Quarterly Review

Here we are on April 1st (and nope, no April Fool's jokes here) and it seems like a good time to do a business style review of my progress this quarter. Based on my New Year's goals and projections -- let's see how my work has been progressing (or not -- which is much more to the point here).


Skills:


Hand quilting -- actually, I've been working on this one. I still have a bit more to do on my second mini-wholecloth but not bad. I figured it would take much longer to get to this one.


Applique -- still a total and complete wimp.


Embroidery -- I have at least two projects in progress and one that I've finished the embroidery part but I can't show yet (and need to finish the other part and get it in the mail -- eeek!). I also finished the embroidery on my Winter Four Season's Swap. So -- not too bad here. It would be better if I FINISHED a few more things -- but, I'm working on it. And just to prove that I am -- a hint about some of the work on my current Four Season's piece.



Knitting -- well, actually there is more to report here than anywhere else. I've made three and 1/2 pairs of mitts over the past three months, finished a scarf, started another scarf, almost finished a sweater for my daughter, almost finished a princess/fairy dress for my daughter, made three washcloths, a couple of bath scrubbies, and a really long piece of lace and some flowers for embellishments. Whew. That actually is a lot. If you would like to see photos of most of these -- you can check out my Flickr page. I'm still enjoying knitting so it's likely to continue -- though, I have an experiment that I tried over the weekend that is getting frogged when I have enough heart to do it. UGH. As for not adding to the stash -- um, yeah, we just aren't going to go there.


Projects (this is the category that is going to just KILL my stock values here):


PIBS -- (projects in bins) Yeah, haven't touched them. They're still there. They're still waiting for me. See above for some reasons why they haven't been touched.


UFOs -- still there. Still UFO's. Though -- I did finally buy a backing for one UFO (though if I'm kind I'll call it a WISP -- Work in Slow Progress though I haven't touched it since -- let's see -- um, LAST March) that needs to be a FO by June 1st for my daughter's birthday.


Bags -- not going there. Have plans for three or four, have two I need to make pronto. Yep. Not going there.


Stash:


Um, haven't been sewing much, haven't been using up what I have. Though, I will say -- I did find a use for this piece from my stash while Mom was here visiting. Yep -- another new project. There's a surprise.


And if I keep on giving in to lovely new fabrics that I just want to play with -- how I'm ever going to get to use what I have is beyond me. But, really, these? Can you blame me???


And well -- when kind friends decide they want to send you bits and bobs to help you have MORE fabric -- can you REALLY say no? And, let's be honest -- do you really WANT to say no? Especially when you have a little one with a shoe fetish? No -- I didn't think so. (but I will say thank you so much KATE!!!)

As for hoarding fabrics (a nasty little tendency) -- um, is it really hoarding if you haven't been using much fabric AT ALL?!?
Christmas:

It sounded like a good idea, get Christmas presents done throughout the year so that my November/December isn't totally crazy. Started well -- hasn't been working out all that great. The one present I had managed to make has already been given away. NEED to get on top of this one if I don't want a repeat of last year's sweat shop.

Life:

Trying. Best I can do some days.


So -- overall report. Um, yeah, not so great. I have a ton of projects started, in the works, plots and plans and not much action. Not to mention I've been neglecting my blog. I won't even mention the number of posts I have plotted out in my head and haven't gotten to yet. Not to mention how far behind I am in my blog reading (yeah -- when bloglines tells you there are over 1000 posts you haven't read -- time to do some serious reading and/or editing of your lists -- so I apologize if I haven't been commenting much lately).


As for my giveaway -- I've had a terrible work stoppage problem here at my house (Tink and Mr. Cornfields have been sick). The drawing that was supposed to happen while my Mom was here didn't -- so I will be drawing names TONIGHT and posting winners tomorrow. My helper is feeling better so -- time to get her back to work!

Let It Be Resolved

First -- Happy New Year to everyone who stops by to share my little slice of the cornfields. (I know -- it's three days late, but really, given that there are 365 days in a year -- what's a day or two amongst friends?) We had a very quiet celebration here at casa de cornfields -- complete with a pre-midnight nap for me on the couch at some point in the evening. I remember the days when I would party all night -- vaguely, but these days I think I would rather have our nice and quiet celebration with the in-laws and our daughter and a bit of knitting thrown in. What this says about me I'm not sure, but I think it may be something about getting old! Or something about the fact that the weather here has been much too cold and snowy to want to do anything other than snuggle on the couch with some knitting!



And the whole "dig in and wait for spring" thing also makes you think about what you want the new year to bring. Hmmmn...well, that and Kim's meme asking us to post our quilting resolutions for the new year. Now -- this may be a bit of a problem for me. Especially since the only resolution I've ever kept is the one year I resolved never to make another resolution. But -- well, if I look at them as goals rather than resolutions, maybe I'll do better. I mean, goals are a good thing right? So here are my goals for 2008 (categorized because my brain works that way, in no particular order because, well, it works that way too).

Skills

• Continue working on my hand quilting. I really enjoyed my little mini-wholecloth. I want to do another of these and even try something that has, well, seams.


