Downtime

I finished layering the Christmas table topper and started to quilt it when my sewing machine started making a loud buzz and wouldn't sew!  Oh no!!  I took it into the Bernina dealer and they found that the bobbin winder was engaged!!  I felt silly AND relieved!  Since it was way past its free yearly service, I decided to leave it there anyway - there's really no GOOD time to not be able to sew!  It will be back home in a few weeks.

So now I'm layering some of those UFO tops so they'll be ready.  <sigh>

One down, lots to go

Yayyy!  I finished the Squares quilt completely.  It took just a few evenings to hand-bind, and it's done!  What a feeling!

This week, I also made the squares for a simple table topper.  It's for a Christmas party in one of my quilt guilds.  I don't usually make something that's not from a pattern - but this one wasn't hard to decide on and do.  I had this pretty cardinals fabric and just made scrappy red and green squares to go with it.  And I LOVE my design wall (haven't had it very long).

I spent 4 days scrapbooking at Big Bear last weekend, starting to learn digital quilting.  Some of the designs didn't load so I'll spend some time today on the phone to technical support.  I hate that!

Today I will probably square and put together the Christmas table topper and the Houses quilt, then...  maybe start another UFO, probably Monsters Quilt #1 which is already layered.

One at a time WIP

Thanks Leah always for your inspiration!  I will list my seemingly neverending list of projects in a different way, and I WILL do one project at a time. 

Finished this week (none of them UFOs)
halloween pillow
table runner from a throw-away bag - why does the edge curl?

WIP - the ONLY one-at-a-time WIP
UFO top 1- squares quilt - just hand-binding to be done

Waiting in the wings:
streaky quilt top - still deciding how to quilt it
Houses quilt - squares and strips are cut

UFO tops (8)
2- child's quilt
3- star hanging
4- gypsy quilt
5- monster quilt #1
6- brick quilt
7- sampler quilt
8- mama's hand-worked quilt
9- fancy circles

Boxed UFOs (13) (several given away this week)
1-   Angel tree skirt
4-   Double Irish Chain quilt
5-   Mama quilt hanging
6-   Morning Glory large quilt
7-   Elf in a box Christmas ornament
8- Monster quilt #2
10- Nativity hanging
11- Variable Star
12- Lovebird Lane
13- Whimsical Garden hanging
22- Fabric manipulation hanging
23- Bird houses  hanging
24-Snowmen hanging

Boxed UFOs

As Leah suggested I let my UFOs talk to me and this is the result: 
I did have 33 UFOs: 24 in boxes and 9 tops (that I showed in a previous post).  One  became a WIP, 3 were downsized, 7 were thrown away, 4 will become someone else's UFO.  Now I have 12 UFOs that have no top yet and 8 UFO tops.  So 20 UFOs total.  Progress!  These are my boxed projects now - they used to fill that closet!


WIPs
Quilt top #1 - was UFO
Quilt top #10
Houses quilt

Here are my boxed UFOs:
These 7 are inherited from my mom.  Some were made when she was very sick, which makes them difficult to let loose of:
1-   Angel tree skirt - partly done applique project
2-   Pinwheel quilt - 100 4 1/2 inch squares made - pinwheels and patches - downsizing to just those already done to make baby quilt
3-   Dollbed quilts - barely started, toss 'em, recycle fabric
4-   Double Irish Chain quilt - completely cut, but I will (maybe) give this one away (vacillating)
5-   Mama quilt hanging - a dozen appliqued planned, will downsize to the 6 already done
6-   Morning Glory large quilt - lots done, lots to go, a keeper
7-   Elf in a box Christmas ornament - elf done, just need to buy piping and make the box
These I started:
8- Monster quilt #2 (another is a UFO top) - fussy-cut monsters behind openable doors (grandsons these were made for are now 12)
9- Friends  - to be given away
10- Nativity hanging - all piecing done, all of appliqued people to make, with no picture!
11- Variable Star - almost done, only border containing edges of stars to figure out
12- Lovebird Lane - squares are pieced, most of machine fusing and quilting to be done
13- Whimsical Garden hanging - 12 squares planned, downsized to 2 already done
14- Venice Rose hanging, toss the 1 square , recycle lots of batiks
15- Lone Star hanging - toss the 1 square, recycle lots of batiks
16- NSG hanging - save the 3 squares in 'extra squares' box, recycle lots of batiks
17-18- Father Christmas hangings (2) - will give these away
19-21- bags (3) - toss these
22- Fabric manipulation hanging - will keep going
23- Bird houses - 12 squares won at guild meeting - will be a hanging
24-Snowmen - also 12 squares won at quilt meeting - to be a hanging

I spent all week working on a UFO and enumerating UFOs.  It will be better if I spend some time on something new!  All work and no play, you know...  So I made some small halloween table toppers - only they're smaller than I thought they'd be, so they are 3 roomy placemats...

I am also starting one of my new projects - a house quilt that I saw on pinterest and happened (really!) to buy the same fabric for.  So far the house squares are done.

So... this week I will work on my new Houses Quilt, and another UFO - haven't decided yet which one.

UFO #1 - the squares lap quilt

I've finished quilting the main part of UFO #1.  YAYYY!  Just have some gentle quilting with my walking foot in the outer border and bind it and it's completely done!  For the main squares I used the walking foot, and for the detail in the inside of the squares I decided to use FMQ.  My FMQ is pretty bad but I'm considering this a learning quilt.  Here it is:

I followed what Leah showed us and pulled threads to the front, but at the end there were about a gazillion threads because the inner detail was not attached to anything.  I should have just tacked them at beginning and end of each line as one of my commenters suggested, and leave cheater-hiding to a different kind of project.  So I ended up just clipping the threads close and know it will ravel some.  As I said, it's just a learning quilt and will certainly keep me warm this winter. This lap top quilt is now a WIP!

UFOs

I decided to shame myself and display all my 'hanging' UFOs - those with the top finished.  There are still more in boxes!

The first one was already pinned so I started to quilt it today!  I quilted around the squares, but there is detail within each square to be done - I'm considering free motion quilting those smaller parts, even though they are straight lines, mainly because the bulk makes it very awkward to change direction within a square.

the star quilt:  the back has a very sun-faded line so I'll have to replace the back.

 

The monster quilt - each square has a door with a fussy-cut monster inside!

 A brick quilt - queen size!

 This is my first quilt done in a class - each square is different.  The camera changed the colors...

These squares were hand-appliqued and hand-pieced by mama.  I added the white squares, set it, and added the borders.  All the squares should be hand-quilted since the main squares are hand done, but what a job that will be!

 

And this last one is really a WIP - I had to pin it to get it off my sewing room floor!





(I'm having trouble setting the pictures side by side and adding text next to each picture - some allow it and some don't!   I'll figure it out eventually.)

Scraps

In the last blog I said I was getting rid of most of my fabric.  And this is my fabric closet now - with only 'pretty' fabric!  I bagged 3/4 of my fabric intending to give or throw it away, and now my fabric closet looks fabulous!

THEN I realized that if I want to applique a small tree for example, I would have to go buy green fabric, because all my scraps had been given away! Sooooo, I've decided to store the scraps in the garage, and go into them only when needed.  They're still folded, so they are even organized by color - who has folded, organized scraps!

I'm looking forward to a beading class this week - a new thing to learn - yay!

I'm enjoying looking at the blogs of interesting people, learning from excellent tutorials, and pinning "one day I'll make that" quilts.