Making haste slowly

On April 11, 2008 I received a pattern in the mail. Last night - I put all but the last border on my version of that pattern.

I am not quite ready to share my photos of the project - though a few of my Instagram followers did get a sneak peek when I was asking for advice.  Lets just say it looks NOTHING like the original pattern.

This was a project that I collected fabrics for over a long period of time - they were my travel squares, my shop hop buys, and my memories of my adventures.

Working on this again after a long hiatus has been a walk down memory lane... and I am finishing it in a way that is reflecting some more recent memories -some happy, some sad, but all of them treasured.

Maybe that is why this one has taken so long - it needed more memories to make it complete.

 

Design Wall Monday - being 'challenged'

So - this is 'some' of what I have been working on.  I am perpetually challenged by "quilters distraction disorder" and the "I must try this new pattern or technique NOW" syndrome.  Hence the "art quilt" to the left, the "one block wonder" to the right, and the triangle diamond blocks below.

The one I am being "challenged" most by is the art quilt.  This is part of the Caledonia Quilt Guild members challenge - we were each given one piece of the same fabric, and challenged to make something with it - not to exceed 30" square.

I had been playing with these "Lotus" blocks for a while using the Hex-N-More ruler from Jaybird Quilts.  I had made a class sample using the batiks, and then made these blocks using the leftovers - and a smaller scale.  I set them a bit differently - "fussy setting" the challenge fabric into one big "flower" and the blue surrounding it.

I liked the idea of this being a garden -especially since our quilt show is "A Garden of Quilts" but my inspiration after the first layout fizzled for a while.  Then I decided to turn this quilt into Mary Ellen's Garden - inspired by my high school Latin teacher, who is a gardener and quilter.

When Jill was here, I sought out some "tree" like fabrics, and some cobblestones.  After pondering a bit with the idea of adding a stone path, I decided to add a wall, a tree, some branches, and some leaves.  More embellishing will follow with beads, silk embroidery, cording flowers and a jungle vine.

My intent is to put this in the show - and then give it to Mrs. Westlake (Mary Ellen) as a gift.  It pales in comparison to her actual garden - but I know she will appreciate it.

Some free motion quilting of bark on the tree trunk - including a big knot.

"leaf" clusters waiting to be appliqued - there are more and they will fill the top edge and corner of the quilt.

Mrs. Westlake also likes bird watching, so I had to add a bird house.

Sooooo Big

I remember not so long ago when a little boy would hold out his arms when I would say "sooo big." And now he can do this in our archway:

But his arms are still not long enough to hold up this quilt for me - nor are hubby's.  And with the clothesline down for the winter, I don't have a really good place to hang things up for photos - so I had to tack this up to the ceiling.  I reached up as high as I could reach - and it is still grazing the floor.

The final dimensions on this one are 85x96.

I was having a hard time getting a straight on shot - my cutting table was in the way - and I was pressed back up against the eaves on the opposite wall.  I really could have used a panorama setting on my camera for this one!

I've still got a lot of work ahead of me to finish this one up - though I am really appreciating having my set-in sewing table setup - just the top alone on this one is heavy with all the seams in it.  I don't know if I really could have gotten it to this point as easily with the setup I had in 2010 when this project was started.  It would be done -but I think the air in the attic would be a lot bluer!!

Each one of those colored squares is 2" and I'd have to check the pattern to give you the final count of just how many there are.

In a future post, we will take a stroll down memory lane and I will show you some of the fabrics that found their way into this one.

More blasts from the past

Remember Confetti?

Bet you think I had forgotten all about it?!?!?

Nope - I hadn't.  I HAD stuck it back in its box after this brief attempt to bring some order to the assembly process - TWO AND A HALF YEARS AGO!!! 

Now that I have a design wall - it's a bit easier to deal with - so assembly of this has recommenced in earnest.  4 of 19 rows were assembled tonight - and lots of setting triangles were applied.  The toughest part was getting my mind back in the "code" of my notations and figuring out what was done and what needed doing.  I think I am good now though - and if I run out of blocks, there are plenty more scraps where these came from.

