2023 Reckoning and 2024 Goals

Happy New Year! 🥳

I always reflect at the end of a year, and make plans for the new year. I am a planner by nature, not that I can't adapt to changes, but that I just naturally make plans, set goals. This morning I was thinking how many plans we've had that have fallen through. Some big plans fell through (We had planned to move in 2020 or 2021 and that fell through in a big way), some home renovations we still haven't finished,  some smaller things fell through, like having a year end basting spree or just finishing more UFO's. I can make plans, but I can't predict what life will throw my way. I had no idea I'd live in hotel for three months in 2023. 

I've often told my kids, life is what happens while you are making other plans. Plans are helpful, but being adaptable to change is PRICELESS. 

I just looked over 2022's year end post, and I didn't make a lot of firm goals for 2023. I mentioned making a baby quilt, which I did. I mentioned two of my grandsons wanted new quilts for their birthdays. Funny thing about that, those grandkids still don't have new quilts. I would have had to bring all the fabrics and finished their quilts while living in a hotel, and that wasn't likely to happen. Again, life throws curve balls sometimes. When I got back home, three other grandkids asked for quilts, and I did get those done! I wasn't playing favorites, it just had to do with birthday timing. This year I hope to get the original two quilts done before the birthdays on question, plus I have two other grandsons wanting new quilts now too. I have everything to make the four quilts, so barring another curveball, I'm hoping to make all of those. 

Last year I mentioned needing to make two scooter rally quilts, plus all the rally bags. I did get all of that done. 

In 2022 I used 9.5 miles of thread, in 2023 I used over 11 miles of thread. In 2022 I had 24 finishes, 11 of which were UFO's. I had hoped to finish more UFO's in 2023. Well, I had 26 finishes in 2023, of which only 7 were UFO's. 2023 was pretty hit or miss for me. I know the three months in the hotel really kept my finishes, especially UFO finishes down. I have a whole closet full of quilt tops, but no basting and no quilting happened in that hotel. Basically, for a quarter of the year, only piecing was an option, and by the time I got back, I had deadline projects to concentrate on. 

So, besides the four quilts for grandsons, what are my goals for 2024? I have two baby quilts to make, and they need to be finished this month. One is half assembled, one is in blocks. I'd like to make quilts for my nieces and nephews that don't have one from me. That's mostly the unmarried ones, but I'm thinking wedding quilts are likely a thing of the past for me. I'm having to accommodate my RSI more and more, and I know there a very few queen/king quilts left in me. Doing them on a deadline is even more unrealistic. As I finish several big quilts already started, I can decide whether I am up to quilting it myself, or if I should send it out to a longarmer. I still feel confident quilting twins and smaller on my own. 

Mostly I need to start utilizing my time better, not to get more done, but to take the breaks I really need to be taking. I need to appreciate the journey, and not focus on the goals. I'll always want to be productive, but my main goal for 2024 is to be kinder to myself. 

 

Viking Murder Mystery Quilt is a Top!

 I managed to get all the blocks into the quilt top, in a way that satisfied me. I didn't add the suggested border for a couple of reasons. The quilt is a good twin size as it is, and I didn't need it any bigger. Also, the past couple of years I've gotten to the point where I only add a border if I think the border adds something to the design, and another border added nothing to the quilt in my opinion. I had run out of the background blue, but I had a blue in stash that was likely the same color but a different dye lot. It is VERY close in color, but not quite the same. It was close enough for me, and the color difference actually shows more in this photo than it does in person. I've really had a fun time doing this quilt, the online community is fantastic, and watching the way different people are imagining the layout is very fun. I don't have anyone clamoring for this quilt, so it can wait to get quilted. It is already hanging in the quilt closet. 

Next year is Murder in Greece, and I'm planning to pull fabrics for that this afternoon. If you'd like to join in here's the link. I'm still not sure if I guessed correctly on who the murderer was, as we get the last chapter of the book on January 1st. The first block and chapter for Murder in Greece come out January 10th. 

Now that the Viking quilt is off the design wall, I had a chance to lay out one of the baby quilts I'm making. 

This quilt is made out my second sister's clothes, and the solid blue is actually one of her curtains. She passed away five years ago, and this is for her first grandchild. I'm sure she would have spoiled that baby rotten had she still been around to do so. All of the shirts the clothes are from are cotton knits, so I had to add some fusible to make them easier to work with. When I'm working with clothes that are woven cotton, I'll make any pattern, but when working with knits I try to keep it pretty simple. Now that I've got this laid out, I hope to get it assembled while working on clue 6 of the Indigo Way Mystery that comes out tomorrow. I consider this quilt from my sister, so I'm still making the baby a quilt from me. I've got all the blocks done for it, and hope to get it on the design wall this weekend. That baby will be here before I know it, so these two baby quilts need to be my first finishes of 2024. 

