Projects on Hand

Oh, the siren call of new projects and new fabric. Since my stashing space is somewhat limited, I always try to alternate my with "projects on hand," ie, all the stuff I squirreled away (wisely or unwisely) while working on previous projects. Having finished A's party shirt, and being within a stone's throw of completing my son's dinosaur quilt, the other night I pulled some of my most recent additions to the "to-do" list just to keep myself motivated.

Easy Peasy Peasant Dress #3:

If a thing is worth doing, it's worth doing twice, right? Or maybe the third time's the charm. I'm not sure *which* cliche keeps me coming back to this dress, but it sure doesn't hurt that it's cute as heck and a pretty fast sew. Given that my "quilt-worthy" friends seem to be having daughters at approximately 5x the rate I can actually make a quilt, this is a good alternate gift that I have *some* chance of getting in the mail before a first birthday.

This particular combo is intended for a friend who lives in San Francisco, where it is rainy and foggy year round. Hers is a spring baby, and I bought it back in May. The umbrellas are for the body, and the red Moda weave will be fore the ruffle, sleeves and diaper cover.

Easy Peasy Peasant Dress #4

Yes, I know. It was not wise, but I'd been admiring this forever, and then the Fat Quarter shop had a sale, and, and... I still haven't made a Peasant dress for my own daughter. Though I think I'll probably miss out on it this year, It's still a nice fantasy. The snowman is for the front (obviously), the red snowflakes are for the back, and the geometric print would make good sleeves and ruffle. Of course, in laying this stuff out for photos, I noticed that the moda weave from above would *also* make for good sleeves and a ruffle...

Gum Drop Pillows

One of our local quilt shops has one of these made up, and every time we go there, my daughter goes nuts for it. So, long ago I sprung for the pattern there, and then late last year I came up with a combo of fabrics I liked for one.

THEN we re-did her room, in a my little pony theme. And although I was just going to stash the purple star print below (under consideration for the birthday shirt, but ultimately rejected), I found it while cleaning up my sewing area and thought, you know, those two would look good sitting together in her room...

Of course, I'd have to buy more of the MLP feature print, making this "half on hand" at best. Maybe 2/3 if you count the pattern.

Gracie Ruffle Skirt

Honestly, I am starting to reconsider my fabric selection on this one as well, but... I love the look of this pattern! And my daughter loves a good ruffle-ey skirt. I really love all the Lily's Garden fabrics separately, but together... I'm not so sure. I've probably got some time, though, since there's plenty of other stuff to do.

And of course, no list would be complete without some of my "in progress/on hiatus" projects. I'm usually pretty good at working on the same projects consistently from start to finish, but the year I got pregnant with my daughter (now 3) resulted in some exceptions. I find it's hard to regain momentum after I have lost it, but I'd really love to be using these now, if I could just get them together:

Star Wars II:

One of my rules of quilting is, "never make the exact same quilt twice," and it's a good rule, but I just had to break it for this one. Star Wars I was completed in 2012 for a friend who was putting together a Star Wars themed nursery, and it was my first foray into applique. My husband thought it was such a cool idea that I couldn't bear NOT to make one for us as well, despite my rule already being well in place at the time. I had the foresight to make two of each of the applique blocks at the time (every quilt has duplicate blocks!), but then I assembled one and... promptly lost momentum for the second.

Some of it is probably performance anxiety (since this will be our own quilt) and some of it is definitely the creative conundrum of "having solved the layout problem once, I can't envision anything else any more" when ideally, I'd rather the two quilts not be identical. But with my husband super into the X-wing miniatures game, and the new series coming out in December, it sure would be nice to have this to enjoy in the hubbub.

Christmas Traditions:

And speaking of "hubbub" and "December"... Christmas is quite the biggie. Since 2011, I've been working on a pretty awesome quilt that showcases the history of the Christmas Tree (see the planned outcome here). It's slow going, because it's been a huge skillbuilder for me (I had to learn both paper piecing and applique to work on it) and also because, well, quilts for *yourself* don't get "overdue" like quilts for babies and friends' special occasions do.

Unlike Star Wars, this has been a consistent (if low priority) project on my shelf. Right now Christmas traditions is entirely pieced - front and back. I basted it, and now it's just waiting for that first bit of quilting. I can do it!

Or at least, I can do *something* from this list... honestly, the top half sounds like a lot of fun to make, and the bottom half sounds like a lot of fun to use. But I think with some time and some decent self-control (and as always, the siren call of being "allowed" to purchase new fabric upon project completions...) I should be able to turn most of these WIPs and wishes into finished products.

Linking to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced because, well, this post is well qualified!