One Hundred Days

1. Scrappy Christmas Potholder, 2. Vintage Holiday 1, 3. Chicopee Bag, 4. Turtle Cove Pillow, 5. Modernista Mini, 6. Windowpanes Pillow, 7. Modernista Round 2, 8. Weekender 1, 9. MSM Round 2 Finished, 10. The Simple Life Pillow, 11. Charming Feathers Front, 12. Scrappy Square Pillow

We've nearly reached the end of the 100 Day Hustle, and as I look at my list, I'm satisfied. I didn't finish everything, but I came awfully close. And considering that a whole lot of other projects sneaked into the works along the way, that's not so bad. Above is a mosaic showing my finishes from the list, and here's the final score:

MUST DO
1. Christmas potholder for my grandmother
2. Finish Vintage Holiday quilt (backing, quilting, binding)
3. EPP block for Travellin' Pic-Stitch Blog Hop
4. Modernista Swap Project
5. Modern She Made Swap Project
6. Play quilt for my nieces 7. Diaper bag for my sister
8. Camera bag for my brother-in-law -- still in progress

WOULD LIKE TO DO
1. New purse for me
2. Pillows for the family room
3. New advent calendar -- n/a (my Mom bought an incredible magnetic one instead)
4. Tula Pink Sew Along project
5. Finish new quilt for Bunny's bed -- still in progress

I'm so grateful to Kelsey for organizing this wonderful event. Accountability is a beautiful thing, and I always find that it keeps me motivated and on track when I have things to do.

Tomorrow is my birthday, so we'll celebrate with a year-in-review post and a little giveaway too. See you then...
Linking up to the 100 Day Hustle Final Review.

Fifty Days

My Scrappy Stash Quilt Top -- more details here

Fifty days into the 100 Day Hustle, and my lists look like this:

MUST DO
1. Christmas potholder for my grandmother: DONE
2. Finish Vintage Holiday quilt (backing, quilting, binding): DONE
3. EPP block for Travellin' Pic-Stitch Blog Hop: DONE
4. Modernista Swap Project: DONE
5. Modern She Made Swap Project: PLANNING STAGE
6. Play quilt for my nieces: PLANNING STAGE
7. Diaper bag for my sister: IN PROGRESS
8. Camera bag for my brother-in-law: NO PROGRESS
9. Scrappy Stash Quilt & matching pillow cover: DONE
10. Weekender Bag: IN PROGRESS
11. Blog Updates: IN PROGRESS

WOULD LIKE TO DO
1. New purse for me: DONE
2. Pillows for the family room: IN PROGRESS
3. New advent calendar: NO LONGER NEEDED (my mom bought a fantastic magnetic version to use with the girls this year)
4. Tula Pink Sew Along project: DONE
5. Finish new quilt for Bunny's bed: IN PROGRESS

I'd love to have more finished since my last post on this, but I keep telling myself that it's not too shabby really. I just keep plodding along, one project at a time, and it's amazing what you can get done if you just keep at it. My scrappy quilt was bound and washed last night, and I've been working on my Weekender this evening. I was at the "just shoot me if I have to cut out one more piece of interfacing" stage earlier today, but now that I'm actually sewing, it's a little more fun. Can't wait to share my bag and my finished scrappy quilt  -- and even the extra scrappy pillow I added at the last minute -- with you all next week.

Miss Bear came down with a case of stomach flu this morning . . . life is never boring around here. Now that I've just gotten her and little Mouse to sleep, I'm off to curl up with my husband and an old movie (anyone else love Gene Tierney & Dana Andrews in Laura?) and store up my energy for whatever excitement tomorrow will bring.

Sweet dreams...

Linking up with Kelsey and the 100 Day Hustle.

Hustle Bustle

Today we have made it a third of the way through the 100 Day Hustle, Kelsey's wonderful support group for those of us who want to accomplish everything (or mostly everything) on our to-do lists before December 31st.  I have to tell you that I was a pretty happy camper when I checked my progress today. So far I've been able to finish about half of the items on both my mandatory and optional lists -- far better than I thought I would do when I wrote these last month, I assure you. Just click on any of the pictures below to take you back to the original project post, unless the photo is making its debut today. Here we go...

MUST DO

1. Christmas potholder for my grandmother: DONE. This was a quick finish -- as in less than an hour. If you're looking for a last minute holiday gift, keep this one on your list.

