Friday, August 23, 2013

The Season of Small Projects

What's next?
Which project do I want to start on now that the deadline quilts are done?
The possibilities are endless.
I have a few large baskets packed with projects all ready to go and a LONG list.
Yes I keep a list.
I can't live without my lists! My sisters call me the List Queen.

There are a bunch of full sized quilts on my list for sure but there are also a bunch of smaller projects that wouldn't take as much time to complete. Hmmmm. The possibility to complete 2-3 smaller items in the same amount of time that a bigger one would take.
I like that idea at the moment.

So I sorted out all of my smaller projects and from now until the end of September I'm calling this

The Season of Small Projects.

It will be all about getting some of these actually crossed of my list.
Here is the line up of choices that I have.

This is the set of panels and coordinates that I picked up during the local shop hop in the spring. They will be small wall hangings and will be quick to finish. Deciding how to quilt them will likely take longer than actually piecing the tops.
Besides I LOVE Halloween and don't have nearly enough decorations for that holiday.
This will be another Halloween wall hanging but this is a kit I bought from Michele at Quilt Kit Market when she had her going out of business sale. If you didn't already know, I'm happy to report that she recently reopened her shop and I know that there will be plenty of goodies to tempt me and eventually make their way into my home. She has some great items in her Clearance section. You should go and take a look.
The Sausalito bag pattern and the gorgeous fabrics were purchased during the NJ Shop hop last year from Olde City Quilts and I'm dying to see how this will look all done. I absolutely love the fabrics on both ends of the pile.
My Posh Pumpkins by Sandy Gervais panels and yardage arrived recently and these will become place mats. Another project that will finish quickly for sure and since the fall season is coming, I'd certainly like to have them on my table this year.
This is another panel and a little yardage I got during the local shop hop, found at Pumpkin Patch Quilts in Lee, Mass. It is from the line of Heavenly Pixies by Michael Miller. The shop had made it into a wall hanging and I'm going to do the same but in a different format. I'm still working on that plan and I need to get the rest of the yardage that I'll need before it disappears.
This one is another kit I bought from Quilt Kit Market during her blow out sale. I love its simplicity and I know exactly where it will hang this holiday season.
The 1st time I saw the insanely crazy designs by Loralie Designs, I was totally smitten. They are beyond fun! My sister Tina is smitten too. I found this Sew Creative panel and coordinating yardage also during the spring shop hop at Foofisque Quilting Emporium in Chatham, NY. I bought Tina a set too. It has take me this long to decide what to do with this panel but it is another project with a plan in the works and additional yardage purchases needed to make this one a reality.
As you can tell by now, I tend to buy smaller projects during shop hops. This table runner one is from The Village Quilter in Mount Holly, NJ acquired during last year's hop. It came as a complete kit including the batting and the backing. It was a real bargain so I snatched it up fast.
I saw a sample of this "Just Right" bag at the local-ish shop where I took that Free Motion Quilting class in the spring but they were all out of the pattern. I did find it at another LQS soon after and I did buy fabrics specifically for it but since then I've confiscated those fabrics for a different project and I will be substituting these Terrain fabrics instead. I think I like these fabrics for this better anyway.
Of course there is the recently won from Bea and Connecting Threads Holiday Elegance strips project that is now added to the list.
And last but certainly not least is the Regal Medallion wall hanging that I fell in love with at the shop in PA (sorry I don't remember the name at the moment) where I finally met in person my friend Ann during my road trip to pick up my new-to-me long arm machine Penelope. This is the shop's sample.
I couldn't take my eyes off of it and although I am not a fan of curves I just had to have it. I took a long time picking out the right fabrics for my version. Once it is complete it will look absolutely perfect in my main floor bathroom.
Of course since this one is likely the hardest of the entire group, it certainly won't be the 1st one that I tackle but hopefully it will get completed eventually. The empty wall in that room is waiting.

Yes this is a bit of a list of smaller projects but I know if I concentrate on them, I can actually get them out of the baskets and done. Some of them that is but probably not all of them. That will feel really good. You know that there are definitely a few big quilts in the "soon to be made" pile but I'm going to resist starting one of those until at least the end of Sept. One will be a Christmas gift and depending on how I do with this goal, I'll end up starting that one once Oct comes around.

What are your plans for the next month or so?

9 of you added your own colorful comments:

beaquilter said...

uhhhh yummy projects! I WANT that medallion, that looks SEW cool....
I just keep lists for quilting, I NEED to be more organized with other stuff, like chores etc. Today I need to clean house and make a cake and pizza dough later for the BIG birthday party/sleepover..... I do like small projects for quilting and often use one as leader and ender while working on another one, sometimes I have 3 projects working like that all in the same day...

Vroomans' Quilts said...

Some wonderful projects lined up. I like to keep a few small projects in the mix. Sometimes they help with the 'finished' fix while that big project gets plugged away at.

Needled Mom said...

Lots of fun and quick projects for you to be sewing. Have fun.

Anonymous said...

Great projects!!! The fabric for the Sausalito bag is in my stash (along with a few more of the line!). I love it, too. That poppy fabric, and coordinates, are my colors for sure....beautiful! Look forward to great, and numerous (LOL) finishes!!! Hugs.......

Angela Bullard said...

Wow! Even though they're smaller projects there are a lot of them! I need to so something similar (maybe I could clean out some space in my sewing room that way too). I look forward to seeing all of your finishes :)

Diane-crewe said...

can there ever be ENOUGH decorations .. for any season? lol x

Linda said...

Nice list! What great projects you have waiting for you. Love the wallhanging with the pile of gifts wrapped with the ribbon. So cute.

Connie Kresin Campbell said...

You have lots of great projects to work on and they all look so neat! have fun!

sandra said...

Looks like a lot of fun projects I will be looking forward to seeing the end results. You have me thinking maybe that is what I should do. I have some of those projects in drawers to.