Hopscotch Outfits

My One Monthly Goal for May was to complete the Hopscotch outfits for my girls and I did it! This pattern was designed by Oliver and S and I love it. I've made the shirts three times now (well, six since I have two big girls I've sewn for), but this was the first time I sewed the skirt. The shirt goes together so quickly and my girls just love it. It's comfy for them, and I added several inches to the length so it's nice and long for my tall girls.

The skirt was a little trickier than the shirt, but I got it figured out. The trickiest part was the pockets. Liesl called them origami pockets and they were for sure like origami! I eventually got them and my five year old LOVES them. She loads them up with all sorts of things, and walks around with her hands in her pockets. I didn't do well with the button hole placement. I wish I had bumped over the top button hole, but I followed the button placement pattern that was included. I might add a hidden hook and eye to keep it closed a little tighter.

I do think the fabrics are so cute. I love how these outfits turned out and I really love so much how much my daughters love them. Especially my five year old. I was worried since it's not pink...and the yellow is not a color my kids would just pick, but it matches perfectly and I'm glad they're down with it. It's an Art Gallery Fabric knit and it's a really great blend and weight with a great drape. It's smooth and just stretchy enough, and I want a shirt made from it, too. Luckily, I have plenty left. I bought enough corduroy and knit to make Hopscotch outfits for my big girls and jumpers and shirts for my twins, but I'm thinking I'd rather skip the twins' outfits and make myself a pencil skirt and a shirt. We'll see.

As far as my other goals, here's how I did.

• Sew a shirt for myself: this didn't happen. I was sick the first week in May, and the second week I sewed these outfits, and then my daughter got the flu right in the middle of end of year festivities, and then a week later, I got sick again, this time with pneumonia (along with my 5-year-old), and that took me through the end of the month. It was a really rough month in our house.
• Black and White Quilt: I did get this started. I got all my fabric cut out, and I started sewing the pieces, yay!
• Camping Trip Progress: We've gotten some progress made, but haven't purchased everything we need.
• Summer Break: I've gotten these planned out, but we'll see how well they go! 
• Exercise 3 times a week: I tried. But, all the sickness. *sigh*
  

Venice Wallflowers Quilt

I've worked for a couple years now on a Patchwork City Sampler quilt. I've been using travel-themed fabrics related to my favorite travels, because I thought it would make the quilt really special, and I'm pleased with how it's coming along. Of course, it's meant that I've purchased loads of novelty travel prints (which isn't all that disappointing, let's be honest!), but it has been pricey. When Kate Spain's Grand Canal line came out, I knew I needed to include the grand canal print. We visited Venice on our 10 year anniversary trip to Italy, and it's a beautiful city. Unfortunately, none of my local shops carried it, and by the time I had decided which print to purchase, the only place it was available was on Fabric.com, where you must purchase a full yard. Normally, I purchase just a half-yard, particularly for a project like this where I'll need very little. But, I wasn't confident that a precut would have a good piece for my purposes, so I bought the yard. And since I did, I had enough left to do some fun things with! I made my sister a notebook cover, and then schemed on a way to use the rest for a fun quilt project. It took me quite a while to pick a pattern that would show off the print adequately, but I finally settled on Allison Harris's Wallflowers quilt. It was quite similar to the Shimmer pattern which I've already made and thoroughly enjoyed, so I had great confidence in this one as well.

It did not let me down! It went together surprisingly quickly, although I took a brief hiatus to make a baby quilt for a friend. And it showed off the print well. I'm so excited about this.

It's a queen sized quilt, which is the largest I've ever made. I thought about making it even larger by adding 10" borders to make it officially king sized, so that I could use it on my bed. But, as I looked at it, it's not a quilt I want on my bed. It's got a bunch of pink in it and that feels funny for a bed to me.

I haven't gotten it quilted yet. My stack of quilts to be quilted is steadily growing...hopefully I'll get them all off to be quilted soon. 

