"fabric blankies"

That is what R calls quilts, it actually sounds more like "babric kikis"

I have told you this all more than once, but I am going to reiterate here for us all. I promised myself I would never move onto the next project before the one I am working on is finished. Yeah, I broke that one! It all started when I gave up on my Christmas project last year (aprons, tree skirts, pillows, and a quilt with the left overs) because the Apron pattern was a little vague on how to do it and I couldn’t find some of the supplies I needed for it. Away into a tub everything went until I had some more patience and less pressure for Christmas things to be done by Christmas (and it is all sitting there waiting patiently for me to try again.)

Then, one day, A saw me bring home some new finds from JoAnn’s or Ben Franklin and told me “no more new fabric until you use up some of what you already have!” He obviously is not a quilter! (nor a fabric fanatic) I keep telling him it’s something my dad just rolls his eyes with when mom does and has learned to keep his mouth shut so A should too! With A not working though I decided I could follow that rule, mostly. Some projects I can’t finish until I get more (and we are just talking tops here!) The problem is I don’t have much in the way of backing fabric! I have two tops that need backing, three (including those two) that need batting,….oh I will just list them out for you:

Projects in the Works:
Lavender Mist BOTM -4 blocks done, missing two, need backing, batting, binding (and missing blocks)
Princess Blankie- I think I have batting that will work for this, so I just need to sandwich and quilt it
Jackies Quilt - need batting, have backing
Dora Quilt- need to find a border for it, backing, batting, binding etc.
Christmas Quilt- backing, batting, binding
Simpsons Quilt- for A- I need to find more flannel fabrics to go with it and then make it! but everything I have so far is cut and ready to go
Christmas Combo Pack- this is the thing I set aside, I think for now gathering the rest of the supplies will be on the agenda, then maybe the tree skirts would be the place to start, I know the pillow will be easy and the quilt will be with left overs so that’ll be last of the set

I have a whole slew of other projects I have mentioned before that I want to get cracking on but I am going to stop myself from starting anything new for the moment until those are DONE (well maybe not the last one). Well, with an exception:

I joined the Because I Matter Challenge! I am a late commer but Tracey was so kind to allow me to join. The rules are you have to make something(s) for YOU! all the things above are for other people, or in the case of the Lavender Mist BOTM, who knows who it’s for but it is not just for me! R and I sat on the washer and dryer today for about 20 minutes while I looked at all the stuff I have and tried to figure out what I wanted to make for ME. Here is what we came up with:
Because I Matter Challenge:
1) Families are like Quilts needlepoint -it’s been a while since I have done cross stitch, something to do in front of the TV
2) 2005 Western Washington Shop Hop- blocks and maybe turn it into a quilt…I am a little intimidated by this, hence it’s now 2009 but I WANT to do it so here is my inspiration (by the way, if you want to read my rant and rave about shop hops, pop on over to my blog at allpeoplequilt.com and if you haven’t done so already, skim through some of the other ladies blogs, many of them are truly AMAZING!!
3) Quilt Scrapbook- I need to update it since I now have a camera and a few projects that are close to being done, so before I forget the details
4) Dress- I bought a pattern and some fabric for a dress I loved on display at JoAnn’s last summer, I need to find some blue fabric to use under the dress or a pink ribbon…yes I want to make two, but we will start with one for now and see how it goes!
5) Garden Path- I found the magazine for it and A said I could make it in blue and green instead of pink and green….so by the time the challenge ends my goal is not to have the quilt done, or even started, but to have found the fabric for it! I really want to use big blue hydrangea flower fabric for it so I am keeping my eyes out!
6) Leaders and Enders/Scrap Quilts- true, they will be for my guests once I own a house with a guest room (probably my sewing room too…wait I told you all about this and showed you my doodles!) so the goal is to get this started even if that means I just buy the fabric and have a few leaders/enders going. We will see!
I will be posting my challenge progress both here and on the challenge page. I may also start another project or two for fun but I do have a baby coming in Aug….so this might be a nice list for now but one that takes more than a summer to tackle. That’s OK. Ambitious goals are fun and driving forces right? And as much as A complains about my sewing (mostly when hes watching a game or a movie) he admits I am more pleasant to be around when the machine is going. my game plan starting this weekend is to work on the unfinished projects whenever I can and work on the challenge stuff for at least 10 minutes a day every day. I will set a timer to make sure I am committed, and will probably have some times when I am on a roll and don’t want to stop but the family will have to leave me alone for those 10 minutes the timer is counting away.

OH OH!!!! I can’t believe I almost forgot! I got a package yesterday from one of my moms friends…she added me as a friend on Facebook and saw all my quilts. When she was cleaning out her own stash she set a bunch of fabric aside for me and TADA! a package! with 34 lbs of fabric in it!! I already sorted it all and added it to my stash, I think I now have more than double what I did have! There are a bunch of Christmas fabrics and even a project that was started using templates and what not. She sent me the templates, the magazine, the left over fabric and the blocks that have been done. I have never used templates before and might try one block (the Santa’s are what she gave up on, she got all the trees) but $5 says I give up too and then will just take the blocks she has done, turn the two Santa’s into something like a pillow or a dolly quilt and the tree blocks will become something more, add sashing, a little throw, a wall hanging….a tree skirt for all I can tell. Let the creative juices flow!