The only block left now is the Snowmen Family. This could become a quilt top this year.
I’m a few days late with my year-end review, but it’s all OK.
Quilts In Progress
Tops to Quilt
Admittedly I use the term quilt and top rather broadly — so the tool pouch I made was run though that count, as were some of the pillowcases.
By the end of the year I had completed:
The best news is that nearly everything I started in 2014 is completed. There is one quilt that I’m still binding, but it should be finished this week and there are three long-term quilts on the Quilts in Progress list.
Oh — and the biggest quilting adventure was that I had several of my patterns published in The Quilt Pattern Magazine!
More accurately, what is on my bed?
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A long, long time ago, in a land far away, a young wife and seamstress wanted to make a Double Wedding Ring quilt for her and her husband’s 5th wedding anniversary. She went to the local quilt shop in Montgomery, Alabama and signed up for the class and purchased the fabric. The date was September 13, 1989.
The quilt shop ladies did their best to talk this young woman out of making this quilt as it would be only her second quilt, the first one a simple applique quilt made 5 or 6 years earlier in high school. But, she was not to be denied. After all, she had over a year to get the quilt done.
Material was purchased. The quilt pattern for the class was Mary Ellen Ingle Hopkins’ book The Double Wedding Ring Book.
In class, she carefully traced off the templates onto clear plastic, drew around them onto the fabric and cut the fabric with scissors. This was after all 1989 and shaped templates to use with a rotary cutter and mat were not available for this pattern.
Over the course of the class, several rings were sewn together, a whole row or two were assembled, and then the young woman was on her own. More rings were made, but then a few months later the entire project was gathered up and put away so she could focus on her pending discharge from the military and move to the Kansas City area.
It is a lost memory on whether or not the quilt was worked on during the next year, but she did make a few simple quilts as “model garments” for the fabric store she worked at during the evenings.
After a year in Kansas City, the couple moved to Texas where they lived for the next 7 years and three moves. During this time, the quilt was pulled out periodically to be worked on with the revised goal of the 10 anniversary (1995). During this time the quilt never became the sole focus, so although progress was made, it was never completed.
In 1999 the couple moved back to the Kansas City area. A new goal was set. Get the quilt done for their 20th anniversary. The quilt was pulled out periodically and an effort was made to work on it, but now she had a serious case of quilt pox and had new projects to start. Their 20th anniversary came and went.
The 25th anniversary was the new goal.
The quilt went to a couple of quilt retreats. A hand quilting class was taken in preparation of finishing the quilt. This was 2005 so there was still time to hit that 25 year mark. But now the woman was a more experienced quilter and she figured out why she was having so much trouble.
It was those plastic templates that were being drawn around and cutting the fabric with scissors. If the cutting is not accurate, there is no way to make an accurate 1/4″ seam. In 2009 she had a friend’s husband make acrylic templates from the original pattern so a rotary cutter could be used. It was amazing what a difference it made. Accurate cutting resulted in accurate piecing.
But what about the earlier piecing. Some of it had seams that would rip out if it was looked at hard.
The decision was made to fix those spots which absolutely had to be fixed and leave the rest. It would show how the quilter’s skill had grown over the years.
The quilt wasn’t ready for her 25th anniversary – but the top was nearly finished. The last seam was put in the top on January 5th, 2010.
Now that the top was finished, a backing had to be found. The backing was found in the stash. A shirting fabric picked up on a retreat with plans to use it on quilts made from recycled shirts.
A khaki thread was chosen. Quilters Dream Cotton Request was used for the batting. This Gloria Hartley stencil, purchased when the quilt was started and slightly modified would be the quilting design.
The quilt was first loaded into her Q-Snap frame. The couple’s cat Seven approved of this.
Later she switched to a lap frame stuffed into a laundry basket which took up less space.
The woman quilted on the quilt on and off for the next 4-1/2 years. Well, 3-1/2 years. There was a year where it sat in her living room untouched.
Just before the last stitches were put in, she had her husband do a few stitches.
The last quilting stitch was made on July 10, 2014.
Now it had to be bound. Most of the time the quilter machine stitched her binding both onto the quilt and then down, stitching in the ditch. But given the curves of this quilt, there was some questions as to if it would be possible. Not to mention she had to make bias binding something she seldom did. So there was a delay. The binding was finally attached to the quilt on September 3, 2014.
She decided to hand stitch the binding down. There are 30 rings along the edge of the quilt and could easily stitch one ring an evening. But there were other quilts to work on and new help to train.
Butterscotch & Gracie joined the family toward the end of September and became the new Quality Control Cats.
The final binding stitches were put in the quilt on November 22nd and the label was made and attached to the quilt.
The next day, before washing, it was placed on the bed for a photoshoot.
She still needs to wash it to get the marking and 25 years of accumulated dirt out of it, but it’s finished and in time for their 29th wedding anniversary on November 29, 2014.
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This quilt has been on so many UFO Challenge lists I’ve lost count. I’m linking up to Patchwork Times for Design Wall Monday, and when the 4th quarter 2014 Finish Along opens I’ll link up there as well as the DWR is on the 4th quarter list.
