Judy's UFO Challenge List

The Christmas Quilt is back from Kerstin's! It is one of those finished projects that I'm not sure I like, but it may be growing on me... Right now it is hanging over the open space where the window goes (there is a reason for all those tapestries in European Castles!!) in the living room, and keeping the cold out.

Since we have so many unfinished projects, Kerstin and I decided to join the Patchwork Times UFO Challenge instead of doing a BOM this year. She is a much more prolific quilter than I, and has many more UFOs (many more finished quilts as well!) but I have at least 12 that are needing anything from "just one more block" to "cut out and ready to go". There are at least 12... perhaps I'll have to choose which to put into the monthly challenge!

First order of business, though, is to finish Kaylin's graduation quilt! The goal is to have it completed by January 1st... wish me luck!

Here is the list of quilts to finish so far, I still haven't been to look at the box(es) so I won't have a complete list until a bit later.

1. Drunkard's Path Variation BOM
2. QA - Marty Michell (butterflies)
3. Cathy's quilt - Bento Box
4. Snail Trail -Blue and Cream
5. Country Stars
6. Green Asian Stars - Jan. Drawing, FINISHED 1-27-2010! picture on Jan 31 post.
7. Six-Inch "Strings"
8. Black Fossil Fern Stars
9. NB Shop-hop 06
10. NB Shop-hop 07
11. Chickens - not funky
12. Funky Chickens

Pigs Are Flying!

This is the FBP Block for last week... called "Farmer's Daughter". It is a 10" block, but it had been so long since I had done and FBP block that I swapped colorways, using the 9-inch "Baby" colors instead of the Jazzy "Kids Prints" that were supposed to be for the 10-inch blocks.

I'm taking a short break from Johnny's quilt; the twins graduate from Roseburg HS this June, so I've got TWO special quilts to do this year! The blocks are made, so today will be setting them... and tomorrow I can put the borders on. That means Monday the quilt will go to Kerstin in California for topstitching! I really like this one, it is definitely a Man's quilt... Batik brown and blue, with a sand colored BG and just a hint of bright green to make the colors pop. I'll post a picture of one block, just in case he looks here... HS Senior boy? I don't think so!!!

Long Time No Post...

Here is the R/W/B "Album" block from week 26 of Friday Block Party. Just a few more of this colorway and I'll have another UFO wrapped up! Really like the red bandanna fabric I used for the inner square... only had a smidgin of that, so this was the perfect spot.

I did manage to finish the Lap Quilt I was making from Christmas fabrics, and sent it off to Kerstin for quilting - again, without taking a photo... will I never learn???

When Erin came to Oregon for her Summer visit, three of her teacher friends at ASK (school) were pregnant, and she wanted to make baby quilts for them... like the one she had made for Wendy's baby. Cool idea, yeah?
Oh, and since one of the new Moms already had a darling two year old, could we make a quilt for Claire as well? (Note how the focus has changed from she wanted to make quilts to "we" need a quilt for Claire, too???) Not a problem. The really good thing about baby quilts is that they are really SMALL, and fast, and I can quilt them on my machine at home.

This "Dancy" red quilt is Claire's. The red polka-dots aren't... dots, I mean. They are a swirly batik.

The tiny rail fence with the moons and stars is for Claire's new baby brother.

Comin' Right Along...

Another FBP block makes it into the Christmas Quilt! This one is "Lover's Knot" and it is probably the quickest block I've ever made (well, certainly in the top 5, anyway!). I think I can actually get all the blocks made and the sashing at least cut before Kerstin gets here. We will be working on getting my borders to fit (and lie flat) so they won't be giving her fits when she quilts my tops!

Been thinking, though, that I may just go with a giant "Star" setting... put the blocks on point and make the star from the setting triangles. Since this will be a lap quilt, nine blocks would be fine. I'll have to look at my stash to see what setting fabrics I have that would work.

Christmas Catching Up...

Lots of garden catching up going on here at the farm... but it is still too cold and wet to put in my corn! I've been outside weeding and preparing beds for when the plants can go in (if at all this summer! The weekend was beautiful and I thought we had gone right into summer - now it is again low fifties and raining. Sigh)

Since it felt like Winter anyway, I thought I'd do another catch-up block for the Christmas Quilt. This one is "Eight Hands 'Round" from week ten. Didn't much care for the block, too choppy, but I liked the little star in the center... and the Santa with his 'shades' struck me as funny.

Two More for FBP.

Too bad I didn't make a list, because I got lots of things done (or partly done) today.

Put kiln wash on my shelves, attacked the weeds in the spot where I'm going to plan the corn and squashes, helped Henry put the cowling back on the Ford tractor, printed some glazes so I can make tests to see if I like them, and made TWO blocks for Friday Block Party!

I'm not very happy with the photos I'm taking of the blocks... crooked and the odd lighting changes the colors! YYEEcch! That is something to work on: take good pictures, after all, it isn't "Rocket Surgery"!

I like the way the individual R/W/B blocks are coming out. This one is "Puss in the Corner from week 17, wuilte a while ago. I'll have to put them all together and take a shot of them... hopefully they will place nicely.




