Lisa's January Start

I'm a bit late posting my Making Forward Progress start for January. The project for this month is #2. On my list this is my mystery quilt.

I participated in a mystery quilt project a few years ago in my quilt guild. I chose to do the small version of the pattern which is a wall hanging size. I'll have to check with the original instructions, but I think I may have a completed quilt top (though I may want one more border).

Even though January is more than half over, I still have time to make progress on this project. At the moment, I'm not 100% in love with this project (I do like the pattern that has revealed itself in the mystery, but not so sure on my execution of it). The original idea when picking out the fabrics for this project was a wall hanging or table cloth for my kitchen.

So my next step, and my goal for progress for the month, will be to decide whether this will be a project I want to complete or not. I don't think I want to use it as a table cloth, but I am going to dry-run it for a few days in its current state on my table to see what I think. I'll also bring it to quilt retreat at the end of the month for consultation with friends.

Lisa's November & December Update

Well, my November and December Making Forward Progress projects have not really made a lot of forward progress (in addition, I'm very late in posting status!). November started out promising as I was looking forward to begin quilting the Where the Wild Things Are quilt, but it ended up not making its way to the sewing machine.

December's project, #12 from my list, was my Southwest quilt. The sample block for this quilt is pictured, and I have the fabrics for the centers, so my next step would have been to pick out fabric for the points and start cutting. December has been a little hectic with other things, so I have not had a chance to work on this quilt.

I did make progress on other things though! I completed quilting one of the quilts for the twins (April Project), and am ready to quilt the other one as soon as I find the thread. I also finished binding the Star quilt, which has been an in progress project for years! 

Lisa's November Start

November is project #5 in Making Forward Progress. From my list this is my "Where the Wild Things Are" quilt.

This quilt top was finished quite a while ago, and has been pin basted (with Mary's help!), so is now ready for quilting. I want to machine quilt it with a pattern that includes loops and stars. So my goal for the month is to start (and hopefully finish) machine quilting.

Lisa's October Finish

I'm very late with my October wrap-up post! My October project was to make progress on my tulip applique. After a consult with Mary, border fabrics were selected and have been sewn on. It wasn't a huge leap forward, but was progress.

Also during October, I made a lot of progress on my first bargello quilt that I am making for a wedding present. I'll post about that one when it is a little further along.

Lisa's September Finish & October Start

My September project for Making Forward Progress was Rob's Beer T-shirt quilt. I did make progress, but nothing exciting enough for a picture. I did purchase the fusible interfacing I needed to finish backing the remaining shirts...then I found I had already purchased it last year when I worked on it, oops. I also managed to apply the fusible to 20+ more shirts, which only leaves a few small ones left.

The project number for October is #3. On my list, this is a tulip applique wall hanging. I have completed the all of the applique, except for the word "Tulip". My next step to move this project forward is to decide what to do for a border. I have a number of fabric options, but need to decide whether I want one or two borders & choose the color. Once the border is on, I'll need to baste & machine quilt.

Lisa's September Start

The Making Forward Progress project for September is #9. On my list, this is Rob's quilt (poor Rob still does not have a quilt from me!).

This is a t-shirt quilt of brewery t-shirts. I haven't touched this project since last August when it came up in the forward progress rotation. All of the shirt logos are trimmed, and fusible has been applied to over half (that's what I got through when I ran out).

My next step is to buy more fusible and finish applying, and then get down to the design step. Since I have quilt retreat next weekend, it will be a good chance to make progress without Rob seeing what I am working on. The challenge will be figuring out what fabrics I want to go with the shirts.

Lisa's August Finish

My August project was to crack open the package of machine quilting practice panels. As I stated in my beginning post, I didn't think I would make much progress on this since I have another project I'm attempting to finish by September 15th, and that turned out to be true. I did hope to watch the DVD that came with the kit, which I was going to do one day from my laptop, but my DVD player was not co-operating, so I didn't get that far.

I did make progress on a few other things though!

• I finished May's project which was the Monarch Butterfly paper pieced wall hanging and it was delivered to my mother for her birthday.
• I continued work on February's project (this is the one that I hope to finish by the 15th). I've made a lot of progress on cutting a million pieces, and some 288 half square triangles later, I almost have 24 of the blocks pictured here assembled. Then I just need to make 24 of a different block!

Lisa's August Start

Making Forward Progress for August is project #10. From my list, that is machine quilting practice panels.

I received this kit as a gift a few years ago. It contains a DVD, guide, and two panels full of different quilting patterns & techniques to practice on.

I have a feeling that any available sewing time for me this month will be spent working on Cross Winds as  I have a deadline of having the quilt top finished by mid-September. With that in mind, I may not make a ton of progress on the quilting panels. I will set a goal to watch through the DVD and read through the guide, so I will know what next steps are.

Lisa's Forward Progress: July Finish

My project for July was to make progress on tole painting a birdhouse CD cabinet, table, and lamp. Given that I had not started a thing when I posted my 'start' on July 23rd, I did not have much hope that I would make any progress.

