Organizing for Finishing

If you're joining me in finishing up some of your unfinished projects, here are a few suggestions. We'll be starting this personal challenge in my Facebook group in June 2023: 

            If you can find time, organize your sewing space a little before you start. For me, getting rid of clutter makes it easier to focus on a new (or, in this case, old) project. Clear off that sewing table to make sure you have space to sew. Do the same with your cutting table. Fold up the fabric and put things away. You might actually find something you've been looking for in the process LOL.

                         

I have a small sewing space so I have to organize to make it work.

Scraps organized by color . . . .

                   

          Choose a project to finish. Maybe start with something that's not too overwhelming. Then, in the coming weeks, you may find you're motivated to work on finishing another one. Focus on one at a time to get the ball rolling.

            If you've been away from your sewing machine for awhile, maybe clean the lint out of the bobbin area and oil it if necessary. Change the needle.

        Always misplacing your scissors, seam ripper, pins, needles, rulers? Find an organizer case, box or basket to keep them in and use it after each sewing session.

Make a list of what you need to do to finish this particular project. Break it down into steps. When I work on quilts on a deadline, I always keep a little notebook listing the specific parts of each quilt I am making. For example:   

• 1.  Piece the blocks
• 2.  Sew the blocks together
• 3.  Add borders, make the top
• 4.  Quilt the top, and
• 5.  Add binding

I check or cross off each part as I finish. If you keep track of each step and break it down into smaller steps it may not be quite so overwhelming. See if this works for you. Organizing is key for me!

I like project boxes for my larger unfinished quilts.

This little hexagon quilt that was started last year just needs some hand quilting and a binding. It'll be my first project I hope to get finished. 

Finishing Up Those Quilts

Do you have trouble finishing things? Is there a pile up of unfinished quilt tops or blocks in your sewing room? Join the club.  

Lately, I seem to be having a more difficult time than usual finishing up some quilts and other projects I've started. Then, just yesterday I read something (not necessarily about sewing or quilting but appropriate) about how just getting in the room can motivate you. I've been avoiding my room because it's messy with tons of projects in all stages on "incompletion". . . .  and it drives me crazy that I keep starting new stuff. So I went in there and spent a few minutes and something happened. I got motivated to organize some things. Then, that led me to think about the piles of blocks that needed to be sewn together. I made myself a promise to just sit in there this week, without a plan. See what transpires. 

I posed this idea to my Facebook group. In the coming weeks and months, some of us in my Facebook group are going to be working on finishing up a few incomplete projects we have started but set aside. Join us if you need encouragement or motivation to get back to a quilt you started but never finished. No need to join in if you're an on-track quilter who always finishes whatever they begin before moving on to something else. Sigh - if only . . . . I'm terribly guilty of putting things aside when something new inspires me. I'm aiming for one hour in my sewing room every day, or at least several times a week. Believe me, this has been difficult lately for one reason or another.  

                                 

These are some Peony Star blocks I started for a second Peony Star quilt (from my old book Remembering Adelia). I pulled them out and decided I would really like to finish a few more. 

Sometimes airing something in a group and committing to working on it again can be motivating. My FB group is full of gentle encouragers. We're going to be starting this in June, showing a project that we would like to finish - a recent one (large or small) or maybe one we started years ago but set aside for some reason or another and yet it would be oh so lovely if we actually had some motivation to finish it. And then we'll commit to working on it regularly over the next few weeks or months. No pressure, no shaming. Life happens. But sometimes taking something out and airing it before others is all it takes to become motivated to work on it again. Maybe all your project needs is a binding or - maybe some of the blocks are made and you really want to make more. Maybe someone in the group is working on the same Kathy Tracy project and you can encourage each other.

These are such fun blocks to make. Lord knows why I need another Peony quilt, but we'll see what happens.

Someone in the group posted something recently that reminded me that when we decided to challenge ourselves to work on some UFOs in the old Yahoo group, a bunch of us wanted to finish our Dear Jane quilts. And it actually worked - some got the motivation to finish it and some of us became motivated to at least head in that direction a little more (no names here LOL).

I know, I know - it's like, Finish it already!! But when I post pictures, I get motivated. So maybe it will get closer to being done if I commit to spend an hour on it every now and then.

I get sidetracked quite a bit with new ideas or new fabric I want to use. At times, I look at some of my unfinished projects and for some of them think - maybe it's not really worth the effort. Maybe the colors or fabrics are wrong or I never really liked the pattern. Maybe I don't really need another little quilt -Shockers! LOL.

Or maybe I did it for a group sew along and others liked it and became motivated to finish. But for some reason I got sidetracked and never did. That cute little star quilt will definitely be on the list.

