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 ;-)