Guild UFO Challenge

My small guild here in Virginia is doing a UFO challenge.  I ran one of those for my guild in Maryland many years ago and was quite pleased to finish up several ancient UFO's.  We were asked to bring the UFO's to our meeting this month and fess up.  Well, at least that is how I viewed it... some just viewed it as show and tell with unfinished items.  And, man some of the quilts were gorgeous.  


As everyone stood up, told the history of their UFOs and showed them there was a lot of oohing and ahhing.  The program chair was writing a list of each person's UFOs.  I happened to go last and whipped out my printed list of items.  Needless to say I got a round of laughs at that.  As I explained, I am easily distracted and wanted to have a continual reminder of the items I should be working on for this challenge. 


So, with no further ado, here are my 7 8 items I want to finish between now and the second Saturday in August. 

1.          Fourth of July banner

2.      4” Valentines blocks 1992

3.       Bumble Bee quilt

4.        Super Duper Easy (Mystery 13)

5.       Bunny Hill 2009 BOM (A Tisket, A Tasket)

6.        Make Your Point Scrap Quilt

7.       Disappearing 9 Patch

8.        4” Easter blocks from 1993

 Some of these are ready to be quilted, others are collection of blocks.  I hope to get at least 4 of these completely finished (hey, I'm being realistic here!) I would be darn happy if I get 6 done, and I'd be floating if all 8 were finished. Wow, wouldn't that be something! 

Rather than continue about what I want to get done, I think it is time to go work on one of these!  Stop in tomorrow to see what is on the design wall.  I've been trying to work on things that you all haven't seen for the last 3 weeks or so!  

Happy Quilting All!  

Finished Quilt Top Photo

Good Morning  or afternoon or evening... you get the picture. 


I promised a picture of the quilt top I finished last week.  Here is what I did with the Mysteries for Relay #13, also called Super Duper Easy.  Well, basically it was easy but no one said how time consuming. 

Unfortunately I don't have all the great wall space that the Poconos house had so the best I could do with this photo is spread it out on the bed and take a photo.  I finished  the star points half with the same dark points throughout the quilt and half in beige with a dark border.  The corners where the light and dark meet are half square triangles.  


I am ready to quilt it but I don't have any pieces of backing big enough (well that aren't 6 yards of fabric that I don't want to use on this quilt.) I'm going to reevaluate the stash and see if I can find two pieces of fabric I could put together to make a backing.  And, I think I'll look into triangle method of making a backing -- basically cut your fabric diagonally and then bring the top triangle down until you have the correct width/length.  It means working on bias but I sure don't want to buy more fabric after my wild January.  



Here's another Sophie picture from a couple of weeks ago.  (Hey, I haven't been doing a great job on quilting photos but I don't mind sharing Sophie.)  I almost had a picture of Raggs laying in the bookshelves last night but he moved when I got my camera. Drat. 

I finished the borders on the baby quilt but it will probably be given to a different charity as it is black mostly and that just doesn't make it as a baby quilt if you ask me! Didn't sew the last few days as I had a small group of ladies from the neighborhood over for tea and a craft.  I showed them how to make a card using rubber stamps.  They loved it so we'll probably do it again next month. I'll share the card fronts with you after V day.  


I'm off to the Y now. Happy Quilting All. 

Design Wall Monday 2-7-11

What's on YOUR design wall today?  I have an oldie but goodie and a something new.  First the old:

I'm still putting the rows together on this.  I am a bit tired of working on this one so I did something completely different yesterday.  Here's the 5 rows that have already been sewn together.  I still have 2 rows to sew the blocks together.  There are 5 borders on this thing.  I've started one which is pieced triangles.  Three of the borders are strips sewn together.  Two of those are from strip sizes I have in my storage drawers so that will be very easy to make up.  One is 1 1/8th inches.  WHAT?  Yuck -- I'm having to cut those as I am cutting other things.  And, boy, you end up cutting a lot for a quilt like this even if I do keep strips of most of the sizes used for this quilt.  

And, now for the new: 

This is a design from Ursula Reike's book, um, er, More Quilts As Easy As ABC. (Ok, I'll be honest I own all of her books and I am guessing this is from that one not any of the others. If you want to know leave a comment and I'll get back to you!)  I call it a stretched star, forget what she named it. I have light gray inner border and a green outer border to go.  I realized after I had cut 60 triangles that I had wanted to cut the triangles out of the gray -- I thought they would show up better. Sigh. And, remember, that is a red cork board under those blocks. (Note to self hang a white flannel piece or a piece of batting so you don't have to pin every stinkin' little piece!)   Hopefully, this will be a top by the end of the day. 

Don't forget to hop over to Judy's Patchwork Tmes to see what every one else is working on this week. 

Here are two of the four bug jars I made for Pam of FCQ Equilters.  I haven't made bug jars for years.  And, I had a hard time finding bugs of any kind even though I have a good number of conversation prints.  So, next time I'm buying fabrics I'm going to look for some bugs ... Don't we all need bugs? 


I think I might have missed a correction on the cut sizes of the pieces next to the lids.  Hopefully these will still work for Pam.  I'm not sure I have a big enough piece to redo the blue bugs.  


