Design Wall Monday 1-12-2015

What's on my design wall?  Nothing new so I didn't take a picture of the fuzzy, thread covered wall with spare blocks hanging around.  There was something on the wall though.  I pulled out a set of pinwheel blocks that are listed on my UFO list and laid out a 4 x 5 set of the 12.5" blocks.  I plan to take them with me to the beach to get them sewn together.  I even picked out a border to go with.  Hopefully I'll get them cut before we leave.  

What I did do is make a new tote bag.  This was the program for the guild on Saturday.  I'm looking at making some more totes so I thought I'd give this one a try.  I threw the fashion fabric on the long arm and had it stitch out an overlapping wave.  Even with the homework done, I didn't get it finished at the guild.  I decided to make my handles shorter and realized, after seeing the samples, I wouldn't like the end result.  So, I did all I could until I needed the handles.  Because I am trying to finish up UFOs, not start them, Sunday afternoon I pulled out the fabric and made a second handle, cut them to size and finished the tote.  YEA ME! 

This was a really easy bag to make.  Some patterns have you use charm squares to make the fabric.  Yuck -- that would have taken forever.  I'm thrilled to have it done, to use a bit of my stash and not have a new UFO!  It was a win-win situation. 

Part of the week I was working on a quilt for Kay.  This was such a pretty quilt to do.  I tend to only quilt a half a day at a time so this one took longer than I expected but it was fun to work on.  Unfortunately the quilting design did not show up well.  Note to self:  think a LOT about doing any quilt in black.  It was hard for me to see the thread on this one.  I was able to stop and start my machine so I didn't run through the embroidered flowers.  This can be marked off my weekly goals! 

I used the Ginger Flower design with black thread from Essential Pro by Connecting Threads. 

I had great luck with my toned down goals.  

Week of January 5, 2015

Finish quilting 2 charity quilts√

Start quilting Kay’s quilt√ finished

Decide on block for the FCQEquilters and send to members√

Finish listing my UFOs and prioritize them√ some are prioritized

And this week's goals. 

Week of January 12, 2015

Sew pinwheel blocks together for TAPS quilt

Cut and sew sashing for Wild Dog blocks

Finish small cross stitch, start next one

Finish second turquoise sock

Do you know about TAPS? Project Linus headquarters has asked for quilts from all U.S. chapters for the TAPS (Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors) camp held each Memorial Day weekend in Washington DC.  The grief counseling camp is attended by families affected by the death of a loved one while serving in the US Military.  Some Project Linus chapters set aside red/white/blue quilts collected throughout the year for TAPS.   The goal is to have enough quilts to provide every child with a quilt at the camp.  Recently my guild in Maryland requested quilts for this project. Here are the guidelines sent by Project Linus of Howard County. 

•Quilts must be NO SMALLER than 45″ x 50″ and can be up to 50″ x 60″ for a larger or older child.

•Quilts must be patriotic in theme with red, white and blue coloring
•Quilts must not look like an exact replica of the American Flag (a flag is often placed over a casket and will remind the child of that painful moment).

 I was happy to find this opportunity because I'll be in Maryland just when the quilts need to be turned in and I have several UFOs that are red, white and blue blocks. You'll see quilts that fit those guidelines on my goals lists for the next few months.  It would be great to use all of the pinwheel blocks I have.  Even if I only get one quilt done it is a start and for such a worthy cause.  

Have you checked out the 15 Minute Studio Spiff Up page?  Click on the button or the page listed above.  I've just started which is why I know what I have in terms of UFOs.  We'll see how successful I am doing this week's assignment.  I'm trying to keep one week ahead of what every one else is doing.  Here it is the second week and I may be failing falling behind. I still have a day or two to get back in line!  

Check in with Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times.  

Now, I'm off to get some things done and hopefully, more time in the studio.  

Happy Quilting All!