UFO Parade +1 and I worked on two, no 3 projects, plus the spool leader/enders.  But I have a great excuse.  My sister came over for me to show her how to make and bind a quilt.  So, she used my big machine and I was on the treadle until she left.

The pile of strips is the rest of the strip sets pressed and ready for me to stitch them into a tube. The plastic bag under the spools contains the pieces I need for this month’s Alphabet block –  Double Friendship Star.

The pink and turquoise block is just the top block of the stack of Black and Bright Swap blocks.  They are all trimmed to 12 1/2″ square (or close enough) or black strips added around the block to bring them up to 12 1/2″ square.

And my sister’s quilt.  Here are a couple of pictures front and back.  Perhaps tomorrow I’ll just work on one project.

It is said that you can’t fix a problem until you know the extent of it.  Along those lines, Judy over at Patchwork Times has challenged her readers to identify their UnFinshed Objects and put them on Parade.

When the parade was announced, I thought I knew my numbers – split between Quilts in Progress and Tops to be Quilted.  But when I pulled everything out I found 4 projects not on the list and one which needed to be removed.  In my world, if it’s a Project In Grocery Sack, it’s not considered a UFO.  I might decide to use the fabric for something else!

Anyway, the two collages above represent my Quilts in Progress (top) and Tops to be Quilted (bottom).  Click on them to enlarge — click on the tabs above to see the current list with links to individual pictures.

There are 41 Quilts in Progress and 36 Tops to be Quilted.

The quilts I’m actively working on are Scrappy Trips on my treadle; Black and Bright Swap Blocks; 3″ Spool blocks and Postage Stamp as my leader/ender project depending on what I have cut; and hand quilting on the Double Wedding Ring. Additionally, the Alphabet BOM is active (although I don’t have this month’s block done yet) and when I know I’m going to be waiting, I’ll take along the Redwork Snowmen or the ‘Twas Night Before Christmas Quilt-A-Long blocks, although admittedly I’m a month behind on the later.

Now that I’ve identified the extent of my “problem” what can I do to fix it?

#1 – don’t start anything else new until something either moves to the To Be Quilted list or actually gets finished.  Of the 9 projects I’m actively working on (there are 2 TNBCs) 4 of them were started this year!  Which is actually a wash as I’ve finished 2 projects (three if you count the pillowcase) and moved two projects to the tops list.

#2 – keep up with the BOM/Quilt-a-Longs.  There are 8 of them on my list, but only 3 are current. When I fall behind it is easy to set it aside for something else saying “oh, I’ll spend one day and catch up”.  If I’m not careful, the TNBC will fall that way.

#3 – focus and finish.  With the exception of the leader/ender projects, can I really work on multiple quilts at once?  I started the Scrappy Trips to have a project for my treadle machine.  I’m enjoying the machine and I think it will be a great quilt, but I can’t have no desire to haul my treadle to this coming Saturday’s UFO retreat.  So, I’ve pulled out the Black and Bright blocks and I’m excited to work on them – so much so, I didn’t wait for Saturday.

#4 – set aside time each month to do handwork.  I attend a Stitch and Chat each month when I don’t have to work and that’ s when I work on my DWR. Another night each month would prevent me from getting further behind on the TNBC and make faster progress on the Redwork Snowmen.

For the most part having all these projects does not drive me crazy.  Oh, sure there are a few that pester me – Bellance Bag, Frog Quilt, & Eeyore come to mind, not that they are in my current “9”.  The fact that it doesn’t drive me crazy is possibly how the list got so large.

Now that I’ve put my UFOs on parade, I wonder how many I can get crossed off or moved up by the end of the year? I’m going to aim for 5 Quilts in Progress to move up to the To be Quilted list; 3 Quilts in Progress to be finished and 5 tops on the To be Quilted list to be finished.

Hop over to Patchwork Times to see other entries on the UFO Parade.

I worked on a couple of things last week.  I finished 6 Scrappy Trips blocks on the treadle.  I’ve got a whole stack of strip sets waiting to be pressed.  It’s dawned on me that 48 – 12″ blocks is bigger than I really want.  With a 6 x 8 layout that makes the top 72″ x 96″.   So, I may have a few extra blocks when I get them done.

On the edge of the ironing board is a stack of Black and Bright Swap blocks from 2007. The 4 blocks up on the wall with the green sashing are part of the set.  I’ve had the design ready to go and the fabric bought for nearly as long, I just hadn’t sat down to do it.

