#9 another plarn tote, yep!

OK, well I know I must have told you that I have a huge amount of Plarn. I have enough plarn for at least a dozen more bags. But the good news is, I'm no longer collecting plastic bags with which to make more Plarn. I just have to finish the ones I have. So Expect a few more plarn bags before the year is up. I will however try to have something quilty to finish tomorrow. I started working on a quilt top that I've had on my design wall for a while now. If I have the energy I'm going to try to finish it for tomorrow.

I also really have to work on my Grandmother's Flower Garden. I'm not sure if I can get it done in one day. I'll try though. Friday I'll have a whole day. My thumb nail is very short, but it's healed. I have to try!

Talk with you tomorrow,
Cindy K-k
I even finish the rediculous stuff!

Number 8 finished! Whew!

Yeah, for a second or two, (make that an hour or two) today I was afraid I wouldn't get anything done. I couldn't seem to settle on one project. I was so scattered today, I got one thing out and moved it from point A to point B and then it lay for three hours while I went off and did ten other things instead. I thought maybe I could make the plarn for a whole bag AND get the thing crocheted all in one day. But I couldn't. Then I thought, well I could finally get to that one Halloween project that has been on my design wall since, yeah, before Halloween, but all the further I got on that was to pull the two fabrics I needed to make the blocks. Then later I cut the fabric.

Anyway this project that I actually did finish shortly before midnight yesterday was nearly finished, I only needed to applique two of the big leaves on it. I was waiting for a work day to finish this one but I pulled it out today and well, here it is! This is one of the applique blocks that we are doing at Guild. We are working out of a book called Baltimore's Country Cousin. This is one of those blocks. I have been working on Baltimore blocks for six months now and I'm only partly done with my Baltimore Album quilt. OK, there will be more.

I think the best thing for me to do is to make weekly goals. I realize that the week is half way over already but starting tomorrow I'm going to do that. I'm still going to finish a project every day but my weekly goal will be a bigger project to finish. Sometimes I will need to finish parts of it in a day.

So keep track of my progress by watching the new weekly goal side bar.

Keep me honest dear readers!

Cindy K-K
finishing things bit by bit.

Number 7 finished!!!

This is a new design for an organizer that I invented. I will be writing the pattern for it soon and it will be available at Interquilten. It builds on the little plastic baggie organizer that Connie Stevens made for all of us at the last retreat. This one takes the quart sized freezer baggies and six of them are sewn into the quilted shell. It closes with a hair rubber band and a button. The first one I made didn't have handles but I like it better with the handles. The pattern will have both options.

The first one I made about two months ago is holding all of my hand sewing needles, but it would also be good to hold sewing machine accessories, or the things you need for applique, or fishing lures, or anything that needs to stay dry like matches or maps or I don't know. One of my customers at the store came up with about ten different applications for this little organizer. It's just made out of fabric and plastic baggies so it's completely washable. OK, how many advanced orders can I get for the pattern. That would make me finish that project faster!

OK, I gotta go work on something for tomorrow now!

Cindy K-K
finishing more and more.

Number six done

These two blocks, well actually they are 8 blocks sewn together into 4-patches. They are the beginnings of another of my famous Wild Log Cabin bags. I had some fabric left over from the M-go blue bags I made for my mom for Christmas and wanted to make a maize and blue log cabin bag. I got the blocks done today. The next step will be for me to layer and machine quilt them, which I will do at my next Freemo class in February. I love the scrappy look of this bag. The only problem with doing scrappy blocks is that afterward you have to clean up. Anyway, I have to work again tomorrow, so I might only be doing another heart block. (grin)

I also finished an organizer today but I need to find a button to sew on, so maybe I'll finish that project for tomorrow.

Tune in tomorrow to find out!

Cindy K-K
The finisher!

I did finish something today

I worked today at the shop and had an Applique class. I had two beginning applique students and I have an applique heart quilt that I am working on just so that I will always have fodder for beginning applique students. The heart is the perfect form to applique because it has all the shapes that you need to be able to work on, it has straight aways, it has gentle curves, it has an inside point and an outside point. The beginning project is always twelve hearts appliqued in some configuration on the background. So today I pulled out one of my heart blocks for my primary colors quilt and finished it. I hardly think it's worthy of a whole blog but I did finish that one block. I suppose on the days that I work and can't get more done it's better than nothing.

