February UFO report

Here it is, already the last day of February. This month went by quick, didn't it? I made a good effort to finish my February UFO, number 7 from the list on my sidebar. I'm doing this as part of a challenge hosted by Nancy at Patchwork Penguin . But for the second month in a row, I have failed to complete it by the month's end. I did manage to finish my January UFO this month. I feel good about that. Here is my quilt as it is right now.



It is partially quilted. I still have quite a bit more quilting to do and I will keep working at it and get it done. For now, I'm satisfied with my progress. It is a lot closer to finished than it was a month ago. :D

On the wall today- February 22

On the wall today are some of the blocks for a new quilt. If you are following the winter Olympics, you might think the logo colors have been the source of inspiration for my quilt. But this quilt was the real inspiration.

My nephew's fiance has told me many times how much she likes it, as it her favorite colors. So I am making them a quilt in her favorite colors as a wedding gift.

To see what other quilters are working on, check out Patchwork Times.

Distractions = little progress

I did not get nearly as much done last night as I had hoped during the Friday Night sew-in. I probably should have never turned on the TV. I'm enjoying the winter Olympics far more than usual. And last night they started the ice dancing competition. I love to watch ice dancing. I did manage to finish cutting all of the pieces for my new quilt project. But not much sewing is done. Here's what I have so far. Just a few parts.

Friday Night Sew-in ...

...and I'm still cutting away. But, I should be stitching soon. Tonight I'm starting on a new quilt. It's for a gift and I should have started it several months ago, once I had purchased the fabrics.
But I put it off, and now I have decided I need to switch to a simpler pattern so that I can finish before my deadline. It is time to get back to work. I should have some pictures tomorrow.

It's Design Wall Monday Again

This is what is on my wall today. It's a table runner in progress. I'm using the Quilt Smart foundations to make it. I've got to stitch the arcs down before I can proceed any further, but I think it should come together well. So far, it is a pretty easy process.
Want to see what other quilters are doing? Check out Patchwork Times, where Judy has a link box set up.

Quilt-a-thon Day 2

It was a much slower process than I would have liked, but the results are in, and I'm pleasantly surprised. Above is a collage of yesterday's snow dyeing experiment. Top left shows the baskets with fabric wadded and covered in snow just after I squirted the dye solution on the snow. The photos to the right of that are my completed blue and red fabrics. On the bottom row, you can see the basket that was originally the red/blue/yellow combination above left. The first shot is after it had started to melt, center is after all the snow had melted but before it was rinsed and then finally the bottom right is the finished piece of fabric that resulted.

And, I finished the mini basket quilt this morning.

Still on my list for today is the class sample I need to finish, the backing for my February UFO needs to be pieced , and then I need layer and baste the UFO so it's ready to quilt.

Checking In

I had the best intentions, as usual, of getting a lot of sewing done today. But then I felt the need to try snow dyeing some fabric, since we have plenty of snow. So, I spent the morning making the dye solutions and prepping my fabrics and setting up a few containers of fabric and snow.

Here's a peek at around noon,after I got everything set. I have been waiting somewhat impatiently for the snow to melt. These are sitting in my garage in an area that is heated, but it is still pretty cool and the melting process is going slowly. This is what it looked like about an hour ago. I am just starting to get peeks of the fabric showing through the snow. I'm thinking it will be tomorrow before I have pictures of the finished fabric.

I did eventually make it into the sewing room. And I have made a little progress. This my February UFO with two of the borders on and the third being previewed.

But, I decided I don't care for that border. So I try another one.

I like this much better, and I think that first try will make a nice binding instead.

I am heading back down to try to get the binding on my mini-basket ready for hand finishing tonight.

Quilt-a-thon weekend

Judy L. at Patchwork Times is hosting another quilt-a-thon this weekend. It is intended to be Saturday and Sunday, but I am doing it today and tomorrow instead. Since Sunday is Valentine's day, and hubby has already stated he intended to spend it with me, I guess the least I can do is be available. ;-)
We're having leftovers for dinner tonight, and with a bit of luck, I won't need to make any meals tomorrow. So that should leave plenty of quilting time for me. As usual, I have plenty of things to work on. I hope to finish my mini-basket quilt first. And of course I still have those borders to add to my February UFO, so that will be the next item on my list. I fully intend to have that quilt basted and ready for quilting before the weekend is over. And lastly, I have a class sample to finish. This should be do-able over the next two days. We'll see how distracted I get. I'll try to do some progress updates when there is something to show. For now, I'm off to my sewing room.

January UFO -DONE!

So, it took a few extra days. My January UFO focus is finished and that is what matters the most. I am thrilled. And, all of the things that gave me such trouble appear to have decided to behave in the finished quilt. How awesome is that!?

I have the first of three borders on my February UFO. I think today I will try to piece the second border together and finish the top. I'm feeling another finish for this month. How are you coming with your UFOs?

Design Wall 2-8-10

On my wall today is UFO #8 from my side bar. It is not the UFO for this month. But I came across it as I was moving things to make room for hubby to install my new lighting yesterday. And since there were a bunch of rows pinned and ready to stitch, I finished stitching the rows together yesterday. Now I'm auditioning some border possibilities. On the left is a true red inner border, on the top is gold, and to the right is a berry color. Can't decide.

The mini basket is partially quilted at this point. And my two-block nightmare quilt is awaiting some action. My sister-in-law took a look at the blocks and noticed that I had not trimmed my alternate blocks down to size. That may make the size difference between the two blocks much more workable. DUH. I'm not brain dead. Really.

I figured out how to tame my misbehaving borders on my OP quilt that was last month's UFO. It wasn't lying flat and there seemed to be too much fabric, even though I'm pretty sure I measured properly before I added them. What I ended up doing is taking a gathering stitch all the way along that border. By pulling only the slightest bit on the gathering stitches, I was able to ease the excess so that there is no puckering. The border is quilted and looks great now. In fact, I am in the process of stitching the binding on now. I'll post a photo when it is finished.

Want to see what other quilters are working on? Check out Patchwork Times for links to more design wall Monday posts.

I see the light!

Today my hubby installed new lighting fixtures in my sewing room. I am so thrilled. Now instead of one light fixture overhead, I have five. FIVE! All of my work stations are well lit now. The installation did make a bit of a mess, but the final result was worth the clean-up effort. :D

And hubby promises a new floor is on the list too. WOOHOO!!! I hate the carpet that is in there now. It traps pins that always seem to find my bare feet at some point. I don't know how soon that will happen.It will be a huge task just moving everything out of the room.

February already?! First design wall of the month.

On the wall today is this month's UFO challenge, #7- Thyme to Water. There are three borders that still need to be added to this before it it ready to be quilted. Only one of them is pieced, but still, I have a little work ahead of me.

Also on my wall is my basket wall hanging top. I'm thinking about adding some type of embellishments to it. Maybe. Or maybe it already has enough going on.


To see what other quilters are working on, check out Judy's blog.