Argyle Medallion

I'm so excited to show you my finished Argyle Medallion quilt! This quilt is an accomplishment for me. First, it's my first scrap-only quilt. I did cheat just a little and pulled a few low volume cuts for the flying geese because I didn't have enough scraps that were big enough, and I bought the background fabric, but everything else was scraps. The backing is a cut of fabric I got from a friend when she moved, so I didn't even have to purchase that. I love seeing scraps from other projects all over this quilt. And second, I made this quilt entirely as a leaders and enders project, my first one. I've sewn with leaders and enders before, but I've never made an entire quilt as a leaders and enders project. The only times I didn't use it as a leaders and enders project is the topstitching on centers on the Dresdens, and assembling the quilt. What's funny is it didn't even take as long as I expected. It took months, for sure. But I finished it much more quickly than I expected since it was a "bonus" project, and a big project at that: it finished at 80 inches. (So big shout out to my awesome husband for holding up this HEAVY quilt for me to take pictures!)

When I finished it, I decided to get it custom quilted. This pattern is from the Scraps, Inc. Vol 2 book, and the quilting on the original was stunning. And I decided I wanted a similar style on mine. I emailed the original quilter, but her turnaround was 6 months or more and I would have had to mail it, which I don't like doing. So, I emailed a more local custom quilter and asked if she would be okay with using the pictures as inspiration (that it didn't have to be identical but I loved the feeling and style so similar). She agreed and I took it down. She had it for about 4 months, and I definitely got anxious to see it but it was worth the wait. She did an amazing job and I love it!

When it came to binding, I decided to try using my binding scraps. But, the tricky part was that they weren't all the same width. I used to use the standard 2-1/2" strips, but I switched a couple years ago to 2" because I get better results. So, I had to sort out which were the right widths before I sewed them together. Luckily, I had more than enough 2" strips that I didn't have to trim any of the other ones. But I'm happy with how the binding turned out, I think it's fun!

Anyway, I'm pretty excited about this quilt. It was a great experience! And since it was so great, I started another scrap quilt (from Volume 1, this time) as a leaders and enders project. So fun to use up these scraps!

Argyle Medallion
Pieced by me
Pattern by Erin Burke Harris from Scraps, Inc. Volume 2
Quilted by Marion McClellan
Completed April 2018

May One Monthly Goal

Last month was a great month for sewing. I'm not sure what changed, really. But, I've been able to dedicate a lot of my babies' nap times to sewing and it's been great. I did accomplish my ONE monthly goal to finish the baby quilt for my friend and I gifted that to her at her shower. See the last post for pictures of the quilt. I also laid out some other goals that I wanted to accomplish and I'm happy to say I got all of them done! I not only finished four of the blocks for my Venice Wallflowers quilt, I got all of them done and assembled it. I not only prepared the the pattern and fabric for my Butterick 6411 dress, I finished it (and should have made it one size smaller, since I had to take in the sides quite a bit...). I bound my triangle quilt (pictures in a few months) and got photos taken so I can submit it to a competition. And for personal goals, we did some fun things for spring break. We went to the library, we did some art projects, and the girls got to play with some friends. And, I haven't entirely planned out a little summer camping trip, but we're on our way. We've got a camp site reserved in July at Capitol Reef. We need to figure out what supplies we need to purchase now that our family is bigger.

SO, last month was great, and I hope this month is as productive. I've been thinking a lot about what I want to accomplish and what I MOST want to accomplish and I think I've narrowed it down well.

My ONE monthly goal is to make my girls their Hopscotch outfits (pattern by Oliver and S). I've sewn them each two Hopscotch shirts (see the above photo for one), but I haven't made skirts yet and I have the most darling fabric to use. I ordered a fun corduroy by Cloud 9 from Hawthorne Threads for the skirt and it's blue with bold white geometric flowers and yellow centers, and some mustard yellow knit by Art Gallery Fabrics for the top. I have the pattern pieces all prepped, so I just need to prep my fabric and go for it. The skirt has buttons down the front, and I've never done a button hole for real (just the practice ones in the machine class when I bought my machine) so it'll be a stretch for me!

Here's a short list of some other goals.

• Sew a shirt for myself from a McCall pattern I have. I've sewn two from this pattern already and I like the fit. The first time I made it I didn't make any adjustments and the neckline is a little low for me. The second time, I made a long-sleeved version and the fabric wasn't quite right, but I altered the neckline to a great spot. I want another short sleeved version so I want to make it from the red Birch plus sign knit I bought last year.
• Select a pattern and start cutting out a black and white quilt for my husband. He's wanted a black and white quilt for years and it's never been a big priority for me but I've slowly collected black fabrics for him. I think I've got the pattern picked out (Inside Out by Cluck Cluck Sew), so I've just got to make up my mind and go for it!
• Make some progress towards the camping trip for the summer.
• Get summer break schedules and goals worked out for the girls. It's coming so fast! I've got some ideas floating but need to finalize rewards and specifics.
• Keep exercising 3 times a week. I was pretty good last month and I want to continue and hopefully feel better and get stronger.