I'm going to ride this UFO-clearing wave as long as I possibly can (though I will admit I snuck a 'new' quilt in the mix - pictures to follow when I can take daylight shots)

Unwrapping the UFO - Final Delivery

So the backstory on this quilt is pretty much the same as the first - except that after cutting out Jill's quilt I STILL had too much fabric, and then Moda Bake Shop published this pattern and I knew that a quilt for Lazy Sister Sue was in the works.

Again I started cutting (and AGAIN -my SIS swap quilt languished to the side).  This time I realized I was going to run out of scraps from THIS SIS swap, but I dipped into my stash and found some from previous swaps, the borders I used on the 2nd SIS quilt I did with Lazy Sister Sue (fabric she did not get as they were added after we swapped), and some other odds and ends.

This one was going to be BIG - but between her 2 kids 3 new grandbabies were due (twins in September and one in November), so I figured it would be great for a triple-first Christmas.

The flimsy was finished in August - right along side Jill's (and mine?? -still not done at this point).

Again, quilting waited  until the table was ready.  I did not do any free motion work on this one - just a lot of straight line outlining of the stars and the squares - and a lot of turning the quilt.

 

And if you are reading this post - it means that this one is now in Sue's hands and hopefully will be enjoyed by those three grandbabies for many Christmases to come!

(and mine?  it IS done - I just have not shared photos yet.  Maybe soon)

Unwrapping the UFO - AT LAST!!!

(Well - at last for 1... the other one is still in the hands of the United States Postal Service -hopefully to be delivered Saturday.)

So I have taunted and teased long enough - it's time to share one of the quilts, as well as a bit of the "backstory" on this project.

This project actually began in April, when Lazy Sister Sue, Jill and I got together to swap our fabrics for our SIS quilts (oh - and visit Jill and attend a big quilt show and some other fun stuff... but that's another story).  Later that month, as I am cutting the fabrics - I once again realize that I have more fabrics than needed for the pattern.  So even as I cut my top, my brain is plotting what to do with the scraps.

So my top is all cut - not assembled but cut - and it's now July and I come across this pattern on Moda Bake Shop.  Instantly the lights go on in my head, and I set myself to cutting squares for half square triangles, planning on making this for Jill - who has told me she does not put up a tree for her and the pups. 

The flimsy for Jill is finished in August (and mine is not):  (note the green trees and grass, and flowers in the garden)

The quilting got put on hold as I needed to get my table adapted to do better quilting - and then with Christmas and new windows and a new furnace and a new hot water heater and a full time job and Cub Scouts - it kind of got put even more on hold.  I opted not to rush through the quilting as I wanted to do some new things and did not want to be stressed about the calendar, too.

And then it FINALLY got finished.  I was a bit spooked by all that open white space that just begged for FMQ - I was straight line quilting within the tree itself and thought straight lines in the open area would cause the tree to get lost on the back.

 

So I quilted some snowflakes.  This was an experiment -and I had printed them out and quilted over the printouts - causing a bit of paper and toner to get trapped under the thread (oops - not good on WOW) but they look really great despite that!!!

 

 Then on the borders, which were rippling slightly - I wanted really heavy quilting, so I did what I think of as "radiators" -kind of a loopy zig zag one way, then the other way, in squarish quadrants all around the border.  This picture shows it on the red stars (red thread) and on the back (an offwhite pinstripe shirting fabric).

 

 

It was a tough secret to keep - only a few people saw the flimsy photo ahead of time.  My son loves this quilt and wanted me to "decorate" the tree with ornaments, but I love the crispness and simplicity of it.  It was fun to see the swap fabrics in a different light as they made up my "branches".

It is finally in Jill's hands -with some shortbread to sweeten the gift.

Un-unwrapping the UFO

"Un-unwrapping" - double negative - which means WRAPPING!
Actually, they are both done, washed, labeled, photographed, wrapped, and packaged -and as soon as I click "publish post" I am headed to the post office to send these out!!!
(only a month after Christmas - not too bad?!?!?)

Pictures to follow after they have been received and opened by both.

The Tangled Web

If I was playing by my normal rules - the Christmas UFO quilts would be done.  I am normally a very conservative "quilter" (though my piecing can be crazy at times) - edge to edge with the walking foot is my norm...with all those pesky starting and stopping threads trimmed off when the binding goes on.  Neat, clean and done...

