FWQAL – Status & Plan

I've been participating in the Flickr FWQAL in fits and starts -- I joined in a bit late, came charging out of the gate for my first 30 or so blocks, and then have been producing blocks, shall we say, intermittently since then. Last weekend, I made another block (#59 - Night & Day), photographed some others I'd made in the past few months but never posted, and made a mosaic of the 64 I had completed:

FWQAL: 64 Block Mosaic

Now, I never intended to do all of them; there were some that were practically duplicates, some that seemed more trouble than they were worth, and one that looked too much like a swastika for my taste, but I still didn't feel like I'd made "enough". So, I was talking this over with my therapist, and I actually hit on what feels like a good idea: however many more I get done by the end of this year (2013) is how many are going into the quilt. My general target is 1-2 a week, which would put the block count in the range of 80-100, and I'm planning to set them in a Garden Maze setting, so that, plus borders, should be plenty big enough.
I'm now up to 67, including the one I made last Friday:

FWQAL #059 - Night and Day

FWQAL #074 - Ribbons

FWQAL #056 - Maple Leaf

I feel like I've been working on these forever, so it's comforting to know that there's an end in sight.

FNSI - FWQAL - OMGWTFBBQ

FWQAL #059 - Night and Day, a photo by funkysmama on Flickr.

Oy, this block was a pain! I actually tried making it before by cutting out the pieces using the provided templates, then paper-piecing, and I just couldn't make it work.

This time, I started with the big triangles, then used oversized scraps for the others, which worked, but required a lot of trimming to be done.

While I was working on it, I kept asking myself whether I shouldn't have just put it in the FWQAL "skip" category, but once I finally finished it up, I was glad I did it. It's such a great graphic block.

See what other folks got up to on their Friday Night on Flickr!

FWQAL #080 - Single Wedding Star

Hey, just a quick post to show off the FWQAL block I made last night:


FWQAL #080 - Single Wedding Star

ScrapHappy Saturday!

So, I haven't blogged in million billion years (blame Pinterest).  Anyway, I did finally step away from the virtual and towards the concrete, if only for a few hours, in order to make these blocks:

I'll see if I can get myself to sew/blog some more soon. Thanks for stopping by!

Be sure to stop by Angela's page to see what other folks have done with their teal scraps this week.

FNSI / Think Pink!

Decided to knock off two birds on Friday--1 for just doing Friday Night Sew In, and 1 for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge's final pink Saturday.

Before I could do anything, though, I had to clean up the pile of miscellaneous junk that had accumulated by my sewing area (right by the front door, unfortunately):



I didn't get an "after" photo, so you'll just have to trust that it was improved enough for me to actually work there.

First up was a partially done Farmer's Wife block, #50 Honey's Choice.  I'd gotten the sub-units done (with some wrassling), but hadn't put them all together yet.  This was also the first 5-patch block that I made using my new Marti Michell templates, which worked pretty well.

 

I'm not entirely crazy about the block--not enough contrast, and the colors aren't my favorites, but hey, it's done!

Next up: Disappearing 16 Patch in pink.  This month's challenge had suggested sticking to hot pinks, but I didn't have that much selection, so I went with the pinks I had.

First I laid them out:


Then I moved them around:


Then I told my inner perfectionist that it's a scrap block, so quit fussing & start sewing!  First rows of 4, then all together into a 16-patch, and then cut on the diagonal.




Walla!  Tucked them into the folder with the previously made orange, purple, and blue triangles and patted myself on the back.

I then spent about 15 minutes practicing free-motion quilting--just parallel-ish straight lines, noodled around with an idea for an AAQI quilt, and called it a night.

So that's my first sewing of 2013, and I say yay! In celebration, allow me to share the "Think Pink!" number from Funny Face:

DaGMT 2013 Pledge

Happy 2013, everyone!

I haven't been doing much sewing lately, so my UFO Brain Dump is pretty much unchanged.  In an effort to continue making progress on this, I'm eschewing all swaps, bees, and lottos for the time being, but I am joining Quilting Hottie Haven's Drop and Give Me Twenty! challenge.

No, I will NOT be doing any pushups!  Rather, for the month of February, I'm committing to quilt at least 20 minutes a day, every day.   This is organized by Beth, on her "fun" blog, and there are link-ups and prizes and a flickr group and whatnot and it's open to all, so join in! 

Herein is my DaGMT¹ Commitment:

I, Recovering Perfectionist (aka Funky²'s Mama, aka Jennifer), being of iffy mind and don't-even-ask! body, do solemnly vow to sew (or quilt or iron or cut) for at least twenty (20) minutes each day in the month of February 2013.  I do not set any specific goals³, but my hope is to make noticeable progress on one or more of my many UFOs, with preference given to finishing existing projects.  (I also vow that Beth Helfter is brilliant for coming up with this concept and inspiring me to join.) 

This may (or may not) also mean that I'll be posting more on this here blog.  I also may be doing a 2012 wrap-up post and some more detailed descriptions of the UFOs, but we'll have to see.

¹ Is anyone else hearing "Dang Gummit" when they read the acronym, like we've fallen into a Li'l Abner comic strip?
² Rest her furry little soul!
³ I have enough of those at work.