Now here's the thing. If I had the better part of a day to work on applique, I can usually get way more than this done. So If I ever work on this project on a non-work day, then I won't count it unless I get at least four or five blocks done. There are a lot of blocks of varying sizes in this quilt but each one has only one heart appliqued on it.

OK, I guess I'm finished justifying! Number five it is!

Cindy K-K
Finishing little things one day at a time.

Fourth project, Green socks!

Yesterday at the Timber Lanes Christmas Party my friend Rosy was hinting like crazy that she would love to have these socks. I just love the yarn, it's a cotton blend with three shades of very pretty green. Sorry Rosy, it's my favorite color, too. I've been trying to finish this applique for three days now. I guess I'll have to wait until tomorrow and try again. But tonight I have to get ready for some classes on Saturday and again on Monday. Hope the weather is OK to get to Interlochen! We were supposed to have freezing rain today.

Anyway, I'm geeked that this is the fourth day and I've already finished four projects! I am so wondering how long I can keep this up! That's the thing. Maybe I should do a poll or maybe have a little pool. Maybe I'll wait a while and see if I get any interest from readers.

Gotta work tomorrow so I'm hoping I will have time to post.

Cindy K-K
Finishing still!

Third project done, Plarn bag

Here's number three. So far so good. I've made about a dozen of these bags out of "plarn", plastic yarn. It's a pretty labor intensive project. If I were to sell these things I would have to charge about $40 each. Anyone who wants one please feel free to contact me! I used the plastic bags I recieved from Gordon's foods to make this one. And I used bags from Game Stop which are predominantly black to make the top edge looked finished. Check out my other two Blogs to see other bags I've finished like this one.

http://myhaunts.blogspot.com
http://theufoclub.blogspot.com

See you tomorrow! Can't wait to see what I finish!
Cindy K-K
The finisher!

QAC Quilt Finished!

It only took me one day to piece this lovely quilt at a quilt marathon we had earlier this year. My BFF Suzy Bouwsma machine quilted it and gave it back to me to bind. It turned out great! And I finished it today. This is one of many quilts that are being sold on the QAC website to raise funds for woman who have no means to pay for their cancer treatments. Check out the other quilts that are for sale at this site: http://www.quiltersagainstcancer.com/availablequilts.html.

We at Interquilten are proud supporters of this unique organization.

See you tomorrow when it may by socks or it may be blocks, who knows?
Cindy K-K
Gettin her done!

First project done!!!

This is it!! This is the first finished project on this journey. This is called the Wild Log Cabin Tote Bag. I've made a few of these before and I have a few more to make. I am writing the pattern for this one and it will be available at Interquilten within the next few months. Of course if you take the Free Motion quilting class at Interquilten you will get the pattern for this bag because this is the pattern that we use to practice freemo on.

Now that I'm finished with this project I will make strides toward another project. I need to finish an applique block by Saturday, so I'll work on that tonight!

OK, so I really wondered if this was going to work this afternoon as I was doing laundry and worrying over the fact that I was going to have to clean off the cutting table before finishing a project but I think I have a good plan and all I have to do is stick with it. Just don't accept any excuses from me OK? I hope you readers keep me honest! Talk with you tomorrow.

Cindy K-K
Finishing projects one at a time.

Consumate List Maker

Yes I am! I make lists of my lists! I keep lists of everything, especially projects. I have a list of finished projects that I have completed over the last few years. It's in a Black notebook, written in light colored gel pen. I started using this book in 2002 at the bequest of an Internet guild member who suggested that keeping track of the projects that one finishes is sometimes more inspiring than keeping a list of things to do or projects that need to be finished. So My goal for the next 365 days is to write something down in this book nightly. The last thing I finished was on December 11, 2009, it was a gift for my mother for Christmas. Something called a "green bag". It had more to do with it being the type of tote that one uses to get groceries, than the actual color, but as I recall it had a lot of the color green in it as well. I think I have managed to finish a few things since then. I finished two Plarn bags. Plarn is made from plastic bags. Plastic Yarn=Plarn. To see a good video on how to make Plarn go to this website: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdTm2V4ssvY.