Not this time.  This time I decided to get "fancy schmancy" with lots of nested outline stitchery and lots of FMQ - with lots of starts and stops - and LOTS of tails of thread that need to be trimmed and buried.

So even though I have the quilts quilted and the bindings neatly attached both sides - I am not done...

This is going to take a while....

Unwrapping the UFO - Part 9

Update -

The two gifty quilts are basically "done" - I put the last of the FMQ stitches into the one this afternoon (and am now icing my shoulder!!!) - there is more thread in this quilt than in any quilt I have EVER made before!!!!! - and I really pushed my comfort zone wayyyy out there on the quilting on this one.  I went through more than 2 bobbins JUST on the border work!!!!!

I am almost done with the binding on the other -and still need to choose, make and attach binding on the FMQ quilt.  Then LOTS of threads to bury and clean-up work to do... maybe they will get them by January 25th???  Only a month late - that's not bad...

Right??????

Unwrapping the UFO - Part 8

Still no photos I can share, but I made a lot of progress this weekend.

One quilt is done done - except for trimming threads, adding a label and washing.

One quilt is nearly done - except for hand stitching binding, trimming threads, adding a label and washing.

One quilt is not quite so done - the FMQ motifs have been selected and marked out, threads chosen.  Machine still needs to be swapped from walking foot to FMQ, and binding still has to be made.  This one is going to take a while... I am stretching my skills with FMQ on this one and think it will be awesome when done, but don't want to rush it.

Sorry to keep everyone in suspense.

(oh - I also threw in making a name tag for the quilt guild I just joined.  A bit of couching and hand stitching, some bead work and some final sewing to go on that and I can show pictures.)

(oh and I killed a spool of Aurifil by using it on all 3 quilts - but luckily won a few more spools from Amanda Murphy Designs, so I am good there)

Unwrapping the UFO - Part 7

So when I talk about these UFO's and can't show pictures for fear of giving away the surprise, it's difficult to convey the scope of this project.

So here's some dimensions:
Quilt A - 51x60
Quilt B - 64x80
Quilt C - 58x72

So now there are three?  Are you confused yet?
Well - one of these is the quilt I had to throw under the needle to free up the safety pins - so yes, there are 3 quilts simultaneously being finished - but one is a keeper.

Progress update (in no particular order)
1:  straight line quilting finished - needs FMQ, trimming and binding (which needs to be cut and made)
2:  quilting finished, binding on and hand stitching of binding has begun.
3.  straight line quilting almost finished, some FMQ needs to be done, binding made but not yet attached.

I was hoping to ship these out this weekend -but that is not going to happen.  MLK Day gifts, anyone?  (no wait - no mail delivery that day.  Dang)

UFO-is Interrupt-us

We interrupt the ongoing work on the 2 Christmas UFO's so that me might quickly quilt another quilt that was sandwiched and waiting in the wings.

And why, do you ask, should we have the audacity to do such a thing -to make our two very patient recipients wait even LONGER for their Christmas gifts?

Why - because we are out of safety pins - most of them holding said sandwich together - and they are needed to sandwich one of the UFO's.

(on a good note - the straight line quilting on the UFO with the pinstripe backing (with red strip) is done - and awaiting some FMQ and border work).

Now to get the other one sandwiched while I have an open living room floor after post-holiday cleaning.

Unwrapping the UFO - Part 6

To give equal time to the other backing - here it is:

It doesn't look like much in this photo - I had just sandwiched and pinned the quilt and flipped it over, so it was not straightened back out again.  The tan is actually a really fine pinstripe, and was used to make crib skirts for my twin great-nephews  - it was just a wee bit too narrow for the backing I needed, so I inserted the red strip to expand it out (yes- the same red from the pillowcase).  Once the quilting is done on this one - it should really really POP on this backing.  I can't wait!!!  ;-)

Unwrapping the UFO - Part 5

So in case Jill and Lazy Sister Sue have not already guessed, these quilts are Christmas themed quilts.  The fabrics we swapped for our 2011 SIS swap were all reds and greens and golds and "Christmasy" colors.