I'm linking up to Elm Street's One Monthly Goal.

Red Cross Baby Quilt

I have a good friend from college who is expecting her first daughter. I'm so thrilled for her! Having four daughters myself, I'm so happy for her. When she told me it was a girl, I started brainstorming quilts for her, and she said she didn't really have a preference on color except for gray and pink, and extra colors were okay.

Then, she told me she'd be in town for a conference and would be having a baby shower, so my deadline, which was originally based on her July due date, got moved up a couple months. Yikes! I got to work quickly and got a quilt top off to Marion for quilting about a week later. Marion was willing to work with my quick deadline, and got it back to me just in time to bind.

I used a pattern from Vintage Quilt Revival, one of my favorite quilt books, and I modified it only so slightly. They used nine Red Cross blocks to create a center and then set it on point for a lap sized quilt, but the center was about 43" square, which I thought was a perfect size for a baby quilt and I liked it better not set on point, so it worked out great! 

The prints all came from my stash, and all I needed to purchase was the background. And the backing. I opted to go with minky because I'd need to piece a back for quilting for a plain backing, but minky is 60" wide so I wouldn't need to piece it. Lazy? Yes. But also, you can't beat minky! I got so lucky and a local shop had their flat fold minky for $7/yd, so I got a slightly bigger piece than I needed (the piece I found was 1-3/4 yards) but paid only about $13 after tax, which is less than a yard would have cost, and cheaper than a backing from Kona. Huzzah! 

I decided to bind it with a solid pink I had in my stash, and I think it worked well.

I'm really so excited for her and I hope she loves this quilt!

This quilt was my One Monthly Goal for April and I'm happy to say I finished it. I'll be linking up at Elm Street's One Monthly Goal link up party.

Scrap Management

Let's talk scraps, shall we? We love them, we hate them, we love to hate them...sometimes we feel all that at the same time...am I right?

That's how I feel. Sometimes, scraps can induce guilt. After all, we paid the same price for those scraps as we did for our yardage. And I love fabric so much so I should be itching to use up all the lovelies, right? Sometimes I am. I love sewing from scraps almost as much as from my stash. But, I've been using scraps a lot this past year and thought I'd share my methods as they seem to be working well for me. Hopefully, something I share might help you in your scrap management. Or at least, you can enjoy the scrappy pictures! I don't do anything truly groundbreaking, I assure you.

First, let's address fabric storage. I keep my stash in drawers, folded to (approximately) the same size, and organized mostly by color. I have my holiday prints and my solids separate. I keep mostly fat quarters and larger in my stash, but sometimes smaller pieces depending on whether or not I feel like they might be enough to use in a pattern. I keep my scraps organized in clear plastic bins from Ikea.

I have one box of precuts (and fabrics I have "pre cut") though I should filter this bin's contents out into the other scrap bins because I just don't use precuts. The others are sorted by color: neutrals, reds/oranges, yellows/greens, blues/teals, and purples/pinks. I also keep one box that is a flex box: I use it to store scraps in the color scheme for my current scrap project. This is my one special thing I do in my scrap management, though I'm sure I'm not the only one who does this. And it stems from my habit of keeping fabrics for quilt projects together until a quilt is complete. That way I don't have to go hunting for the fabric if I miscut something or if I didn't cut enough.

I've read a lot of people that sort by size, and that recommend pressing and neatly folding scraps, and that's all very well and good. But I have young children, which means my sewing time is limited, and they sometimes play in my scrap bins. I don't have time to press scraps before storing, especially since they'll be messed up again. I'd prefer to press as needed.

Years ago, I read Bonnie Hunter's method for scrap storage and decided to try it out, and spent hours cutting my scraps to size. I started making a wonky star scrap quilt that would use some of those sized squares. But guess how much I've done with those squares, really? I still need to finish up that wonky star quilt, but it's not interesting to me right now, so it's on the back burner. Heck, it's not even on the stove, lol! The thing is, her method sounds really great. I'm sure it's very useful for a lot of people. But it wasn't useful to me because that's not how I sew. I actually let my 5-year-old take the 3-1/2" squares and start a simple quilt herself. She's having a great time and I'm glad some of them are getting used. I let my 8-year-old raid the bin sometimes too. Her tooth pillow used charm square I had cut.