At first I didn't like "Broken Wheel". Maybe I just didn't like the name. Since it was a 12" block, I decided to just do it anyway, and be one block closer to finishing a quilt. It might make an interesting quilt on it's own, but it wasn't very interesting to make. That makes seven blocks for the R/W/B quilt, I'm a little more than half-way... 13 on point is my goal, but I haven't got a clue for the setting or borders.

Back to the Future.

I took R0ssie's "Process Pledge", so I'm allowing myself even more freedom to blog about what what I'm thinking while I'm doing my quilts. Since I rarely sketch anything, I probably won't be letting you see any design options before I've made my decision, though.

Friday Block Party choice for last week was a nice starry one, so I decided to do it in my Christmas fabric... and get closer to a finish with that one. Kerstin will HATE it when I'm done and I send it to her.... it is just too "Christmas" for words. Maybe the sashing will help tone it down a bit, but probably not since I've got light colored stars in the intersections of either green or red print 2" wide sashes (no color decision there, yet). I haven't decided on the borders.

I could have sworn I was almost finished with the blocks for this quilt, but I have only eight of the twelve blocks finished! I think the "Quilt Gremlins" are removing blocks from the box in the night!!! If that is happening, why don't they take the ones I don't like?

I'm getting very close to "being so done with this one"... why does that happen with all the quilts I make? Before I finish I begin not to like a quilt very much, and keep going just to finish it. By the time I've finished any quilt, no matter how much I liked it when I started, and how much I like the fabrics - the colors, the block pattern - I don't like it at all when I'm done. I think it is the worst quilt I've ever made. What is up with THAT???

I like this block a bunch, and with the BG "L" shapes, the big block of background fabric would become the primary focus if it was used for a big quilt. Hmmm... this block might be a possibility for Kaylin's graduation quilt, since I have two to make for next June and I need to get started on them ASAP!

Flashy, Splashy, and Just "So Alex" !!!

Here is Alex's quilt (in it's natural habitat - Alex's room) after I presented it to her. Kerstin quilted roses in each of the diamonds: black ones in the dark blue diamonds, and verigated ones in each of the colored blocks. I bound it last Friday and took it to Alex's party on Saturday...

Johnny spirited the quilt out of the car and stashed it up in his room (across the hall) without her knowing it was even in the house. Later, while Alex was out greeting guests, we crept up and spread the quilt out on her bed. She never missed us!

Her friends were in on the deal, so Todd (one of the Dads) asked if he could see her newly painted room. Several others wanted to see, too, so up they went. I expected a "patented AlexScream", but heard nothing. They said she stopped short and was SPEECHLESS. Very unusual for our Alex. "OMG!", she said... "it is BEAUTIFUL!" No scream, but the appreciation in her voice was thanks enough.

And now for something totally different.

Mulligan Again?

I really didn't like the contrast in my March block for the North Bay BOM... it was the last post. So I took a "Mulligan" and did it again.



This version is much better. The green looks far more 'dotty' than varigated in the photo - it is really pretty solid. Using solid colors with the Batik print background will work better than using prints. I have lots of bright colors left from Alex's Graduation quilt that I can use in this one.



I finished Alex's quilt and sent it to Kerstin for Longarming (is that a word? I know, I know... 'don't verb your nouns!' Thanks, Mom.) I'm really excited to see it, when it returns I'll bind it, take a picture, (and post it of course) then take it right over to her... Graduation is Sunday, so it won't be too early to give it to her.

So, What Else is New?

I'm surprised that the "Drunkard's Path" blocks for our North Bay BoM are not as difficult as I had originally thought they'd be. Curved seams require more pinning and slow speed sewing, but they are no more challenging than other blocks. I made my templates from Styrene that I purchased from the Radio Control hobby shop. Ever so much cheaper than purchasing the templates! Mine aren't clear, but I don't find that to be a problem.... what I do find to be a problem is my awful fabric selection. I'm determined NOT to buy any more fabric in 2010, and still make my quilts. I have nine (yeah, nine!) of the big plastic totes filled with fabric stash. Plus the smaller 25 quart ones that hold my projects in progress... about a dozen of those I think. I'm afraid to count. I do NOT need to buy anything.
The goldy-greenish-swirly fabric I used for this block is really pretty but the photo makes it far too similar to the background (which probably wasn't the best choice ever... but I needed to use something that I had a few yards of - and the brown and pale green was it). The name of the block is "Way of the World"... and my world is looking pretty confused. Muddy, actually - but I do live in the Pacific Northwest, and we do have a bit of rain. I need to use fabric that is much less 'busy'!


The other "Big Deal" up here on the farm is Alex's Graduation quilt. I can't show a photo of the block(s) because there is always the remote possibility that she might see it, and I want the top to be a surprise. So here are the colors, anyway - all 2" strips. The fabrics are "Spray Batik" from SewBatik in their "Nuance" collection. Alex loves tie-die and bright colors; when I took some scraps over to show her, she was pretty excited! Now that I'm getting used to putting the diamonds together, the top is coming along faster. I should be able to send it off to Kerstin by the end of the month... I'm actually shooting for the 17th, but I'll be happy with the 30th. So will Kerstin!

