October! I just love October! There is a noticable change in the weather, the colors, the feel. People are decorating with apples, pumpkins, bales of hay, scarecrows and giant buckets of Mumms. My apple trees are raining buckets of apples all over the ground! Little Boy was just delighted when I took him to the store to pick out a few pumpkins - I will have to post a photo of his selection later - got to take a picture first!
Earlier this summer I decided to work just on current UFO's/WIP's (with a few PJ's, some knitting and gifts thrown in the mix). No new projects! I made a list of the top 10 I wanted to finish up and started working from there - rotating around and around until finally, I started to have some finishes! As 1 project gets finished, another UFO/WIP can be added to the list. This system is working great for me!
I like reviewing my past month and thinking about the new month, so here is my September sewing review:
1. I finished my Green Ocean Waves top! Thank you for all the wonderful comments! This top was a bit time consuming to make with all those triangles, but I think the end result was worth the extra effort. If this is a quilt that you have been considering - I would say, go for it! The directions were accurate and everything went together very nicely! And for September - this top only needed the borders put on to finish as I had finished the body of the top in July, so it was a quick finish!
2. Octagon Flowers is also finished! The end of August I got it up to the 1st border stage, so September was just the final borders. Another quick finish!
3. My Country Wife top is up to the stage where I am sewing the rows together! Again - I've been working on this top all summer.
4. Little Boy got new red PJ's.
5. DH got a pair of new comfy pants.
6. Little Boy found those Wonky Heart blocks in the bottom of the scrap pile and I had fun playing around with those a bit!
7. Almost all the shapes are now appliqued down on my seashell table runner.
8. I managed to knit 1 1/2 balls of yarn on my scarf.
9. About 30" of binding is now sewn onto my log cabin top - so I am making progress on that binding project!
10. And, let's not forget - Elmo had eye surgery!
All in all, I am very pleased! Things are super busy for me in the summer and my sewing time has to be squeezed in - here and there - for my own sanity. And - well, long walks to a rocky cove with Little Boy to throw rocks in the water! Grin!
Moving into October - things will be a little bit quieter for me, but my schedule involves some travel and lots of visiting with family, so sewing time will still be limited. I am really looking forward to some famiy dinners, sister teas and hopefully a kids rubber stamping and cookie decorating party (Halloween cards). Oh, and 1 trip to Joanne's and a quilt shop too!
So - sewing wise, I will continue in October what I have been doing all summer - keep working on my UFO's/WIP's, which are listed over on my sidebar - rotating them around and around so eventually they all get finished! But for the sake of having a list (ever so helpful when it comes to fabric shopping), here goes...
1. Make labels for Whirly Gig, Desperado, Log Cabin and Green Ocean Waves. I need to make a few other labels too, but these are the most important to get done!
2. Bonnie quilted 2 tops for me and they are at my sister's house in the US - I was afraid they would get lost in customs at the border so had them sent to my sister. Anyway, I am so excited to see these tops - they both will need binding and labels (part of #1).
3. Put final borders on Cars & Stars - I just found the perfect fabric in my stash this week! Surely I can do that much to get this top finished! I've needed the final border fabric since March so this was a good discovery!
4. Finish Country Wife - those final rows are all pinned together just waiting for me to change the red thread off my machine! I will need to buy inner border fabric - I already have the perfect outer border fabric. So another top which is almost done!
5. Keep knitting on my scarf.
6. Buy sashing fabric for my Grandmother's Choice blocks and start sashing them together. I made all these blocks in January... there are enough to make either 1 king quilt or 2 doubles quilts. I am leaning toward 2 smaller quilts - sashing one in maybe dark blue and the other in dark green so they are similar, but different.
17 comments:
I wonder why it is so hard to get labels on quilts? I always say I am going to put them on before quilting so they are quilted right into the backing (a hint I saw in a magazine-it makes the label difficult to remove if someone steals the quilt, not that any of mine have been stolen...) but I just never manage to do it that way. Really, it's a small job but seems to take a lot of willpower to get at it.
good list of goals, and yes -- you did a great job of finishing up things in September. You must feel great with having some of those WIP/UFO's off your plate :-)
Nice set of finishes, great set of goals. Seeing what all you get accomplished, including keeping Little Boy's life wonderfully exciting, I have no doubt you will have more to show for your October than what you have listed. Enjoy those family dinners and gatherings...that is what memories are made of.
how great that your method is working so well for you. You really accomplish so much in your squeezed in time!
You know, that really is a good system you have, rotating the top ten. I seem to flit all over the place, and when I want to record my accomplishments, well, nothing is done! I might follow you. You really are amazing, you get so much done without sacrificing one little bit of time for that little precious boy of yours. You are to be admired. :)
Well it's working obviously - you are getting heaps of things done. Good for you.
That is quite a list of finishes! Well done!
Your system seems very good - good luck with your October goals. Congrats again on Elmo's surgery. :)
You are so organised - I have to make so many lists at work that I kind of shy against it in my 'real' life. I do like your idea of having 10 projects on the go at once - seems like a really useful rule of thumb.
Love Ocean Waves! Cute pic of Little Boy and Elmo. I remember my favorite stuffed animal was a red elephant named "helphanunt". He had to have some "surgery" through the years as well! :)
Looks like you have a nice list of accomplishments for September and a good list of October goals. Good luck.
i love your system of finishing one/starting one! So simple, but so smart!
sounds like you will be busy in October too - happy autumn
Juliann
Oh I can't wait to see your quilts Bonnie quilted for you! She has one of mine right now too! Time with your family this month sounds wonderful. Times like this I miss having my sister close by.
Evelyn,
WOW...you sure got a lot done in September!!! WOOHOO!!! Your October goals look doable as well!!!
LOVE the ocean waves quilt...it's gorgeous...HST's are so versatile but they give me the heeby jeebies! LOL
Hugs
Laurie
You have a great system that seems to be working for you. Good luck on continued progress.
With a little boy around to help you it is a wonder that you can work on one project let along 10! The Ocean Waves looks fantastic!
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