More time?

My twin blogger, also a Megan, (also a librarian, and also a quilter!) asked today on her blog what her readers would do with more time.

So...

With an extra 60 minutes today, I would:

Sew. I've got 2 rows of blocks finished and trimmed down and up on my design wall for my Urban Home Goods Swap (Round 2), and I'd love to get another row or two done. (I am a sloooow sewist.)

or Read. I'm currently reading Alison Weir's "Innocent Traitor", a novel about Lady Jane Grey. I'm a Tudor fanatic, and biographer Weir writes killer historical fiction.


If the power was out at the library today (it has happened to us 3 times in the nearly 9 years I've been here...), I would:

Go and pick up my co-op box early, instead of driving like a madwoman after work to pick up my share before they close at 6.

Go to the supermarket to pick up more canning jars.

Take all those yummy veggies home and do some canning.

Finish sewing the top of my project for the Urban Home Goods swap.

Read my book!


If there was a library strike (actually, we're forbidden to strike, but we do have the option of picketing in our off-hours, but I'll roll with it...) I would:

Finish up my swap and bee projects, so I'd be caught up for September.

Get caught up on my sleep!!

Clean. Like, a big clean. Windows and all. *shudder*

Go out with my husband on his day off, maybe for Indian food and a matinee. (We are almost never off on the same day. Ever.)

Work on a quilt project that will stay with us!!


If I were granted a year's paid leave of absence right now, I would:

Bust through my stack of UFOs and try and get them all done. *falls down and howls laughing*

Ahem. Sorry.

Get caught up on my sleep, my reading, and my movie watching.

Write the book I've had partly finished for the last two years.

Spend more quality time with my family.

Probably learn to bake. I can cook, but my baking amounts to box mixes and quick breads.

Get the house organized. We both tend to be clutter-y people, so cutting that back would be nice.



So? What would YOU do with X amount of extra time?? Tell me in a comment, or go blog about it and link it back here!

As promised, the wanna-do list!

Ok, in my last post, I went over my list of works in progress. *shudder* Did it make you feel a little better about your own list? Did you actually go and count yours? It's a little scary, but it actually made me feel a lot more organized. Now, on to the list of things I want to work on in the future...


1) HR focus square in a square block quilt.

2) FMF quilt. Pattern?

3) Strips and bricks. I've seen Rita make two of these now, and Malka is about to re-release the pattern on her blog. I really, really want to make one of these. It's really rare that I stick with a pattern, or that I covet one like this.

4) Maverick stars. You've seen them everywhere. I know I have. They look like a really fun way to use up scraps and wee pieces. Perhaps some of my FMF will wind up in this quilt?

5) Buzz saw blocks. I actually have my solid background for this, and some squares cut for it. I made one for Kat in The Beehive this past spring, and while each large block is very labor intensive, I'm delighted at the prospect of making a big scrappy quilt of these blocks. This will likely find itself to be a long-term WiP. We'll see.

6) Xmas lights. I have a couple of charm packs of Lumiere de Noel by French General (who I love, btw), and an idea for my own pattern. We'll see what happens with this one...

7) Audrie's scrappy quilt-along. This is due to start any day now, and I'm very excited, but I will likely wind up playing catch-up after the fact. Need to get a few other things knocked out first!

8) A scrappy string quilt. I've actually started sorting through my scraps and putting aside the strings in anticipation. Maybe this will help me put a dent in my scraps!?

9) Another coin quilt. I loved Something Blue, and I know it's well loved by its owners. But I know I'd really love one like it for me, too!

10) Hope Valley, New Day varied squares. I've set aside my New Day half-yard cuts and some corresponding solids for this one. It requires a lot of quality time with my design wall, so I'll need to time this accordingly...

11) Kaffe Stripes. I have a small stash of Kaffe Fasset woven stripe fabrics in some relatively muted colors. Not entirely sure I know what I want to do with them yet.

