Well it’s that time of the year again – and I hope I do better this year than last.

I retired last December 31 and was sure that I would be able to make a significant dent in my UFO’s will all the extra time that I would have – Wrong!  I also vowed that I would not start anything new until I had made a good dent in the collection.

I didn’t even get through New Year’s eve before my resolve vanished with a call from my daughter with great news.  She and her boyfriend would tie the knot in 2009.  We couldn’t have been happier.  That was all it took for me to focus on looking for planning a quilt for them.  I bought the fabric while we were wintering in Florida, got together with a couple of friends to start the quilt in March and finished it in plenty of time for the wedding in July.  They were ecstatic – and I was pleased that they liked it so much.

I did get to finish a few projects along with a few new ones also.  Two table runners (Rainforest  Rings and Red & Green) have been quilted and are in the finishing stages of being bound.  I completed my son’s king-size Adirondack Quilt in time for giving this Christmas.  New projects included two octagon table toppers from the mystery challenge at Watson Homestead.  I finished one and gave it to my daughter for Christmas and have one for myself that only needs binding.  In addition there were two Operation Kid Comfort quilts for children of newly deployed servicemen and women.

UFO projects slated to be completed this year are:

• Watson mystery 2007 and 2009 quilts- binding
• Seasons wall hanging
• Autumn Pennies table topper from a class by Kim Diehl
• and probably the most important project of all – organize my stash!

I plan to learn one or two new techniques this year also and I’ll probably sign up for an online classes and take at least one or two classes at our local quilt shops.  I took a Scrap Therapy from Joan Ford last year and would really like to finish a quilt using the technique.  Also I’ve checked out the Fons and Porter Master Class series and am planning on trying out one of the classes online.

I know that I will not be able to limit myself to “just” completing UFO’s and organizing, but I’ hoping that I can at least get these completed along with the normal shop hops,  guild activities including our biennial quilt show and raffle quilt for 2011 and at least one or two new projects that I just can’t resist!

There's always time to quilt!

We’ve all heard of it, but it wasn’t until I took the Scrap Therapy class from Joan Ford that I realized just how easy organizing a scrap stash could be. We all collect fabric scraps of various colors and patterns, fully intending to use the pieces when just a small amount of fabric is needed for an applique flower or leaf.  Maybe we will only need a few pieces to complete a piecing project.  But as Joan said, “We normally go to our favorite fabric shop and pick up a fat quarter”, rather than ‘wade’ through the pile of scraps we’ve collected.

I’ve always sorted scraps by color. But my zip lock bags are just becoming a mess of wrinkled fabric.

Whenever I pull out a bag and dump out the contents, I have to stuff the pieces I won’t be using back into the bag – and it’s just a tangled mess.

To remedy this Joan has developed Scrap Therapy. Any piece of fabric that is a 1/4 yard or larger goes back into her stash.  The rest of the scraps are cut into three square sizes that make sense.  She also gave us tips on rulers, cutting, and storing our cut squares.

We’ve all seen the beautiful quilts that Joan creates with these size combinations.  I’m looking forward to taking one of her classes later this year so I can put all this organization to good use.

I think however, that I’ll still continue to sort my leftover fabric by color, but also intend to cut the leftover fabric into squares which can be so easily stored in plastic shoe boxes. It’ll be so easy to see what I have on hand with this method.

We’ll be taking our camper up to the Adirondacks this week.  This is one of the projects I’ll take along – I really am looking forward to getting started.

Thanks Joan – this certainly is therapy.  I not only came away with some very useful and much needed information  but I had fun too.  Joan is not only a great instructor – she has some funny stories to share – and makes you feel at ease as soon as you meet her.

There’s always time to quilt.