So I'll start with that. No I won't count them. But I will record them since I'm recording. I'm starting tomorrow. I thought long and hard and I did not manage to finish anything today. I worked on the green socks, and the black Plarn bag. but didn't manage to finish. So tomorrow I should be primed. I'll finish one of those two things tomorrow and post it on here. What an interesting year this should be.

The quester,
Cindy K-K

A Year of Finishing!

I am a fiber artist and I have too many UnFinished Objects (UFO's) So I decided that in 2010 I was going to finish as many of them as I can. I am going to try to finish a project every day!

I am posting the list in this post and a running tab will be on the side bar so you can keep track of my progress. I will finish something everyday and post photos and explanations on the blog.

So here is, I wrote this earlier. It contains the pledge, the goal, exactly how I'm going to do this and what exactly constitutes a finished project. I am counting parts of projects, they are still major parts, mostly because a lot of these things are really huge projects. I make quilts and I do needle art, I have been focusing on applique lately and these things are not like painting your living room. You can't always finish these projects in one or two days. So I've gotten it down to parts that I may be able to finish in one day. But the point is to finish projects. So therefore I'm going to work on a project daily for several days in a row in hopes of getting it finished. I plan to finish at least one major project per week. I have small projects that I can finish easily in one day while I work on larger longer things. But the goal, the one goal that I wish to really accomplish this year, is to get rid of all of the old projects that are weighing me down so I can go on to exploring new things, new techniques and new ideas.

The main obstacle that I have for this year long project is this. I have a job, I am a teacher of craft classes at Interquilten, a quilt shop in Interlochen Michigan. I also work the shop one day a week. I usually spend my extra time off in trying to develop new projects and classes for the shop. I'm also a writer. I write novels that are totally not related to my Blogging activities.

The fact is that there are a lot of reasons why I need to simplify my life and getting rid of old projects is one way to do just that.

So without further ado, here is the "list" that I wrote earlier, the one that will be posted in the side bar of this Blog.

The year of Finishing projects

2010

Pledge: I will finish one thing daily everyday of this year. One block, one whole portion of a project or one whole project. I will start by making a UFO list and then sorting it into things that can get done on a daily basis.

Further I pledge that when I take up a project I will not put it down until I finish it wholly. Then I will blog daily about the project I finished that day.

Further I will Try to finish at least one major project per week. Working exclusively until it’s finished.

Here is the list as it begins:

1. Applique and other Handwork:
2. Christmas Quilt—lots of appliqué and some more blocks that are pieced.
3. Santa and Reindeer
4. Cookie Jar
5. Row Houses
6. Train
7. Pieced Santa
8. Pieced stockings
9. Noah’s Ark
10. Gingerbread garland
11. Memory—pieced block
12. Pieced pine tree
13. Snow family
14. Hole in the barn door, pieced and appliquéd.
15. Holly wreath.
16. finish top.
17. layer
18. quilt bind
19. Lilac Afghan—
20. First of three panels to embroider.
21. Second of three panels
22. Last of three panels
23. put together
24. Karen’s fan quilt—
25. layer
26. hand quilt
27. bind.
28. Tomato Quilt—four dinner plates to be appliquéd and embroidered.
29. --Tomato soup—FINISHED
30. –Spaghetti—FINISHED
31. Salad with Cherry Tomatoes—FINISHED
32. Pizza-
33. Piece top
34. Layer
35. Machine quilt,
36. bind.
37. Four Borders for NW Winds quilt.—
38. One complete.
39. Second of four
40. Third of four
41. Last of four
42. Attach to quilt and appliqué corner motifs.
43. Layer
44. Hand quilt
45. bind
46. Cinderella Appliqué—
47. Finish top
48. add border
49. layer
50. quilt
51. bind
52. Purple Grapevine quilt—
53. Applique all vines, grapes and leaves.
54. Make pieced blocks to finish top
55. Sew top add borders.
56. Layer
57. Machine quilt
58. Bind.
59. Texas Star—
60. hand pieced finish top.
61. layer
62. hand quilt
63. bind
64. Grandmother’s Flower Garden—
65. finish quilting on border.— DEADLINE: January 4, 2010.
66. Tree Calendar quilt blocks—
67. Jan
68. Feb
69. Mar
70. Apr
71. May
72. Jun
73. July
74. Aug
75. Sept
76. Oct
77. Nov
78. Dec
79. Center
80. Second Appliqué Heart Quilt—
81. 4—12” blocks—4 done—FINISHED.
82. 28—8” blocks—0 done.
83. 20—6” blocks—4 done.—one is corner.
84. 44—4” blocks—6 done.—4 corners.
85. Baltimore Album blocks—
86. --Heart block.—FINISHED
87. --Grapevine Block—FINISHED
88. Celtic Block—Nov--FINISHED.
89. Celtic Cross.
90. --Multicolored flower block—Sept.—Finished!
91. Feather Wreath with inlays—Jan.
92. Laurel leaves block—Dec.
93. Folded fabric flowers—March
94. Lyre Wreath—layered figures—April
95. Rusched roses, split leaves, berries and stuffed grapes—July
96. Buildings, with silk ribbon embellishments—May
97. Shaping and shading with oil pastels—June
98. Beaded embellishments—August.
99. Cut work or Hawaiian style block.—Feb.
100. Sues’ Baltimore projects—
101. Crossed Hearts—FINISHED
102. Four feeding birds
103. drooping daisies
104. garden medallion
105. Bowl of tulips
106. My block, Beloved heart, double heart with reverse appliqué
107. leaves and berries
108. unbroken circle
109. Birds at the fountain
110. Home sweet home
111. fruitful pear tree
112. striped flower basket
113. sunflowers and sweet peas
114. Basket of bluebells
115. summer roses
116. Scottish thistle
117. Quilt Tops that need to finished into quilts:
118. Blue and Red Log Cabin—
119. machine quilt
120. bind.
121. Color wheel quilt—
122. hand quilt
123. bind.
124. Rainbow color wash quilt—
125. layer,
126. quilt,
127. bind.
128. Birthday Blocks #2—
129. Border,
130. layer,
131. quilt,
132. bind.
133. Birthday Blocks #3—
134. Border,
135. layer,
136. quilt,
137. bind.
138. Nick’s Quilt—
139. Layer,
140. quilt,
141. bind.
142. Lion’s Quilt—
143. Finish machine quilting,
144. bind.
145. Flying Geese—
146. layer,
147. quilt,
148. bind.
149. Wedding Ring—
150. Mark top,
151. layer,
152. hand quilt,
153. bind.
154. Roswell Quilt—
155. Layer,
156. quilt,
157. bind.
158. Bear Quilt—
159. Machine quilt,
160. bind.
161. Australian Morning Breaking—
162. layer
163. Machine quilt
164. Bind
165. Karen’s Fans—
166. Layer
167. Hand quilt
168. bind
169. Karen’s School house—
170. Layer
171. Machine quilt
172. bind
173. Kristina’s Pinwheels—
174. Layer
175. Machine quilt
176. bind
177. Friendship star—
178. Layer
179. Machine quilt
180. bind
181. Haunted House quilt—
182. piece sashings,
183. Piece top,
184. add borders,
185. layer
186. machine quilt
187. bind.
188. Cat I Spy—
189. Sew rows into top
190. borders.
191. Layer
192. Machine quilt
193. Bind.
194. Firehouse—
