Good Intentions

     This isn't the first new year I've said I don't make resolutions. I'm weak, I fall toward the temptation, not away from it. Some people rename resolutions to say "goals" or "intentions." Well, that doesn't always work for me (us) either.  We, PH and I, can plan, put something on the calendar and be walking out the door or sometimes even in the car on the way to doing something when the phone will ring with a different option or request or even, as we've done many times, be on our way to one place and decided something else sounds better and off we go.  We're lucky, we're free to do that. It's all good, keeps us on our toes and flexible, but oh, please don't make that mean we have to be accountable for every detoured plan.  So, a goal or intention or resolution has very little staying power in this household. 

     Recently I was reading some posts on the Facebook site called Celebrate Hand Quilting, about a woman wringing her hands over all the unfinished projects she has stashed away.  Her  very elderly mother suggested that for every new project she starts, she finish one of the ones stashed away.  I thought that was a very good idea and for you machine  people, this could be a very productive thing to do.  For us hand quilters it means putting a new project on a back burner possibly for a long time.  But oh, the joy of putting in that last stitch on the binding!  Chookyblue has made a good start on some of her unfinished projects, she is truly on a roll!

    This morning I decided to pull out some of my UFOs and assess. How many are there and is it possible to finish some this year?

     I've showed some of these before but this is a different post, a different year and different subject. Bear with me.    

This was on the top of the pile.  Sally did the piecing of these littles though I took some of her littles and made them biggers for the checks.  One day I just sat down at the machine (horrors!) and put it together.  It's going to be finished.  Soon.  While I don't officially name my quilts (nor sign them) I do refer to them and I call this one "Sally" because she did all the hard stuff.

 I want to at least get this one layered and pinned and have it as an option for taking to a retreat. If I get it layered and pinned it stands a chance.  I bought this at a garage sale and do love it. Will it be finished this year?  Maybe.

    This is what I thought I was going to do today. But again, something different came up.  SIL forgot to cook the crab legs last night (NYEve) so we are going back there today to have them for lunch while PH watches football there.  I won't be finishing this one while watching season 8 of Doc Martin. See what I mean? We planned and now it's different.  But a good different.
      I'm within one row, the right row, of finishing this.  It's a new baby gift for a new momma and daddy who tried very, very hard to have their little Sammy and we've known momma since she was 3 years old. It was one of those fabric books that I like to cut to piece for a quilt. 

 This is the back.  There's a reason Sammy is getting The Poky Little Puppy.  We have stories about his momma.

Now, in my basket, the one that is packed and ready to walk out the door at all times are a couple of projects.

 This was going to be a whole quilt but will now be a four panel wall hanging because I'm tired of looking at it, even though I LOVE it.   I take this with me when I go to my twice a month quilty group and sometimes actually work on it while I'm there.  Last time I had a bit of a panic attack because while I have three of these done, I needed to cut the pieces for the fourth square and realized I used some of the fabric that's in the vases in the dresden plate quilt I did.  Oh, man, do I have any left???  I could NOT get home fast enough to check.  And really, the sigh of relief when I found enough for the last vase was loud.

 I'm using mainly my Provence fabrics for this and I do love it and can't wait to hang it when it's finished and I have just the place ready for it.

 It's from this book.  And I know I will never, in my lifetime, finish the whole quilt. But will at least the panels be finished this year.  Good chances. Finish the quilting on this?  Hmmm....wishful.

 These are also in the basket, which explains why I sometimes work on the Provence squares.  This one I know I've showed before so just scroll down.

 These images are pages from Lois Ehlert's books.  I love, love, love her books for little ones and if you have younger grands then you can't go wrong putting one of her graphically strong books in their hands. 

 The pieces for Leaf Man are cut and ready. 

 Cat is almost finished, just need to stitch his legs down. Oh, and his teeth.

 Currently working on the squirrel in her book Nuts to You!   The squares are all true to size from the page of the book so they are all different sizes.  I'll deal with that later with sashing. The fabrics are from my stash but as close to the original image as possible.  You can see that in the Boo to You black cat and Snowballs.  Will it be finished this year?  Probably not.  I do need to do more stitching than talking with this group but there are also a lot of pics from Lois Ehlert's books I want to get to. 

And, of course, the crows.  Layered, pinned and destined for the March retreat weekend. Finished this year?  Tall order but if I stick to it, very possible.  I do hope so.

So, that's what's not finished and you might think it's a lot and you might compare it to your own piles and think it's a cinch.  But remember, I work by hand and there is always the possibility something else will come along that sounds better.

Happy New Year!