March 28, 2013
April 15, 2013
April 18, 2013
April 20, 2013
April 23, 2013
I’ve been working on my Black and Bright Swap blocks from May 2007. I still need to finish the last border, but I’ve got to get the corner blocks built. That last lime piece is in the wrong place so that’s what I’ll be working on tonight.
To see what others got done on their UFOs follow the links over at Patchwork Times.
Don’t these blocks look so cute? To bad that green strip is sewn to the wrong edge. I finally sat down to piece a bit after 10 last night. Before I got this far sewing my corner blocks together I ripped out at least 3 or 4 seams + plus the one seam which was right!
I think it’s time to stop sewing for the evening. Perhaps I’ll get these finished tomorrow night.
Last month several of my friends when to a quilt retreat while I stayed home to work. One of the quilt shops they stopped at had scrap bags – small pieces and large pieces – for comparably next to nothing. If this sounds familiar, it’s because this is part #2.
This weekend, one of the gals asked me when I was going to come over to go through the fabric. I told her I thought I was given it at dinner a few weeks ago. She said “No, I have some bags for you.”
So last night I stopped by and this is what she gave me. Tons of Thimbleberries and Kansas Troubles with a bit of other stuff mixed in. The pile on the left is WOF anywhere from 4 1/2″ to 18″ with most pieces around 9″ – 12″. The two piles in the middle are about 3″ high. I found 3 FQs in the mix and over 50 pieces of Thimbleberries fabrics measuring 4 x 14.
I can’t wait to play with all of this new fabric and make something great from it.
Thank you S.
Today it’s “What’s On The Floor”. Saturday, I attended about 9 hours of a scheduled 14 hour UFO retreat and got this far on my Black and Bright Swap blocks. I had a prior commitment which required me to leave early, but to tell the truth, I was exhausted by 5.
It still needs a narrow lime green border around the edges and then I’ll add the final border which will match the black, lime and green in the center. But first I have to finish assembling the corner blocks!
Oh, my prior commitment? My husband and I had tickets to see The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain. I hear you thinking. She skipped quilting and paid to go see/listen to people play ukuleles? I had a blast! Grinned, giggled, laughed all night long. Check out their YouTube page and you’ll understand why.
Of course don’t forget to check out the quilts at the links over at Patchwork Times.
I had big plans to finish the top of my Black and Bright quilt yesterday during the UFO retreat. Only I forgot an important fact – group quilting, for me, is slower than individual quilting. You run around and see what everyone else is working on. You stop sewing on your own project to give assistance to others. The quilters, laughter, food. It’s a wonderful day no matter how much quilting you get done.
Here are my numbers for the week.
Fabric Added Since Last Report: 0 .319 yards
Fabric Added to Date: 80.43 yards
Fabric Used Since Last Report: 0.143 yards
Fabric Used to Date: 23.284 yards
Net Used for the year -57.146 yards
To see how others are doing check out the links over at Patchwork Times.
A lot of fabric cutting today, so not as much stitching. These are the blocks which will go on either side of the center medallion. There will be a strip of green between the blocks and the center.
The remaining sashing is cut and pinned to the rest of the blocks. The green strips around the outer edge of the blocks have been cut. I’ve got the cornerstones cut and ready to piece. I haven’t cut the turquoise and green for the outer border, but the black fabric is cut.
But it’s late and I’ve got to gather my stuff tomorrow evening, so I’ve boxed everything up. As I look at my list, it’s hard to believe I’m only retreating for one day. But then again when I pack for a 3 day retreat, it looks like I’m planning on being gone for a minimum of a week.
Does anyone end up without enough to work on when they go to a quilting retreat?
I finished the center section of the Black and Bright Swap Block quilt. But only after running out of bobbin about 2″ from the end.
Here’s the center.
The next step is to sash the other blocks for the next round. At this rate, I may need to find another project to take to the UFO work day.