12) Clara's Geese. I won a FQ bundle of French General's Rounneries fabric last fall, and think I'll save it to make a Wild Geese quilt, like the one Anita is doing in her quilt-along. (As for the name, Rounneries is a palette of grays, beiges, and creams with some gorgeous reds. I plan on using the reds to make the geese crosses in the middle of the blocks. Red Cross = Clara Barton = Clara's Geese. See, logical. :D )

13) Vintage ZigZag quilt. I won a great big stack of 6" squares, all from different vintage sheets, from Evelyn during the Sew Mama Sew giveaway extravaganza. I know I want to use them to make a scrappy zig-zag quilt.

14) LOVE. Another FQ bundle waiting to be made into a quilt. I created a pattern for it already. Now it's just a matter of taking the time to make it.

15) ORBC's hexagon quilt-along, with Julie. I wanted to do it while she was running it, but it just didn't happen that way. I've often said that quilt-alongs should be called "hurry up and finish it months after the fact...".

16) Scrap quilts 1-3. I plan on using a couple of patterns/tutorials from Rita and Elizabeth, two of my inspiration quilters.

What do you think? Should keep me busy for a couple of years, no? And that's if I manage to move faster than a tortoise, which has been my recent state of affairs!

Tell me--what do YOU want to work on next? Do you keep a list?

Think you've got WiPs?

This post is as much to get my head around what I have started and what I would like to work on in the future. I sat down the other day and started making a list of works in progress and quilts that I would like to make in the future. The list is almost enough to overwhelm me. But not quite! My goal, if I really have one, is to get a stack of tops done and ready for basting and quilting, whether that be on my machine or at the long-armer's. I have a number of quilts that are literally sitting around as a stack of blocks to be put together, or are partially finished and awaiting borders (like the one in my last post). Some of the things I haven't started yet are things that I have a stack of fabric set aside for (like my FMF stash and also my stash of HR scraps).

In any case, here's the list of getting real...



Basted quilts that need quilting and binding:

1) Pink strips baby quilt.

2) Quilts for Kids charity quilt.



Works I have started and need to finish:

1) Handpieced Xmas stars. If I choose to make this a smaller quilt, or a different sashing option (leaning toward the latter), I should be able to have this together in a matter of a weekend. Must double check the number of blocks I have finished--think I might have one or two left to round it out.

2) Amanda Jean's quilt-along. I'm currently about 3 weeks behind. It will realistically take me about a week's worth of not-working time to push through and get caught up/finished with the top. I still haven't figured out whether I'll quilt this myself or not.

3) Simple Abundance quilt, which you saw in the previous post. I have the last of the fabric I'll need on it's way, so I could quite possibly finish this top this weekend.

4) The Madman's quilt. I've got about 8 blocks done, unsashed. I'll need at least double that. I have all the fabric set aside for it, so it is just a matter of sitting down and doing it.

5) Wonky log cabins. I started this back with John's round of the ORBC quilt-along (#3? Good lord...). Again, I think I have a good 10-12 blocks done, so I just need to make a few more and sash them, and that's another top down. An evening's work, maybe 2.

6) Blue and brown baby quilt. This needs 3 more blocks and a border and it's done. It currently sits at 6 blocks and a pile of scraps. (This one has actually been really hard to pick up and work on--the couple who were the intended recipients lost their little boy at 4 months into the pregnancy. I need to finish it, but I believe I'll likely donate it as a charity quilt.)

7) Asian 9-patch. This started out as a quilt along, and wound up being a little pile of blocks, not enough for the intended project. I'm thinking of doing some off-set blocks with the blocks I have finished and just get it done, about throw-size.

Yes, there's more...

8) Civil War repro log cabins. Fabric is cut and set aside.

9) Civil War repro flying geese. Fabric is cut and set aside.

10) 1974 Jelly roll sampler.

11) Soiree Jelly roll sampler.

12) 2" paper pieced hexagon quilt. This is my current hand-piecing project. I have about 200 of the 350 basted, and about 50 of those sewn together. This is ongoing, and I don't expect the top to be done before Xmas. But that's ok.


Ok, now the gotta-do list is out of the way, so next up, my "wanna-do" list!