Back to UFOs

I am finally back working on UFOs!  Christmas was wonderful - visiting with family and giving the table toppers that I had made.  I made 10, all with different fabrics. The family seemed to like them, and I was very proud of my work.

This is a UFO that I started years ago, in a class given by Jennifer Morgan.  This quilt is 40x40 - so I guess it's a table topper.  It was hanging in the "closet of unfinished quilt tops", and was even layered, just needing to be quilted.  So I machine quilted it today - some free motion and some straight - and I am very pleased with it.  I will hand-bind it tonight or tomorrow.

I also worked on this 'streaky' quilt in the last few days - and it only needs hand-binding too.  Doesn't count as a UFO because I started it on my birthday in September.  It is from a pattern (Zen Chic)










Since I am back working on UFOs, I can finally post this blog in Leah Day's UFO Sunday.

After Christmas

We're past the holidays now - I don't count New Year's - and I can concentrate on things not Christmasy.  Well, actually I AM thinking about projects for next year!  I'm still in the Christmas mood...

I chose the fabric and pattern for this 'streaky quilt' on my birthday back in September - and am just now finishing it - just the hand-binding left to do.  That doesn't require any decisions or thinking, so I'll leave that for evening or handwork to do while visiting with friends.








I haven't worked on any UFOs lately - I've been too busy enjoying the Christmas season.  I'll look at them today and decide which one to start work on - while I look over Christmas ideas for next Christmas!

Keck Christmas

We had our annual family Christmas yesterday, and it was great fun!  We planned dinner for 1 pm so people could get home before dark.  Everyone brought a dish or two and we ate till we burst, opened our gifts, and then pigged out on dessert.  I learned a new way to fill deviled eggs - put the filling into a baggie with a little hole cut in the bottom!  It took 30 seconds to fill a couple dozen eggs!

 We took family pictures - these are the cousins, and it took a bit of Marilla's mommy voice to get some of them to cooperate!

Here are my children and me. 
It was such a pleasure to see and talk with our extended family.  There were 28 of us!




I gave out the table toppers I had made and everyone seemed to like them!  It was such a pleasure to make and give them!  Then everyone helped clean up and put everything away, and I went to sleep at 8:30!

Christmas is coming

In the last 2 weeks, the only time I've spent in the sewing room has been sewing table toppers for family - a really fun thing for me!.  I choose a pair of fabrics, cut them out, and layer that set in a box, then layer another set.  That way I have the box of fabric sets so that when I sit down to the sewing machine, it's sew, press, trim, repeat to complete the top in about 25 minutes.  I have 10 table toppers completed now, all different fabric pairs, 1 more than I needed for the women in my family.  I don't know how I miscounted unless I counted myself!  And why shouldn't I have one too? 

I'm already thinking about what I'll make next year - maybe a few plank quilts or set of mug rugs.   It feels so good to be able to give something that I have made myself. 

I've made no inroads into my 'stack' of UFOs, and no thought about them until after the holidays.  I'm getting the house ready for my extended family's Christmas get-together this weekend.

I'm enjoying reading the blogs of other quilters who seem to be busier than I am at this time of year!  My favorite is Wanda Hansen's ExuberantColor who inspires me with her color selections,  I'd like to try some of Wanda's ideas - the plank quilt and the crooked cobblestones.  I'm trying to figure out how to make that one - it looks easy but doesn't look like I can strip piece it.  I believe they're in the public domain, but I may need to email her to ask permission.

I also follow Leah Day's FreeMotionQuilting.  I am trying to machine quilt and am improving a bit.  Leah is a natural teacher and such a pleasure to follow.  Her UFO Sunday has encouraged me to take another look at and list my UFOs and determine an order to finish them, and to weed out those that are not worth finishing and those that I can let go to others. 

I'm ready for Christmas too.  One present to pick up today and one coming in the mail.

Christmas gifts

I can't believe it's almost Christmas!  And in less than 3 weeks we're having our annual Keck Christmas get-together, at my house this time.  I've been making Christmas table toppers for the women in our family.  They're easy ones - picking out the fabric pairs takes up the most time.

Here's the first one I finished - I even free-motioned the poinsettias!

  This one is batiks, and I finished the tops of 5 more, most of the others are more traditional.  These others still need to be quilted and I need to figure out just how to do it.

Here is Bugsy watching TV, while Abby tolerates him sitting so close to her.

Well, back to quilting!

Houses quilt

This has not been a time for quilting; it's been a time for thanksgiving!  I am so thankful for my family and I did see most of them on Thanksgiving Day, we ate and talked and enjoyed each other's company on that day, and promised we'd get together like this more often - not just on holidays.  Christmas is coming and we will meet and talk and eat and visit again.

