Tame My Mind

I busily crocheted for the first 7 months this year and then burnt out on crocheting. I did, however, begin the first step in quilting: cutting fabric into squares, rectangles, and triangles and then sewing them together. Using the pieced squares, I made Quilt Block Curtains to hang in my craft room.

When crocheting, I sit in the living room and watch TV while following a pattern in a book or making it up as I go after I've selected the yarn to be used. I don't need to move for hours!

Quilting is much more interactive. I sit or stand and think and select a pattern to use. I stand and think and select fabric and measure fabric and cut fabric. And, I sit and think and move between the work table and the sewing machine to layout fabric pieces and pin them together to be sewn and then sew them - and sometimes pull out the stitches and restitch. A DVR-recorded television show or DVD or music CD is playing in the background.

2008 Projects in Review

Crochet: 19 lap blankets for donation; 1 lap blanket for a gift; 1 round lap blanket for me.

Knitting: Nada. Nothing.

Sewing and Quilting: 1 set of quilt-top curtains using 24 12-1/4″ blocks; 12 12″ quilt blocks.

The Project List:

1. Quilt Block Curtains for craft room using 24 varied 12-1/4″ quilt blocks (start Jul. 13; finish Dec. 20)
2. 24 12 1/4″ (including 1/4″ seam allowance) varied quilt blocks for Quilt Block Curtains for craft room (start Jul. 19; finish Nov. 2)
3. 12 12″ (including 1/4″ seam allowance) varied quilt blocks left over to use for a quilt (start Jul. 19; finish Nov. 2)
4. Primary Colors Granny Square Lap Blanket - Blue, Green, Red, Multis of Blue / Green / Red, black (start Jul. 5; finish Jul. 23)
5. Custom Granny Square Lap Blanket - Print Pastels, Blue, Yellow, Pink (start Jun. 29; finish Jul. 7)
6. Granny Square Lap Blanket - Pinks, Blue, White, Beige, Yellow, Baby Pastels (start Jun. 22; finish Jun. 29)
7. Hexagon Lap Blanket - Greys, Red, White (start Jun. 8; too hot to continue hiding yarn ends Jun. 18; finish Jun. 29)
8. Blue and Gold Blocks Lap Blanket - Blue, Gold, Green, Red, Orange (start May 31; too hot to continue hiding yarn ends Jun. 8; finish Jun. 29)
9. Granny Squares with Flowers Lap Blanket - Scraps (start May 18; finish May 31)
10. Flower Centers Granny Square Lap Blanket - Melon, Purple, Yellow, Baby Print, Light Yellow, White (start May 3; finish May 18)
11. Round Wheel Lap Blanket - Burgundy, Multi (start Apr. 14; finish May 3)
12. 4-Patch Granny Lap Blanket - Pink, Blue (start Apr. 3; finish Apr. 11)
13. Double Crochet Striped Squares Lap Blanket - Pink, Blue, White, Purples (start Mar. 19; finish Apr. 1)
14. Flowers in Snow Granny Square Lap Blanket - White, Coral, Green, White-Pink-Green-Yellow Multi (start Mar. 28; finish Mar. 31)
15. Panel Variety Lap Blanket - Green, Purple, Off-White (start Mar. 20; finish Mar. 24)
16. 6-patch Striped Squares Lap Blanket - Pink, Off-White (start Mar. 10; finish Mar. 18)
17. Steps with Ruffle Border Lap Blanket - Red, White (start Mar. 2; finish Mar. 9)
18. Offset Log Cabin Lap Blanket - Greens, White, Black (start Feb. 23; finish Mar. 2)
19. Log Cabin Lap Blanket - Greens, White, Black (start Feb. 17; finish Feb. 23)
20. Double Crochet Scraps Panels with Black Lap Blanket (start Feb. 13; finish Feb. 17)
21. Granny Square Lap Blanket - White, Greens, Pinks, Yellows, Blues, Grey, Purple (start Feb. 10 using leftover squares from blanket just finished; finished Feb. 12)
22. Granny Square Lap Blanket - White, Tan, Greens, Pinks, Yellows, Blues (start Jan. 22, 2007; put aside early Feb. after 20 squares; picked up again May 28; put down again May 29, 2007; finally finished Feb. 10, 2008)
23. Flower Picture Afghan Lap Blanket - White, Reds, Greens (start Jan. 21; finish Feb. 7)
24. Filet Pinwheel Granny Square Lap Blanket - Greens (start Jan. 2; finish Jan. 14)

Projects started in 2008 but not completed yet:

• Quilt using 12 12″ (including 1/4″ seam allowance) left over varied quilt blocks from Quilt Block Curtains (start Jul. 2008; 12 blocks done Nov. 2; quilt top in progress)
• Houses art quilt - fusing (start Oct. 17, 2008; in limbo)
• Garden art quilt - fusing (start Oct. 16, 2008; in limbo)
• Hexagon Mile-A-Minute Lap Blanket - Blue, White, Blue-White Multi (start Jul. 24; got bored with crocheting and too hot so in limbo)
• Ripple Lap Blanket - Multi, Burgundy (start Jan. 15; got bored with it so in limbo)
• Ripple Lap Blanket - White, Lavender (start May 29, 2007; Jun. 2 put aside for Pineapple Blanket, then Babette Blanket; still in limbo)

Projects started in 2006 but put not completed yet:

• Keepsake Kitty Wall Hanging (start May 7, 2006; top nearly done except for applique tail Jun. 2, 2006; now in limbo; March 2008 sewed/appliqued the cat's tail onto the pattern; again in limbo; Dec. 2008 began quilting the top-batting-backing "sandwich")