2. Finish Vintage Holiday quilt (backing, quilting, binding): DONE. I'm so glad to have this quilt finished and in use. It also took another potential item off my list since I now don't need to make a new bed quilt for Miss Bear.

3. EPP block for Travellin' Pic-Stitch Blog Hop: DONE. This item is also a start on one of the items on my other list as you'll see below.

4. Modernista Swap Project: DONE. I just finished putting my package of goodies together yesterday, and I plan to mail it over the weekend.

5. Modern She Made Swap Project: IN PROGRESS. My fabric choices have been approved, and I've picked a pattern and started cutting.

6. Play quilt for my nieces: IN PROGRESS. I've chosen the fabric and am deciding on a pattern.

7. Diaper bag for my sister: NO PROGRESS.

8. Camera bag for my brother-in-law: IN PROGRESS. I've chosen the fabric and pattern, and now I just have to get this one made.
 
A few more projects have made their way onto my list in the past month...

9. Scrappy Stash Quilt Along: IN PROGRESS. I'm about a third of the way through my blocks and absolutely loving this project. Forgive the poor lighting in this picture, by the way; it was evening before I was able to get this photo taken.

10. Amy Butler's Weekender Bag: IN PROGRESS. I've chosen my fabric and cut out the pattern pieces, but the bulk of my sewing should happen this weekend. Lori and I are co-hosting The Long Weekend next month, a blog hop featuring different bloggers' versions of this amazing bag. You can check out the details here.

11. Blog Updates: IN PROGRESS. There are a few things that I've been wanting to do with my blog design, and you may notice some changes already up, hopefully giving it a cleaner look. I'd still like to add a few more things, including a page showing my finishes from the past year.

WOULD LIKE TO DO

1. New purse for me: DONE. This is, hands down, my favorite purse ever.

2. Pillows for the family room: IN PROGRESS. I'm counting my EPP project as the first of many to come.

3. Tula Pink Sew Along project: DONE. This pillow cover was a gift for my brother-in-law and his wife. I'd like to make another one for our home -- more progress toward finishing number two on this list.

4. New advent calendar: NO PROGRESS.

5. Finish new quilt for Bunny's bed: IN PROGRESS. The top is almost complete; I just have to add a border of white around the edges of the center design. Then I need to do the backing, quilting, and binding.

All told, I'm feeling pretty good about my chances of finishing my Must Do list before the end of the year, and I'm hoping to finish more from the Want to Do list as well. This sew along has not only given me great accountability, but sitting down to make my lists really helped me focus on the finishes that were most important to me. With the chaotic schedule of the holidays coming up, that kind of organized motivation is priceless. Kelsey, you're my hero!

How are you doing on your list? Please share!

100 Day Hustle

I always seem to be walking a delicate line between trying to get more things done while at the same time slowing down to enjoy my life. Sound familiar to any of you? Last night I took some time out to let the girls run around on the front lawn as the sun was going down. They had a blast playing tag and picking the last of the daisies, and I was happy just to sit and watch them. It reminded me how important it is to take those quiet moments when they come.

As I mentioned yesterday, Kelsey is having a wonderful event called the 100 Day Hustle in which we all make lists of what we need to get done before 2012 waves goodbye. While this was a daunting task for me to face at first, I'm so glad that I worked on this list today. Having my mind cluttered with all the things I needed to do was becoming overwhelming, and it didn't look quite as bad as I was afraid it would once I saw everything down on paper. So here we go...

MUST DO
1. Christmas potholder for my grandmother
2. Finish Vintage Holiday quilt (backing, quilting, binding)
3. EPP block for Travellin' Pic-Stitch Blog Hop
4. Modernista Swap Project
5. Modern She Made Swap Project
6. Play quilt for my nieces
7. Diaper bag for my sister
8. Camera bag for my brother-in-law

WOULD LIKE TO DO
1. New purse for me
2. Pillows for the family room
3. New advent calendar
4. Tula Pink Sew Along project
5. Finish new quilt for Bunny's bed

I have no doubt that there are other things that will make their way onto both of these lists, but this is a place to start. Hopefully if I can get my projects organized, I'll be able to get my time organized a little more efficiently too...which means more happy moments like last night.

And that's definitely a good thing.

Linking up with the 100 Day Hustle.