Barely Pink

I get so discouraged sometimes when I can't meet my own (sometimes ridiculous) deadlines. And yet, I need to celebrate what I -- what WE -- are able to accomplish, even if what I plan doesn't come to fruition. Lizard has been able to help me with some rock- and sand-moving in the backyard during the last week, and that's something he wasn't able to do at all last year. This truly is worth celebrating, not a reason to beat myself up for not squeezing everything I want to do into shorter (and cooler) days.

I'm still trying to finish a WIP quilt every month, and this quarter, my goal is to finish TWO WIPs each month (one is a November birthday present and two are Christmas presents). It may wind up that all I finish this quarter are the three gifts, and only because I will force myself to finish them. It may be that each of the gifts are finished after midnight the day they are to be presented. But for now, I'm still trying to cross six off my list by December 31.

This month's goal is Tickled Pink, the Sequel. Because this is October. I have two other WIPs that are ready to sandwich and load onto the longarm. But this is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. My second breast cancer-themed WIP list project has been waiting too long to earn my undivided attention. My first Tickled Pink quilt inspired this project back in 2014. (What a fun blog post to go back and re-read and re-live!) When I pulled the WIP from my project shelf, I discovered my self-cut charm squares (cut from scraps leftover a decade or more) for this project did not include the backing fabric for the original Tickled Pink as planned, which meant I had to dig into my pink stash to find a remnant somewhere.

This project includes the third mariner's compass I've ever crafted, also back in 2014. (Another fun blog post to go back and re-read, and my dear Lizard left a comment back then! He can't type now, so words cannot describe how wonderful it was to re-read his special comment!) Re-reading about the joy I experienced upon completing my first-ever nearly perfect compass REALLY makes me want to give another compass a try. I think I need to do one in green batik scraps. Blue snowflake leftovers would be awesome, too. And boy, is purple ever calling my name!

BUT!!!! No more new projects until I finish some of my WIPs!!! (Unless someone in the family announces a new baby or an engagement...)

End-of-the-month literally is just around the corner, and I'm never going to make it if I don't get off this computer!!!

In my own defense, I have been patchworking some almost pink... but not with fabric. My landscaping project has been on the WIP radar, too. I couldn't get anything done during the summer's heat, and some portions of the project must be completed before winter sets in.

I began this project three years ago with what started out as a rocky flying geese path.

Now I find myself hoping I can do a flagstone log cabin, and perhaps even a snowflake or mariner's compass! I tried to build a snowflake with red rocks in the garden the first year of my front yard garden, but my "flake" wasn't very big and didn't last very long.

I did a red rock windmill in the garden, too. It also didn't survive whatever I planted in the middle of it.

I've now finished the landing outside the back door, so we should be set for winter. Now I can get back to the real Pinktober goal for this month. I don't have a design wall, and this project is too big for the dining room floor. I don't have a spare bed to lay out the blocks right now, and placement is complicated. So I pinned all the blocks to an old curtain I made for one of my kids' bedrooms back in the 90s. Now I can work on the project whenever I have time without having to figure out the placement all over again. Charm square shadows are finally coming along!

Linking up with Alycia Quilts and Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

Tweet

Pin It