Over the weekend I joined another UFO Challenge. It works on a simple principle — saying no new projects until you’ve finished your UFOs is not realistic. Simply pick 4 UFOs you are going to work on this year and report on them. So I picked the following 4 UFOs.
- Green and Blue Strip Twist
- Candy Sunflower Seeds (top only)
- Blue Disappearing 9-Patch
- Green and Cream Swap
Little did I know that I should have put En Provence on my list. I’ve stalled at the borders. The borders that I knew what I was planning to do.
The quilt, as designed, was finished Friday evening, and cat approved. Saturday the blue border and additional round of neutral 4-patches were added. That’s where I got stuck.
The nutcrackers are directional. Do I cut the borders so they all march the same direction, giving the quilt a top and bottom? March the nutcrackers vertically around the quilt counter-clockwise? Have them all stand at attention feet (not that they have any feet) in or feet out? There is only 3 yards of fabric, but still each of these options is an option — but I would like at least two pillowcases to match the quilt.
So, leaning toward feet out, I put the top on the bed and hung the border fabric to see what I thought.
I need the additional width on the quilt. It just hangs over the bottom of the mattress. But I’m not positive this is what I want to do. So, I folded up the quilt top, the nutcracker fabric, the blue, and the red that I used in the top and have set it aside, as I’ve want/need to finish the Disappearing 9-patch.
My main sewing machine was pulled from the table. The treadle machine opened up.
A couple of orphan blocks became a practice piece.
The backing was pulled out and pressed. The dining room table cleared, leaves added and covered. The backing rolled up on my 2 x 8. The batting spread out. That’s when I discovered I didn’t have any basting spray. I thought I did. But it has been a year since I used any. So off to WM we went. In and out with only the basting spray. Probably a first for me.
The backing is now attached to the batting and the top is pressed.
But I ran out of steam. Tonight I’ll finish basting the quilt and then start quilting it.
See what others are working on over at Patchwork Times.
I absolutely love the candy sunflower seeds.
En Provence is beautiful, I can understand how difficult it can be to add directional borders. The funny thing is I don’t think anybody but you would ever notice which way they go.
Is the disappearing 9 patch made of shirts? I love how masculine it is.
In my experience, if you make the soldiers all go in one direction, people will always put it on their bed or hang on the wall, heads up, feet down. This can lead to wear/fading in some areas. If you put the border all heads or feet out, people aren’t as likely to do that, they’ll just toss it on the bed without regard to heads up or down. Of course if the quilt isn’t square, it can only be used in 2 directions anyway, unless the bed is moved on a regular basis.
So basically if you know where the quilt is going, that may help you make a decision.
4 Quilt UFO’s in a Year is very DO-Able! I like that the Nutcrackers will march around the bed with feet out. Good thinking.