list of projects to work on this month. I have planned which project I will work on and in what order.

But last Monday, my quilting teacher asked all of us who knit (I’m the most obvious one) for a favour. The neo-natal unit of the local hospital is desperate for hats for the babies, mostly premature, in the humidicribs.

As a mother and a grandmother, how could I say no to such a request? My DD was born at 2.630kg (yes I still remember) – a tiny 130g over “compulsory” humidicrib weight. Younger Grandson, even though well over that weight, spent some time in critical care and was given a hat.

The pattern called for 8ply (DK) yarn and 4.00mm (US 6) needles so I thought they’d be a quick knit: 15 rounds of k2p2 rib, 16 rounds of stocking stitch then 13 rounds of decreasing.

I had told myself that I would knit one a day during February (the month of Valentine’s Day and the month of my Older Grandson’s birthday). But they take longer than I thought. One hat takes me two hours from cast-on to completely finished!

Still, a need is a need so the target date for finishing my cardigan has been pushed back.

After I took this photo, I realised the hats are supposed to have turned-back brims! Never mind, they've been knitted in the round so it won’t make any difference!

The one on the bottom right is DD', she obviously has a looser gauge than me!

Seven down, twenty-one to go!

2013: the Year of the Finished Project – February

How did you go in January?
What plans do you have for your UFOs/WiPs in February?

Write your post which answers these two questions (you can be as expansive – or not – as you like). Then join up with the linky party below. Please remember to use the URL of your specific post, not just your blog URL. Thanks.

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January was a hectic month for me. Not only did I have house guests until 9 January, then overnight guests on 22 January, I put enormous pressure on myself to “get things done”!

You see, our quilting group has the “Airing of the Quilts” on the second weekend in April. I was asked towards the end of last year how many quilts I would be contributing and I said six. It seemed reasonable at the time! However, I started 2013 with only one finished quilt so I planned to finish two in each of January and February, and the fifth in March. Easy-peasy, right?

Well, putting pressure on myself means I tend to rush a little and don’t notice things – or I ignore the things I do notice! The second quilt I intended to finish in January was quilted. The binding was cut and ironed and ready to go. But there I stopped!

I think the top of the quilt was not pulled tight enough when I basted and it looks “wrong” now that the quilting is done. Deep down, I wanted to pull out all those quilting stitches and start all over again. But no-one wants to do that in reality! So there I was, torn because the quilt was so close to being finished and wanting it to look better than it does! Will more quilting fix the problem? Perhaps!

Look at the bunching of the fabric around the brown square on the left and the green square in the centre right. Look at the wrinkles in the light brown fabric of the four patch between them!

It didn’t help that the border fabric I chose, which looked so right to begin with, has changed the quilt from looking quite sophisticated (which I loved)  to looking more frivolous!
Fortunately, my quilting class resumed on Monday (after our seven-week summer break). I asked for my teacher's opinion. Whatever she recommended I would have done. The good news is that she told me it was fine and to get it bound and done! So the binding was added during class.

I'm a bit concerned about the backing fabric now though -- look at my sewing machine:

Remember this backing fabric I showed you last week:

The founder of our community quilting group doesn't like us to wash quilts when we're finished them, she likes the pristine look for exhibition but I think I'm going to have to wash this with a packet of colour catchers! I know the quilts are taken down at the end of the exhibition and stored, then a few weeks later they are sorted and distributed to the local hospitals and other charities. I can't let this one go while it's leaking this much dye! Imagine the mess if it got wet!