In September I seem to have limited myself to three quilts. Batik August C, Star-A-Day and the binding on the DWR. Given the DWR and the Star-A-Day quilt are handwork I’m not surprised. Nothing like getting excited about finishing a quilt and/or starting a new quilt – although the new quilt seems to have taken priority.
So it’s October and time to set this month’s goals and the 4th quarter goals for the 2014 Finish Along.
Setting the October goals is easy. 31 Stars, at least half of the remaining binding on the DWR, September & October’s Alphabet BOM blocks and at least half the remaining Batik August C blocks.
The 4th Quarter Finish Along Goals on the other hand…
I always seem to be finishing something that I didn’t plan on finishing. This last quarter it was the Abbey Memories. So, I’m going to do a 4 part list: Realistic; Possible; Long Shots and Just Dreaming.
Realistic:
Possible:
Longshot:
These are the quilts/knitting that I’ve said I wanted to finish this year and yet they haven’t been worked on this or have fallen by the wayside.
Dream:
These are quilts that I wanted to get the top done this year, but they don’t count for the Finish Along unless they are quilted. Stranger things have happened, so here they are.
Of course having outlined all this I could still pull a quilt out of the stack of tops and quilt it, get a wild idea to work on one of my other UFOs — or start something new. After all I do need to think about Kalli’s graduation quilt and what about Bonnie Hunter’s winter mystery quilt….
I’ll update the link to the Goal Setting Party next week when it opens.
I got more done in August than I realized. The Alphabet BOM blocks for the summer are done. R is for Rail Fence, S is for Spools and T is for Tile Puzzle. I made a pillowcase for “The Forgotten Quilt”; started a batik version of “August C”; cut out a quilt for Sydney to piece; quilted, bound and labeled Abbey Memories and finally finished the Eeyore quilt and made a matching pillowcase.
So, what’s on the agenda for September?
Then again other than doing the BOM and DWR, I may pull completely different projects to work on.
The Eeyore quilt is done and delivered!! 2 years 11 weeks after the initial goal — which with my quilting is right on time. It is reversible on the off chance that at some point Eeyore is no longer a favorite character.
The back was cut from my music fabric collection. Sydney not only plays viola and string bass, but is in the Performing Arts program in school.
Now the quilt statistics:
I need to say this UFO was on my lists in the following challenges:
On Design Wall Monday, I listed 4 things which I needed to get done by Friday morning. And by golly I think it’s going to happen.
First, finish Eeyore.
This is the last picture of this quilt until it’s washed. The binding and label are done. I just need to trim the threads on the back and wash it.
Next, cut 320 2-1/2″ x 4-1/2″ bricks for Sydney’s quilt. It is done and sitting in front of the sewing machine she uses when she visits. I wonder if she’ll be ready for them?
The third thing was to get the quilt I’m sewing on this weekend cut out. Done – well except for the borders, but I’ll deal with those later. I’ve even made the first block.
The final thing on my list is get the quilt on the zippers for the long arm. Well, I haven’t done that yet, but I have pulled it out and now I’m trying to decide on the thread. variegated or Black. My first instinct is to go with the black thread. It will however stand out in the blocks. On the other hand the variegated thread will stand out in the sashing and disappear in the blocks.
Once I get Eeyore in the wash and the quilt on the zippers I’m going to add a 5th thing — prep some leader/enders. I’m thinking I’ll pull down the Sew Scrappy project I’m doing. Lots of 1-1/2″ squares to make into 9-patches and 25-patches.
It’s good that I recap what I accomplish each month or I would think I get nothing done. Much of July was spent working in the yard and or reading. But then I realize I really did get a few things done.
As part of the yard work, I repainted our windmill. The center of Eeyore was quilted. A set of placemats and coasters was made. I finished quilting the Double Wedding Ring. I made the June BOM block and started on the July block, although I forgot to use muslin as my light. I did some of the embroidery on the next to last block of the Christmas BOM. Not pictured, on the 1st, I finished “the forgotten quilt”.
So, what do I have planned for August?
In no particular order:
There are other things which need to be done as well – labels and pillowcases for at least 5 quilts; get Scrappy Trips done – I still need to make the backing; start the quilt I’m making for a friend’s church auction and possibly quilt, bind and label another quilt for a gift if I can arrange time on the long arm at the end of the month. And of course this short list doesn’t put a dent in my 2014 Goals which is a just a small subset of my master UFO list.
Boy do I think I’m dreaming if I expect to FINISH all of these projects by the end of the 3rd Quarter. Most of these are recycled from earlier in the year and that’s OK because I am getting things done. So what’s on the 3rd quarter list?
There are other quilt tops in pieces that I want to finish this year but don’t necessarily expect to get quilted. Since the list above is for the 3rd Quarter Finish Along over at The Littlest Thistle – I won’t list them unless I really think I can get them finished by the end of the year. As soon as the linky is up I’ll link to it HERE.
So, realistically what do I think I can get done in July?
To the best of my knowledge I have not forgotten to make any quilts. I do have to finish sewing a hanging sleeve, but I should be able to knock that out tonight. I might just get everything done this month.
I may not have gotten everything on my list for June done, but I’m please with what I did get done – whether it was on my list or not.
Now to figure out what I want/need to get done in July.