I looked back to see if I wrote about my goals for 2017. I couldn't find anything. I did write about the new BOMs that were tempting me. Want an update?
Overbrook Sister Sampler BOM - almost up to date.
Halo Medallion - completed up through month 3.
Down the Rabbit Hole - completed through month 2 but put away (for awhile, maybe forever).
Murder Mystery - I still don't know who dunnit, but I've completed through month 3.
Perpetually Hexie - Haven't even started. But I have all the papers!
Not a great completion rate, but I AM a BEGINNING QUILTER - I love to start projects. I'm at 80% for starting - pretty decent!
So, In an attempt to get some accountability with my goals, I figured I'd let you all know what they are - that way, when you see me you can support (embarrass) me by asking how I'm progressing on whatever project.
So, here they are - my possibly non-realistic 2018 goals.
1. Work on my quilts in accordance with my rotational system - don't skip stuff! Try to get through the entire rotation each month.
2. Post a blog post every other week - unless my friends tell me they want more. I'd also love to see more of your comments on the blog. So, if you've read this far, please send me a comment in the comment box below.
3. Prepare a trunk show and workshop for local/regional guild programs.
4. Publish my pattern for Kansas Goes Modern.
5. Design and make 2 quilts from my 50 Quilts From 50 States series.
That will keep me busy for sure. Perhaps I should do an update several times throughout the year. Oh, and please ask me how I'm progressing when you see me!
Keeping It Curious in 2018!
I would guess that most quilters who have been at it for longer than 2 minutes have at least one Jelly Roll in their stash. For my non-quilting family and friends (Mom), a Jelly Roll is not a tasty, fattening treat, nor is it a rapper from Nashville, but rather a collection of about 40 2.5 inch wide strips, sometimes rolled up and presented as a roll. Fabric company Moda coined the term, so other companies have other cute names - treats, buns, pops, roll ups.
As most of you know, I work at Mea Bernina, a sewing machine and quilting store, teaching machine and quilting classes. What could be more fun, right? So at the beginning of 2016 I started teaching/hosting a club we called the Sassy Strippers - its all about fabric strips and Jelly Rolls.
This was a terrific challenge for me - to come up with different and interesting monthly projects that showcase various techniques, using our own curated jelly rolls, and then teaching the technique to anywhere from 12 to 20 sassy gals. It was soooo much fun!
So we started where every self-respecting quilter would start - with the Jelly Roll Race. Did you know there is more than one? Jenny Doan of Missouri Star Quilt Company made a video tutorial that really popularized the JR Race.
Our Jelly Roll was a specially curated black and white roll, with fabrics from various collections that we had at Mea Bernina. So there is no other Jelly Roll like this available anywhere. We gave each Sassy Stripper a cut of a bright solid so that they could add in squares (JR Race 2) or triangles (JR Race 3) in between the strips. We didn't really race, but some say they have completed it in less that an hour. I should time myself sometime and see - although I'm really not a very speedy sewist.
My intention for Sassy Strippers was to do different projects - not just quilts. So for our second project we featured a wonderfully creative string market bag. Bias strips were double folded and stitched together using the Bernina Binding Attachment. Then the resulting strong, double fold strips were then sewn together at intervals to make a string bag. Terrific! Mea Bernina has kits available to make this cool bag.
But wait, there's more! I really enjoyed coming up with interesting (hopefully) projects every month. I'll write more about the other projects in later posts. If you are interested in joining the Sassy Stripper adventure with me, we will continue it next year (2018) with a bit of a twist. After 20 projects with strips, we are branching out a bit. That's at much as I'll say here, but I promise it'll be fun! So, if you are curious about different techniques, want to get creative ideas with fellow sassy sewists, check out the Mea Bernina Class and Club listing and join us in January.
Keeping Curious!
Overbrook Sister Sampler BOM - almost up to date.
1. Work on my quilts in accordance with my rotational system - don't skip stuff! Try to get through the entire rotation each month.
