2012 Final Countdown Wrap-Up
Posted on January 6, 2013 by prairiemoonquilts in The Final CountdownWell, how did you do?
I can tell from the comments that some of you did fantastic!
Way better than I did, let me tell you . . .
I really struggled this time. Partly because I’m having a lot of trouble finding things since we moved.
Imagine taking everything you own out of all the cabinets, drawers, closets, and shelves, putting it in boxes (not all of them labelled), and randomly setting the boxes in piles all over your house. That’s what it’s like here.
There is so much that needs to be done to the house that I have to clean, patch, or paint something before I can put anything away, so as you might imagine, the unpacking is going very slowly. It’s like waiting for paint to dry . . . Oh, wait . . . that IS what I’m doing . . .
However, in what I have gone through, I managed to find projects that fit in with the Final Countdown tasks and definitely need to be done, so here’s what I did . . .
I got my longarm all set up again, but I usually like to try quilting a quilt of my own after I’ve done something major to the machine (such as moving it from another state) or taken too much time off (such as 2 weeks), just so I don’t do any damage to a customer quilt.
In rummaging through one certain box, I found . . . a set of 10-lb. dumbbells, 2 packages of cross-stitch linen, an alarm clock, a Kleenex box holder, a jump rope, and 2 UFOs — finished tops bundled up with their backings. Can you understand now how I’m having trouble finding things, with packing methods such as this? I’m surprised I even found these things, given that they’re all items I’ve obviously not used in quite some time.
Anyway, one of those UFOs is definitely on my list of oldest ones, so for Task One, I chose to load it on the longarm as my “re-entry” quilt. Here’s a shot of my makeshift longarm area, which will eventually be our living room. 
I’ll show you more about the quilt itself next week sometime, once I have the binding on it. It’s got quite a story, that you may just find not only interesting, but amusing as well. Stay tuned.
For Task Two . . . well . . . let’s just talk about piles for a moment. I had intended to go through a sack of fabric that I found that needs to be put away in the bins by color, but given that I haven’t even located all those color bins yet, that wasn’t going to work. Here are a few of the piles I’m dealing with right now . . .
What is right now the “studio”, but will eventually be our living room (we have a fireplace under there!):
What is right now our living room, but will eventually be our dining room (as if we need one, but hey, it’s there):
The kitchen, which houses the old ugly freezer right now, but that’s gonna change:
So see what I’m up against? How do you choose one pile, when you have so many choices? At least I got to narrow it down right away to quilting stuff, and one thing I discovered in this move, was that somehow, in the first move, I missed going through an entire box of quilting magazines. After all the ones I’d gone through, I figured I was done, but evidently, I have way more magazines than I even imagined I had. So here’s the pile I’m dealing with . . . yet another pile of magazines:
For Task Three, as I was going through another box whose strange and varied contents I won’t bore you with, I found the travel box I’ve been keeping pieces of my Yo-Yo quilt in. Finishing my Yo-Yo quilt is something I’ve really been wanting to do, and it is a quilt just for me. So . . . since I haven’t yet unearthed any of my other “me” projects, I’ve been making some more yo-yos for my Yo-Yo quilt. It’ll be awhile before I show you that one finished, but maybe it can be one of the ones I finish for my Lucky 13 Challenge. Who knows?
I’m terrifically impressed with how you all rallied to take on the tasks. The Final Countdown usually gets me to wrap up a few things and head into the New Year with fresh motivation, and I hope that’s what it has done for you. Although I’m off to a really strange start this year, doing the tasks DID get me to hurry and set up my sewing stuff so that I can get back to work, so it still did me good.
Some of you provided links to your posts about the tasks, such as Deanna, (who finished a jacket and even pieced an entire quilt) and Pam, (who did the tasks in spite of having a quilt show set up in her house) and Gail (who seems to have more irons in the fire than I do). I really enjoyed reading about how you took on each task, and seeing the photographic evidence.
Some of you even sent me pictures directly! Linda sent me a picture of her Asian Fabric quilt, called Tea Time:
And Betsy sent me a picture of her Nutcracker wall quilt:
And all the comments about what you all were doing gave me lots of ideas about things I could and should be doing. Organization inspiration . . . thanks to all of you for playing along!
So now for those prizes. I’m drawing one winner randomly from the comments left on each task. So here we go . . .
The winner of the Task One prize is:
Kay
Kay said she was working on binding two quilts she had just gotten back from the quilter. Did you get those done, Kay?
The winner of the Task Two prize is:
Shar F.
Shar says she cleaned up 4 piles around her quilt table. Four instead of one! That’s the kind of progress I need to be making.
The Task Three prize winner is:
Bari
Bari got up early just to work on her “me” project! (Something else I should probably do for my ownself)
Each winner will receive a bundle of 6 fat quarters, two quilt patterns, and one pattern of their choice from my Etsy shop. Congratulations to the winners, and thanks so much to everyone for playing along during the Final Countdown. We’ll do it again at the end of this year!
And if you like challenges, check back in with me. I’m fixin’ to announce another one that starts real soon.
Congratulations to all of the people who started off their New Year with you! I am late to the party, so my piles and projects are still untouched. You, my girl, have your hands full! Making home improvements while trying to unpack is the ultimate multitasking. So I hereby bestow the multitasking crown upon your head.
Congratulations to all of the people who started off their New Year with you! I am late to the party, so my piles and projects are still untouched. You, my girl, have your hands full! Making home improvements while trying to unpack is the ultimate multitasking. So I hereby bestow the multitasking crown upon your head.
I love the look of the yo yo quilts/coverlets, but I just can’t imagine making enough of them…..exept for maybe a doll size.
Oh, I love your house already, but I enjoy old houses. Every one I have ever lived in was a project. It really helps relationships. A lot of quality time happens over paintbrushes.
Thank you for the countdown challenge. It is a great way to end one year and start another on the right foot.
What can I say about the pics of the house? It sure ain’t the shack! Hip – hip- hooray!
Sorry I’ve missed out on all of this. So behind. Catching up a little tonight. Looks like you have your hands full. I hate moving and have never had to do it twice in such a short time period. I feel sorry for you!