• Applique. I've avoided all applique like a plague because it scares me. No more fear -- and there are way too many cute projects out there that involve applique that I want to do. Sometime this year I will try it! (and not just machine applique though there will be some of that too -- we're talking hand work!)


• Embroidery. I've really enjoyed the projects I did this year. I want to do more of it. So, that's the goal -- do more embroidery.
  
• Knitting. I know, this is a quilting blog. But, I'm really enjoying my time knitting lately and I have have a few projects I really want to do. So, goal for the year is to do those projects I've already bought yarn for (and there are several that you haven't seen yet) and to not end up with a yarn stash to rival my fabric stash. (yeah, this one might be a problem -- though my addiction to really expensive yarns may help me here. If I don't have the money, I can't have the stash.)

Projects

• I have tons of projects that I want to do. More than I have time to do this year, and possibly into next (we won't mention that I probably have enough to last me the next 5 years at least as well). Most of these are PIBs (or PIGS if you insist) -- I have the fabrics, the patterns, they are kitted up -- I just need to sit down and work! So, the goal for this year is to get some of these done! Honestly -- the fact that I have so many projects planned but not enough done is starting to paralyze me. I have to clear some out so the new ideas that keep coming can get out as well!


• UFOs -- I have a few that need to be finished. (can we say baby quilts from before Miss Tinkerbell was born? She'll turn 3 in June -- um, time to get these out of the way!) Goal for the year is to get the UFOs out of my to-do pile or out of the house if I'm not going to finish them.


• Bags. I love them. I absolutely love making them. I had a blast just kind of making it up as I went along for my cousin's Christmas present. So -- I want to do more of the same this year. I already have ideas for a few more bags I want to make but no one has patterns that meet my needs. Well, darn it, I have the skills, I have the desire, I will make it up and make it fit me!

Stash

• I've seen a lot of folks post about the need to reduce their stash, etc. I like most of my stash (though there are some things in there that I've fallen out of love with like most of us) -- but, having said that there are all of those projects sitting around. AND there are new fabrics coming out every day. And new interests I have. Sooooo -- I really need to use what I have this year and make room for the new. It isn't about yards used, etc. for me -- it's about making room for new ideas and directions I want to take. I may join in with the folks posting to Judy L's blog about stash usage, I may not -- but I will mention when things are gone from the stash here.


• Ok, you would think the goal of using up stash would be enough, but not quite. See -- I have these hoarding tendencies. I buy fabric, I love it, and then I just don't want to touch/use/cut it because then I won't have it (PLEASE someone tell me that I'm not the only one who does this). I had such a hard time cutting into my Joel Dewberry fabrics to make Miss Tinkerbell's dolly for Christmas. I didn't buy them with any specific project in mind. I had vague ideas of making a bag for myself -- and yet, when a good project for it came up I had a hard time using it. I must stop this. Once I have fabrics I love, I need to use them for goodness sake!!! So the goal is to stop "saving" my fabrics for some special occasion and just use them when I want to!

Christmas

• The whole Santa's Sweat Shop/list of insanity thing was a bit much this year. I don't want to do this again. I got a lot done, but there were definitely points were I was ready for Christmas to just be over or I felt like I was missing out on the magic of the season with a toddler because of it. So, no more. Goal for this year is to get hand made presents started, well, like now. And if it isn't done two weeks before Christmas? It's gift cards baby!

Life

• Live well, laugh often, love much. (anything else is subject to change and/or to editing at my discretion)

Well -- I think those goals are enough to go on for now. No lists of specific projects (which leaves me some wriggle room -- I have an overflowing bin to choose from) but lots of directions to take. We'll see how I do on these goals for the year, whatever happens, it looks like 2008 is going to be interesting!

May you all have a new year filled with much joy, laughter and love!

Progress Report...

Oh my, where has the time flown? I am having trouble believing it is already Saturday night and my last post was on Monday! Geesh. I meant to post on Wednesday, but, well, life in a house with a two year old is not always predictable.

The consensus from my last post seems to be that my list of things "to-do" is way too long. It may well be. Especially since I found out this week (after I posted my list) that I've gotten a temporary job doing some research. The extra money will be nice, but it means less quilting time. *sigh* I don't suppose anyone out there knows of a kind benefactor who would like to sponsor me to live a life of comfort (not asking for luxury here) while quietly creating quilts and other fabric related crafts? Anyone? Nope -- didn't think so. But, despite this latest wrinkle -- I have made some progress on my list. I have two items done:

• mil's quilt completely cut! YEAH! Now to start sewing (but that was a maybe for this month anyway -- but it would be nice)


• strips for leaders/enders cut and I had enough of the solid white to cut the foundation bodies for my goddaugther's jacket. WOO HOOO! And another 1/2 yard of leftover muslin from another project for the hood! YEAH!

No pictures of these two. The cut strips and wedge shapes for mil's x-mas gift aren't very interesting right now. And while I know you are all perishing to see 48 2.5" strips of white fabric for my leaders/enders project -- well, um, if you really insist I'll take one, but it is kind of boring.