I like my scrap quilts to have a coherent color scheme so sorting by color rather than size works for me. When I need a new leaders and enders project (which is what I use scraps for), I pick a pattern. The last one came from Scraps, Inc. Volume 2, and the current one came from Scraps, Inc. Volume 1. Then, I decide on a color scheme. Once I've got an idea, I start pulling scraps from my bins that look large enough and that are the colors I want. I try to not be too rigid in colors, after all, that's the beauty of scrap quilts, right? I keep all the scraps in my flex bin, and start cutting. After I've cut everything, I keep the flex bin filled, just in case I need more or decide to make it larger. I'll probably do that with my current quilt, because I have so many scraps left in the bin and I don't think it would be too hard to make it larger. It is set on point, so it won't be super easy, but that's okay. I'm sure I can figure it out.

I keep smaller pieces than I should because I don't tend to use super small pieces. If I can get a 1" square out of it, I'll probably keep it. It feels wasteful to throw them away. I also keep a tissue box full of tiny scraps for my girls. I keep thinking that they can use them to glue on to collages. They don't. Sometimes they play with them. And every once in a while, I toss the box and start again.

I think the most important thing about scraps is to keep them in a way that is functional for you and will help you use them. I learned that after trying Bonnie Hunter's method. I'm much more inclined to get excited about a quilt with a coherent color scheme and a fun pattern, and I don't tend to use precuts at all (even ones I've purchased...) so I needed something that worked well for me. So for me, organizing by color helps me get the right fabrics. It's also helpful if I only need a small piece of something like for the sampler I'm working on from Patchwork City. In that case, I'm usually looking for a specific color rather than a specific size. If you make samplers, color sorting can be helpful.

Anyway, that's my scrap management. It's worked pretty well for the past couple years, and I'm excited to share my first really big scrap project with you soon! I've just gotten the quilt back from the quilter and I need to bind it. I'm thinking it's a great time to practice using binding ends that I save so diligently (actually, lately I've been throwing them back in my scrap bins, ha!). Anyway, we'll see. So you can watch for that soon!

Now the real trick I'm finding, is what to do with garment scraps? I've been sewing more and more garments lately and knits obviously can't go in my quilting scrap bins! Hmm.

April One Monthly Goal

March flew by for me, did it for you as well?

I'm hoping to be more deliberate (and therefore more productive!) in April. However, I've already been thrown off-kilter and the month's only just begun! I was hoping to make good headway on my Venice quilt, and I still hope to, of course, but things come up. As is usual when you don't live under a rock, haha.

I have a dear friend I roomed with in college who is expecting her first baby in July! I'm so excited for her, and immediately began to think about making her a quilt. She currently lives in Seattle, and I expected to mail it to her in June or July. But! She texted just last week to tell me she is making a last minute trip to Utah in mid-April and her mother-in-law is throwing her a shower. I'd much prefer to give it to her in person, so my deadline got moved up by a few months and all the sudden the pressure was on! 

I rushed out to get background fabric--I had all the prints I needed--and set to work on the pattern I selected: a modified Red Cross quilt from Vintage Quilt Revival (my favorite book!). But, preparing is one thing.

Her shower is on April 21st and so my goal (with a very firm deadline!) is to finish the baby quilt for my friend. 

I've already spent an hour piecing it, so I shouldn't have too much trouble.

My other goals I hope to get to include the following.

• Make progress on my Venice quilt, specifically finish four of the sixteen blocks.
• Trace the pattern for Lisette 6411 and prepare the fabric. This is my least favorite part of garment sewing, and I think I could get a lot more done if I didn't procrastinate this odious task so much.
• Bind my triangle quilt. This one is actually pretty important too, because I plan to submit it to an art competition. I don't have it back just yet, but the quilter has finished it, and I'm anxious to see it. First, I must pick a binding fabric...
• Take my girls on a fun outing for spring break.
• Exercise three times a week. Odious but necessary. I am very unfit right now. 
• Plan a summer weekend away. I have a feeling we'll need it. I'm hoping to talk my mom into taking my girls for a few days, but I think she's worn out and that might not happen, so a family camping trip would also suffice.