D is for Double Friendship Star – the third block of Dorothy Young’s alphabet block-of-the-month. If you wish to quilt along, join the group by clicking on the “Join Now!” button.
Click to join apocketfullofmysteries.
UFO Parade +1 and I worked on two, no 3 projects, plus the spool leader/enders. But I have a great excuse. My sister came over for me to show her how to make and bind a quilt. So, she used my big machine and I was on the treadle until she left.
The pile of strips is the rest of the strip sets pressed and ready for me to stitch them into a tube. The plastic bag under the spools contains the pieces I need for this month’s Alphabet block – Double Friendship Star.
The pink and turquoise block is just the top block of the stack of Black and Bright Swap blocks. They are all trimmed to 12 1/2″ square (or close enough) or black strips added around the block to bring them up to 12 1/2″ square.
And my sister’s quilt. Here are a couple of pictures front and back. Perhaps tomorrow I’ll just work on one project.
It is said that you can’t fix a problem until you know the extent of it. Along those lines, Judy over at Patchwork Times has challenged her readers to identify their UnFinshed Objects and put them on Parade.
When the parade was announced, I thought I knew my numbers – split between Quilts in Progress and Tops to be Quilted. But when I pulled everything out I found 4 projects not on the list and one which needed to be removed. In my world, if it’s a Project In Grocery Sack, it’s not considered a UFO. I might decide to use the fabric for something else!
Anyway, the two collages above represent my Quilts in Progress (top) and Tops to be Quilted (bottom). Click on them to enlarge — click on the tabs above to see the current list with links to individual pictures.
There are 41 Quilts in Progress and 36 Tops to be Quilted.
The quilts I’m actively working on are Scrappy Trips on my treadle; Black and Bright Swap Blocks; 3″ Spool blocks and Postage Stamp as my leader/ender project depending on what I have cut; and hand quilting on the Double Wedding Ring. Additionally, the Alphabet BOM is active (although I don’t have this month’s block done yet) and when I know I’m going to be waiting, I’ll take along the Redwork Snowmen or the ‘Twas Night Before Christmas Quilt-A-Long blocks, although admittedly I’m a month behind on the later.
Now that I’ve identified the extent of my “problem” what can I do to fix it?
#1 – don’t start anything else new until something either moves to the To Be Quilted list or actually gets finished. Of the 9 projects I’m actively working on (there are 2 TNBCs) 4 of them were started this year! Which is actually a wash as I’ve finished 2 projects (three if you count the pillowcase) and moved two projects to the tops list.
#2 – keep up with the BOM/Quilt-a-Longs. There are 8 of them on my list, but only 3 are current. When I fall behind it is easy to set it aside for something else saying “oh, I’ll spend one day and catch up”. If I’m not careful, the TNBC will fall that way.
#3 – focus and finish. With the exception of the leader/ender projects, can I really work on multiple quilts at once? I started the Scrappy Trips to have a project for my treadle machine. I’m enjoying the machine and I think it will be a great quilt, but I can’t have no desire to haul my treadle to this coming Saturday’s UFO retreat. So, I’ve pulled out the Black and Bright blocks and I’m excited to work on them – so much so, I didn’t wait for Saturday.
#4 – set aside time each month to do handwork. I attend a Stitch and Chat each month when I don’t have to work and that’ s when I work on my DWR. Another night each month would prevent me from getting further behind on the TNBC and make faster progress on the Redwork Snowmen.
For the most part having all these projects does not drive me crazy. Oh, sure there are a few that pester me – Bellance Bag, Frog Quilt, & Eeyore come to mind, not that they are in my current “9”. The fact that it doesn’t drive me crazy is possibly how the list got so large.
Now that I’ve put my UFOs on parade, I wonder how many I can get crossed off or moved up by the end of the year? I’m going to aim for 5 Quilts in Progress to move up to the To be Quilted list; 3 Quilts in Progress to be finished and 5 tops on the To be Quilted list to be finished.
Hop over to Patchwork Times to see other entries on the UFO Parade.
