January UFO report

Judy Liquidara pulled the number 5, so everyone in the challenge was to work on their own UFO #5.

Mine is/was BATIK CHARMS.

I finished the top, and made the backing, and sent them off to my LA quilter.  So it is an finished as possible until it returns for binding.

While making the blocks for Batik Charms, I used up the scraps in a doll quilt:

This quilt is completely finished; quilted on my DSM and bound.



Now, I have so many UFOs that I made a second list,with the intention that I would work on a second UFO each month after the first one was done.

So in January I went on to my second #5, "Brown and Red Rectangles".

The blocks were already made, so I sewed them together and added two borders.  I made a backing.  This is now ready to go to my LA quilter the next time we get together.



Now Judy has drawn the number for February -- #1.

This means that my first UFO project for February is a double Four-Patch I was once making for the day bed in the den.  The brown and tan plaid blocks are mostly sewn together, but it is not quite large enough.  Needs borders?


OK.  I'll take this along to the retreat tomorrow with some additional brown plaids.

Sara

Gratitudes:

Dentist finished a permanent crown 
Get to go on a four day quilting retreat
Swap partner received box and likes it

Design Wall Monday

I'm working on UFO #5 from my list for Judy Liquidara's UFO challenge.  She drew the number 5 for this month.

This UFO top begun in 2004 from batik 5" samples was 7 x 9 blocks, and there is additional sashing fabric and charms.  So far I have completed 10 more blocks, and another 10 are in process.

My plan is to go on from here and cut binding and sashing strips from the charcoal fabric.  That will be the limitation on how big the quilt can grow.  I have PLENTY of batik charms to go on almost forever.


Sara

Gratitudes:

Medical Massage seems to have calmed my left thigh
Pot roast good for the third time
Energetic Chorus rehearsal tonight

New Year's Day mystery & UFO plan

I chose from my Red fabrics for the Jelly Roll they proposed.  Starting at about 10:30 am I cut and sewed together 6 patches, 54 of them.

Then sewed light background strips on one side to make them square.

And they are now laid out like a Rail Fence; this is three rows out of nine.
I had to go rescue the pot roast from the crockpot for dinner.

And now that dinner is done and put away, I'm not very interested in this quilt.  However, the inner border is already cut, and the outer border, cornerstones included.  So I'll chug along to avoid leaving ANOTHER Unfinished Object right on the first day of the year!

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I have added a sidebar of the UFOs at the beginning of 2012.  Judy Liquidara has a challenge to finish one a month.  I'm listing TWO for each month with the plan that I will finish ONE and then do some work on the other.  Hope I'm not shooting myself in the foot here.

She drew # 5 for January.  So finish the Planet Patchwork mystery and then on to the Batik samples:

I wonder how many additional pieces there are in that bag.  I know I have a box of more batik charms, but maybe not that charcoal fabric.

Sara

Gratitudes:

Lions didn't look as bad as they could have! 
Pot roast success
Leftover cookies are mostly GONE

Goals for 2011

1. Keep knitting socks.  Get comfortable starting at the toes, cause then I can use up all the yarn if I want to.

Here is my second attempt at starting at the toe.  I ditched the first attempt, which was doing two at once, and that was too much to learn at one time for me!  This is how much I got done while watching the Rose Bowl game and eating a Snack Dinner.

2.  Keep working on the UFOs.  Here are the twelve I plan to finish this year:

    

           1] Double Four Patch

      

          2]  Pale, Pale Stars

        

          3] Purple Baskets

          4] Bright Row Robin

          5] Batik Samples

          

6] Pineapples

7] Amish Sampler

  8] Purple Chain

9] Fall Leaves

10] Lenten Hanging

                      11] Marston Squares

                     12] Cabin in the Woods







Judy Liquidara has pulled out the number 6 for this month, so I should work on the Pineapples.   I have a few more UFOs, which are very close to completion, so I am not listing them.

3.  Keep on making new Quilts That I Like.  I have done a lot because they were "necessary".  Now I want to do more pleasing myself, and challenging myself.

Those are my Goals for this year.

Sara

Gratitudes:

Last year's finishes of UFOs still amazes me!
Started the year by spending a lot of time in the sewing room having fun
Some progress on the Roll, Roll Cotton Boll mystery blocks
"Snacky" dinner of shrimp and veggies

Year End, last UFOs for 2010

Sixteen-Patch and Pinwheels is now finished:

A glimpse of the quilting by Catherine, which doesn't show up on the front at all.  I told her to do a meander, and this was the result!

This is UFO #29 that I finished this year.


And LASTLY, "Difference of Opinion", which is also now quilted and bound:

Do you see the large exclamation point coming down that vertical sashing?  I might just enhance that a little at some time.

Catherine's quilting on these borders followed the geological strata in the batik fabric.

 Bit of the back showing the various pinks and oranges I used up there.

And this is my last UFO finish for 2010, number 30.  Wow, I impressed myself!  My goal was to finish or get rid of two a month.  I wasn't that consistent each month, but I have surpassed the goal of 24.  And, in fact I got rid of some that I didn't count.