I'm linking up to One Monthly Goal link up. :-)

Venice Quilt Underway!

So, my March goal for One Monthly Goal was to get my fabric completely cut out for my Venice quilt (using the Wallflower pattern). I was overwhelmed by being back from vacation and getting back into a routine, and I wasn't sure how much sewing I would get done or even what I needed to get done. So, I set myself a very reachable goal. And, as you can imagine, I blew it out of the water. Yes! So much better than falling short, though, so I'm glad I set a really simple goal.

I not only got everything cut out, I got all the block components sewn and pressed. Now I need to piece the blocks together and then just sash them together. This quilt has been faster than I expected, but just as enjoyable as the Shimmer quilt, which has a very, very similar block. I love Allison Harris's quilt patterns so very much! I'm also very excited for this quilt to come together.

This month, I also managed to get two shirts sewn for my girls. I made the Hopscotch shirt from Oliver and S, and the girls LOVE them. Hooray! I added two extra inches to my eight-year-old's, and I should have added another, and I should have added some length to my five-year-old's. Oh well, next time. And there will for sure be a next time, because this pattern is great. Not difficult, and a great, basic look.

I'm linking up to One Monthly Goal at Elm Street Quilts.

March One Monthly Goal

I've had a hard time coming up with a goal for this month. We just returned from Hawaii, so I'm still in vacation mode, coupled with jet lag, and a requirement to resume regular mom-duties. But, one of the first things I did was start cutting out my Venice quilt (I'm using Cluck Cluck Sew's Wallflowers quilt). This has been a long time in coming: I've had the fabrics picked out for over a year and just couldn't settle on a pattern. I finally decided right before we left, so I was anxious to get home and get started.

So, I guess my very obvious one monthly goal is to finish cutting out that quilt, even though I'd rather have a goal for actual stitching. I don't really like the cutting out part of quilting, so, while I haven't minded cutting out what I've started, I'm still not looking forward to finishing and making time to do that. I'd rather do the sewing! :-)

Unfortunately, cutting out all the background fabric is rather dull. I got through the colorful fabrics today, but now I've got hundreds of background pieces to cut. Hopefully, I'll get it all done. It is so satisfying to have a whole quilt project cut out!

I'm linking up to Elm Street's One Monthly Goal.

Reversible Bucket Hats

I made my twins matching reversible bucket hats for the beach! We went to Hawaii the last week in February, and I was worried they would really need sunhats, because they still don't have a ton of hair, and instead of beating my head against the wall trying to order some, I just made them instead.

I used Oliver and S's free pattern, and I think they are so cute! I took a risk and sewed them together, instead of sewing one first to make sure it worked, but luckily it totally did. They don't have straps, so I was a little nervous about how useful they'd even be. As it turned out, we had mostly overcast days, so they didn't need to keep them on (which they didn't...haha). Still cute, though!

February Bernina Block Party

Hooray, I finished the final big block for Bernina's Block Party! It's actually a great accomplishment: the instructions have been horrendous. Really bad. My biggest issue with them was that every single pattern had cutting instructions to cut triangles. To make half-square triangles. Seriously. And, not only that, but every block that needed HSTs needed at least 4-8 of any given pair, so why not use some quicker methods? Same for flying geese. Instead of using the square-on-the-rectangle method, or even better, the four-at-a-time method, she included instructions to cut triangles for every piece. Yuck.

Anyway, I redrafted most blocks to include making HSTs or Flying Geese the easier way. But I tire of doing my own math so I'm glad this project is almost done. I'm also excited to see my quilt put together! The pattern is really pretty.

This is the biggest block, at 24 inches, and it went together in a couple of hours, even with my need to redo the math. That's been one good thing about these blocks: none of them have been very time-consuming.

Oh, and I did get the backing for my Summer Sampler finished, too! I'm feeling a pinch on our budget right now, though, so it's not going out to a long-armer just yet. :-)

I'm linking up to Elm Street's One Monthly Goal.

One Monthly Goal: February

So, how is it February? Because, I'm pretty sure, Thanksgiving was like two weeks ago. Even still...February...

I'm checking in for the One Monthly Goal link up for February today.