Being an in progress project for over 20 years, I've been neglecting it mostly due to the fact that I had no home for the finished products - they were originally for me, but I don't really have a spot for them anymore. Mary thought that she had a spot and could make use of the CD cabinet, so that was a motivator to dust that piece off.

I needed to finish painting rose hip vines & fall birdhouse on the cabinet doors, find the main cabinet (which had been in an un-reachable corner of the basement), varnish, and assemble. I managed to uncover the cabinet, cleaning out the corner of the basement in the process as an added bonus. It needed dusting off and touch-up painting on the roof, which was easily completed.

The vines that were already traced onto the doors were going to take a considerable amount of time to complete. Then I had an 'a-ha' moment when Mary told me to just put it together. I wondered if I could erase the vines, as I didn't think they add a lot to the design anyway - I learned that an Artgum eraser is a magical tool! In 30 minutes there was no trace of the vines that would have taken many hours to paint. I put the finishing touches on the fall birdhouse, and got everything varnished. Rob helped assemble, adding the knobs and hinges, and we delivered it to Mary.

Disappearing vines

 

Lisa's Forward Progress: June End/July Start

 I'm quite a bit behind in posting on forward progress!

I did make progress on my June project - hand sewing binding on a charity quilt. There isn't really anything exciting to share in a picture that is different than where I started. I didn't complete it, but did make it around a couple of sides of the quilt. It will be a good project to finish at bee and while watching tv.

July's project is #7. From my list, this is a tole painting project of a birdhouse CD cabinet, table, and lamp. This project has been following me around for over 20 years in an "almost finished" state. The picture to the right are the doors to the CD cabinet that need the rose hip vines painted. The table and lamp are painted and just need to be varnished. Below shows a very faded picture of what everything should look like when finished.

Lisa's Forward Progress: June Start

Making Forward Progress is #1 for June. On my list, this is a charity quilt. When I originally compiled my list for the year, this was a completed charity quilt that needed binding.

Someone in the quilt guild made the quilt top and backing, my friend Mary Kate quilted it on her long arm machine, and I agreed to do the binding. Mary Kate handed that off to me quite some time ago.

The quilt is very scrappy with all kinds of different fabrics. My friend Mary had the idea (back when the quilt came to me) to keep the scrappy theme going, and piece the binding together with different fabrics, from the lengths of leftover bindings from other projects. Mary contributed a lot to that effort, and I've been adding to the pile for a while.

Since originally posting my list, I actually made progress on this project in May. I joined all of the binding lengths together, and machine sewed all of the binding to the quilt. So my next step, and my goal for this month, is to finish hand sewing the binding to the back (that sounds like some quality tv watching time to me!).

Lisa's Forward Progress: May End

May isn't quite over yet, but I have completed as much as I'm going to on my project for this month. I started out the month with one small section complete on a paper pieced monarch butterfly wall hanging.

I've now completed all of the paper piecing, including re-doing the original section (as I ended up using a different type of paper). I've also added the borders and have removed all of the paper from the back.

My next step is to pin baste and machine quilt. I wasn't in the mood to do the quilting yet, so decided to move onto another project. I hope to finish up the monarch butterfly to give to my mother for her birthday in August.

I made progress on some other projects in May as well:

•  I completed hand sewing the binding on a baby quilt for my grand-nephew & it has been delivered.
• Made binding and have machine sewed it to a charity quilt (project #1 on my list)
• Continued progress on Crosswinds (project #8), which was February's project. I've now completed 96 flying geese with background strip units, 100 half-square triangle units, and a few hundred other pieces cut.

  Here's hoping June is as successful!

Lisa's Forward Progress: May Start

Making Forward Progress for May is #11. On my project list, this is a monarch butterfly paper piecing project.

The current status of the project is that I have begun the paper piecing on one section (lower right in the picture). My next step is to continue and see a butterfly emerge!

Lisa's Forward Progress: April End

I have to say, I'm pretty impressed with my April ending status. I started the month with two baby themed fabrics to make two baby quilts for twins my friend recently had.

April started off strong with my friend Mary helping me shop for co-ordinating fabrics. The focus fabrics were different for the twins but they were both animal themed. We picked fabrics to go with each, and also chose the same border and backing for both so they had something in common.

By the end of April, I completed both quilt tops, completed backings for both quilts (both required pieced backing), and have the batting for both. The next step is to pin baste & quilt. Overall, I'm very happy with my April progress!

Lisa's Forward Progress: April Start

The Making Forward Progress Challenge number for April is #6. From my list this is baby quilts for the twins. A close friend of mine recently had twins, so I'm glad to see this project come up early in the rotation.

I'm going to use a pattern designed by Mary. It's a fun pattern and goes together fairly quickly, which is key to me succeeding in getting these quilts to Malcolm and Timothy before they are teenagers!

