This will stay up until this weekend to let it simmer. I keep swapping blocks around to try and distribute the dark blocks and keep the 5/4 peach pattern. I really hope the dark border fabric I ordered doesn’t overwhelm it.
Category Archives: Ufo Challenge 2011
A Solution
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All month I’ve been working on UFO # 6 for Judy’s UFO Challenge. This quilt was started back in 2008. One of the reasons it got set aside was because I made two wrong cuts – messing up 4 of the 9-patches. Normally this would not be a big deal, but since I was working with a charm pack and had no more fabric it brought me to a screeching halt.
When I resumed working on the quilt, I had to figure out how to deal with my bad cuts. My first attempt to resolve the problem was to rip out my original piecing and take narrower seams. I even double stitched them for added security. But the more I thought about it the more I got concerned that it would rip out. The narrow seam allowance can be seen in picture 1.
So I came up with another solution. I ripped the stitching out – again. Picture 2 shows how much smaller the pieces are from what they are supposed to be. Then I put a piece of Lite Steam-A-Seam2 on the edges (3). The fabric was then fused to a thin piece of muslin (4) and trimmed to the correct size (5). 1 5/8 inches by 1 5/8 inches. Picture 6 shows how I’ll sew the block back together.
I’ll sew the block back together with 1/4 inch seams, but only 1/8 inch of fabric will be caught on some edges. I hope that the extra layer of fabric, along with the fusible will keep fabric from unraveling.
What’s on my Design Wall
Eight more blocks and I’ll have all 96 blocks done. Then I can start sewing them into rows and ultimately a quilt top. I’m going to have to temporarily clear the hearth off so I can get the last two rows up on the design wall. Those blocks on the right really go on the bottom of the quilt.
For a border I’ve decided on three narrow inner borders – 3/4- inch green, 1/2 – inch peach, and 3/4 inch green — this will use up the remaining peach and green fabric. The final outer border and binding will be a 4 to 5 inch wide brown print. I finally found two different brown prints from the collection on-line and ordered one of them last night. Since Shangri-La is an older collection (2008), I’m thrilled that I can find anything in stock.
Since I’m off from work, I’ll spend a good bit of time working on this, hopefully finishing it up – well as much as I can with out the border fabric — and then get started on my next project.
Follow the links over at Judy’s to see if others are making progress on their UFOs or working on something new.
What’s on my Design Wall
Today’s wall contains UFO # 6 – the 2008 Charm Challenge. I found out the name of the charm pack is Shangra-La. It is a Moda line by 3 Sisters. I spent most of Friday evening cutting the light fabrics and part of Saturday cutting the green squares for the star points. I ‘batched’ up 9 kits of 8 blocks each and it looks like I have a few more light pieces to cut and definitely more green squares to cut. At the moment the plan is to make the quilt 8 blocks by 12 blocks.
This is the first time in a long time I’ve worked on just one project at a time. I don’t have a leader/ender project going. I’m not sure if that a good thing or a bad thing.
I hope to get this top finished by next weekend. I have a couple of current projects which I need to make progress on this month.
See if others are working on their UFO challenges or something else by following the links over at Patchwork Times.
A Design is Found
I’ve been pondering what to do with my 9-patches for UFO # 6. Today I read this post which Bonnie wrote showing a Sister’s Choice quilt which Clare had made. It took a while, but eventually I made the connection and decided to turn my 9-patches into Sister’s Choice blocks.
I have 2 yards of the green and a box full of lights, so I should be able to finish the top from my stash.
Now on to cut. I need a total of 768 – 1 5/8″ green squares, 384 – 1 5/8″ light squares and 384 – 1 5/8″ x 3 7/8″ light rectangles. I could be cutting a while.
The Easy Part is Done
I’ve made all of my 9-patches. The hard part is now figuring out what to do with them. The truth is, I didn’t have much of a plan when I started this project back in the spring of 2008. Only a recognizable part of each charm square was required to be in the project. I vaguely remember thinking I wanted to use as much of the charm squares as possible. Thus my 9-patches are a weird size. I think they are supposed to finish at 3 3/8″. There should be 4 more blocks, but I made two incorrect cuts early on and I haven’t figured out what to do about it yet.
January UFO Challenge
Judy has drawn # 6.
That means this month I’ll be either get my Charm Challenge into a top
or quilt my Scrappy 5-Patch.
Now for a bit of history on these two quilts.
For several years, my LQS, Heritage Fine Fabrics, issues a Charm Pack Challenge. The rules are pretty simple. Create a quilted object containing a recognizable piece of every charm in the package. In 2008 I think the charm pack was a Three Sisters line. I decided to make 9-patches using the ‘quick pieced’ method where you start off with two squares of fabric and end up with 2 9-patches. I hadn’t thought past that point, and when I didn’t finish the 9-patches and the contest deadline passed, the pieces were set aside.
The Scrapy 5-Patch is a quilt top I completed in 2009. It just needs quilting. The backing and binding are folded up with the quilt top and I’m sure there’s a piece of batting big enough in my batting box (or I can piece one together). I just have to decide how I’m going to quilt it. That’s where I frequently get stuck – although generally, I don’t get as far as making the binding and having the backing ready.
My brother and sister and their families are coming to dinner tomorrow, so I won’t get much quilting done this weekend. Good thing I have Monday off!
Good luck to all of the participants in this challenge. I’m sure we’ll finish lots of quilts by the end of the year.
Judy’s UFO Challenge 2011
I’m not doing so well with Finn’s New Year’s Eve UFO Challenge. I had great hopes to finish 3 pretty good size projects, but as usual when I make plans like that life gets in the way. I don’t see myself finishing anything else this year – not that I’m not still plugging away on various projects. They are just going slower than I anticipated.
That’s not to say I’ve given completely up on my UFOs. One day (in a time far, far, away) they will become finished quilts to be used. To help me whittle down my extremely long list (see the Tops To Be Quilted and Quilts In Progress tabs above), I’m going to play along with Judy and her UFO Challenge next year. Instead of listing quilts I’ve “got” to finish, I’ve picked quilts that I’ve passed over in the past to work on something “more important” or “more fun” (i.e. a new quilt). My list of quilts and the rules which I’ve tweaked (Judy said we could :-)) are on the UFO Challenge 2011 tab.
If you have UFOs which need to be completed come join us over at Patchwork Times. Sign ups begin Friday.
