2017 Dreams, Goals, Plans Progress

I have been looking at the year ahead making plans and setting goals. This is my list from a year ago. Let's see how I did.

Quilt Dreams (What I want to do)

• Start 150 Canadian Women  Started in May. Got 6 blocks made and about 30 ready to stitch.
• Start Stonefields    Gretchen and I discussed doing it together this Jan. This will  now have to wait until Jan 2019.
• Start Caswell I wish.
• Make significant progress on Morrell  Completed several foundation pieced saw toothed blocks. I plan to make some more of the 24 broderie perse blocks in 2018. Well, at least one.
• Make progress on AWS  Completed 2 applique blocks. 
• Complete to 100 blocks of Bright Jane  54 done so far and again plan to make more for the Rainbow Scrap challenge
• Complete the rest of  BTCT blocks Finished 8 for a total of 18 completed. Working on 5 with 2 not yet started and I dream about the border. So looking forward to all those leaves and cherries but they will probably wait until 2019.
• Complete Ben Biggs  In my dreams but it was on the 17 ufos list for November. I prepped the border swags and cut out a few corner buds but not much else. 

Goals (What I should do)

• Complete doctorate. Still slowly working on book reports and outlines.
• Complete 6 quilt tops. Completed 5.
• Quilt 6 quilts. I have a few small flimys to practice on. Machine quilted 5 that I took to Poland.
• Not write anymore goals. I keep writing lists is that the same thing?

Plans (What I did do)

• Visit Poland for Easter    Done. It was amazing
• Shipshewana Retreat November with Di Ford Hall.  Done, It was amazing. Retreat and room booked for April.
• Do another Whole30 program to find out what foods are aggravating my hands.  Tried twice but only lasted 9 days each time.
• Promote my book and sell enough copies to cover the cost of publishing.  Yes and not yet. Web site is finally up.   www.chrisczarnataforster.com 
• Q@F quilt retreat at The Quilt Farm in spring.  No go.
• Blog at least once a week   Been blogging several times each month. I took lots of time in June to put blocks up on the design wall, take pictures and write up posts for some of the 17 ufos for 2017  instead of real work then took the summer off because I took a mission trip to Rwanda Africa. It was more than amazing.    

Blessings, 

Chris

2018 UFO Challenge With Patchwork Times

I like a challenge and patchworktimes has a ufo challenge for 2018.  You choose 12 unfinished projects to work on for the year. I suppose it is similar to pomegranate and chintz 17-ufos-in-2017 except they will tell you which number on the list to work on each month.  (I was a bit hasty making this list and plan to revise it slightly)

1. Serendipity   (I might work on some Bright Jane blocks each month like I did in 2017)

   

    BOM from  Sentimental Stitches 2012.
   The plan is to do the RSC each month to complete the remaining blocks then assemble it to flimsy status.

2. 1857 Album Quilt  

   

   Another BOM from Sentimental Stitches 2016-17. 
   I have 12 blocks to complete then I want to assemble it and machine quilt it. 

3. Ben Biggs Wedding Quilt  

   

   Yet another BOM from Sentimental Stitches. There seems to be a pattern here.
   I will be happy to get a few more of the 25 blocks made. This one is machine appliqued. 

4. 150 Canadian Women (I plan to move this one to the 6 & 6 New quilts list since I only have 10 of 150 blocks made and started it in 2017 so it really is more a work in progress than a ufo. I will give Ben Biggs a second month since there is so much more work to be done in it.)
5. Bally Hall Birds (This is another I am moving to the 6 & 6 list since I have  yet to put in a stitch because I just started it. I will work on my Morrell Sampler here instead.)
6. Disappearing 9-Patch 

   

   Made this several years ago. Just needs a border and I can practice some rule work with my machine quilting.

7. Disappearing 4-Patch
8. Shades of Pemberly

   

   Lots of 70 degree triangles to connect then machine quilt this one started more than 10 years ago. 

9. Biblical Blocks 2

   

   Started this one in 2004. Most of the hard work is done except removing all the freezer papers behind the applique. 

10. Biblical Blocks 2 (I am taking 2 months with this one because I really want to complete it including machine quilting.)
11. 1718 Coverlet. 