Christmas Day was pretty quiet around here. My main gift from DH isn't made yet. I want a wall mounted quilt rack in my living room. I want it at least three layers high, and wide enough to fit 2-3 folded quilts side by side. Why such a large quilt rack? I donate a LOT of quilts, but I usually only turn the quilts in once per year. In the meantime they sit in a closet. I decided if I had a big quilt rack on the wall in the living room that's currently empty, I could actually enjoy the quilts I made before they get donated. I have a freestanding quilt rack in the living room that has the throw quilts we use all the time. The grands will have them all out and everyone has a quilt. That will remain the same. This big quilt rack is just to give me some time to see what I've finished lately. DH agreed to make the quilt rack a couple months ago, but between the scooter rally and getting the next issue of his magazine out he hasn't had time. I knew it would be late when I asked him for it. 

Since I knew I wouldn't have my real Christmas present in time for Christmas, I did something kind of funny. While checking out Black Friday sales in November, I went to one of my favorite sources for jelly rolls. They had jelly rolls on sale like I figured they would, but they also had a freebie going on at the time. The were giving away 15 fat quarters for each jelly roll you purchased! I really enjoy making jelly roll quilts for a quick project without any matching to do, and every quilter knows there is an abundance of jelly roll patterns out there. I chose 4 jelly rolls, which gave me 60 free fat quarters. On Cyber Monday, they had a batik freebie going, and for each batik jelly roll you purchased, you got 10 free batik fat quarters. I ordered two more jelly rolls, so I had 20 batik fat quarters coming. When the packages arrived, I told DH to open them, and only give me the jelly rolls. I chose those myself, so no surprises there. I had him keep all the fat quarters to give me for Christmas. Yes, I knew what I was getting, but I didn't know what the fat quarters looked like so it was still a surprise. So what does 80 fat quarters look like?

The 20 batik fat quarters are on the left, then the others are in the other two piles. I only had one duplicate. BUT, there are actually 85 fat quarters in those piles, because DH went to the quilt shop, and picked me up five fat quarters he chose, along with some more quilting clips, larger ones than the ones I had. I am one spoiled quilter! Fat quarters are easily my favorite pre-cut. I've cut out so many quilts lately, I easily put these fat quarters away, with room to spare in my fat quarter drawers. I've probably cut up about 200 fat quarters in the last couple of months! jellyrollfabric.net has other freebie events during the year, but even if they don't have a freebie event going, their prices on jelly rolls are very good, and worth a look if you are shopping for jelly rolls. 

I hope all of you had a fun holiday season, and if you do something to celebrate the new year, I hope that goes well for you too! We have never been big on New Year's celebrations, and the only reason we're ever awake at midnight is if the neighbors blow off a bunch of fireworks in their celebrating. We're up at 4 AM for DH to get ready for work, so staying up until midnight is not likely. 

Decisions Can Be Tough

 First the good news! I'm all caught up on the Indigo Way mystery! I just finished sewing up the rest of clue 4 so I'm ready for clue 5 tomorrow. The few units that aren't pressed yet should get pressed tonight, so I'm good on that.

Here are a few units done in my colorway.

And here are a few in Bonnie's colorway made with men's shirts. Yeah, stripes and plaids going every which way do not stress me out at all, so sorry if this is an eyesore for you. 

I've been so busy catching up on Indigo Way quilts, plus making blocks for two baby quilts as leaders/enders, that I haven't managed to do much on the Viking Murder Mystery quilt. The designer gave three options for layouts, but I'm not sold on any of those. She also gave her blessing to finish the quilts however you please, which is what I'm planning on doing. I like parts of all of her layouts, but I also want to personalize the quilt a bit.

I first put this up on the design wall. Obviously I have bits to fill in, but until I decide the final layout, I'm not sure which bits I need. I did decide I liked the medallion so I sewed it up so it would look correct and be the finished size.

Now the medallion looks much better. Most people are using the flowers as the sails, and I don't like that option. The flowers don't look substantial enough to be sails to me. The medallion doesn't look like a Viking sail to me either, so I'm debating making a red and white striped sail instead. These are all the blocks I made during the Viking Mystery, but a few of them may end being put aside and used elsewhere. I just haven't settled on a layout yet. If Bonnie gives an easy clue tomorrow as promised, I should have time next week to work out a plan for the layout. I'll make the missing part of the ship first, because that's a given. I'd like to have the Viking quilt into a top before the Greek murder mystery starts in January. How the final quilt top will look is still a mystery to me, even with three layout options given to me. I seem to be fond of answer D- none of the above!

Speaking of the Greek Murder Mystery, I need to pull fabrics for that as well. I think I can get almost everything from stash, except for one color, maybe two. I find pulling fabrics for the murder mysteries much more difficult than pulling for Bonnie Hunter Mysteries. I think the most colors Bonnie has used in a mystery is six, whereas in the murder mysteries you are pulling 18-20 colors. It's a lot of fabrics to pull when you don't know how they'll be used in the quilt. For example, I followed the color guide for the Viking mystery, but I think my orange and yellow are both too bright when looking at the quilt going together. Of course, making the mystery quilt is the fun part. I never worry about whether or not I'll like the finished project. Mystery quilts are all about the process for me. 