Two More For FBP...

These two blocks are the latest for the "Friday Block Party"... the first is called Something-or-Other "Moths". While it is a very nice block the way it was designed, I didn't put the two little tan corners in the large corner squares. Those corner squares would make a secondary pattern that joins the moths if one were doing a quilt, but I found it too distracting on the single block. I did like making the Moth block, it went together very quickly, and finished at 9". Yeah, I could have made it into a 12" one, but obviously didn't.









This one is also an FBP block, but it was designed as a 12" one, so it will go into the r/w/b quilt... when I get a sufficient number in the collection. The only white in this block is the tiny white dots in the blue star print. That is OK, though. I wanted a non-traditional look. I'm not really sure what the quilt will turn into, yet, anyway. Just keepin' my options open.

Two months gone, and I'm still caught up!

The "Path" Less Travelled

This is the second of the Drunkard's Path Variations for our BoM. I like it a whole lot better than the red one from January. This month my fabric choices are better... the busy background needs to have "quieter" color choices. Do you think I can remember that? Doubtful. I'm getting better at the curved seam part, but need to pay more attention to the match-up of the pieced blocks. I may have to take that one awfyl seam out and re-do it. We'll see how much it bothers me later, right now it just jumps out!

Curved Pieces?

While driving up to the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show last Summer and chatting about what we'd like to learn to do, Kerstin and I decided to do an online BoM this year to try and improve our curved seam piecing skills. We thought we'd open it up to our friends as well - since it is always fun to see what other quilters make! In my case, those cuved piecing skills were non-existant. I had never done even one curved seam (at least on purpose... some of my straight seams do tend to curve a bit - but that isn't the same). Drunkard's Path seemed to be a logical choice.

Since my goal this year is to refrain from purchasing ANYTHING, I decided to do our project using my Batik and hand-dyed fabrics. I had a lot of the minty-green and coffee brown fabric, so I chose that as the background. I'll use a different batik for the alternate color in each of the Drunkard's Path blocks; no two will be the same fabric because I don't have very large pieces. I may have guessed wrong on the suitablilty of so many different batiks... January's color choices make for a VERY busy block. I'm not sure I like the January block at all, but I've made some pretty ugly blocks before, and once they were sashed and combined/hidden in a quilt, they semed to loose their "WTF???" factor and blend in OK. One can only hope.

The blue-green fabric in the upper right of the photo is my choice for February. That may be a better call, less visually confusing.

What's Goin' On Here?

I'm working on an online BOM with some of my friends this year. We decided we'd do a variety of Drunkards Path blocks...Kerstin is choosing the patterns. We are trying to develop some curved-seam piecing skills. I've never done curved seams before and neither has Vicki, but she finished her January block quite a while ago, and had some good advice: use a small rotary cutter to cut the template blocks. Good advice, which I followed! So far these are not as hard as I had thought it would be... but not easy, either. We'll see how the whole block turns out tomorrow.




The DP Block looks pretty funny when it is pinned. Kind of sqwunchy. The instructions said to use three pins, I used five and eased the pieces together. I hope to get better as the year progresses.










This last photo is the Friday Block Party selection for this week... Week Seven. It is not a 12", so it isn't Red, White, and Blue. I had several ten inch blocks from last year that were made in bright whimsical Kids' Print fabrics. By Summer I should have a bright colored quilt for a child. That would be pretty cool!

So, What Is It That I HAVE Been Doing?

Well...
So far, I finished Marjory's quilt (well, that was actually last year. I sent it to Scotland before Thanksgiving - but it was missing for over a month, and I thought it was lost for sure.) I have to admit I wasn't looking forward to making a do-over. It was a pretty special quilt for a really special friend. The quilt eventually showed up in Edinburgh, and all ended well. Marjory did like the quilt, had even friends in so she could show it off. That makes me really proud.

Now the big project is Alex's Graduation quilt... I LOVE the fabric I got from "Sew Batik"! They are so beautiful and have a wonderful feel. I'm doing a quen sized quilt for her, and she really likes bright tie-dye... so that's what she's getting.

I've joined the Friday Block Party again this year... Hetty G. is our leader, and we have lots of new members. Fun!

This is the sixth week block... Marsha Hohn's "Sickle Variations". It is a tiny block, only 8" square. I have two tiny blocks from last year, and one more in the "first five" for this year - that's the next picture - and all are in the same color family, sort of pink and green and blue. I think they'll make a nice "Little Girl" quilt - but I have nobody in mind as the giftee. Maybe later I'll decide on somebody to give it too.


As I said, the next photo is of the first five FBP blocks: I have a lot of trouble posting words and pictures together, so I took one shot of all five together. I like them. I already decided the 12" blocks will be combinations of red, blues, and white or cream...at least until I have enough to make a quilt. That way I won't have a gazillion blocks with no home, and no completed quilts to show for my efforts.

This year I'm officially "Not Buying That", and completing at least some of my UFOs. I have parts of three or four quilts that need to be finished, only one or two blocks each will finish them... then they can probably become donation quilts.