Motivational Monday - the 13th project

Good morning everyone!  I have a confession to make. I did NOTHING yesterday! Well, that's not true, I did stuff, but I barely touched anything in the sewing room. It does happen from time to time and while there is much to do, there is no sense in losing sleep over it! It was a gorgeous day and I choose to do other things like walk the dogs to Tim's.

Lexi and Murphy patiently waiting at Tim's

I hope everyone had a great day and that you're all fired up to get those 12 UFOs completed.  I know that I am and there will be a lot more besides.

When I wrote my list of 12 UFOs, I had decided to throw in a 13th since the list was created near the beginning of December and I could get one more UFO completed. I had chosen the Lone Star Tree Skirt as my project.

Lone Start Tree Skirt pattern

The center star was already pieced

All the fabric was in the project box

So did I get the project complete?  In a manner of speaking.  I did get the top, binding and backing completed. Let's have a look.

The completed top

 I decided to NOT make it into a tree skirt. The center was pretty well matched and no sense messing that up!  It was a bit wonky and I had to remove a few of the white triangles and trim them down in an effort to eliminate some of the ripples.  It isn't entirely flat, but hopefully, the fullness will quilt out. I love how we depend on the quilting to make something nice!

I finished this on the day my sewing friends were over.

The back was easy - just yardage - no piecing required. And the binding got made as well. The pattern is also with the project.

All the pieces ready for quilting

This is what was left over in the project box

Including some strip sets

 I took everything apart and it went into the appropriate scrap box (yes, I have one for Christmas bits) and the yardage went on the shelf in the Christmas basket.

No, I didn't get it quilted, but I do have it on the priority list. I'm not sure how quickly I can get to it. The busy season of quilt shows is fast approaching and I have THREE quilts to make and quilt by Jan 18. More on that another day!

Katheleen brought her adopted girl to spend the day with us. This is Abbey who is 11. Her owner, an elderly woman, passed away and through word of mouth, Katheleen found out about Abbey. She is totally deaf and was so darn quiet, we barely knew she was here!!!!  You're welcome to come back, Abbey!!!

Little Abbey

OK - so that was the bonus project - DONE as far as I'm concerned.  Should something happen to me, there is the likelihood that someone would quilt that project, but when it was in its unfinished piecing state - well that takes a lot more courage to finish!  One down and 12 to go!!!

What's next???

This is my project for January. It's a one-block-wonder that I started years ago. So many years ago that well - I can't remember, but I have resurrected it on more than one occasion and there it sits - still on my design wall. I want it DONE!!!  At least to the "to be quilted" stage.

The pairs of rows need to be sewn together

I have the leftover bits from cutting the blocks that are sewn together for part of the backing. Some of the original fabric for the backing or the border???  And when I was looking for something else in my stash room, I found a BOLT of a coordinating fabric that will do for the rest of the backing that I need.

More than enough fabric to complete the project

For those of you who chose a 13th project - how did you make out?  How is your Task Master working??  Mine got bogged down a little bit when I wrote down a ridiculous project.  That project is now complete and the floodgates have opened.  I'll be posting that finish tomorrow, as well as a few others over this next week. The pictures are mostly edited and I'm uploading them today ready for publishing.

I promised a few tips on goal setting.  Every time you write something in the Task Master - it's essentially a goal. So what makes a good goal???

How to Set a Goal

First, consider what you want to achieve, and then commit to it. Set SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound) goals that motivate you and write them down to make them feel tangible. Then plan the steps you must take to realize your goal, and cross off each one as you work through them.

Yep - we've been setting goals all this time!  You wrote down specific tasks (12 of them!), they are measurable (they are either done or they are not!), they should be attainable (DO NOT attempt to do Dear Jane in one month - I've mentioned that), relevant (things that you WANT to finish) and time-bound (one month!)  Simple!!!

Be careful of delusional doability.  Do NOT write too many things for each week. Evaluate what you have time for.  Allow extra time for EVERYTHING.  If you don't get something done, plan on finishing it in the coming week and don't schedule so much for that week.  It can be achieved!!!

The other VERY important thing is KEEP that Task Master handy.  I have a habit of writing things in a book (or more likely on a piece of paper that I lose). I've started so many lists and books and I have NO IDEA where the books are.  The Task Master sits right beside the sewing machine and it's bright and it's hard to miss.  We're going to become very good friends over the year - I hope, although she does nag a lot!

On that note, I'm out of here. 

Have a great day and let's see pictures of those finished projects!!!

Ciao!!!!

Here's the link to the Facebook page so you can post your finished projects for us to ooh and aah over.