The 2008-2009 Pre-Season Report

And, after a busy few months during which I didn't think about quilting at all, here we are with only a few days between us and the first college football games of the year (Oregon State at Stanford, Thursday the 28th; Oregon v. Washington at Autzen, Saturday the 30th). And you know what that means, football fans! That means it's time to QUILT!!!

[Crowd Roar]

Yesterday, I worked out a "game plan" (last football metaphor. I promise.) for the 2008-2009 Quilt Season. Unlike last year, when I tried to focus on getting out some show quilts, this year will be more about utility quilts and skillbuilding.

First Priority

I've got a quartet of pieces that I'm putting in my first priority category this year. Only one is underway, and two of them haven't even been designed yet, but I'm expecting them to be relatively simple and fast-moving projects.

• Sara's Wedding Quilt -- With no plan or ideas, and an 11-week timeline, this one will be at the top of the to-do list immediately.


• Labyrinth II -- Second place on the to-do list, this one has already been mocked up on graph paper. Beyond that, I'm telling you nothing -- except to say, it's a much simpler design than the original Labyrinth.


• Devil's Claw -- This is the one I used to call "Indigo Stars." It's well underway, and a probable candidate for the spring shows.


• Six-Fabric Challenge -- My friend Jennifer and I each bought quarters of the same six fabrics. The challenge is to make something a yard square, without comparing notes. I haven't even thought about the design yet.

Second Priority

• Batik Boxes -- 'Boxes was on the Second Priority list last year, too, but it didn't get touched. This year, I'm putting it on the to-do list from the get-go, and I'm hoping to finish it. (If it seems strange that the to-do list isn't just the First Priority quilts, the reason is that I don't want to focus all my energy on just quilts that are most important to me. That would stress me out. I want to be working on some low-pressure pieces, too)
  
• Four Seasons -- Seven or eight years old now, this project is getting pretty long in the tooth. I made progress with it last year, and would like to put it to bed this year.
  
• Symbol -- A couple of Christmases ago, my oldest sister gave me a great set of neutral batiks. I am going to use them as background for a vivid non-symbol. Hard to explain. It should go quickly after a little design work, and it is the fourth item on the starting to-do list.

Third Priority

If I blast through those seven projects and am feeling good, I might take on one of these. Or, I might putter with one from time to time with the idea of having it ready for serious attention next year.

• The Legacy Quilt
  
• Labyrinth III -- Not designed yet, but I suspect I will end up playing with the labyrinth concept for years to come.
  
• Scrap Fabric Quilt -- An experiment with my collection of found, non quilt-weight fabrics.

Fourth Priority

There are six quilts in this category, It's unlikely that I will touch more than one or two of them this year, if any -- Fourth Priority is more of a holding pen for ideas I hope to work on sometimein the future. For now, I'll just give you the working titles:

• Sarah Horowitz inspired light on light-light design
  
• Requilting my own baby quilt
  
• Oregon Map II
  
• Denim Quilt
  
• Silhouette
  
• Flags of the Forgotten Lands

StormQuilts

Finally, I will be making some progress in the QuiltStorm project. There are two StormQuilts basted and ready for quilting, and I will be selecting designs for three others as we get this season underway.

So:

That makes thirty-three quilts (16 normal + 17 StormQuilts) are on my plate! Nine of which (4 normal, 5 Stormquilts), I am supposedly going to be actively working on. This should keep me out of trouble for a while.

Anyone else ramping up for the season?