Last month, I did okay with my goals. But, I didn't get everything done I'd hoped, although I pretty much hit my written-out (modest) sewing goals. So, this month, I'm trying to refine my personal goals better based on how thing went last month. That's what we're supposed to do with goals, right? :-)

So, here are my goals for February.

• Bernina Block Party block (I'm SO close to finishing! One last block big block coming this month, and then some spacers and setting, which I'm expecting they'll post in March!)
• Prep my cappuccino dress out of quilting cotton.
• Sew a couple of a reversible bucket hats for my babies.
• Pick a pattern for my Grand Canal fabric (finally! I've had a pile of fabric pulled in my sewing room for MONTHS. It's time to get things decided and cut).
• Continue to spend less time on my phone. I've been better, but not as good as I'd hoped, so it's staying on the list until it's a habit I'm happy with. :-)
• Do one organized activity with the girls every week. Sounds pathetic, but scheduling, and twins, make it overwhelming to plan outings or fun things with the girls. Do note that I don't mean fancy. I mean, a trip to the library or art museum. Or painting together after school one day. My bar is pretty low, ha ha. 

My ONE monthly goal is the block party block (see a number of the blocks together in the picture). To be honest, February is a short month and it's super busy for me (more on that later, I'm sure!). I want to lump the backing in because that's just a to do list item that just needs to get done. But then that's two goals, isn't it? So the block party block. That's the thing I'll be most disappointed in myself if I don't finish, and it's also doable (obviously, since I've kept up with the sew along thus far).

One Monthly Goal: January Recap

Checking in for One Monthly Goal link up. My ONE monthly goal was to finish my taupe shirt. I also hoped to get a set of clothes sewn up for my girls, and I wanted to sew up the Bernina Block of the Month.

Unfortunately, my one month goal was a fail. I did try: I took my shirt to our neighborhood sewing night, and I showed it to my friend who is much better at garment sewing than I am, and unfortunately, it wasn't salvageable. When I attached the facing, it stretched a bit, and that's what was causing it to flip up. I did mess up on one part, but unfortunately, that wasn't what caused the problem. So, it's hitting the bin. The fabric was old, it had been in my stash for a while, and it was good practice for me. I'm disappointed, of course, but I also recognize that I need practice.

I did finish the Bernina Block for January, and I love it. I struggle with the math on square in a squares or I would have refigured the center block so the main print wouldn't have seams, but otherwise, I love how it turned out. I'm excited to see this project finished. Not going to lie, I'm partially anticipating the end because the instructions are so frustrating.

While my taupe shirt didn't happen, I did get a shirt for me sewn sewn, twice. I did a trial run with some leftover black rayon that I bought for Halloween costumes, and it was perfect to practice with for my dress out of Cotton and Steel rayon. The first one didn't go so well, so I did it again. It turned out better. No pictures because I've been too lazy to take them.

And, I sewed my girls their mermaid dresses. They're not really mermaid dresses, but the sparkly mint fabric made me think the girls would feel like mermaids, so that's how I've thought about these dresses ever since! I sewed them using the Pippa Peplum pattern from See Kate Sew. No pictures, because, see above. :-)

So, this month was pretty okay! Not unproductive, even though I didn't accomplish my one monthly goal. I'll be back in a few days to check in with my February goals. :-) Happy sewing!

Scripture Tote

My oldest daughter turned eight the first week in January. First of all, I can't believe that I have an eight-year-old! Second, eight is a really big birthday for Mormons. Eight-year-olds are eligible to be baptized, which is pretty exciting! Like many other families do for their eight-year-olds upon their baptisms, we gave her her first set of real scriptures (as opposed to cheap paperbacks) and I really wanted to make her a scripture tote for them.

A few years back when our oldest niece was baptized, I made her a simple tote bag, but I wanted something a little more structured this time. I have more experience with bags now, and I just wanted something a little more finished.

I turned, naturally, to my favorite bag designer, Dog Under My Desk. She has a quick zip lunch tote that looked perfect! She recently released an updated version of the pattern including two sizes. I let my daughter pick the fabric, though I pointed out an Alison Glass Ex-Libris panel that I thought she'd love.

(Don't worry; she vetoed several of my suggestions...I may have shown her this panel but I didn't force anything on her) She picked out a black fabric to go with it. and luckily I had a green zipper that is a pretty great match for the panel.