    

    Started 2015 and made about 16 blocks. 

     
12. Birdy Wreath (Another that I am moving to the 6 & 6 New list. I started it at a retreat in Nov. I guess I will put Beyond the Cherry Trees here. The plan will be to complete the last 7 of 25 eighteen inch hand applique blocks.)

    

    This will be the center block of something in the future. Started it at the Shipshewana Retreat. 

Wish me luck. It will be a surprise each month which number is picked. I will do a blog post at the end of each month to show my progress. 

Blessings,

Chris

1857 Progress

Now that I have started working on the-1857-album-quilt again, I seem to be making remarkable progress. Some of these I have cut in half for the borders and one is cut in quarters for the corners. The colour is really off. I am using a Kona snow which reads as white.

Since I completed my -one-monthly-goal the 13 blocks for the borders with 3 weeks to spare, I guess the next thing is to complete some of the blocks that are started. This should not take too long since the corner leaves are already done and at least half of the rest of the stitching is started.

If I stay away from the solid reproduction fabrics, I can progress with greater joy using prints since they turn under with more ease. And since my hands are really hurting now that it has turned wintry cold, that will be nice. I saw an arthritis doctor last month and after more Xrays and ultrasounds on my hands and wrists, toes and ankles and more blood work, I am told that I am quite normal and should take Turmeric supplements and immerse my hands in a big bowl of heated lentils (not beans).  

Blessings,
Chris
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December 2017 One Monthly Quilting Goal

My omg-one-monthly-goal will again be simple. Since I decided to do only 36 of the 64 blocks for the-1857-album-quilt , I will need to make enough corner leaves/melons/petals or whatever you want to call them, to add as a border. I prepped 13 background squares with 4 leaves in each corner. I will cut 12 of them in half for the borders and then cut 1 into 4 for the four corners. I got a head start sitting at the garage the other day as well as watching Peppa Pig and Max and Ruby with the boys. 

Blessings, 
Chris

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17 ufos in 2017 - Ben Biggs Wedding Quilt

This was the BOM from sentimental stitches and dear jane in 2014-2015. I collected all the blocks when they were free. You have to buy them now but it is worth every penny. Wait! We don't use pennies in Canada anymore. Anyway, I was working on several other hand projects at the time so thought that doing this one by machine applique would be faster. I was wrong. I cannot take a machine with me when I travel. I usually prep and take along several hand applique blocks. I get a lot done that way.

This is all I got done at the Shipshewana retreat earlier this month. 

I have not touched this project since I completed my  first OMG more than a year and a half ago.
This is number 17 on my 17 ufos in 2017. I have all the border swags cut out and fused ready to prep and applique onto the mere 10 inch borders. Four of them. Borders. This will be done by machine.

My plan is to machine quilt each block as I go then connect them together somehow. I don't think I want contrasting sashing strips between the blocks. But I don't have to worry about that for now, do I since I still have about 20 blocks to complete. 

Blessings,
Chris
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November 2017 OMG Completion

I know. My omg-one-monthly-goal was not a huge project but I had to make it doable. I can't complete four quilts every month now can I. Maybe I can but not anytime soon. 

I competed this Sally Post civil war sampler  block for my 1857-album-quilt block first. There wasn't much left to do but it is now done. The original center flower was not quite as odd shaped as mine but I am okay with it. Needle turned hand applique is not the best choice for those 8 petal flowers. 

Now this block. What can I say? I love it.  It was a challenge to figure out which leaves to cut out and how to arrange them on a circle I drew on the back ground. Then which ones to stitch down first so the over lap works. It was tricky. I had no idea just what it would look like until I got the last leaves stitched down. I am no expert at broderie perse applique, but will have lots of practice with the Di Ford-Hall projects I am working on.   

Blessings,
Chris

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Reality Check

I have had the most amazing adventures this year but it is mid November and the year is fast coming to an end. I have been invited to jury duty this coming week and do not yet know what time lines that might encompass. Last time, 25 years ago, I had to report daily for 2 weeks. We shall see on Monday.

Two days ago lost internet access and wondered how I ever managed to get through a day without being on the computer and on line. I should do it more often. The desk top is still out. Something about an IP address? The laptop works. But the big desk top is more fun and it has a touch screen. So much easier to see and to play  . . . uh . . . never mind.