I am going to be starting 2011 with 16 UFOs, and only two of those were started in 2010.  I did keep the part of my goal that was to finish all but three 2010 starts.  How on earth did I manage to stick to this idea when I have so often failed?  I guess it helped to put it on my blog, share it with Finn, and even declare it to my quilting bee.

Right now, I'm NOT ready to commit to such a plan for next year!  Finishing more UFOs is going to be in my plan, but not such a push.
Maybe by tomorrow I'll have a plan for 2011.

And on another front, I did finally re-finish the green and purple socks.  The intended recipient chose another pair [I like to offer a choice], so these are now mine, until someone else claims them.

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Now that these projects are finished, I am back on the next step of Bonnie Hunter's mystery, "Roll, Roll Cotton Boll".

The directions for joining most of the parts arrived this morning, and I have constructed a few of the first blocks.

Because I chose to substitute blue for pink, and navy for red, I think this quilt will turn out to be acceptable to a male.

Sara

Gratitudes:

Soup from Kate made a warm lunch
Going to spent New Year's at home
Champagne in the fridge
Wishing Good Health to you all!

Two Bindings

The countdown has started for the end of 2010 and my challenge to finish A LOT of UFOs.  I am at 27 today, but I am binding two quilts that are back from Catherine Martin, my long-arm quilter.

This one has been finished 

and is currently in the dryer, 

preparing itself for a photographic "sitting" tomorrow.

I only managed to sew down one side of this one 

before we had to dress for dinner 

at a fancy-shmancy restaurant here in Grand Rapids, The 1913 Room.

Our friends, Dianne and Ray, found a "buy one entree, get one free" coupon for us, and we are all going together.  Celebrating New Year's Eve one night early, and no crowds on the streets!

So, back to the binding, between the black one and the pink one I'm pretty darn sure that I'm going to have two more completions on the last day of the year.  Hurray!

Sara

Gratitudes:

Friends who share their dinner coupons
Exercise class that got me moving more freely this morning
NPR with classical music, I enjoy it every day

Finished borders to EEF

I keep putting off finishing the final borders on "Extra Extra Fancy".  But now they are ON.  And it is 96" x 106".

I certainly had plenty of materials in my Orphan Box.
It will need a King-sized batt.  But I wanted it to really be able to be tucked under the mattress at the foot, and hang down on the sides.  Everything I have made for our queen bed is a little too narrow and a little too short.  This won't be!

Now to see how long the wait will be for Catherine to quilt it.

I'm calling this another UFO finish.  That make 24 for the year, so I have met my personal challenge of "2 a month in 2010".

[But I still have 15 UFOs left.]

Sara

Gratitudes:

Stayed home all day out of the cold
Christmas package of ham arrived
Christmas package of candy arrived
Wrapped up Secret Sister presents

Puss-in-the-Corner ready to gift

I finished putting on the borders today, and it ended up being 56" x 86", a long twin.  But that's good.  Gives a little more to tuck under the foot of the mattress.  Or maybe it will be a "snuggle" quilt for a long sofa.  My first UFO [Un-Finished Object] completion for December.
Here's the whole thing, draped over the love seat.

Other news on the eye front:  Dr. Gindzin, my regular doctor for macular degeneration, says that both my left eye, which worried me last week, and the right eye are "fine".  So I did not need an injection in the right eye this time.  Come back after New Year's, unless I notice any changes.  Hurray!

All I had to recover from this AM was the dilation in both eyes.  But that just meant I got to lie down and close my eyes for two hours after we got home.  When I got up, there on the floor by the bed was a "gift" of the dog's stuffed squirrel.  Guess he thought I needed it more than he did.

Sara

Gratitudes:

Charlie to be my driver
Another UFO top to Margaret's Hope Chest
First real snow of the season, lovely

Puss in the Corner blocks

Stack of 80 Puss in the Corner blocks in my UFO cupboard.  All I need in an alternate block to separate these and make them more interesting.

The solution:

was on the cover of "Nickel Quilts".  She has constructed her block differently, with four patches added in the corners, but I can simply use another of the Puss in the Corner blocks there!  Hoo-ha, this is going to be simple.

Using two shades of blue rectangles will make a "frame" for half the blocks in dark and half in light.  They are laid out on the design bed.  There's a minor problem with the edges finishing the design, but I'll worry about that later.  Now to sew them together.

Sara

Gratitudes:

Start of Advent
Leftover turkey for lunch sandwich
Saw the end of "The Wizard of Oz" last night on TV, 
     had forgotten that Toto is a hero

Chopsticks Quilt

While at the Gwen Marston  Retreat I put together four "confetti" blocks into a larger block.  Then I slashed them and inserted narrow strips, like chopsticks.  Here are two corner areas blown up so you can see how the blocks were constructed.

I thought I would calm down the chaos by using blue sashing strips and yellow cornerstones. [When I said that to my Bee they all chuckled.  You mean that doesn't calm it down?]

Here's the whole thing,  47" x 60", not big enough for a twin bed, but a "snuggle" quilt.  For someone who likes bright colors!  Another UFO bites the dust.

