UFO for December

This is our last UFO Project for 2012.  Judy at Patchwork Times has chosen #4, which also should be the last one, obviously, on our lists....unless you're like me and have another list waiting in the corner to be worked on completed as well!


My #4 is from a pattern called Hidden Spools by Rhonda Dohna and published in The Quilter magazine November 2004.  It's made of scrappy Churn Dash blocks set on point and with setting triangles that give the appearance of two spools in the layout.  I need only quilt and bind this one.  I would love to have ONE finish this year, but happily, have made progress on several, which is more than I accomplished in 2011.

Pinned to design wall and checking borders.

Top finished and layers pinned ready to be quilted

Judy will be changing from her annual UFO Project to a "Get It Done" feature, where we'll list four things we want to accomplish each month.  I'm going to have to start thinking of those things.  Most of my projects are UFO's at the need-to-be-quilted stage, so....my lists of four are going to be quilting, quilting, quilting, and quilting...or I have to start some new projects!  Now wouldn't that just be awful? ;P  I think I'll go pull some fabric for Bonnie Hunter's Easy Street (see my post of yesterday).    

September...and October UFO

OK, I will get this right this time.  Meaning: When linking up to Judy at Patchwork Times UFO Challenge I've found myself posting for the new month's selection rather than the progress on the month just ending.  So, having clarified that in my mind and on paper blog media, Here's the progress on September's selection:   

     #11.  (My #023) - Rooster: 100% hand project: 4 blocks finished, 2 to go, then to be backed, quilted, binding. Status:  Made progress on block #5 above, the Dresden Plate, getting the 'plate' done but not attached to the background fabric or getting the center circle added.  

Now, for October it's this one:

    
      6.   #022 - Cumberland Mountain: it's partially quilted but I quit working on it because I wasn't happy with how the quilting was going, so I need to either finish with what I was doing or remove some of the quilting and re-do where I didn't like it. 

This quilt is for my friend Lois.  She house sits and feeds cats and waters plants for us during the summer when both Marty and I might be gone at the same time.   One summer when I returned from my trip to the northern wet land, she said she was trying to de-clutter some things from her small one-bedroom apartment and knew I quilted, so she gave me several bags of fabric, not all quilt-worthy, as she sewed clothing, but still quite a haul for my stash!  With that in mind, and how she is always willing to be helpful to us, I decided I'd make her this quilt. The pattern's name (I'll have to get the details when I can get it off the closet shelf.) and the lightning design are what drew me to this one as she had/has an ancestor/relatives in that locale.  All but the background fabric and I think one other, the green trees there at the bottom edge, were from the fabrics she gave to me.  I had planned to finish it that year, but it's now been several and she has a birthday coming up in November...can I get a finish of at least one UFO this year?  All I can say is, "I will try."

September UFO Project

Judy at Patchwork Times has posted the UFO # for September, #11 which is my #023 Rooster quilt.  It's a quilt I started oh-so-very-long ago, and last worked on in January 2009 - how can that be? I remember clearly working on it just... oh never mind, it's been well over three years since I have.  It's just that I've taken it with me on my summer trips several times without doing a thing to it, other than buying several different pieces of fabric that will or will not be the backing.  However, I'll have you know that just this morning, before checking Judy's blog, in boredom and restlessness and tired of laying in bed or sitting in an office chair at the computer, I grabbed that container for this quilt and yep, spent all of 20 minutes working on it.  Wait, what do you mean it's for September and that's not until tomorrow?  Well, that's just the way it is.  The rate I'm going, that may be all I get done - even in September!  All of my 2012 UFO Challenge quilts and their progress, or lack thereof, can be found here.

This quilt is being done entirely by hand - NO MACHINES!  Just because I want to be able to say I did ONE quilt that way in my lifetime; trust me, it won't happen again ; )  The blocks finish at 12" square, so this will be a good lap-size quilt.  There will be sashing in between the blocks and a border.  I plan to also hand-quilt, but as long as it takes me, it may end up just getting tied, but I really do want to also hand-quilt once in my lifetime!  Not sure why I only have pics of five of the blocks when seven are done, but here are the five of nine blocks for my Rooster quilt:

done

done

done

done

pinned in layout but not done, this is the block I worked on today for 20 minutes

Busy, Busy June

Today is the first of June so that means a new number has been chosen at Patchwork Times for the UFO Challenge.  If I were going to be home for more than the next few days of June, this is what I would be working on:  It's called Pumpkin Frost (Scarecrow).