The other reason I need this Viking quilt put together is so my design wall is free to layout the baby quilts. I have all the blocks done for one of them, but no place to lay it out. My sewing and cutting rooms are both trashed right now because I'm working on so many projects! I haven't been doing any FMQ right now because there is so much going on, and as soon as a baby quilt is assembled it goes to the front of the quilting queue. The clock is ticking on those!

Clue 3, Not Finished Yet!

 Indigo Way mystery is chugging along. I kept up with clues 1 and 2, but I won't be finished with clue 3 when clue 4 comes out tomorrow. That's OK, I figured I'd fall behind at some point. I've got hopes of catching up the week of Christmas.

Where most people will be really busy Christmas week, I won't be. Our family is celebrating Christmas on the 17th, so in just a couple days. Things will calm down for us after that for a little bit anyway. When I decided to do Indigo Way in two colorways, and Bonnie said she'd save the easiest clue for Christmas week, I knew I had a built in catch up week. My main focus has been on getting all the pieces cut for each clue in both colorways, before the next clue comes out. If I can get them sewn up, that's great, if not, that's OK too. 

I did get all the sewing done in Bonnie's colorway that I'm making with men's shirts. These are just a sampling of my units. I am going for a smaller quilt in this colorway. The first two clues, I made 2/3 the units of the full sized quilt, this clue had me scratching my head a bit, but I have a couple of ideas of where Bonnie could go with this. I thought of two ways it could go with her numbers, so I made a few more than I thought I'd need, in case I'm way off. She's pretty sneaky with her mysteries, and although I've guessed correctly a few times, I've also guessed incorrectly several times as well. 

 

These are all of my colorway that are pressed. I actually have about half of the units sewn, which isn't too bad. I should get the ones I sewed up today pressed this evening. 

So what else have I done this week? Well, the reveal for my Viking Murder Mystery quilt came out this week. The designer actually gave three options for the final layout, which was very nice of her. I like parts of each layout, but I also had an idea of what I thought the final layout might end up being, and I might add my own spin to the final quilt. I need some time to think about it. I need to try to get the quilt top assembled this month if at all possible. 

I've had two baby quilts I've been needing to make, and although I had chosen patterns I really liked for both, I just couldn't get myself to start them. I know when I have a mental block like that, I'm better off going in a completely different direction than try to force it. Giving myself permission to go in a new direction was just what I needed! Once I gave up my original ideas, I started cutting both quilts, and one of them I sewed up all the blocks and it's ready to assemble! The other is partially cut out, but I'm ready to finish cutting that one, and I'll have fun sewing the blocks for that one too. I had some fussy cutting to do for my revised plan, and I'm finished that, so all the remaining cutting is easy. 

Am I the only one who gets stuck because when the time comes, you just aren't feeling your original plan? I genuinely like my original plan, and I think sooner or later I likely will make both quilts I planned. I'm just not making them for this baby. The last time I was really stuck on a baby quilt, I went completely off book, and improv pieced the whole thing. I loved it! I'm not always in the state of mind to improv piece a quilt, so for one of the quilts this time, I decided to piece a bunch of different 4" blocks, using specific colors to give the quilt the overall feel I'm going for. A lot of the pieces will be interchangeable with other units, so how the blocks go together with which colors I'll decide as I sew them up. I should have more blocks than I need, so when it's time to lay out the blocks, that's where the real decision making comes in. I'm now excited about the project instead of stuck! 

Tomorrow clue four comes out for Indigo Way, and I'm really hoping for some strip piecing! I'm thinking four patches would work well with what we've already got! You never know though, it is a mystery after all. 

Clue 2 done!

So far I'm keeping up on Bonnie Hunter's Indigo Way mystery. I'm not counting on keeping up the whole time, but so far I have.

Here's my colorway. My "red" is peach and one fabric, and my "neutral" is lilac and one fabric, so all my units are identical in this clue. I still have to trim dog ears but I can do that while watching tv.

Here are my units in Bonnie's colorway, made with men's shirts. I have no idea how the units will be in the quilt. These are pretty versatile units. I was just playing around with them. I need to trim the dog ears on these too. 

I finished MY Christmas quilt this morning. It's notable when I make a quilt for our house, and the fact I got it finished the same year I started it when it's for us is amazing! Usually I put stuff for us on the backburner. I started a quilt for our bed two years ago and I still haven't assembled the blocks into a top yet, nevermind get it it quilted. I backed this quilt with flannel so it's nice and snuggly. 

I've got two grandkids this weekend, so it won't be the easiest start for clue 3. The Viking Murder mystery quilt reveal comes out next week, so that's a LOT to do. We're celebrating Christmas with the family on the 17th, so I'll be able to catch up a bit when everyone else is ramping up for the holiday. 

I got most of the gift wrapping finished today. The three packages that needed mailing got sent out yesterday. I'm still waiting on one Christmas gift, and I have a birthday gift that needs wrapping, but it just arrived today. I should get DH another gift as well, but I've not been able to think of anything good. We still haven't gotten the Christmas tree or other decorations up, and I'm thinking that will start tonight. The grandkids can help with decorating the tree tomorrow when they get here!