Progress on UFO #10

February 8, 2011 7:53 am ⋅ Pam

February’s UFO started off looking like this. When I started this quilt, the plan was to make this:

Those are 15″ blocks with 3″ sashing, so the quilt would finish at 75″ x 93″. But since I can’t find these two quilted blocks, I can either pick a different quilt to work on, or approach the quilt with a fresh perspective.

Picking a different quilt wouldn’t get this one done, so I decided to try a fresh perspective. I played in EQ with several ideas and decided on this one:

This quilt has a 2″ inner black spacer border, a 1 1/2″ inner border and then finishes with a 3 1/2″ outer border. The quilt will measure 59″ x 89″. I have to dig through my stash to see if I can find 5/8 yard of yellow fabric. I may just have to make a trip to the LQS. Believe it or not, when my husband looked at the options and I told him this one would require a fabric purchase, he still picked it. I think he said something about 1 yard (I hadn’t done the math yet) wasn’t that big of a deal.

I haven’t just been playing in EQ, I’ve actually did pieced. I now have 10 plates in progress. I’ve got more cutting ahead of me.

Drop in later in the week to see how I’m progressing.

Posted in: Colorworks Dresden Plate, UFO Challenge 2011

What’s on My Design Wall

February 7, 2011 1:03 am ⋅ Pam

Today it’s really What’s on my Scanner Bed. I was afraid to try to put them on the design wall. It looks like I’ll be redoing a couple of these before I put the top together. If they were all usable I’d be a little over 1/3 of the way done. I’m going to put these back in their envelope for a couple of weeks. I need to work on something bigger.

I still haven’t found the two completed (as in quilted) blocks to my UFO#10. I have no idea where they got to, but I have found the black batting, so I think I’m just going to regroup. There’s nothing stopping me from making the plates and appliquéing them to the background. The final decision will come when I see how many plates I can get from the fabric I have — there’s no buying new – the fabric is at least 20 years old.

Follow the links over at Patchwork Times for great inspiration.

Posted in: Colorworks Dresden Plate, designwall, UFO Challenge 2011

Stash Report

February 6, 2011 1:04 am ⋅ Pam

With all the snow last week, I didn’t get out much, so no new fabric came in the house.

I pieced the backing for the mystery quilt using nearly all of the leftover fabric. I worked a bit on the DWR, pieced a few tiny Ohio Stars and make the pajama pants.

Fabric Added this Week: 0 yards
Fabric Added to Date: 5.25 yards

Fabric Used this Week: 3.92 yards
Fabric Used to Date: 18.197 yards

Net Stash for 2010: -12.937 yards

Check out other results by following the links over at Patchwork Times.

Posted in: Stash Busting Report

Quality Control Cat Strikes Again

February 5, 2011 11:02 pm ⋅ Pam

Seven, the Quilting Quality Control Cat, also inspects hand quilting.

The fuzzy picture is from the camera phone. DH was afraid if he walked past us to get the good camera, Seven would think it was time to eat and jump down. The green light is from and LED light I have attached to the cap I’m wearing.

Posted in: QCC, Seven

It’s So Silly…

February 3, 2011 7:31 pm ⋅ Pam

…but I now have a pair of Tigger pajamas – or at least pajama pants. A friend is embroidering a Tigger for me to appliqué onto the t-shirt.

Why do I have Tigger pajamas? It all started so innocently. I decided I wanted a new watch — something big enough for me to see. Those Mickey Mouse watches where his hands are the watch hands are cute – but in my mind, a dime a dozen. So I picked Tigger.

I’ve had this watch for about 12 years. I’ve gone through at least 5 batteries and probably as many watch bands. I really need to get the case re-plated.

I have a great gray Tigger t-shirt, but I can’t wear it anymore due to holes. I have no idea how they got there. Since then I’ve gotten a couple of other t-shirts, but they just aren’t the same. A few years ago I picked up this fleece sweatshirt jacket.

Of course I have a few stuffed Tiggers as well.

The one with the red lilly travels with me to quilt retreats. My quilts tops need “cat approval” and Seven refuses to travel with me, so Tigger fills in.

I’m sure if I dug deeper I’d find more Tigger “things”. Instead I think I’ll go dig some more for UFO #10!

Posted in: Uncategorized

The Year of the PIG – Question #3

February 2, 2011 12:30 am ⋅ Pam

Jill’s Year of the PIGS Question #3 is:

What is the main reason(s) why you put PIGS and UFOs to the side?

Where do I start? First the UFOs

The quilt has a deadline and I didn’t meet it, so now it’s on to the next quilt and deadline.
I have a stack of blocks and don’t know how I want to set them (usually from swaps).
I have a stack of blocks from a swap or raffle and don’t have time to deal with them ‘right now’.
The process is tedious and I’m tired of it.
I’ve run into a problem and I don’t know how I’m going to fix it.
Something new has caught my eye and has to be done “right now”.
The project is long-term (BOM, SBS, lots of handwork) and the timeline gets extended to handle my lack of progress.
The quilt doesn’t have a ‘destination’, so it’s gets bumped down in priority.
Life gets in the way.

Now the pigs.