The little boys keep coming for 4 days a week and we are having a lot of fun. Well, until little David keeps climbing onto my lap and pushing buttons, hence the internet issue. Also, some of the house phones do not ring. Something about pushing buttons. And Jonathan glued everything in his room at home with a jar of vaseline. Glad it was there so I did not have to clean it up here. Dawn dish soap helps.

This year I completely completed, including quilting and binding and gifting, 5 whole quilts. I started 3 new ones which is the norm for me. So actually, I am ahead in the numbers game. No, I guess I started 4. Not much work done on any of those at this point.

I worked on 11 of the 17 ufos for 2017. I have one more to post about that but I will save it for December. I did do a bit of work on that one at the retreat last week.

I am clearing the tables and decluttering some of the many project boxes that I pulled out and the new ones I started so there is room in the quilt room for the Q@F retreat here the first 2 days of December. My intent then is, while I have both 8 foot tables clear, to stretch out and layer the Dear Jane quilt and get it ready to big stitch hand quilt. It was suggested to quilt for just 20 minutes each day. I could do that. Maybe.

I have also been pre-washing the new fabrics I brought home so I can get at those broderie perse birds and flowers. 

I got the oil changed in my car before driving 7 hours to Shipshewana, but now have to find time to get my snow tires put on since winter is coming. And I have registered for the April retreat and booked not one, but two rooms.

The potted geraniums finally made it into the house for the winter last week when I was away. Now to clean up the wilted leaves and spent blossoms. Five down 12 to go.

The cows are all settled in the barns for the winter and we passed the bi-annual quality  milk inspection so we can carry on dairy farming for 2 more years.

The corn is not  yet combined nor is the high moisture corn in the small silo. Next week some time I hear.

So some of the amazing adventures were a trip to Poland with my now 10 year old Ava. A short term mission trip to Rwanda Africa. I have yet to post my Rwanda Reflections. And a quilt retreat and workshops with the Australian Di Ford-Hall. But the most amazing adventure of them all has to be publishing my first book. The temporary web site is up for proofing.

I have also been doing a bit of house work (yes really) and laundry. How come I do little boy laundry every week? Oh yes, on Thurs nights they get supper, a bath and clean pjs then I load them in their van and meet Mommy, who has my car, at the university so she can drive them home after her last class. They get home around 9:30-10 pm. We swap cars and I come home after picking up a few groceries since I am in town.

So the reality check is realizing that I will never complete the course work for my doctorate at the pace I am going and the procrastinating attitude I have had towards it. I have typed out exactly 3 pages in the past year. One of my OMG goals for November is to complete and submit one course. The text book has been on my desk for the past 2 months. That's when I typed out those pages. And I remembered to save them. I dropped all the hand written notes behind the desk just before I left for the retreat and now I have to figure out how to retrieve them.

Elly came over for a visit today and she offered  to help, until she saw how many spider webs there were back there after we got a light to look down. So we got out the spider web catcher and got rid of them. She could not fit down under the side of the desk to get them and I could not reach that far down from the top. There is a big book shelf beside the really heavy desk. Grampa had the outrageously creative idea to get a broom and weep them out. What a smart fella I am married to. Now I have all the notes and a cleared off desk. And fewer spider webs.

My OMG and slow sunday stitching project is to complete this 1857 block. I have been fiddling around with it this month. You have to figure out what you want and what leaves to cut out, them what order to stitch them down. I thought I had the first set of leaves placed equidistant on the circle I drew in the middle, until I got to the last triplet of leaves. I don't care that they are not straight and even, they are almost done. I kinda like the dark around those leaves. I get to do a tad bit more of this in the Bally Hall Birds Quilt. I have decided to do some of it by machine so I stand a chance to get it done before the end of this century.

And I found a whole bunch more of the Only2 red and white blocks and nicely organized bits for many more blocks as I was tidying up the quilt closet so I have somewhere to put away the project boxes.

But in reality, I was looking for the heat-n-bond lite to fuse to the new fabric. I cannot believe I used more than 80 yards of the stuff. There has to be some more here somewhere. I will keep looking.

blessings,
Chris

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