195. Make more tree blocks,
196. piece into top using inchie sashings and cobblestones.
197. Add borders
198. Write the essay about the quilt.
199. Layer
200. Machine quilt
201. Bind
202. Write the essay on the backing fabric.
203. Batik Lady of the Lake—
204. Finish blocks,
205. finish top.
206. Add borders
207. Layer
208. Machine quilt
209. bind
210. Hidden Star—
211. Make blocks
212. Sew into top
213. Add borders
214. Layer
215. Machine quilt
216. Bind
217. Central Park—
218. Make blocks.
219. Sew into top
220. Add borders
221. Layer
222. Machine quilt
223. bind
224. Reef Quilt—
225. Fused appliqué.
226. Add borders
227. Layer
228. Machine quilt
229. bind
230. Landscape quilt—
231. Sashings to fit everything together.
232. Top sewn, with borders
233. Layer
234. Machine quilt
235. bind
236. Cats in the moonlight—
237. borders,
238. layer,
239. quilt,
240. bind.
241. Star Roosting Robin—
242. make more blocks.
243. Do rest of final borders
244. Layer
245. Machine quilt
246. bind
247. Knitting and Crocheting:
248. Knitted Socks:
249. Var green
250. White
251. Gold and white Opal
252. Blue and green var.
253. Blue tweed
254. Harry Potter-Ron
255. Copper tones
256. Lots of scraps
257. Aqua & white Prayer Shawl
258. Alpaca hat and mittens
259. Black lacy shawl
260. Green Leafy scarf.
261. Blue sweater.
262. Dozens of Crocheted grocery bags.
263. Red
264. Green
265. Blue
266. Black
267. Orange
268. Red and green
269. Blue and red
270. Multi-on white
271. Etc.
272. White knitted Afghan.
273. Cross stitch, Needlepoint and Hardanger:
274. Needlepoint Bargello
275. Needlepoint pillow from kit blue and brown
276. Meowy Christmas Ornament
277. November Jewelry Bag.
278. Midnight Vigil-cat at window.
279. Green hardanger Table cloth.
280. Swan Serenity Prayer
281. Gnome Growth Chart
282. Night time Santa
283. March Marigolds
284. Gold Hardanger Needle case
285. Trim the tree
286. Cat ornament
287. Lilac Afghan
288. Dad’s workshop Stocking
289. Stitcher’s Studio Stocking
290. Accessories for hardanger table cloth
291. Angel of Love—beaded skirt
292. The Castle
293. Earth Angel
294. Store projects:
295. Bear
296. Finish fused appliqué
297. Border
298. Layer
299. Machine quilt
300. Bind
301. Busted out border quilt—
302. Do blocks lots of triangles
303. Border
304. Fusible appliqué to bust out the border
305. Layer
306. Machine quilt
307. Bind
308. Other store projects.
309. Other creative projects
310. Poppies project—
311. Finish top,
312. layer
313. quilt
314. bind
315. Ann Loveless snow scene—
316. finish top
317. machine quilt
318. bind.
319. Quilt background for inchies—
320. piece top
321. layer
322. machine quilt
323. attach binding and Velcro
324. Boucle scarf or shawl.
325. Elongated crocheted pineapple doily.
326. Wool project
327. Angelina Fiber project.
328. Halloween attic window—
329. piece blocks, keep in order
330. piece top
331. add borders
332. layer
333. machine quilt
334. add ghosty with tulle or sheer fabric
335. embellish with Angelina fibers.
336. bind.
337. Scrapbook quilt—background on wall.
338. Design rest of it.
339. appliqué on it.
340. layer
341. machine quilt
342. embellish it
343. bind.
344. Purple Mended heart quilt—
345. Finish quilting and mending blocks
346. put together quilt
347. bind
348. At least six more Wild Log Cabin bags—
349. blue and multi one nearly finished.
350. Blue and gold with Michigan fabric.
351. One for the March class
352. one for the April class
353. one for the may class
354. one for the June class
355. Pattern for Wild Log cabin Tote.
356. Pattern for plastic bag organizer.
357. One more plastic bag organizer finished.
358. another two plastic bag organizers finished using different colors.
359. Unusual girl—
360. make blocks
361. make sashing and piece top
362. add borders
363. layer
364. quilt
365. bind
366. Leaf scarf out of machine quilting and machine thread binding “leaves”.

So this is my glorious quest! Can I do it? We shall see! There is at least a years worth of work here. Let's see how I do.

Your quester,
Cindy K-K