This pattern was great, and so quick. I made a couple of changes; I used fusible fleece instead of insulated batting (obviously, there was no need for insulated batting, and it's so loud) and I also added a piece of Peltex in the bottom to add structure to support the scriptures (which are not light...). I added it after the fact, because I felt the bag sagged under the weight. But with the way the bag was sewn together, it was easily added after--I just had to rip out the last seam and slip it in, and stitch it back up.

Anyway, the bag is a perfect fit for the scriptures, and the panel turned out to be the perfect size for the front. I really think she'll love it.

One Monthly Goal: January

Have you heard of One Monthly Goal? I hadn't before the last week in December when I saw an Instagram post by Yvonne of Quilting Jet Girl. I had been thinking about goals and the new year anyway (because, who hasn't been?), and I had been debating about setting monthly goals instead of annual goals. So when I saw her post, I thought it was a great idea! My life is pretty crazy right now with four little girls at home including twin toddlers (!), so setting smaller monthly goals based on what's happening in the moment seems like a much better idea. Ideally, I want to set one hard goal, one or two very achievable goals (to do list items) and one or two personal goals, even though this doesn't follow the exact guidelines of the One Monthly Goal link up (I do select a single goal for the link up, see below).

So, I haven't been very good about blogging this year (see above: twins), and I hope to use this as motivation to be better about blogging. We'll see!

To kick off the year (and help myself keep track of what I have going on) I thought I'd list out my current projects and their status.

• Argyle Medallion quilt from Scraps Inc. Vol 2 (currently at a longarmer's)
• triangle quilt (currently at a longarmer's)
• Swoon 16 (top finished, HSTs need trimming for back)
• Summer Sampler 2017 (top finished, needs backing prepared and to be taken to longarmer)
• Six-inch sampler (top finished, needs to be basted and free motion quilted, photo above)
• Sunset Tile quilt from Scraps Inc. Vol 1 (cutting started, see photo below)
• taupe shirt (sewing started, need assistance with neckline, photo above)
• Bernina Block Party Sampler (I'm current with the blocks, so I'm just waiting for the next block patterns)

And, here's my list of projects I have fabric for but haven't started.

• Memorial Quilt for my Dad. I have blocks planned to make a sampler with blocks that represent him, but it's a pretty big project and I've been hesitant to start a project like this that is unlike anything I've done before. I have a fat quarter bundle of Adventure fabric by Amy Ellis and a bunch more of my fabric stash pulled out to supplement it.
• Venice Quilt. I have a cut of Grand Canal fabric from Kate Spain and I haven't settled on a quilt pattern that has big enough pieces to show off the fabric that also interests me.
• Rayon dress. I bought some Cotton and Steel rayon and the Cappuccino Dress pattern from Liesl and S. But I'm way intimidated and don't want to mess it up! Fabric is washed and everything. I think I'll sew up a practice dress out of black rayon I used for my girls' Halloween costumes first.
• Loads of clothes for my girls. I sorta binge bought a ton of knit fabric during year end sales events and I have great ambitions to sew them cute clothes that fit them properly! I have 4 girls, and bought enough of each cut of fabric to make a shirt/skirt for each girl, and I bought...wait for it...4 knits, 1 corduroy, and 1 woven (for a dress). Why yes, that adds up to 24 items of clothing! We'll see. 

It's actually really helpful to see it all listed out! As opposed to walking into my sewing room and seeing the scattered projects everywhere...

So, here are my January goals. I'm also going to list out personal goals just because it'll be helpful for me to see it all listed together. 

• Complete the Block Party January block
• Finish my taupe shirt
• Sew one set of girls' clothes
• wake up earlier to dedicate 30 minutes to studying scriptures and praying
• spend less time on my phone. To quantify it: allow for 20 minutes after breakfast, 20 minutes during nap time, and 30 minutes after dinner. I'm honestly really unsure about whether those time limits are a good target or not. But we'll see. And then I'll revise it as necessary.

My ONE MONTHLY GOAL is to finish my shirt. That one is a stretch, and it's something I really hope to accomplish, and to accomplish well. Because if it's not done well, I won't wear it. ;-) I really want to get some girls' clothes sewn up, too, but I'll be more disappointed in myself if I don't finish my shirt, so that's top priority.

So...here's to 2018! And January, specifically ;-)