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.

Check back tomorrow to see if I finish the second quilt.

I’m too tired tonight to sandwich the quilt, but I’ve prepped the backing, made the binding, found a piece of batting the right size and wound two bobbins.  I see quilting (instead of piecing) in my future.

Three Sisters’ Choice is now a top.  It’s come along way from a pile of pieces with no design (or good name) in mind to this finished quilt top.

The name is derived from the fabric designer, Three Sisters, and the block, Sister’s Choice.  I don’t see where I have any other choice but to call it Three Sisters’ Choice.

Earlier today I rooted around in my yardage boxes, and found 4 yards of a peach fabric which will make the perfect backing.

The fabric was originally intended to be either the framing or sashing around some 4-patch Stacked Posies blocks, but I used the 4-Patch fabric back in October or November to back the Row Quilt I gave my brother and his wife for Christmas.   There is enough of the border fabric for binding and the cuff of a pillow case.  All I have left of the rest of the fabric is 2 – 2″ strips WOF of the green and a pile of trimmings.  I’m going to have to be inventive for the body of the pillowcase.

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.

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.

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.

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.