The only quilting I've done is to finish layering and binding the "houses quilt."  I still would like to do something special in the 'vacant lots' and can't quite decide what.  I tried a sashiko roof outline and had LOTS of trouble getting the sashiko needle through the layers.  I might try a smaller sharper needle with embroidery floss.  Or machine-quilt the outline with contrasting thread.  Indecision!

I am more concerned at this time of year to finish recent projects, and to decide about Christmas gifts, quilting and otherwise.  After Christmas I will be able to look at my UFOs and more recently begun projects and make decisions and actually SEW.

Progress

I'm making slow progress this week.  Doing more thinking/planning than actually doing.  I guess that's necessary too.

The table topper is done, ready to set on one of the tables at the Crazy Quilters' holiday luncheon.  The topper is very simple - I'm into simple lately.

I've assembled my 'Houses quilt.'  On the pattern the houses were outlined and doors and pathways were shown.  I determined how to free-motion quilt these details with no thread breaks and a minimum of  stitching over lines already made, and started in...  My machine-stitching is so bad that I had to take it out!  So I will use my walking foot instead and quilt less detail.  My friend Joan suggested hand-quilting the outline of a house in those spaces.  This is 'Neighborhood Charm Quilt' on Moda Bake Shop.

I'm previewing some novelty prints and other fabric to make a needle case or two that I saw here at CuttoPieces




NOW I need to decide what to give family for Christmas.  I saw at  exuberantcolor so many, many ideas - simple technique - great, wild color combinations.  I will look at my fabric today and see what I like.

It's baaack!

<singing> hey la di la my Bernina's back
I REALLY missed it!

So I quilted this little Christmas table topper - a simple stitch-in-the-ditch - and made the binding.  I will machine-bind it today and save the hand-binding for chatting for friends.

During my downtime, I layed out the squares for my houses quilt, balancing the colors.  Hopefully will assemble this one today.

and I rearranged my fabrics.  I had boxed those older ones that I didn't use much, but I found that I wanted to be able to see and touch all my fabrics at once.


I plan on a little FMQ practice today too!

Still downtime

Well, this has been a disappointing week for me - my Bernina is in the shop and I am at loose ends.  It is so sad to walk into my sewing room and not to see it there.

The members of my class were requested to make Christmas table toppers for a Holiday 'do' in December, and I DID put one together, and layered it.

I also finished binding my Squares quilt (UFO #1) and it is the first quilt I have made that I have been able to actually cuddle under!  I am sooo enjoying it!  The few finished quilts I've done in the past have been baby quilts and table toppers and hanging quilts.  I am so proud of this quilt!

In the absence of my machine, I layered 2 of my UFO tops and gave away 2 more of my boxed UFOs.  I am soon going to be down to the really difficult, long-lasting ones.  But that's a good thing I think!  I will be doing the quilts that are really worth doing and that I will really be proud of when they are done!

My number of UFOs is down to 8 tops and 11 boxed.  I will spend this downtime planning the quilting stitches for the recently layered ones.

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.

Table Topper finished with binding

I finished the wild table runner/hanging, using the pieced binding.  The binding doesn't show well in this camera picture, but is great in person.

I've been  going through my fabrics again! getting rid of old fabric that is sun-damaged, cut into, and that I don't like anyway.  No reason to save something I'll never use.  I have a couple garbage bags full of yucky fabrics.

I've also been trying a new way of free motion quilting that I saw on Leah Day's blog.  Leave the feed dogs up and set stitch length to 0 so that the feed dogs are not engaged.  My Bernina has a stitch regulator but I keep forgetting what my feet do and what my hands do, so I'm not using it and I have better results!

Choosing Binding

I finished the meandering on the wild table runner, taking advice from Leah Day's Blog by meandering bigger - it covers the space and is easier for the beginning free motion quilter.  And it worked!  It went pretty quickly and I'm getting more used to the stitch regulator on my Bernina.

So now I was ready for the binding.  I found just the right material, but I had just barely enough.  The fabric went perfectly with the background of the runner, but I cut it wrong and didn't have enough after all.  So I looked at my stash and decided if I couldn't match maybe I'd contrast.  I found a pile of contemporary bright fabrics and I'm happier using them than I was with the plain binding!

I'll move the fabrics around a bit to make the colors balance and it will be done!  I even might turn it longways and hang it - a very colorful hanging!  And incidentally my design wall sure comes in handy!

I'm also trying to decide how to quilt the 'streaky' quilt.

The pattern (Zen Chic) shows lots of vertical stitching, and, well, you have to put Something in all that blank space.  I'm thinking about following the idea of hand stitching from TheSillyBooDilly:

- vertical machine stitching with multicolor hand stitching.  Looks cool, but time taking and I'm not sure how to make even hand stitching.

New decisions to make and work to do!

