My Quilting Bucket List

Sorry friends: I’ll admit that this post is more for me than providing interesting or valuable content for you. I just have all these ideas in my head and need to get them down in one place! Some are vague because that’s how they are in my head and others are vague because I don’t want to spoil the surprise for you or their intended recipients. I know I talked about it before, briefly, but wow! have I become even more obsessed in the past six months.

These are in no particular order, really, but a numbered list seemed àpropos. I suppose the less vague (in my head) are at the top.

Finish my current WIP list. I have a feeling some of these bucket list projects may worm their way ahead of a few of the current projects.
Organic Spins: I have all the fabric for this and the design fully drawn up, I just need to get to work. To tease you, think modern, linen, spirals, and Cloud9 Cut Out and Keep. I dreamt this up for Project Modern Challenge #3, but I was terribly lazy during June so it hasn’t even been started. No timeline, because I’m keeping this puppy, but I’d like to do it sooner, rather than later.
1812 Reproduction Quilt: I’m intrigued by the “cot to coffin” 1812 Quilt Challenge. I’ve done a little research and have a few plans. I will start this fall, after a few appropriate repro fabric lines come out. Deadline is March 3, 2012.
Courtney’s Quilt: I have about 60% of this project planned out. It relies on custom-printed, typography-based fabric though, and I haven’t figured out the exact design for it yet. Not to mention the 5′ tall applique designs. Definitely my most ambitious quilt so far. I’m hoping to finish it by the time she graduates college, which won’t be for another three or four years, thankfully.
Knot a Double Wedding Ring: a double wedding ring with a twist or three. It looks totally awesome in my head, but that’s the only place any of it exists now.
A hexie quilt: no real plans, I just want to try my hand at hexagons.
A log cabin quilt of some sort: see hexie.
A wonky block quilt: see hexie.
A 2″ squares quilt. I’m trying to keep a 2.5″ square of most of the fabrics I use in my quilts to someday make a super scrappy memory quilt of my quilting.
Another 2″ squares quilt? Because Thomas gave me a stack of leftovers from his scrap vomit project and I wouldn’t want them to go to waste. Maybe just a 2″ square pillow though. Or doll blanket. Or some other sort of crafty thing for a swap. One giant 2″ square quilt is enough for one person in life, isn’t it?
A quilt for our bed. All we have now is a comforter that has been liberally chewed by our puppy. I think this one needs to wait until he’s out of the chewing stage…
Flamenco Pinwheels: I have all the fabric for this quilt and the full design, more or less, I just need to start it and get a ruffling foot for my sewing machine, because I am not making 11 yards of ruffles without one. Yes, I said 11 yards of ruffles (some 2″ high, some 4″). But, I don’t want to buy any more feet for my Singer, so this probably won’t get made until I buy a new machine, which I hope will be sometime within the next 12 months. Except this just got me thinking, and I’ll have to test it out, but my Singer is a low-shank machine, and the Vikings and Janomes I am considering are low-shank machines, and since a ruffler is never snap-on, but actually has its own ankle, any ruffler foot I buy will fit on any of the machines I am thinking about purchasing or now own. Hot damn!
A medallion-ish quilt using two tea towels a friend gave me. She brought them back from British Colombia, and they are too pretty to use, in my estimation. They have wonderful tribal designs on them and are a reasonable weave and weight for quilting, so someday that’s what I’ll use them for. In the mean time, I am trying to find cheap frames for them to use them as art in the kitchen. They are 19″ × 25″, which is an awkward frame size, I’ve found.
A Civil War repro. True, it’s all the rage now thanks to the sesquicentennial, but I do like traditional quilts, so maybe I’ll complete one by the sesquicentennial of the end of the war (that gives me four years, right?). If I really like it, maybe I’ll even make one for the bicentennial, but I’m not going to make plans for 75 year old me just yet.
Traveling quilt: I have a grand plan to make a quilt with a block for each state I visit (and buy fabric in). I have fabric from Louisiana, Ohio, and New York so far (although I haven’t made the blocks). It won’t be very cohesive, but I like learning how to make new blocks anyway, so it’ll just be my own personal sampler project.
High school t-shirt quilt: I still have all my sports t-shirts from high school. Actually, thanks to my sisters (thanks, Kaite and CCC!), I have the printed fronts and backs cut out to turn into a quilt. (Go Barstow Knights!)
College t-shirt quilt: see high school, except most are from concerts, events, and clubs and are still in t-shirt form taking up closet space as I rarely wear them. (Go Hamilton!)
Grandma’s house block quilt. My grandmother gave me supplies for a house block quilt that include a single completed hand-sewn block that she made. I don’t see myself making a full quilt using the blue calico and muslin as she had planned, however I do want to make something using her block.
Quilts for all my parents and siblings. I’ve made two, one is in progress, a fourth is detailed above. That leaves 3–6 other quilts depending on whether I do couples, singles, or a mix.
Quilts for my nieces and nephews. I have seven now, and two younger sisters who better not have kids any time soon, but may someday. Carl has three. Here’s to hoping for a very long life! I’ll need as much time as I can get!

So, there’s those. And I’m sure there will be baby quilts and more wedding quilts in there somewhere because I’m only 25, after all, and have plenty of life ahead (if Fates allow). And then there’s something to do with the other stuff in my stash, because I have plenty that isn’t planned for any of these. Guess I better get to work, huh? Luckily, I think a couple of these quilts can do double duty on the list.

What tops your quilting/crafting bucket list?