When I checked addresses for this group the other day I realized I am up for the May/June time slot.  I was last in 2010 so I thought I had tons of time left to decide what to do.  Oops!  I guess I'd better think about this one.  I haven't even thought about putting together my blocks from last year.  Another thing to get hopping on. 


I did pretty well on last week's goals. HA! I lie!  I didn't have much on the list but I didn't get them all done! 

     • Finish rail fence quilt. (on Monday!)  Yep, that's completely done. I owe you all pictures of it! 

     • Finish the center of the scrap quilt. Half done.  Truth be told I got tired of sewing those things together.  So, it'll show up again on today's list. 

     • Finish the shrug? I tried to but I need a new circular needle to do it. 

     • Start the border on the Mysteries for Relay quilt. Finished and I owe you a photo of this too. 

I guess I finished 2 1/2 out of 4.  Not so good this time. 


This week's goals:
    • Finish the center of the scrap quilt. (honest, I'll try!) 
    • Buy the correct needles and finish the shrug for Sophia. 
    • Put the borders on the stretched star quilt.  Hum, quilt and finish it? 
    • Work on 4" heart blocks from 1993. 
    • Sew on 2009 Bunny Hill BOM A Tisket, A Tasket.


I guess that is it for goals this week. On Wednesday I am having some of the ladies in the neighborhood over for a tea.  So part of Tuesday and all of Wednesday morning will not be sewing time.  But until then I'll be sewing like crazy. 


Happy Quilting All! 

January Fabric Stash Report

Well, this is one way to start the year.  I went wild buying fabric.  


January


Fabric Used:                6 1/8 yards


Fabric Purchased:       24 7/8 yards


Net Fabric Purchased: 18 3/4 yards


Oops.  I bought a lot from Connecting Threads to go with a fat eighth pack I got for Christmas 2009.  Now I can make a cute lap quilt with the stuff.  I've even got the pattern picked out.  Just need to stop working on time consuming scrap quilts! Here's the Connecting Threads fabric.  I also hit a 25% off sale at JoJo's with 40% off if you finished the bolt.  I finished a lot of skinny bolts.  I'll take pictures of that fabric sometime.  Hum, now how to dig myself out of this hole? 

I was pleased I got two quilts done this month.  Nothing like a deadline to get me to finish something.  I had hoped to finish a few spare blocks to send off for donations but didn't get them done.  Oh well.  


Later this week I'll get pictures of them and post the finishes.  But, you've seen the tops in the last couple of weeks.  They were both started and finished since 12/31/10.  Yep, finished and started in one month.  Wow!  (Of course, it helps that they were pretty easy quilts to begin with.) 

Guess what started to bloom?  My Christmas cactus is blooming like crazy.  It is in the back bedroom with wonderful light.  The one in the kitchen isn't doing a thing. Maybe I should switch the plants so the bigger one blooms too.  

I'm off to the Y to do a bit of walking.  I'm being pretty good about going 3 or 4 times a week.  And, believe me I do not like doing it.  I motivate myself by having a book on my Kindle that I am only allowed to read while walking... so if I want to know what happens I have to go walk.  

Design Wall Monday 1-31-11

Wall 1 is a repeat with a bit more blocks added and several sewn in rows. 

I pulled out this mystery for relay quilt from last March. I had several ideas for finishing this last night as I hung it.  Even started figuring out sizes of borders to make up.  Then this morning as I was slowly waking up I thought of something else I wanted to try.  So, I'm ready to go on this one but will work on finishing the quilt on Ruthie today. 

I will be quilting this with a free motion something... probably a meander as it goes quickly and I want this finished this month! And, darn, I don't have enough of the green to do the binding.  I'm hoping I have enough of the stripe being used as a backing. And, there was NO purple left not even enough for a string for a string quilt.  (Yep, I am coming to the time where I admit to used and acquired fabrics.  OMG.  I was so bad... but had a great time being bad!  I'll share pictures tomorrow of what I brought into the house.) 

Lest you think I am ignoring my knitting.  Here's the little hat I finished last week.  The shrug is being put together.  Auntie Aimee is holding Sophia.  And, look she's found her thumb.  Sophia did really well on Saturday as everyone gathered at Auntie Aimee's new house to celebrate Christmas and Aimee's and Kevin's birthday.  

Let's see how I did on the most recent weekly plans:

     • Finish pinwheels & 16 patches   Pinwheels done, still need some more 16 patches, started on border pieces. 

     • Make a sample block for the snow quilt  Didn't even think about it...

     • Finish putting together the shrug for Sophia (knitting)  It's getting closer but not finished yet.

     • Finish the hat that goes with the shrug for Sophia (knitting) Yep, doesn't she look cute in it? 

     • Layout the center of the scrap quilt and sew into a top  In process.

     • Start making the triangle borders  Started

     • Quilt & bind one baby quilt -- or two... One done, 2nd ready for quilting... 

Not too bad but didn't get everything done.  Was busy with other things Friday and visited Kevin and Aimee on Saturday.  

This week's list: 

     • Finish rail fence quilt. (on Monday!)

     • Finish the center of the scrap quilt. 