I also began work on my goddaughter's jacket. This one got bumped to near the front of the list because, well, her birthday is July 3rd and well, she's going to be 3. I really want to get her her gift on time. Now, mind you, I still haven't gotten her mother HER birthday gift (which was two days after my daughter's) but still. Bonnie asked for me to use pink. She also said use scraps. Well, hopefully there is enough pink here -- though I'm beginning to think I'm leaning awfully far towards the oranges and greens. But is is mostly from scraps I have from other projects (June No-Buy, one week down how many more to go?). I went a bit crazy with the DayZ fabric from LakeHouse Direct last summer and I have a ton if scraps left from other projects. (ok, so I may also have quite a few 1/2 yards and some yardage left too, but that's a whole 'nother issue). It may sound like I don't like this one -- not true, I am LOVING how this jacket is coming together -- just not sure how Bonnie and my goddaughter are going to feel about my creative license with color selection. We'll see what happens. Now I've got to do the quilting to hold these pieces down and get the fronts arranged and the hood pieces -- then I need to put the whole thing together...ok, enough talking about it. Lots of quilted lines to hold down raw edged applique pieces here I come!

More photos and progress next time -- I have a couple more things in the works. A test for one of my "to-do" list items and another project that wasn't even on the radar until after I made my list. Hope everyone has/had a great weekend and I will try to be better about posting next week.

Priorities

This past weekend was fun if not relaxing. We had dd's birthday party at our place. It was pretty simple -- some family and a close friend. Hamburgers on the grill, lots of presents, some balloons and cupcakes (and no, I did not make the cupcakes -- I know, bad mommy -- but the local bakery makes yummy ones with butter cream frosting to die for and they are also filled with more of the butter cream, yumm!).

But, for all that it was simple, it was a lot of work. Company coming over -- um, maybe I should make sure my kitchen doesn't look like you could catch some rare food born illness from anything prepared here. Living room -- oh, yeah, vacuum, pick up toys, new slipcover onto the couch. Dining room/other half of kitchen -- yeah, my quilting "studio" (I use the term studio VERY loosely here). All of the bags of fabric I've been purchasing and haven't put away yet. The three projects out on the table. The scraps piling up. Hmmm...yeah, need to get that cleared out of there so we have someplace to put the, I don't know, food or something? *sigh* Not to mention the powder room and needing to scrub the toilet. Needless to say, not much to show for this cleaning frenzy quilt wise -- but it feels good to have some of the necessary cleaning done.

On the plus side, having to clean up and put away all of my quilting goodies did force me to finally go through my "current or soon to be worked on" project bins and decide what realistically is going to be done and what just isn't. The two quilts I had planned for dd before she was born -- not so much. Various other bits and pieces I now am not as interested in -- again, not going to get to. So, fabrics to be re-incorporated back into the stash. Piles of scraps to be sorted in their appropriate bags/bins. New projects put into the bins.

Also as part of this general cleaning frenzy I've come to two conclusions. 1) I am officially declaring the month of June a no-buy month for myself. Unless it is to finish a project already begun (borders, binding, backing, batting) or a necessary notion (rotary cutter blades, needles, thread) I am not. going. to. buy. it. Really. I need to work on the projects I already have fabric for before I can buy more. There -- that didn't hurt as much as I thought. We'll see how long my resolve lasts. 2) I need to prioritize what I want to do/need to do so I get some of it done. I have so many ideas for quilts and a few things I need to finish that it's getting to the point where I don't know which way to turn. I've seen other quilters post lists of goals for the month on their blogs and so I'm going to try it. I can't guarantee everything will get completed, but it will be good for me to set out my goals and try and stick to them. So here it goes, the goals for chez cornfields for the month of June (in no particular order):

• Finish Mom's pillows. Really how late can a Mother's Day present be? Maybe they will be her birthday presents as well? eeeek!
• Make dd's summer dress. Hmmn, doing this while it is still early summer would be a good thing right?
• Make a special request quilted jacket for my goddaugther's birthday. Birthday is at the beginning of July -- so really need to get to work on this one. Also, need to check and see if I have enough muslin -- if not, I'm considering foundation fabric here to be a "notion".
• Start mil's Christmas present quilt. Lots of cutting on this one, so if I get it all cut this month, I should be in good shape. If I manage to get any sewing done, even better.
• Cut background strips for a quilt I'm going to try and do as a leaders/enders project. Also so I can see how much plain white I have left after cutting the strips for goddaugther's jacket.
• Start my own Christmas lap quilt. This one is entirely selfish, but hey! I would like to have a holiday throw.
• Work on Summer Sorbet -- try and get the borders pieced and on. This one may get pushed to next month.
• Practice machine quilting.
• Start cutting for Dick and Jane quilt. This is one where if I don't start it, I will keep on buying fabric since I'm not entirely sure where this one is going. I have the idea for the central area -- but need to "see" it made up. I also have more fabric than I will use for this one already. Enough. Time to start cutting.
• Have my head checked for sanity. No, not really -- but I think this list is starting to go past reasonable into ridiculous. I do need to make a couple of drawstring bags for gifts, but that's it. End of list.

Ok, so there are my goals. In black and white. Or pixels I guess. That is enough for now -- and we will see how well I do for the month. Wish me luck!