June Participant Feature – A Lovely Year of Finishes

One of the best parts of doing A Lovely Year of Finishes has been meeting and getting to know so many incredibly talented quilters. Many of whom I feel blessed to now call my friends.  Today we are introducing you to yet another amazingly talented quilter with our participant feature.

Blog Name: The Confused Quilter

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/210543351307643908/

Name you’re known by throughout quilting world: Staci aka The Confused Quilter

What’s your ALYoF goal this month? (please include a picture we can share!)

 My current goal is a Christmas wall hanging. It’s a 3 year old UFO. All I needed to do is repair a couple blocks, cut sashing and borders and whip it all together– Easy, peasy, right? Nope! When I started adding the horizontal sashing I discovered nothing would fit together correctly. After a lot of time with my ruler, I’ve determined that there is actually a mistake in the paper foundation patterns so 6 of the 9 blocks are 1/2 to wide. After a lot of debate, I think the answer is to re-make the 3 blocks that are actually correct to the same size as the wider blocks. First time I’ve ever purposely made something wrong in order for it to come right in the end! This has been frustrating, but I like the little quilt enough to save it.

 My June Project

My June project on the design wall.  This is the point where I realized something was wrong.  All the single tree blocks are 1/2 inch smaller than the rest. 

 

How do you approach your sewing goals?

Deadline and No Deadline! LOL! Beyond that, it comes down to what captures my imagination. If I’m not excited about something it feels like a chore and who wants quilting to be a chore?? Quilting should always be a joy—even when it’s making you nuts! =)

How do you organize/prioritize your projects?

I LOVE Lists! 2014 began with 3 big lists: UFO’s – currently 15; Planned Projects with fabric purchased – currently 32; and The Someday List, which gets longer every week! I have the attention span of a gnat so I usually have about 4 things going on: a UFO, a New Project, a Long Term Project (currently City Sampler) and Bee & Swap. I’m striving to stick to my plan so I’m not creating new UFO’s, but sometimes it’s tough!

What is your current favorite project that you are working on? Will you share pictures with us?

City Sampler! This quilt is just a joy! My fabric are really bold and bright, plus the blocks are so fast & fun each one feels like a treat. My daughter is making this quilt, too, and we have so much fun working on it together. I have a group of IRL and online friends who are all making this quilt this year, so we are sharing the experience through a little flickr group. So far I’ve made 23 blocks and have another dozen cut out and ready to stitch.

Current Project: City Sampler, the first 23 blocks.

 

City Sampler Project Box.  Baggies with pieces ready to sew!  The beautiful solid blocks in the box belong to my lovely daughter.

 

What is your dream project to work on?

Right now, it’s Elizabeth Hartman’s Aviatrix quilt! I love that! I have bought the fabric the same day the pattern was released, but haven’t worked up the courage to do the cutting yet. It’s a LOT of cutting, but I know it will be worth it!

What is your favorite time of day to sew?

Anytime! Morning, afternoon or even the middle of the night! Whenever I can squeeze it in, even if it’s 15 or 20 minutes. I’m lucky enough to have a little sewing room, so it’s easy to slip in there and work a little while whenever I get the chance.

What is your favorite quilting/sewing accessory?

Rulers & templates.  I love them!  I have lots of them, and seem to always be bringing home more.  

Just for fun: Large rulers hang behind my sewing room door. Small rulers and templates have a drawer in my cutting table.

 

What is your number one quilting/sewing goal for 2014?

Back in January when bloggers were all choosing words for the year, I decided on a phrase: DON’T GO CRAZY!

For me that means three things: 

1. Don’t take on too many projects at once. 

2. Don’t expect 100% perfection every time. 

3. Accept that sometimes the project should just go in the rubbish bin to free up time and energy for something that is better.  

Adopting my little phrase has helped me enjoy the journey so much more!
What is one technique you really want to learn?

Curved Piecing and Needle Turn Appliqué. I’ve done a little bit of both, but would like to learn more and improve.  

 

Thank you so much Staci for joining Shanna and I today! We loved having you and getting to know you just a little bit better!!!

Good luck everyone on your June Goals! Keep on Chugging!