So, my January list looks like this:

1. Westall Cardigan – I am currently knitting the bottom ribbing. I then have sleeves and the front band to go. I should have it finished by the end of February but would like it sooner!
2. sideways baby jumper – started November 2011 -- to be finished by end of the month -- frogged 6 January 2013
3. Deb’s Diamond Blanket – I didn’t work on this at all during January; all my knitting time was spent on the Westall cardigan, except when I had company and then I was working on plain self-striping socks!
4. Squares quilt – blocks made, the layout planned (done 10 Jan), and the blocks sewn into rows by the end of January (done 15 Jan); this is the quilt mentioned above. As you can see, I reached my progress goals by the fifteenth of the month; it was in pushing myself to get it done by the end of the month that things fell apart!
5. Dotty Bright quilt -  finished 25 January (yahoo! a real finish!)
6. hexagon project bag – I didn’t touch this during January
7. piano cross stitch – I didn’t touch this in January
8. placemats for the Grandsons – this was to have been a new project but, because I am drowning in unfinished projects, I’ve given myself a two-for-one deal: finish two quilting projects and you can start another! Because that squares quilt is not finished, the placemats have to wait! As Shakespeare said, “to thine own self be true!”

So, do you think I will go easier on myself in February?
Here’s my list – what do you think?

1. Older Grandson’s birthday surprise  – UFO
2. Westall cardigan  – WIP – ribbing, sleeves and band
3. Black Stump Creek quilt  – WIP 
4. hexagon project bag – WIP
5. Scrappy Log Cabin quilt – UFO – border, backing, bating, quilting, binding
6. Rainbow improv quilt – WIP – layout, joining blocks into rows and rows into top; I think I’ll be content if I get to completed flimsy!
7. Deb's Diamond Blanket –  WIP –  will not be finished this month, this is a long term project 
8. placemats for the Grandsons – this will be my new project for February but first I have to get one more quilting project finished!
9. piano cross stitch – UFO -- if I do a little on this every month, I may get it finished sometime this decade!

So, what about you? Did you meet your goals for January?
Are you, like me, pushing yourself too hard?
And what are your goals for February (are they realistic?)

progress is being made

The 16th, being exactly in the middle of the month, seems like a great time to share progress on my January focus list.

So far I have worked on only three of the eight items on my January list. 

But I am happy with that, considering I had house guests until 9th January.

I have cast on another pair of socks -- these don't interfere with my Year of the Finished Project. Plain stocking stitch socks, single-coloured garter stitch squares, class samples/projects and rainbow scrap quilting blocks are exceptions and are not counted as new projects.

You will no doubt notice that the toe of the first sock has not yet been grafted. That's because it's easier to cast on for another sock while in the car than to try grafting while in a moving vehicle! 

Socks make great travel knitting: they are small and easily transported, they don't lie in my lap when the temperature outside is over 35°C (95°F), and because they are knit in the round on dpns are only ever sixteen stitches from the "end of the row"!

Many of you would have read that my first "finish" of the year was to "frog" (rip out) a baby sweater I started in November 2011 because I thought the head hole was too small after I knitted the collar on. That's one thing off my Focus list, even if not the way I originally intended.

My "big" knitting project is the Westall cardigan that I am making for myself. I planned to be up to the waist shaping a few days ago but had to extend that deadline to yesterday because the cotton/acrylic yarn, while knitting up into a nice soft fabric, is hard on my hands so I can only do a few rows before I have to take a break.

knitted from the top down, back and both fronts at the same time

I did reach yesterday's deadline and have started the waist shaping but I'm beginning to have my doubts about having this finished by the end of the month! Nevertheless, I will persevere, I will soon be up to the plain stocking stitch part of the body so it should go a little faster then!

And on the quilting front, I started thirty-two square-on-square blocks last Friday and finished them on Monday (I had no time for sewing over the weekend). I only needed thirty-one but it doesn't hurt to have one extra, just in case. Yesterday I sewed the blocks into rows and the rows into a flimsy, so I have met my goal for January for this project and need to turn my attention to other projects while I think about the borders for this one.

I think I'll use a thin blue solid inner border but I'm not sure about the outer border. Strips (piano keys) with corner stones?

Time to baste this baby, I think. Eight months in the waiting pile is long enough!

So, how about you? How are you going with your January goals?

Linking up with WIP Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced (hosted by Lee).