2019 Finish-A-Long: Q1 Goals

I started 2019 with a lot of projects on my to-do list, probably enough to get me through the entire year. The sheer number of them convinced me to commit to two goal-setting programs.

I started by choosing my One Monthly Goal for January: to make two Cargo Duffle Bags. Now I am signing up for the Finish-A-Long, hosted by a group of bloggers. This is a quarterly program and the first finishes linky opens in April, so I can dream a little bigger.

This is what I’ll be focusing on for the FAL ...

Jane Market Bags

I need to make 11 Jane Market Bags for my kids’ teachers’ end-of-school gifts, and I don’t want to be scurrying around in June trying to finish them. I have 6 done, 5 more to go. I have made this pattern many, many times before, so it’s really just a matter of finding the time to sew these up. (Type “Jane” into the search box on the right to read more about my past versions, including the one pictured above.)


Garden Plots Quilt

I finished my Garden Plot flimsy back in November. It’s one of those projects that is not urgent; there’s no intended recipient. But for it to get finished, I have to make it a priority at some point. I plan on splurging and buying mint-colored fabric for the back, and then I’ll to rent the longarm at my LQS to quilt an allover pantograph on it.

No LatitudeLongitude Quilt

My No Latitude Longitude Quilt, started at a workshop with Latifah Saafir in November 2017, is my oldest WIP. The main reason this has lingered so long is that I don’t have enough of the background fabric and my attempts to come up with an alternative have fallen flat. But first quarter 2019 is this project’s day in the sun! I’ve even already decided to quilt it with straight lines on my Janome 1600P-QC. (It’s been a few months since “the other man” and I have quilted a big project together.)

Valentine Quilt

A friend recently moved into a new place. I offered to make her a quilt, and she expressed a fondness for blues and greens. I homed in on Elizabeth Hartman’s Valentine pattern, from her book The Practical Guide to Patchwork, and started culling through my scraps and stash. This is another quilt I have decided to longarm with a pantograph, making it more feasible that I’ll meet the April FAL deadline.

Oh, dear. Now that that’s all written and up for public consumption it seems like a lot of goals for a little chunk of time. Thanks, in advance, for rooting me on!

What do the next few months look like for you? Share a goal or two in the comment below.

Fabric-Diet Update / Beauties Pageant 15

If you heard a loud thump about December 26 or 27 of last year, that was me, falling off the fabric-diet wagon and landing hard in the middle of some end-of-year fabric sales. It happens to the best of us, I guess.

My purchases were not frivolous, however. I have plans for (almost) everything I bought.

I’ve already declared 2019 as the Year of the Christmas Runner, and this wintery fabric will go toward making upwards of a dozen runners for holiday giving. I’m striving for easy piecing—disappearing nine patches, rail fence blocks, even simple patchwork—to allow the pretty fabric designs to be the star.

Return to Winter’s Lane by Kate and Birdie

Vintage Holiday by Bonnie and Camille

Juniper by Basic Grey

I’m also starting on a quilt for a friend who is a school librarian. That overdue fabric (below), from Heather Givans, will work well as the back of the design I have picked out. Hmm ... it may even set the palette for the quilt top. We’ll see.

In that last pic, you’ll also see butterflies. They were included in my shopping cart simply because I have a thing butterflies. (And ladybugs. And butterflies and ladybugs in the same fabric design.) Every good fabric splurge needs a just-because purchase or two, right?

I know, I know … I had been so good at keeping my fabric acquisition to a minimum that I can hardly be at fault. The real culprits here are Cobblestone Quilts, I Love Fabric, and Lou Lou’s Fabric Shop. : )

What have you been up to this week? Share your finishes in this week’s linky ...

The pageant rules are simple:

• Post your finish in the linky tool. (No links to your own giveaway or linky, please!)
• Point your readers back here with a text link or use the button above.
• Visit and comment on other participants’ finishes.

Coming Soon to a Blog Near You / Beauties Pageant 14

Honestly, I don’t want to be writing a blog post right now. For that matter, I don’t want to be cleaning bathrooms, starting on dinner, or folding laundry. I want to be sewing!

My Christmas deadlines—little pouches, a medallion quilt, and a scrappy kitty quilt—kicked my butt, and I am determined not to repeat the last-minute crafting anytime soon. So I spent the weekend prepping 13 bags, some for winter gift giving, most for end-of-year teacher thank-yous. These projects will be smooth sailing. I know this because I’ve made both patterns before.

First up: two Cargo Duffle Bags (free pattern by Anna Graham). Assembling the final bags can be a bear because it requires sewing through many thick layers, but I have my walking foot and a size 16 needle on hand. Bring. It. On!

I made this Cargo Duffle two years ago for a friend.

Second up: 11 Jane Market Bags. This pattern by Alicia Paulson is busting a bunch of the half-yard cuts I have on hand. After this batch is finished, I can say that I’ve made well over 50 Jane Market Bags. For real. (I lost an accurate count once I hit 23 or 24, years ago.)

This batch of Jane Market Bags went to the staff of my old local quilt shop.

So expect to see bags—many bags!—on these pages in the near future.

Update: OK. I am committing to finishing those Cargo Duffle Bags by the end of January, for my first foray into the One Monthly Goal linkup, hosted by Elm Street Quilts!

It’s time for another Beauties Pageant, and I’m pleased to say that I found a workaround: We’re back to submitting text links that don’t require any kind of registration. I’m not sure how long inLinkz will allow me to skirt the latest-and-greatest version, but for those of you who hesitated to create yet another online account (and, man, I’m with you on that), you’re in luck for the time being.

The pageant rules are simple:

• Post your finish in the linky tool. (No links to your own giveaway or linky, please!)
• Point your readers back here with a text link or use the button above.
• Visit and comment on other participants’ finishes.