Old projects that are half started can sometimes be bad energy for us and just a lot of extra baggage carried around in our heads. Getting rid of things you feel "pressured" to finish is somehow liberating. And getting past it can free you up to work on something else instead of hanging onto it.

We're planning on starting this in June so I'll have to sit down in the room, pull some UFOs and mull it all over. My motivation for finishing projects can get a little off track. By tomorrow, it may not even be the Peony blocks I plan to work on. Join us in the FB group if you're so inclined and see what happens. I'll keep you posted if I make any progress.

Reproduction Fabric Panels

Do any of you own pre-printed fabric panels? These are also called "cheater cloth" fabrics and used to be very popular years ago. It seemed that just about every reproduction fabric designer had one or two in their fabric lines. If you collect reproduction fabrics like I do they're really fun and a welcome addition to your fabric collection. If you can find them anymore. 

The cheater cloth nickname was originally given around 1910 because it was an easy way to "cheat" and make a quilt without doing any piecing. Here are some of the panels in my collection. I only have a few, mostly ones designed by Judie Rothermel and a smaller piece of one designed by Jo Morton. 

Years ago, when I first started quilting, I used to practice my hand quilting on these. Treated them as a finished quilt top, layered with batting and backing and just followed the lines to do some hand quilting. Then sewed on a binding.

                                                                                                  

This picture below is of a tumbling blocks fabric panel that a friend of mine had machine quilted - she added borders and turned it into a pretty lap quilt that looks antique. Quick and easy.

I'll tell you, it doesn't look that much different from this little tumbling blocks quilt I pieced all by hand from scraps. You probably know how long that took. I've always wanted a larger one so maybe someday I'll use my panel (above) and do the same thing.

Most of the ones I've shown here are pretty old and hard to find but I know fabric companies still make these. I saw that Moda came out with one by Betsy Chutchian recently. Mary Ann's Gift??  And I think I saw one by Julie Hendrickson too. If you can't find any new ones, try Etsy or eBay. You might get lucky. 

*  *  *

We had a small amount of snow here yesterday but the sun is out today and I'm almost certain spring is coming . . . . It has to, right??

                            

Where's Spring?

We've had so much rain and cold weather here in the Chicago area lately. Spring just does not want to get here!  I know I say this every year. But this year . . .  it's all been a little too much to take at times. Maybe Mother Nature is waiting to see just how much we can take and how long we can go on complaining about the weather.

                                 

No flowers. Just puddles and mud.

If you're like me and live in an area that has seen way too much bleakness and cold this year, getting impatient for a true springtime to arrive, here's a free pattern for a cute little flower quilt that may uplift your spirits and keep you busy. I designed it years ago for my old Yahoo group and thought I'd resurrect it. I'm hoping that as soon as I finish writing this blog post the sun will miraculously come out and we'll be there already.

This little project is so cute and it's very easy to put together. I played around and made a sample block yesterday.  Just make Snowball blocks and use a different color for one square for the flower center when you put 4 blocks together. Download the pattern here and you'll see directions for making the blocks in two sizes.

To make the block, mark diagonal lines onto the small squares and sew to the corners of the larger square. Add one square in a different color for the center.

Flip and press the corners open. Using a little dab of water along the seam while pressing will help make it lie flat. 

Trim the seams to 1/4".

Make four of these units, arrange as shown and sew them together with the contrasting pieces meeting in the center.

The pattern gives you directions for two different sizes. I made the 6" blocks a few years ago and this time went smaller and made 4" ones.

Such a cute little flower, isn't it?  

You can add a button. Or a stem and leaves by appliquing  them onto a plain block. Then fill your house and thoughts with flower blocks and quilts and maybe spring will arrive here for those of us in the midwest. I'll keep wishing and hoping . . . .

Display Your Little Quilts

I'm often asked -  what do you do with all your small quilts? Many of us hang these on a wall or place them on a table. 

                              

You can make a whole wall of quilts if you have more than a few. 

 

Try some rolled up in a basket. Then bring the basket indoors LOL. 

Display them on a bench.  Oops, this one's a larger "small" quilt! More like wall hanging size.

Small quilts can personalize a room and add color, texture and creativity to a space. Some quilters change them out with the seasons. I always have a few small quilts out and displayed around the house.

                                     

I have a few favorites that just brighten up my home so I occasionally rotate them in different rooms and settings.

                                  

One of the fun things about making small quilts is that they're easy to display around the house in so many different ways. Quilts really add something to a room whether they're dressing up a bed, draped over a sofa or hanging on a wall in an entryway. 

                                                                           

Small or large, I think that quilts make a home a home. Seeing a quilt displayed ini someone's home conveys a feeling of warmth to me. Don't just make the quilts and put them in a drawer or closet. Bring them out and display them so you and others can enjoy them.