The current status of this project is that I have the main focus fabrics for both quilts. I'm using different fabrics for the boys but they both have an animal theme. My next step is to go fabric shopping for the coordinating fabrics.

Lisa's Forward Progress: March End

My goal for March was to make progress on the Flag Quilt. I'm happy to report that the most troublesome part that was blocking me from finishing is now complete! The binding on this quilt is fully pulled to the back so that no binding is visible at the front of the quilt. I was having issues getting the bulky corners to lay flat. My talented friend Mary helped me wrestle with them, and I'm now finished with those darn corners.

This quilt is for my friend Heidi, who is in the midst of house hunting. Once she has a place, she will know where she wants to hang it and whether that will be horizontal or vertical. When she knows that, I'll add a hanging sleeve and label.

Lisa's Forward Progress: March Start

The Making Forward Progress Challenge project number for March is #4. From my list, this is the Flag Quilt.

This is a wall hanging designed by my friend Mary, and is the second one I have made. The first one has been hanging on my wall for several years, and this one has been in an "almost finished" state for a couple of years now.

All that is left to finish is hand sewing the corners, adding a pocket on the back for hanging, and a label. The corners have been proving troublesome as I'm having difficulty getting them to finish square and lay flat, and is the reason it has been in the unfinished projects pile for so long.

Lisa's Forward Progress: February End

My goal for February was to make progress on Cross Winds.

I started the month with my red and turquoise strips from a fabric swap, and my background fabric cut into strips. During the month, I reviewed the instructions for the blocks and figured out how many of my colored strips I would need. I took out the strips I don't need, and then I started cutting strips that are needed to make blocks.

I still have a lot of work to do, but definitely made progress!

Lisa's Forward Progress: February Start

February's project is #8, so from my list is Cross Winds. I participated in a fabric swap of red and turquoise strips of various sizes at a quilt retreat last fall. I have sorted and organized all of the fabrics I received, and have cut all of the strips I need for my background fabric (that is the grey fabric in the picture).

The next step I have on this project is to start making blocks. By the end of the month I hope to have some blocks complete, and hope to have the quilt top finished by next fall retreat! 

Lisa's 2018 Making Forward Progress List

I've decided to participate in the second year of the Making Forward Progress Challenge hosted by The Urban Quilter. While I wasn't 100% successful last year, I did make progress in 10 of the 12 months (with time to make that 11 by the end of January). And I fully completed 2 of my projects -  strangely neither of those was a quilting project.

I made a full list of possible projects for this year, and came up with 24, so starting with the 12 that were not on my last year, and adding a few that I would like to revisit, my list in random order...

1. Charity Quilt - This is a guild charity quilt, that my friend Mary Kate machine quilted. Now I need to do the binding to finish it up.
2. Mystery Quilt - I have an almost completed quilt top (wall hanging size) from a Mystery Quilt I did at my guild a few years ago. I think I just need to add borders, quilt, and bind.
3. Tulip Wall Hanging - This is an applique wall hanging. The applique is complete, I now need to add borders, quilt, and bind.
4. Flag Quilt - I thought I should have this wall hanging finished by now, there is so little left to do on it, but it has sat for over  year without finishing, so on the list it goes! I just have the 4 corners of the binding to hand sew, but I'm having trouble getting them to lay flat. Then I just need a pocket for hanging.
5. Where the Wild Things Are - This quilt is pin basted and ready to machine quilt.
6. Baby Quilts for the Twins - My friend just had twins, so I want to make them quilts. I'm going to use a pattern designed by may friend Mary that I've made several times. I have the focus/theme fabric for both, so need to buy the co-ordinating fabrics to go with them. 
7. Birdhouse Cabinet & Table - This is a tole painting project. It's a shaker style table and CD cabinet that are years overdue for finishing.
8. Cross Winds - At last years fall quilt retreat, I participated in a fabric swap of red and turquoise strips. I have all of my background fabric cut into strips as well, so I'm ready to start making blocks. 
9. Rob's Quilt - I had Rob's beer t-shirt quilt on my list last year, and I did make progress. I need to finish applying fusible, and then start thinking about design. 
10. Machine Quilting Practice Panels - I received a DVD and printed panels a few years ago as a gift. So I need to make time to actually use them and get some machine quilting practice in!
11. Monarch Paper Piecing - I have a few sections of this wall hanging complete, so now I need to continue the effort.
12. Southwest Quilt - This was on my list last year, and I am ready to start assembling blocks.

And if I finish one of the projects above before it comes up in the rotation, I will choose something from this list of alternate projects:

1. Christmas Quilt - Also on my list last year, my jelly roll strips are cut and ready to start sewing blocks.
2. Colored Happy - This is a completed quilt top. I have the backing fabric, so I need to cut that to size and pin baste.
3. Marcie's Maze - This is another completed quilt top. I first need to decide if I am going to fix a mistake that I made, and then it will be ready to be pin basted.