Monday, January 7, 2013

Quilt Plans for 2013

Happy 2013, Everyone! I hope the new year is finding you happy and busy and ready to move on to new projects! I know I am!!

I have a closet full of projects waiting to be started or finished, and am committing this year to finish all of those before I buy new fabric for new projects. This is because I also have an even longer list of other projects I want to do "one day" but do not have the budget to keep buying fabric if it is just going to hide in the closet! So, must finish some of these first.

my current stash closet, organized by project
top left shelf is now a finished tree skirt!!! 
Also high on the list --- get a better sewing table. I thought I would love having a separate sewing room, but I don't, not entirely. I do love having a place to store and organize everything; that part is fabulous. I do not love needing to go off into the far back of the house, away from everything and everybody, to cut, press or sew. Perhaps if I did not also still have young(ish) children, this would not be an issue. But I do, so it is.

While I was frantically working on the Argyle Baby Quilt, my sweet husband let me take over the patio table and move it into the living room so I could work without having to clear the dining table between every meal. Since the baby quilt was for his sister's baby, he was enthusiastic about me finishing it. Since he let me bring in the table, I've managed to convince him that I need a permanent sewing table, in the living room/great room, instead of being sent back to the sewing room. Because he likes having me around in the same room while he does boy stuff with the boys, he agreed. Now I just need a better table.....

my current table set up.
Must get bigger table.
As for quilting projects, there are a lot I'm working on or need to work on. First up for 2013 is to finish the comic strip quilt. For a refresher, here's the EQ7 sketch I made. The left and right panels are totally done, the frames for the middle section are ready, waiting for the comics to be printed on fabric so I can frame them, and 2.5 of the 4 pieced borders are done. I am estimating about one week's worth of sewing time for finishing the top, then I need to buy batting so I can quilt it. I already have backing & binding fabric ready to go.
comic strip quilt
black section - done
white section - done
side borders - done
top border - half done
frames for middle section - done

Once I finish the Comic Strip Quilt, I plan to start (and finish) the Brazil Quilt. I've been dreaming this quilt for a long time now, and I'm out of excuses for stalling. I have the pattern drawn up in EQ7. I have freezer paper so I can (gulp!) paper piece the way Jules taught me, if I need to. I have all the fabric, and probably more than I need. I even have an Architectural Challenge from the ladies over at the TQS Forums, who say that a quilt based on tiled sidewalks counts as architecturally inspired, which gives me an April 1 deadline. I *must* get this quilt started. So, it's next, right after the Comic Strip Quilt.
most recent coloring of Brazil Quilt, though it has since been tweaked a little more
I have the pattern drawn in EQ7, all fabrics purchased, ready to go....

Assuming I finish the Brazil Quilt, or more than likely I'll work on this in between, I want to do my middle son's quilt as well. I have some of the fabric for it, but not all. I do not yet have it drawn out, but still, I'd really love to finish it for him before it gets too cold here, roughly June-ish. We'll see what happens....he knows what he wants, I just haven't drawn it for him yet.
the cat fabrics for my middle son's quilt
he wants a Legend of Zelda in the center of the front, in a green background
then a cat face in the center of the back
then cat fabrics making up the border.
this is as far as I've gotten so far......

Sometime next after that I'll do the Radiant Suns quilt. I'll be tweaking it a bit, adding a few star blocks here and there and using my birthday fabric for the backing.  I decided that the Sun Moon Stars quilt I designed would just be too much and so instead, I'll incorporate a few of those stars into the Radiant Suns quilt and call it good.  I don't have a firm deadline on this, and it's most likely to get shoved over to 2014, but I really hope I finish it this year.
photo courtesy Heartsong Quilts website
the only purchased pattern in the list of quilts for 2013,
the rest are my original design.
and I'll be tweaking this one a bit as well....

After that, or again, this is probably one I'll work on in between everything, is to finish the Diary Quilt. I have all the blocks done, just waiting for sashing and then assembly. I need to find and buy backing fabric and binding fabric, but I have all I need for the top. I am hoping to have it finished by October. Yes, even with everything else that's going on. Yes, I'm a little ambitious.

Oh, except what I really want to do is finish the top in time to take to the US and mail to my personal long arm quilter, Jules, so she can quilt it for me, because even if I get all these other quilts done I don't think I'll still trust my quilting ability to do what I want on the Diary Quilt. I have some specific custom quilting I want on it, and some not specific, and, well, I think I'll send it to her. So hopefully she'll have it done by October. :) Which is another reason to not buy fabric this year, so I can save my budget for paying for long arm services instead.
layout for the diary quilt
all blocks are done, just need to be sashed, then triangles added and borders
then sent to Jules so she can quilt it :)

Whew! After all of that, I'm done. Well, I do have a tiny little wall hanging I'm working on for next Christmas. And a Block of the Month (Sister's Ten at Gen X Quilters) that I'm hoping to work on all year. And a few small things here and there...hot pads and maybe place mats and stuff like that.....but other than that, just those quilts. Five quilts in one year......two are lap/throw sized, one is twin sized, one full sized (but mostly already done) and one queen size (again, mostly already done). I can manage that. I think.

What are your projects or goals for the year? 

1 comment:

  1. I am impressed. I just want to learn to quilt. You are inspiring me. :)

    ReplyDelete