So, with plans to attend a UFO workshop on Saturday, I pulled out the blocks and fabric to see exactly what I could cut ahead of time. I cut the fabric for 4 of the 8 knot blocks, then got so excited to see progress, I promptly sat down and make the 4 blocks and put the center of the quilt together.  At this rate I’ll have a good bit of the quilt done.  But I’m sure I can find something else to work on if needed.

Finally over on the far right are the spool blocks I made while working with the swap blocks.

Check out what others are working on over at Patchwork Times.

Although I’ve been treadling away on my Scrappy Trips, it’s not a top yet, so I’m not counting the fabric.  No new fabric came in either, so my numbers are the same as last week.

Fabric Added Since Last Report: 0 yards
Fabric Added to Date: 80.11 yards

Fabric Used Since Last Report: 0 yards
Fabric Used to Date: 23.141  yards

Net Used for the year -56.97 yards

To see how others are doing check out the links over at Patchwork Times.

It’s not much but another Friday night at Stitch and Chat and I made a bit more progress on my  DWR.

I just realized that I neglected a very important word in my Rice Casserole recipe I posted Wednesday.  That word is “cooked”!

• 2 cups rice – COOKED
• 1 1/3 cup milk (I used 2%)
• 1/8 teaspoon of salt
• 10 tablespoons of sugar
• 1 tablespoon of melted butter
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon of grated lemon rind
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/3 cup raisins (optional — I didn’t have any)

Combine all ingredients, pour into a greased pan – I used my 2 1/2 quart casserole dish.  Cook at 325 degrees for 50 minutes until set.  Can be served warm or cold.

When Judy announced that Rice — used as an ingredient in a dish —  was the ingredient of the week, I couldn’t decide if I would make Hoppin’ John (a rice and black-eyed pea dish) or something else.  I opted for something else  – a dish from my childhood.

Pictured above is my mother’s Joy of Cooking book. This edition is from 1975. The only recipe I can remember my mother making from this cookbook is Rice Pudding. In fact that is where the first book mark is.

Apparently Momma made this recipe June 3rd, 1977. She marked up the recipe the way she liked it. I basically followed her instructions — but used 4 large eggs since that’s what I had on hand. Given her caution about not overcooking the pudding, I may have undercooked mine a little, but it still tastes good!

• 2 cups rice – COOKED
• 1 1/3 cup milk (I used 2%)
• 1/8 teaspoon of salt
• 10 tablespoons of sugar
• 1 tablespoon of melted butter
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon of grated lemon rind
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/3 cup raisins (optional — I didn’t have any)

Combine all ingredients, pour into a greased pan – I used my 2 1/2 quart casserole dish.  Cook at 325 degrees for 50 minutes until set.  Can be served warm or cold.

Check out what others did with rice over at Patchwork Times.

For the past couple of nights I’ve been treadling away sewing strips into pairs of strips.  I just finished sewing my last pair to make an 48 block Scrappy Trips.  I need to wind a few bobbins and then I’ll be off treadling again.

About 6 years ago I was in a swap and received 24 black and bright blocks.  I then started drawing in EQ to find a design.  After many ideas I ended up with the one above.  During the design process I considered doing some applique. Yeah, right – that idea was quickly scrapped, but not before making a wall hanging to coordinate with the quilt I’m planning on making. (The colors are WAY off in the picture below).

In a couple of weeks, I’m going to a UFO retreat – not that it would matter if I worked on something new, but I thought it might be a good time to pull out the swap blocks.  So, I’ve been studying my EQ drawing.

In the drawing, the corner knots are 8″ finished and the sashing is 1″.  In the wall hanging they finish at 4″. No big deal. But I’m also looking at how to deal with the swap blocks which are not all 12 1/2″ before I set them into the quilt.

I considered sashing the blocks with green/turquoise/green — but per EQ, I don’t have enough fabric for that option, so I went back the drawing board.  Along the way I wondered if the 8″ knot were going to look ‘weird’.    But what if I go with the same size knot as in the wall hanging?  It wouldn’t take as much fabric (1 1/2″ pieced sashing instead of 3″ pieced sashing).

I pinned my center blocks on the wall hanging.  In person I like it.  But I wonder whether or not it will translate when I do the next round of blocks.  I guess it’s back to EQ.

Today it is my ‘design ironing board’.  It’s strips sets for a Scrappy Trips.  I’ve been sewing pairs together.  I’ve got them laid out in bundles of 3 pairs to see how many more strips I need to cut.  I stopped after sewing half of my strips to see how many more I need.  Since I’m aiming for a quilt about 60 x 80, I need to cut another 48 strips to add to the mix.

I really thought I was further along than I am.  Hum…I wonder if I want a smaller quilt?

Check out what others are working on by following the links over at Patchwork Times.