I was able to piece both these tops from the leftover SIS scraps and some additions from my stash - right down to the backings.  The backing on one of them, in fact, is a well aged fabric... and a well traveled one.  It was purchased probably around 1998 in South Carolina - at a store that I believe is no longer in existence - and made the journey north in 1999 - to languish in a drawer for a long time.  It's original purpose was for a Christmas shirt - but long ago I realized I would never make such a shirt - let alone wear it - and so it sat.  A few pieces were cut off to make some holiday gift totes and book covers a few years ago but I could not figure out a use for the rest of it, until now.  To be honest, the SIS quilt and these 2 quilts are the very first Christmas themed quilts I have ever done.  Lucky for me there was plenty left to do the backing on one of these two UFO's (I won't say which)... and even a teeny bit left over to make ME a pillowcase!!!  (and the red star fabric in the cuff part of this pillowcase is part of the backing in the OTHER quilt!  Now how cool is that!)

This is not the UFO you are looking for

I had another UFO in the works this Christmas that was delivered today - it is not one of the one I have been dropping hints on, but was a third one that was not done in time for Christmas Day gifting.  This was a locally delivered quilt to Hubby's sister and family, and I wanted to get this one done and delivered before finishing up the other 2 (sorry Jill and Sue - you still gotta wait!)

I could not post pictures of this before delivery - so here it is - "Thoroughly Modern Mickey" - made from Oz by Sanae for Moda, and using this pattern from Clover and Violet.  I added in a few fabrics from a different Sanae line to stretch this out and get the size I wanted - same colors, but different motifs - and you can hardly tell the difference.

The weather was cooperative enough for some "glamour shots" on the bench in the yard.

If you look really closely  - you can see where the name of the quilt comes from.  Another of my fledgling attempts at FMQ - this one was fun and I was really happy with how it turned out.

Another fun part of this quilt was using the thread I had won in the Aurifil thread naming contest in April.  I used it in the top and the variegation in the thread color worked nicely with all the colors going on with this fabric line.  On the back I used grey thread and the backing is also a grey houndstooth, so it blended in nicely.

Now on to the other UFO's.

Unwrapping the UFO - Part 4

Inspiration for both quilts came from Moda Bake Shop some time between the months of April and September.

(oh did I not mention before now that these are both quilts?  Yes - these are quilts...)

Unwrapping the UFO - Part 3

These 2 UFO's are SISters - but NOT twins.

QDD strikes again... or was it the 6 year old???

I am so bad...  here I am trying to finish up 2 UFO's for Christmas gifts (2011 Christmas gifts) and what did I do this afternoon? I cut the pieces for a quilt for a 2012 Christmas gift!!!  I WAS working on the UFO's but then I got to a stopping point where I needed to move from working in my studio to spreading out on the living room floor (yes -THAT stage of assembly) - but the 6 year old was deeply engrossed in a program on the laptop in the studio and I couldn't budge him.  I wanted to get him AND the laptop safely moved back to the 1st floor before I started to spread things out - so in the interim I started cutting.

7 "packages" of 5" precuts (30 per package) were just enough to cut out this pattern I found on the AllPeopleQuilt.com website (enlarged a bit to throw size).  I had gotten the precuts in a clearance sale with this 2012 quilt in mind - but had no pattern chosen at the time.  I am not working in flannel - and still need to pick a fabric for the sashing and borders, but I have some time for that.  Maybe I can manage to get this quilt done early in the year and set aside and not be post-Christmas gifting like I am this year.

And just so the 2 UFO recipients don't get all panicky - I DID finally move the child and the computer - and worked on the next stages of one of the projects (but whose????  I will never tell!)

Unwrapping the UFO - Part 2

In April, we swapped strips to make this - did you both REALLY think I could resist doing something with the leftovers???

And for those who suggested in their comments that I tease you with scraps.... there.are.no.more.scraps.left.  I even had to supplement a bit from my stash to finish these, though it was in keeping with our original guidelines.

Unwrapping the UFO - part 1

Merry Christmas morning!!! (no I am not on the computer - I prepped this one ahead of time!)  Hope everyone is having a wonderful time!

For those of you following along on my UFO dilemma - I'm ready to reveal the first clue in the "Unwrapping the UFO" saga - which will continue on and off until the UFO is gifted, some posts with pictures, some just with verbal teases.

So here's the first clue...

There isn't one UFO... there's 2...

There isn't one recipient... there's 2... (hmmm... can you guess who?)

And BOTH of you will have to wait for the others UFO to be finished before you will get yours.