I’ve decided I don’t have enough time to get the project done in the amount of time I have.
I don’t want to start anything new with so many other projects needing to be finished.
What was I thinking?
That will be a good retreat project.

These are just a some of the reasons projects get set aside. The good news is I was easily able to list these out and I’m actively working on overcoming them. I haven’t joined a swap or raffle in a while (the blue & brown SBS blocks was the last swap I joined – blocks received in November 2009). I haven’t bought a new project in a while that I wasn’t going to start working on immediately (last PIG was The Night Before Christmas in May 2009).

I’m doing my best to not set dates for my quilts, except where absolutely necessary – the mini quilt is for the Guild silent auction in April, or the mystery quilt I’m writing for a quilt retreat, also in April. A few dates sneak in. I’d love to have my Double Wedding Ring finished to hang in the Guild quilt show in April. There are two other quilts I’d love to have for show and tell at the April retreat. But then I remind myself, there are only 9 weeks left until April, do the mini and work on the DWR – forget the other two since I haven’t even STARTED them.

Forget the PIGs, I’m focused on the UFOs — now if I can just find # 10….

Posted in: PIGS

February UFO Challenge

February 1, 2011 1:08 pm ⋅ Pam

Judy has drawn the UFO Challenge number for February. The link to the January challenge finishes can be found here.

This month’s number is 10. That means I’ll be working on my bright Colorworks Dresden Plate Quilt-As-You-Go project…

…if I can find it.

The top picture is a relatively current picture. I took it this past December. That portion of the quilt is in my UFO crate on the shelves. The bottom picture was taken a while back. I’m not sure where those two finished blocks are – or for that matter the box of black batting I purchased for the project.

This project was started in 2006. Most of the prints are from the Colorworks collection which came out in the early 1990’s. I know this, because the fabric is from a “broomstick” skirt that my Mom made for me as ‘model garment’ at a now defunct chain fabric store shortly after I moved to Texas. I am here to tell you that quilting cotton does not make an easy to care for broomstick skirt. Which is not to say the skirt wasn’t cute. Mom used the same fabric to make a skirt for my sister and sister-in-law — although I don’t think their skirts had as many tiers.

I loved the skirt. Wore it for nearly 10 years (I’m obviously not a clothes horse) but tended to roll over the hem when getting up from my desk at work. Since the skirt had an elastic waistband, it made for some potentially awkward moments. The last time it happened, I decided I would make a quilt from the miles of fabric in the skirt and came home and tore the skirt apart. I managed to acquire the other two skirts and found some leftover fabric in Mom’s sewing room.

Of course as a project without a known destination, this quilt got set aside to languish unfinished as I worked on something else. Since it was started, I’ve completely gutted my sewing room, so there is no telling where the missing blocks and batting are. For a while, the missing batting (and maybe the missing blocks?) was in a crate sitting in the living room. Then we cleaned up the living room and the crate got moved. Our best guess is it’s in the basement – but everything in the basement got moved around not too long ago when we had the plumber out. So, before I can really begin working on this project, I’ve got to work on the basement. I wonder if Judy will let me count a cleaned basement as a finished UFO?

I’ll search for the missing batting and if I don’t find it in the next two weeks, I may have to swap out UFO #10 for something else on the list.

Posted in: applique, UFO Challenge 2011

January UFO Challenge Met – Part 3

January 31, 2011 5:11 pm ⋅ Pam

It happened! I finished two UFOs this month. This baby quilt (about 38″ square) was quick to quilt — once I figured out how I was going to quilt it. The backing is a piece of fabric left over from a dress I made 4 or 5 years ago.

The binding was made when I finished the quilt top last August so, I’ll only get to count the backing at the next Stash Report.

Since February is a short month, and I still have to my “regular quilting” to do, I hope Judy calls a low number. My “regular quilting” for February will consist of resuming the hand quilting on my DWR, and piecing mini-stars for the miniature quilt I’m working on.

Posted in: 5-patch scraps, UFO Challenge 2011

What’s on My Design Wall

January 31, 2011 12:24 am ⋅ Pam

This is UFO #6 off the second list. Yes, I might just finish 2 UFOs this month. The binding is on and I just need to stitch it down — then decide if I need to go back and quilt the around the outside edge (I’m thinking yes.) I even have the quilt labeled.

Follow the links over at Patchwork Times to check out other design walls.

And check back this evening to see if I finish the quilt before midnight!

Posted in: 5-patch scraps, designwall, UFO Challenge 2011

January UFO Challenge Met – Part 2

January 30, 2011 11:07 pm ⋅ Pam

Over on my UFO Challenge 2011 tab I have two lists. The first list is for quilts I will consider “done” when they get to the “Top” stage. The second list is for quilt tops which will be considered “done” only when they are quilted and bound. Thus my announcement on January 25th that I had met this month’s challenge. I had finished UFO #6 off the first list.

Well, I’m happy to announce that I’ve finished Three Sisters’ Choice. As in quilted and bound.

After washing, where is scrunched up beautifully, it measures 53″ x 74″.

I hoped to have the quilt off the 2nd list to show tonight, but I rapidly ran out of time. My husband hung it so I could photograph it. There’s a pillow case to go with the quilt.