     • Finish the shrug? 

     • Start the border on the Mysteries for Relay quilt. 

That's it.  I'm not going to make it all that long in hopes I can get it all done. Plus, I'm thinking of having a tea for some of the ladies in the neighborhood so would end up having to clean house a bit if I do that.  

Don't forget to visit Judy's blog for more Design Wall Monday. 

Happy Quilting All!  

Books Times Three

  I have kept some photos under wraps for 2 years.  Yes, me, quiet about something for 2 years.  And, boy did it pay off handsomely.  Background notes... I am a member of Kathy Tracy's Small Quilt Talk yahoo group.  More than two years ago she asked members to make some signature and go with blocks that she wanted to use in a quilt for a book she was working on.  I happily sent her two blocks and casually offered to quilt the quilt.  Yep, she agreed.  So I made the backing, adding in all of the blocks that didn't fit on the front.  And, I must say, I felt inspired that day cause I love how the backing came out. 

Here it is on Ruthie during quilting. 

And OMG!  Here it is on the front cover of Kathy's new book nearly two years later. And the full quilt on the inside. Wow!  I feel like I hit a gold mine!  Thanks Cathy for giving me this opportunity.  It was great fun to do. 

If you would like a copy of The Civil War Sewing Circle by Kathy Tracy just visit her web page, Country Lane Quilts where you can order your own signed copy. And go to her home page for information about her yahoo group, Small Quilt Talk.  I am going to enjoy reading the historical information and making several of the small quilts.  I often am a rebel and use bright colors with Kathy's quilts but they all turn out wonderfully! 

Thanks to everyone who commented on the last post here.  There was great interest in the book the scrap pattern came from.  Here it is --

It is Better Homes and Gardens Scrap-Lovers' Quilts.  There are 14 projects in it.  Published by Leisure Arts.  I paid $10.95 for it. It is available from Amazon if you want your own copy.  I was looking through the book the other day to see if there were any other quilts that caught me eye.  Although there were a few others I liked none called out to me to make them the way this one did.    Ok, done with that commercial.  


I am making slow progress on my to do list this week.  Although I did make it to the quilt store Monday.  YIKES!  I did some major damage.  It was hard not to when I could get 40% off fabrics if I finished the bolt.  So, as I was looking through fabrics I found several bolts calling my name -- I answered and finished them off.  The one disappointment was the fabric I bought thinking it could go on the back of the scrap quilt -- probably isn't enough fabric for the backing.  I will worry about that later and try various methods to make it fit!  


Today I am warming up Ruthie and will be quilting a baby quilt.  (now if I can decide on a pattern/style to quilt it!) 


One other thought on books. I just finished a first novel by Alicia Bessette.  I usually read straight romance -- I love a happy ending -- there are enough unhappy endings in the real world.  Simply From Scratch wasn't a romance novel but it was about love.  Zell has been a widow for a year and all the material says she should be getting over the worst of the grief.  But she isn't.  This story shows her love for her late husband and how she begins to move on with her life.  It isn't all love and happiness and darn if there aren't really sad parts in the middle of it where I least expected it.  But in the end, I felt like I had read a love story and there was hope for the future for Zell. I found this book at my public library.  


Enough posting today.  On to Ruthie!  Happy Quilting All. 

Design Wall Monday 1-24-11

I've started putting together the scrap quilt.  My design wall isn't really big enough but it is all the space available.  I've added two columns on the wall -- notice the light switch on the side? 

Here's part of my blocks along with the directions & photo of the quilt I am working on. 

Don't forget to go to Judy's blog to see what is on other design walls. (In case you are looking after Monday, scroll down to find the correct entry for Design Wall Monday.)  

Do you review your lists to see if you have done what you wanted to do?  Sometimes I keep careful track because I am easily sidetracked.  "Ooh, pretty I want to" ... even though my goal is to finish something off. I'm quite pleased with my success in finishing last week's list. 

Here's the list from last week.

       • sew a bunch of pinwheels together All but 11 done and they are in pieces 

       • finish the 2 feet left on the quilt on Ruthie Done and I took the quilt off Ruthie

       • print directions for the quilt I'm making with snow fabrics Did it!  Yeah! 

       • make more 16 patches Still need 20 but have several units awaiting sewing

       • start cutting snow quilt  Ok, didn't even try this one! 

So, let's see if I can be as successful this week.  We'll be out of town all day Saturday so I might not get as much done.  

     • Finish pinwheels & 16 patches

     • Make a sample block for the snow quilt

     • Finish putting together the shrug for Sophia (knitting)

     • Finish the hat that goes with the shrug for Sophia (knitting)

     • Layout the center of the scrap quilt and sew into a top

     • Start making the triangle borders

     • Quilt & bind one baby quilt -- or two... 

Enough.  Hopefully I'll get most of those things done.  

Here's a new picture of Raggs -- part way into the "pink" room -- notice the raspberry sherbet colored carpet?  

Happy quilting all!  I'm off to a local quilt store to buy a bit of fabric... on sale. I've been going a bit crazy with buying fabrics this month.  Oops... but it is the beginning of the year so I have plenty of time to use it up.  Right?