This is the scarecrow I plan to do.  The project is all Log Cabin and each log finishes at 1/4" and each block finishes at 2 1/2" square.  The element above is only of the scarecrow which is all I plan to do.  There are other elements on the much larger portion of the quilt.  When finished, the chosen element should be 45 1/2" square.  It is presented separately in the book.

This is the book it's from.  It's out of print, but I found a like-new copy online a few years ago for just a couple dollars.  I'd seen the quilt sample displayed at our former LQS.  It had been taught in a class, and I loved it for a Fall wall-hanging.  I was not able to take the class.

Some brown selections to choose from.

Red and gold selections to choose from.

The tans and light brown options.

Auditioning for the greens role.

The lights choices in the running.

And we can't forget the purples.

But as I said, I'll be gone for all of June so won't be getting to this, but instead I will take a project on this year's list that is being done entirely by hand, and put this one into the place where that one, #11 will be when it gets chosen.  So this is the one I'll take with me and consider my 'June' UFO:

Dresden Plate block, in work

Road To Oklahoma II block - finished

Fool's Puzzle II / Wonder Of The World block - finished

Clown's Choice block - finished

Color Wheel block - finished

There will be a sixth block, an appliqued rooster.  I have had a difficult time finding just the exact rooster I want, but at a show in March I found a quilt pattern that has some roosters that just might fit the bill.  This is a quilt of my own design - just six simple squares and it will have sashing and borders.  My intent is to also hand-quilt it, something I have NO experience in doing.  It'll keep me busy for quite awhile yet an will be perfect to take with me on my trip.

I would love to use/find the pattern to the quilt displayed as the header at Cat Lover and Quilt Maker.  It is what I've had in my mind's eye that I haven't been able to find.  I'll have to send a note to her and see if she can tell me anything about it, or what the pattern is.  If not, I could probably also sit and try to sketch one out for the size I need that looks similar.  I'd like mine to face the other direction though.

Oh Dear, March UFO Challenge

Judy has posted the number for the next UFO Challenge Quilt....# 8. That's my Storm at Sea, or as I like to call it "Poseidon Loses". This time I'm really out of quilting safety pins, and I'm not un-pinning anything I already have pinned. I can make progress on it though, as I can prepare the backing. It'll be a pieced backing and I've already sketched the design and set the fabric aside with the quilt. I'm not very hopeful of getting anything beyond that done...unless I can finish the quilts from January's and February's UFO challenge. Seems they're all at about the same point...quilting :P ... oh my! Have I mentioned I'm going to be in the midst of home renovation which is certainly going to put a crimp in my plans.

February's UFO Challenge Quilt

My Country Charm/Dragonfly Quilt is the one chosen (#1) by Judy with the goal of completion in February. I've yet to finish January's #5 and both of these quilt tops are now in the exact same condition: needing the backing, layering, quilting & binding. At least for the Feb. topper I have my backing fabric selected, so I'm one step ahead on it!

It's a Brand New Year

Happy New Year to you all out there in Blog-Land :)

First up, since it's Sunday, which means it's Stash Report Sunday (thank you Judy), I start with zip, isn't that fun? nothing in, nothing out (yet)!

Used this Week: 0 yards
Used year to Date: 0 yards
Added this Week: 0 yards
Added Year to Date: 0 yards
Net Used for 2012: 0 yards

Next, Judy has chosen our UFO Challenge project for January. #5 . That means I'll be working on The Puzzler, a project from the Nov. '05 issue of Quilters' Newsletter. I think that's a good choice. It makes me happy. I have the piecing done and just need to sew the pieced border to the main pieced top, then layer, quilt and bind. It's expected to measure 70"x89" when done, and 'quilting' is still a bit intimidating unless I do just straight lines, lol.

This shows the main piecing of the quilt, very scrappy, and each block a sample of different blocks within.

Here it is laid on a bed with the side pieced borders laid next to it. Once the borders are on all the way around, I'll need to decide how I want to quilt it...for me, that's the real challenge, I think even moreso than actually quilting.

So, let's get rolling into 2012.