Wednesday, January 09, 2013

To Dream the Impossible Dream

There hasn't been a whole load of craftiness or sewing going on here for a while. In December work took up a lot of time, and then Christmas hit and then New Year. The past 4 days Miss P and Little P have been staying with us which means plans of getting some of the things on my list done after work have been put on the back burner. 

I decided to set myself some monthly goals and to be public about them to hold myself accountable. If I don't out myself I'm pretty sure I'll get nothing done this year. I'm looking forward to taking some holidays towards the end of this month and I'm planning several days of nothing but sewing which is my idea of bliss.

Here are the goals I set for myself for January. 


1)Finish hexies for hexie flower garden quilt.

I started these hexies in October 2011 and I've been picking them up and putting them down ever since. The stumbling block at the moment is the thought that I'm going to have to pick out all those dastardly bits of paper before I can move on with this project. I have three more hexies to complete and honestly it's time they were done. 


2)Beg, Steal or Buy 10 thrifted shirts for shirt quilt project

I was inspired by this post that P did about a quilt she made from old shirts recently and since I don't have any original thoughts of my own I decided I needed to make a shirt quilt too. I made Mr. P go through his wardrobe and give me shirts that hadn't seen the light of day since the Bee Gees were in the Top 40. Thankfully that man never throws anything out. And then I went out and bought some extra shirts so this goal is pretty much achieved already. I've had a fine time this week hacking shirts to pieces with my rotary cutter in preparation for an onslaught of sewing. I will admit I got side tracked by the idea of a T-shirt quilt as well at this point so I'm collecting old T-shirts now too (and resisting running out to buy a ton of those so I can start another quilt because my track record of finishes of late has been pretty appalling) 


3)Make 10 shirt blocks 

Since I had a pile of hacked up shirts I figured I may as well start making blocks. If I do 10 blocks a month I could pretty much have this quilt wrapped up by June which would suit giving it as a present to someone I know who is having a birthday in July. I think so far I've managed to blitz 2 half blocks, so I'm 10% of the way there! I think this is the kind of quilt that I'm not going to know how it's really going to look until I have very single block finished and laid out. It's going to be kind of tragic if I hate it. 


4) Make an appliquéd bathrobe for Miss P 

In my op shop travels on the weekend I spied a white bathrobe. It was wonderfully fluffy. On the down side, the idea of picking out Archie's name was a bit of a pain but for 8 bucks I figured I could handle it. In the end Miss P got that job because she was sitting round doing nothing much and after all I'm going to be using my skills to gussy up this bathrobe into something girly and pretty for her. She spent some time going through a portion of my fabric stash that I've been saving for just such an occasion and now I just have to get up the guts to start cutting and appliquéing. By the way, Archie's bathrobe had an identical partner on the rack with a girls name on it. I wonder if they got divorced? 


5) Superheros quilt 

I've been collecting super hero fabric for the last few months to make a quilt. One of the ladies I work with has a 6 year old son and she has been very generous with passing his clothes/toys on to Miss P for Little P. I think that young man deserves to be rewarded for sharing and since he's super hero mad a quilt made from those fabrics seemed like a great idea. Ideally I want to start and finish this simple quilt before the end of the month. Lofty goals  since I cant recall the last time I got a quilt done that fast from start to finish. 

6) Make a “door” for Little P’s tent.
Little P is completely in love with his circus tent but he mentioned that it didn't have a door and asked me (very politely ) if I could arrange one. I guess he was worried about burglars. It went on the list for this month and I'm pleased to say it's done. 


Stay tuned to see if I get this all done or if I fail miserably and crawl back here to make a pile of excuses. 



PS. I've been the queen of slack lately at answering emails. I'm so sorry. I think the kind thing for me to do is hit delete and start over. 

25 comments:

Canadian Abroad said...

That is one long list if it is just January's list! But it isn't as you already stated your intention to spread out some of the projects over several months. Oh, and my birthday is in July - hint, hint!

Paulette said...

It's a good list, and I wish you all the mojo you need to accomplish it. I'm excited to see how your shirt quilt turns out!

AnnieO said...

Goals are always good!

Little P asking for a door is cracking me up!

Dianne Neale said...

