April UFO Update

Hello!  Spring has sprung and it's time for some spring cleaning ....cleaning out more old UFOs.  April has been a productive month in my sewing room. This is what has been accomplished so far in April.

1.  I finished the flimsy for RSC 15!  (Or nearly finished--needs just a little white border and a new picture).  Finally I have a quilt worthy of some custom quilting!

2. RSC 18 "Squared Away" blocks for April are done. Isn't Yellow a happy color?

3. I cut and sewed the blocks for the Autumn Stars pattern from my November 2017 Sew Sampler box. The borders are ready to apply.  This one will not land on my UFO list at all. Whew!

4. Sapphire Stars is a flimsy!  It's going to the longarmer tomorrow.

5. My version of Bonnie Hunter's Grand Illusion will be picked up from the longarmer tomorrow. The binding step will go quickly and that means one more UFO checked out the list.

What's up next?  My quilting goals for 2nd quarter are to sew a quilt for my guild's challenge (a traditional block in a non-traditional way), finish more UFOs, and make a baby quilt for my daughter's friend.

So.....
Which UFO should I work on next?  Please leave a message with your vote.
1. Assemble those red/white disappearing 4-patches into a flimsy.
2. Assemble my old Floribunda blocks (another Bonnie Hunter pattern) and finish up the piano key border. 
3. Free-motion quilt the Little Fox quilt.
4. Work on my En Provence quilt.

On a higher note, the weather looks great for this weekend so I am expecting to fly circles in the sky in my airplane. I hope you are enjoying the beautiful sunshine this weekend, too.

UFO Progress

Hallelujah!  My UFO pile is finally decreasing!  Progress so far in 2018:

1. Jamestown Landing - DONE
2. Big Star Country - DONE
3. Magnolia Mystery - DONE
4. Grand Illusion - being longarmed.
[You can find these on my 2018 Quilts page.]

5. Sapphire Stars - Need to add final border; backing has arrived.

6. Baby Fox - sandwiched and ready to quilt.

7. RSC15 Sampler - Three rows complete; need to finish the remaining four rows.

8. Red/white Disappearing 4-patch - 14 more blocks to cut and reassemble, then arrange all blocks into a 48-block flimsy. Need to figure out backing.

I have started only one new quilt in 2018 - the RSC sampler for 2018. But I'm collecting fabric for others....gotta finish more UFOs first!

I hope you are progressing on your own UFOs, too!

Rip It Off

Have you ever had one of those projects where it feels like your seam ripper gets more of a workout than your sewing machine?  It feels like I have sewn every seam twice. I'm not sure why I am struggling so much.  At least the results are beautiful so it feels worth the effort.

Here is what I am working on - RSC (Rainbow Scrap Challenge) circa 2015. This is a free project designed by Angela at superscrappy.blogspot.com (LINK).

I started out strong in 2015, finishing three months of blocks, then stalled out for some unknown reason.  Probably because I ran out of white and while waiting for my online fabric order I got distracted with another quilt.

In my grand scheme to clear out some UFOs this year, I created a schedule of which projects to finish or work on each month. Well, I am already deviating from the plan. RSC15 was supposed to be May through September. But that's okay.  You gotta do it when the mood strikes because this is supposed to be FUN!

My variation on this pattern is to use solids for the star points and grid, with scraps for the centers of the star blocks and of the grid blocks.  Here are a few close ups of my favorites.

Have you made the RSC15?  And are you working on RSC18, same as me?  Bonus points: do you recognize the source of most of the prints in my quilt? My favorite online store.....

Beginning my own RSC

As a break from assembling these large Bonnie Hunter quilts, I decided to start a RSC15 quilt (Rainbow Scrap Quilt from superscrappy). Each month we will make blocks in a different rainbow hue and play with a different mini-block pattern for the center of the stars.

Check out my January blocks:

These are SO much fun!  This month's color is blue and I opted for navy blue. My plan is to use solids for the Sawtooth Star points and prints for the mini-blocks inside the star. Make this quilt with me!