It's the last day of 2018! While it seems that time just zoomed by, it really didn't. I've had some great long days of work. It sure makes a difference when you're not panicked! Not that I get panicky, but when I end up with two or more jobs to do at the same time - that makes for a less than comfortable situation.
I quilted and bound another quilt for a magazine. It's going in a box today. That is finish number 94 for the year. NO - you can't see it yet, but it's unusual and very interesting. I can't wait to see how they style it. It's small. The design is very simple, but I LOVE the coloring. Blue and green! I only have two quilts in the funnel for magazine quilts. I think there's a call for submission due on the 2nd so later today, I'll get to work on that.
So we're down to the wire today. Six items left and one day to complete them. Don't worry - all is good. This is what's on the agenda for today to finish off those 6 items. There are two small items that need binding. When those are done, I'll have NO quilts in the house that need binding. Can you believe that???? There's a sleeve to sew on a large quilt. Some topstitching on a bag and finish off the legs to my tuffet. Six items - mostly done - barring any major catastrophe in the house, it should happen. I'm super excited about.
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| The remaining six items to make 100 for the year |
Some of those are items in the list of 100 were ones that I needed to finish off, some of the items were brand new and they came in all different sizes and configurations - bags, quilts, tuffets, mug rugs, etc. I'm thrilled with my accomplishments over the year. Jumping up and down excited!!! I'm going to set the same goal for next year and as I mentioned yesterday, there are about 10 items in plain view in the studio that would fit nicely into the finishing list for 2019. The idea is to keep working to make it happen and not on the last day. But I don't feel pressure - it's my own deadline. I do need to focus a wee bit more on those UFOs. I've decided that I'm going to focus on those on Mondays. There's a lot of hand applique, hand embroidery, and a lot of prep so that will be easy to take on Monday - no sewing machine.
What's nice about getting these projects completed is that I won't have to keep moving them when I have people over to sew. That's a bonus. I remember that binding pile was so huge, I couldn't lift it at one time. Now it's down to two teeny quilts.
The other thing is that I get to finally put some fabrics back in their respective color bin. Take this fabric for instance. This is the backing of the large quilt that needs the sleeve sewn on. I want to hang the quilt - that's why it's getting a sleeve. I kept the fabric with the quilt so I could make the sleeve. Well, the sleeves are now made and pinned on so the remainder of the fabric went in the brown bin. The pattern? It's a photocopy from a 1996 American Patchwork & Quilting magazine. That's going in the recycle bin. The block is super simple - trust me - I've made MANY of that block - I won't ever forget it.
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| The extra fabric from making a sleeve and the pattern |
And here's the quilt with it's sleeve pinned on. I'll sit down with my audiobook later today.
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| The sleeve is pinned and ready to hand sew in place |
I need to make labels for four of those items as well. The labels are created in a Word document. I need to print it and proof it, then print on fabric. That won't take long either. I had to call Elaine S yesterday to get the information for one of the labels as I had given her the pattern. Within minutes, I had the information and was able to finish typing up that label. I'm still torn about the labels, but I think I've got a good plan. I insert my small satin label in the binding and then another small computer printed label with the name of the pattern and designer and my name and the year. DONE!!! If a story is needed for the quilt - then that goes on the computer printed label.
I was also doing some machine embroidery at the same time as I was working on finishing the quilt for the magazine. Oh - I used my long arm computer to do a border to border design - not edge to edge of the quilt but in between the borders. Oh - I love it!!!! I've got to work a wee bit more on placement, but for the small item, it worked like a charm.
As I was running between machines, I noticed that I've been using up a lot of thread lately. I finished off a couple more spools yesterday. This is how many spools, I've finished off in the last week.
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| Lots of empty spools |
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| One more empty spool |
Remember those nine tubs of fabric that needed a new home??? Well, here they are - nestled nicely under the long arm. This is probably a better place for them. They are now only two high. I don't have to lift up those heavy tubs. They're not crushing each other and much easier and faster to get what I want.
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| Fabric tubs fit nicely under the long arm |
I displaced a number of bags in order to make room to put the tubs there. Today, once I'm finished my 6 projects, my intention is to do a little bit of clean-up. I need to go through the four displaced bags and consolidate the stuff that's in them. The bags were NOT packed very well so once I do that, I would say that most of the stuff will fit in two bags and there's room for those two bags to the right of those tubs. Yeah!!!! I might just even find a project or two that will go on the finishing list for 2019.
There is some stuff on the cutting table that I'd like to tackle today as well. A couple of quilt backings to make and well - just stuff that needs to be put away.
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| Stuff on the cutting table to sort through and put away |
And I have this big orange tray which is going to become my place to put stuff before it gets put away. You know - the stuff that always ends up on the ironing board or the cutting table. Once it's full, then it needs to be dealt with or even sooner. So it's full right now and needs to be dealt with. That's also on the agenda for today.
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| More stuff that needs to be put away |
And YES - I found another Halloween fabric in a bag that was on the cutting table. Yep - it's a disease.
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| Yet another Halloween fabric |
I promised that I'd show you what I made Ronda while she was here sewing. This is a new design by Kimberbell Designs. It's a mug rug with a cute little penguin on it. I think you can only get this pattern from your Kimberbell dealer. I think it's like a make n take or something (don't quote me on that as I'm likely wrong about that). Anyway, the little mug rug is super cute, made entirely in the hoop - even the chenille. MY Husqvarna Viking Designer EPIC (yes - I now own that machine - don't ask!) is having a grand time cranking out these cute things. I think this was finish number 90 or something like that.
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| Kimberbell Designs mug rug |
Not happy with just one - NO - I made four more yesterday which is why I didn't get more items finished on my list. I counted all five of the mug rugs as one finish.
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| Four more penguin mug rugs |
If you're into Kimberbell Designs, check out the other mug rugs that they have to offer. They have two CDs of seasonal mug rugs. I think they match the bench pillows. Anyway - super cute.
And it's time now to start working on samples for 2019 classes and there are a few Kimberbell Designs in the mix. I need to pull some fabrics and start working on those. My goal has been to finish off my list of 100 for this year and I've almost made that goal happen.
So if you haven't had a chance to think about what you what to accomplish in 2019 - whether it's your personal stuff or quilting stuff or whatever stuff - you should think about it!!! I'm going to share with you tomorrow something very funny that I found when I was cleaning. Just goes to show that it's one thing to make goals, but if they're not SMART goals, you might as well save your time and not make any goals.
Have a super day on the last day of 2018.
Ciao!!!!
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