April's Project

This falls in the category of "Done is better than perfect, and better late than never." Perhaps I could stencil that on the wall of my sewing room!

My April project for the Charming Girls Quilt Club is to finish some of my purplework squares. They have been languishing in a corner, and they really are quite darling. So I set a goal of doing one strand of embroidery thread a day. Some days that has not happend. Plan B: do 2 strands a day when possible.

11 days until the end of the month and I've finished a square!!

Love this goal setting.

Done!

My March project is done! We're racing off to our tropical vacation. And I don't even need to hem this in the car.

March Goal

The Charming Girls & Boys Quilt Club has helped me finish two quilts! This month I want to make a sun dress for an upcoming vacation. I passed up the gorgeous but complicated Vogue dress patterns with linings and many pieces, and chose the 'Easy' pattern. This should be do-able. I'm learning.

Finished Quilt

Ta Dah! Here is a finished quilt. This is a rare sighting. At our house we commonly see the quilt square, the UFO, the sketch, the fabric pile, but rarely the completed quilt. Thanks so much to Charming Girls Quilt Club for inspiring me!

This was started at a class with Sandy K of American Jane (we won't say when!). It took me about ten of those stars to get the hang of them. Lesson learned: don't give up.

The P Word, Again

P for Pleasure, that is! I am so happy! Smiles all around.

At 10:21 on August 31st I finished this blessed top. Mitered corners and applique included.

I'm currently researching ways to get it quilted. Send it out, or take a class and rent a long arm machine. Hmmmm.

Thank you to the Charm Girls Quilt Club for the deadline and push in the tush to get going on this project.

Charming Girls Tag

1. Share your favorite quilting or sewing tip:

• Don't prewash anything. You'll get that antique look. And save time!
  

2. Share your best tip for managing time more effectively (what works best for you)!

• I keep coming back to http://www.flylady.net/; spend 15 minutes every day on that big overwhelming Thing you're trying to finish. Have I done it on the pineapple quilt? Unfortunately, no.

3. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?

• Snorkeling........Great Barrier Reef? Curacao? Anywhere with turtles?

Need help finishing quilts?

Do you find it more fun to start a project than finish it?

If you are like me, you have more than a few unfinished projects. I am a much better starter than finisher. But when I see those forgotton, unfinished projects, I feel a terrible weight and guilt and general ick. So, today, I went on a rampage:

1. Bag filled with UFOs that I will truly never finish. The cutest dress pattern ever, unfortunately, relies on a hundred pleats to make it swing. Gone. A modified dress pattern almost done over a year ago. Gone. Bits of baby flannels. Gone.

2. A list of small projects to finish, one a day, all week. Extension and new hem on a top. Done.

3. Signing up for the Charming Girls Quilt Club to finish the grandmother of guilt-quilts this month: A king sized pineapple with custom appliqued pinapple borders. Started for a dear aunt's 70th birthday. She just turned 76. Oops.
I found the quilt peeking at me on a shelf. It took a bit of digging to get it. Feeling scared and anxious.

There she is! That wasn't so bad, after all. Next step, spreading it all out, and figuring out what's next.
Do you have any guilt-quilts hiding in your closet? It's time to air them out! Post a comment by August 19th, on this topic, and you will be entered into a drawing for charm squares.