Oh yes, here is  most of the back:

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Second to the last rehearsal for the Women's Chorus' Winter Concert to night.  We're getting there!  Mostly singing without the music; two more weeks to learn the rest.

Sara

Gratitudes:

Breakfast out with Charlie before exercise class
An incredibly warm day for November
Started pulling fabrics for Bonnie Hunter's new mystery

Blue Star Mystery quilt finished after 13 years!

Done!  Quilted, bound and labelled.  And hanging on the kitchen wall behind the eating counter.  It is 68" X 84".

My UFO album shows me standing in front of this top in 1997, no borders at that time.  The Ruched Rose Terrorists Bee made this as a mystery trial for Judy Hopkins.

Here's a close-up of one block to show the quilting that Mary Davis did on the center blocks.

And here is a fuzzy photo of one of my "unresolved" cable quilting corners.  The vertical border has a cable that just runs off the end.

Glad, glad, glad to have it done!  In Finn's challenge, this is #4 out of the five I said I would finish before New Year's.  And I am "on target" for my own "Two a Month" challenge at the beginning of 2010.

Sara

Gratitudes:

Charlie called to say he is only an hour from home
Got this quilt in the washer before going to church
Second temporary camera is still functioning

Regular Saturday: Piano Jazz and Opera

Saturday habit: listening to "Piano Jazz with Marian McPartland" in the morning and the opera broadcast in the afternoon.  That means that I am at the sewing machine at those times as a common practice.  This afternoon it is "The Queen of Spades", which is all new to me!

Sewing work is completing the borders on a quilt that may be 10-12 years old.  This was a "mystery" from a famous quilting teacher that my previous Bee tested out for her.

For some reason I had the main part quilted, and thought I would add the wide borders later.  "Later" was a long time in arriving.  On three sides the border, batting and backing had been attached (not quilted), but the fourth side was un touched.  Why?  Can't figure that out now -- the pieces of fabric were right there.  I found a possible weight of batting and pieced it together.  I have sewn the last border, etc. and am quilting this cable design from a stencil.

Since I am so eager to get this FINALLY finished, I am not trying to resolve the corners, but am just going to the end of each border and stopping.  I tell myself this is an ancient, traditional quilting practice. [I have heard well-known experts say this!]

Sara

Gratitudes:

- "Carmina Burana" was still interesting last night, tho' I'd rather something less often preformed
- Lots of time to sew
- Our kitchen eating counter the right height for cutting, pinning, trimming

Strip Star bordered

There it is on the living room loveseat.  I decided to simply copy the inner borders on the outside.  Makes it a 66" square.

When I had already started to add the borders, I got a message from Finn suggesting that I try the outer triangles the other way, with the dark side next to the inner borders.  Hmm, I think she was right.  Too late now tho', I'm ready to call this one finished.

I'm not in love with it, but I think the borders improved matters quite a bit. Another UFO ready to go to Margaret's Hope Chest.

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Next a pile of red and cream Puss-in-the-Corner blocks I made a few years ago.  I suddenly found a possible alternate block that will make them a lot more interesting. . .and it is SIMPLE. . . and it will use up more stash.

---------------
Now I'm off to my monthly Bee meeting, The SpoolSpinners.  We will be finalizing our plans for next month's party, and also what special project we want to work on together during next year.  Catherine says she has two quilts to hand back to me after quilting them.  So more photos tomorrow.

Sara

Gratitudes:

Suggestions from Internet friends, even if I don't use them
New trousers arrived in the mail
Good bass sectional rehearsal last night

Fabric Sample Squares

Several long years ago, I belonged to the Cotton Club, which sent out monthly samples.  A few years ago I thought to make a Sample Squares Quilt with a pile of them.  I cut some squares in half to make sashings.  I cut some squares in quarters to make cornerstones. I made quite a few rows on eight.  Then I sewed some rows together, and another day I sewed some more rows together.  Something was wrong when I was going to sew the two pieces together.  The sashing wasn't on the "same" side.  Who knew there was a "wrong" side?  I looked at it and looked at it.  And I almost cried.  I put the whole thing away.

Today I am older and wiser.  I manipulated the two big segments around until I saw that I only needed to make two more strips of the sashing, sew them on the "right" sides, and all would be well. . . .and FINISHED.  So today I did that.

Bingo another top for Margaret's Hope Chest.

I gave myself a break and had "15 Minutes of PLay" as advocated the Victoria of Bumblebeans.  I thought it was time to experience something monochromatic, so I pulled all the GREEN I could find in my String Bin.  Then I "thoughtlessly" sewed.

The really clever thing I did next was. . . [wait for it]. . . I put all the green fabric and new blocks away in a paper grocery bag, out of sight.  So I'm not distracted until I need the time for a break again.

Now I have a star UFO made of string-made HSTs, and a pile more of the HSTs.  So far I have put three plain inner borders around the star, and I am thinking about using the HSTs outside them.

They are all lying on my Design Bed.  I will have to decide SOMETHING before I go to sleep, even if I do go and read a little escapist fiction this evening.

Sara

Gratitudes:
Lynne was well enough to make it to GRWC rehearsal last night
A morning to sleep in [until 9:30!]
Asiago Cheese bread at Panera