All this is one month? Okay, right. Good luck!

Unknown said...

You have certainly set yourself some wonderful goals! I say, you go girl!
I must go over to P's site and see the shirt quilt. I have not been at my sewing machine for a while. I am sad about it, but I will get to it soon. Once, I thought I would make a felted wool quilt and I went to the thrift shop and bought a ton of wool skirts and jackets. I was excited! Then we moved, then we moved again, and then I sent them back to the thrift shop!

Glad to see you are back on the internet! Miss you!

Jennifer said...

New year, new projects....and old projects finished! Finished is a good feeling.

thea said...

I want to do the shirt quilt too. Might just have to thrift some shirts as well. Great goals for the month -- good thing that you're aiming high!

Sue SA said...

I love a good plan! Looking forward to seeing more of the shirt quilt. I am determined to do more on my to do list as well, but think your very brave to set monthly goals publicly!
Any chance of a new recipe as well...every fortnight? Still drooling after the lamb stacks!

Quiet Quilter said...

So many projects planned! So good to have a variety to keep you going....

Mistea said...

That looks like a whole lot of fun to kick off January.
I like the look of the shirt quilt already and superheroes should be a breeze if you already have all the ingredients.
Enjoy playing in your creating space.

Helsie said...

I have complete faith in your ability to do all this.
Glad the little fellow loved his tent. He's a lucky little boy to have such a clever Grandmother.

melissa said...

How gorgeous is that little boy asking for a door on his tent?? too cute...and i know all about super hero mad six year olds, he will love his quilt!

x

Katy Cameron said...

Go on, you can do it! Glad you sorted out the housing issue first, nothing worse than a door-less tent...

Michelle Ridgway said...

I look forward to seeing all your preparations come to fruition.

Kris said...

Ok. Now that song is stuck in my head! That's putting yourself out there woman! Hope you get it all done. (It doesn't seem that impossible when I think it's your goals and not mine)

Marg said...

Love the block for the shirt quilt. That is going to be awesome.
A good list not too many projects and lots of variation.
Couldn't you just change Miss P's nickname to Archie?

Rachaeldaisy said...

What a great list. I love your shirt quilt project. I always look out for nice cotton shirts at the op shop. I found a really beautiful one the other day but it fit Phil, so he gets to wear it until I decide to make a quilt. Little P is so cute, I'm glad you were able to make him a door. And super heros deserve super hero quilts, and your the super woman to make it. Go Shay!

Sooli said...

I made a to do list for the year and was immediately overwhelmed! But I've joined a quilt along called Thirteen in '13 UFO Challenge! You package up 13 projects and each month Aunt Marti pulls out a number and that's your project to finish (to whatever stage means finished to you). I've found I feel better just getting 13 projects packaged up knowing I'll look at them when their number comes up! Here's the link if anyone's interested http://www.52quilts.com/2012/12/ready-set-13-in-2013-ufo-challenge.html

Kate said...

Fun list! You've already made progress on your list. I like how you know how to delegate. Looking forward to seeing your hexies and your shirt quilt. Happy sewing this month!

Rachel said...

You CAN do it!!

Elizabeth said...

Ah, craftiness. I remember that. I kind of miss it and have determined to finish a few things myself this month. And every month after that.

I love your shirt quilt. I really liked what P. did with old shirts and can't wait to see what you do.

I can't wait to see how the bathrobe comes out.

And you know I love your hexies. Pop in your favorite movie (or two) and pull those papers out while you watch/listen. It makes tedious tasks much less tedious.

Good luck on all of your projects. May the quilting fairies be with you!

xo -E

Quiltn Mama said...

That's some list sister! Good luck and may the force be with you!!

Leanne said...

A very impressive list good luck with it. I expect Mr P has bought closes since the Bee Gees had a hit, mine is still wearing those clothes because they are soft and worn in !!!!!!!!!!

quiltygal said...

Was hoping to post but am on dial up thanks to being hacked & loosing our MBs & blogger is being difficult about photos ...have they changed how you can upload ?? I couldnt do it from my desktop only from Picassa !! where my pics arent ...go figure Hope to be here next week ...Love your mixer :)

Kristie said...

Ambitious! Off to a running start, I see ;)