Thursday, August 4, 2016

Do I Dare Set One Monthly Goal for August?

I nearly forgot it was time to set a monthly goal.  But then I wonder if I should set a monthly goal, considering July's events and how we're still recovering from those.  And I'm also working on border three of the Gwenny quilt this month.  Will one more goal be too much?

Dare I set a goal?  All things considered, yes, I will.  (Call me optimistic.)  Even if I don't meet the goal at least I will have had a goal in mind and worked toward something.

I started the Buckeye Beauty blocks for a quilt for my grandson (who is now over 6 months old) but it just doesn't seem like the right quilt for that cute little guy.  I'll make more blocks and finish the quilt but just not for him.


It's back to the drawing board for other ideas.  These are the possibilities for other quilts I'm considering -- all scrap/scrappy quilts, of course:
  1. Ohio Stars (in drawing above at top left).  They were on my list the first time but I didn't make any, thinking that the Buckeye Beauty blogs were perfect. 
  2. Gwen-style stars with "liberated" points, perhaps 8" or 9" blocks (on right side of drawing in above photo).
  3. Morning Star (the colored quilt in the above photo), a quilt pattern attributed to Pat Speth in the book, The Big Book of Nickel Quilts.  Except I would make the star points less precise and a little longer.  The stars in the photo look similar to the ones I used in Red Wings; I like them well enough but I think I'd like them more if they were longer.

One of the challenges of this quilt is that green is the dominant color.  I have plenty of green fabrics but the second challenge is the exclusion of flower prints.  That eliminates about half (or more) of my greens.  I'll be using a few that aren't too "girly" plus a few other colors.  I doubt my grandson will mind and I hope his parents won't, either. 

So, my One Monthly Goal (OMG) for August is to try out one or more quilt blocks that I think might work for a baby (or toddler) quilt, make a block or a few, lay them out to see what I think, AND decide once and for all a quilt for my adorable little grandboy!

I'm linking this post to Link to One Monthly Goal; OMG It's August! at Red Letter Quilts.  Thanks, Heidi.

I'm also linking this post to Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework.  Thanks, Cynthia.

--Nancy.
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14 comments:

  1. My suggestion would be to go for something simple, like a 9-patch and a snowball block. Years ago, I made a double irish chain with green and muslin. It's also simple, but lovely. Happy sewing.

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    1. I thought about a 9-patch and snowball but chose against it because that's what I did for his sister's quilt. I thought something different would be better.

      Another consideration in choosing a quilt pattern was/is how many seams it would take to finish a block. I'm thinking speed (fewer seams = faster) because I'm so late. (Sad, I know.) Anyway, the morning star appealed to me because there are so few seams per block. I'm finding that pulling out fabrics and cutting them takes a bit of time, though. I'll try a layout for morning star and if I don't think it works, I'll move on to one of the other possibilities.

      I can imagine your green and muslin Double Irish Chain was beautiful. I love that pattern but for some reason when I'm deciding on a quilt to sew as a gift I think I should do something more complicated.

      I really appreciate your taking the time to visit and leave a comment.

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  2. Decisions, decisions! But I am happy to hear it will be scrappy. They really are the best quilts. Thanks for sharing with Oh Scrap!

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    1. Yes, I adore scrappy quilts, Cynthia. The more fabrics, the better!

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  3. I've always liked that Morni9ng Star pattern, so that caught my eye, but I don't know if I would make it for a baby quilt, unless I enlarged the pattern.
    Hope things are going well for you and hubby!

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    1. I'm trying out the Morning Star today -- and deliberating. I have only a few of the sashing/star blocks sewn but when I have a few more I'll lay them out and see what I think. The blocks are cut at 5" and the sashing is cut at 2 1/2". I tend to think baby quilts should have baby-size blocks so I was thinking that maybe 5" is too big -- but I honestly don't want to cut them any smaller. I'm trying to go for speed since I'm so late getting this made. I'll probably post a small, sample layout in a few days, depending on my progress. You said you thought maybe bigger blocks would be better. Tell me more about your thoughts on bigger blocks, please.

      My husband's making slow progress but at least it IS progress. He has diabetes and had (mostly) ignored it so not only is he healing from surgery he now has a police-wife who's monitoring his food intake, blood sugar, and insulin. At least he's compliant (maybe not feeling well enough to balk) and I hope some good habits are in the making so that when he does feel better he'll stick with the diet.

      Thanks for your thoughts about baby quilt options. I appreciate your input.

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  4. Whatever you make will be loved. =) I look forward to seeing your choice. Good luck on getting to work on EVERYTHING this month!

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    1. Hi, Susan. I hope my daughter and her little guy love whatever quilt I make. It will be made with lots of love stitched into every seam. Thanks for your good luck wishes.

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  5. Aren't the decisions so time consuming? Your goal seems harder for August than it will be next month when you sit down to sew it! Hope you have a good month Nancy!

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    1. Yes, Heidi, decisions are really time consuming for me. As an introvert I tend to examine all aspects of a decision -- the options, the possible outcomes for each option, the pros and cons.... And I think creative decisions are sometimes harder because the results are so visible!

      I set the goal to make a decision because I didn't know how long that might take me but I really hope to get the top sewn together this month. We'll see!

      I hope you have a good month too.

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  6. It may be too late for suggestions . . . how about making sawtooth stars with brights or novelties as the centers? I did that for a little-kid quilt commission (instructions were red, blue, and sports-theme). It turned out very well.

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    1. I think novelties would have been fun in the center of this quilt, Nann, but I didn't have enough to do the whole quilt with them. I must begin collecting them for future baby/toddler quilts.

      Thanks for the suggestions.

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  7. P.S. And if you sent the blocks on point you need fewer of them.

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    1. Hi, Nann. Thanks for your comments on this post. I hadn't consciously thought about on-point blocks taking up more space. What a great thing to know!

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