Process Pledge

I was inspired by Rossie Blog to join the process pledge - to talk about my process of quilting - (paraphrasing from suggestions in her blog) how I decided colors, where I got my design ideas, who the quilt is intended for and how that affected the quilt, following a pattern?, what  I love or hate about the quilt, and am I stretching my abilities and imagination.

I know this is meant for art quilters - for people who make up their designs instead of following a pattern (and finishing UFOs) but I will try to stay within the spirit of the pledge as much as possible within my activity.  And I will post my ongoing quilting with pictures, instead of posting only when I finish a top or finish a quilt.

Also inspired by another blogger who said 'shut up and quilt!)  haha - so I'm going up to my sewing room to quilt!

Meandering

I added meandering (FMQ) to the running chickens runner, not very good but it really makes the chickens stand out.  I need practice before I do that again.

The runner from my UFO closet is now quilted (in the ditch) and needs meandering also. It uses contemporary fabric and I'm anxious to use it when it's done! It will wait while I get better at meandering, so back it goes into the UFO closet!  I found the perfect fabric for binding and have barely enough if I'm careful!

The thesillyboodilly has a quilting method I'd like to use on the streaky hanging.  It uses some hand-quilting in the sashiko style and I don't know how to make the stitches even without pre-printed stitches.  hmmm...

Progress

Finally finished with the running chickens runner! Finished binding it last night - I love their legs!  And it will fit on my dining room table when the leaves are in.

Also finished the top of that contemporary quilt that I chose on my birthday last week.  It looks really good - can't seem to get a photo of it - will try again later.

I shared these 2 quilts with my friendship groups - Mickey's weekly group/class and my monthly group, which was held at my house this month.  Not many people are coming to the monthly group's meetings, just 3 of us this time - maybe we need to get more than our 8 current members.

I layered a cute table runner that has been hanging in my closet for awhile.  There are a half dozen of those finished tops in there, and I need to decide whether I will machine-quilt, hand-quilt, or send it out.  I'll start the quilting on that cute runner today.

Chickens running...

The running chickens runner is almost done - just doing the hand binding now.  I think I'll leave off the eggs (buttons) though.  The quilting I did was all in the ditch - I was 'chicken' to meander!

I read a blog that showed how to organize your stash - using comic book boards to hold big fabrics and refolding fat quarters so you can see them - very inspiring to this compulsive quilter!  So I've started sorting through my fabric - all these little bits (and big bits too) of fabric I don't like anyway went in the trash, and the fabric I DO like are cleaned up and refolded.  And the good part is I get to touch all my fabric again!
Here is the link:  Fabric Folding Suggestion

I started cutting fabric for the new quilt pattern I got on my birthday.  It's going to be really pretty and unlike any quilt I've ever made.  Mostly grey with little streaks of a bold geometric.

Birthday

Today's my birthday (yes I know, it's also the anniversary of that terrible act), but it was my day first so the day means something special to me :).  So I'm going to spend it doing anything I want to do, and I've decided to go spend a lot of money on fabric!  My favorite fabric store has a lot of contemporary fabric and I'm going to stock up!  I also will start a new project - I've been spending so much time catching up with UFO's that it will be a pleasure (on my birthday) to start something new and exciting!

So today I've planned to shop and have lunch with a friend.  I've also gotten a lot of birthday wishes on fb, even a virtual birthday cake with a quilt on it!  Happy Birthday to me!!

Birthday with my family

Yesterday was wonderful - celebrating my birthday with my family!  and we had lunch at Souplantation - one of my favorites!  Next weekend will celebrate Mike's and Megan's birthdays too.

I did get to the sewing room and layered that chicken runner - now deciding how to quilt it...

A busy day ahead - philanthropy class (first time I've gone to this), Mickey's class - the first since her surgery, and Flying Geese guild meeting tonight.  I'm going to share the wedding quilt!  yayyy!

Since I'm new to blogging I'm enjoying reading the blogs, past and present, of the people that I'm following - and looking for new interesting people to follow.  This blogging is fun - no one but me will likely read it - but I will enjoy looking back to see what I did.  It's like a diary but more public and has pictures!

Finishing quilts

Finished the chicken runner top last night - here it is!  it's twice as long as what you see here - about 80".  I'm really happy that the top is done!  Will layer it later today.

A few days ago, I also finished Laura's wedding quilt - 15 years late - but I think it's pretty - it's a 'clams on the half shell' that was begun by mama and finished and hand-quilted by me.  :)

 
Laura and her family and Jon and his family are coming over today to celebrate my birthday (on the 11th).  Always happy to see my kids and grands!  :)

Beaks and Wattles

Visited with a friend, then attacked the beaks and wattles on my chicken runner - I've been putting it off, but it's not going to get any easier for waiting...  Not used to machine stitching those little fused pieces - but trying my best.  Will post when I finish it.