Off the Wagon

In spite dealing with a nasty respiratory virus, I did get some quilting done this past month.

1) Fat Quarter Shop's Sew Sampler box from May 2018 included a Jolly bar of "Pepper and Flax" and a quilt pattern called Beehive.  I had to add fabric for the background and outer border (a quick purchase from a local quilt shop).  This was a simple pattern, very easy to sew. Voila! Beehive is a flimsy!

2) My daughter's friend is expecting a baby boy in early 2019. She will get the Baby Fox quilt finished earlier this year, plus a double flannel blanket in a cute fox print I whipped up last week.

3) And...my quilt diet has fallen off the wagon. Instead of finishing up more UFOs, I fell in love with Connecting Thread's new line "Arcadian Mist" and decided to make another quilt for my mother. I liked Eleanor Burns' Patty Cake pattern except for the partial blocks along the edge. When I saw Cindy's "Irish Chainish" quilt here, the light bulb went on and I placed my order. After removing the light fabrics from two layer cakes, I needed a few more prints to make this a queen-sized quilt. I added some from CT's "Oh My Darling" line from a couple years ago. Perfect!  This is a very easy pattern with NO triangles. It is coming together very quickly.

If I can finish a few small projects on my UFO list in the next couple of weeks, my overall count for 2018 will be:

Began with 25 UFOs less 2 demoted to the sample blocks bin.
Finished 11 quilts, leaving 12 UFOs of which 3 are flimsies ready to quilt.
***My goal was to finish half of my UFOs, so I'm counting this as a win. Yay!***

During 2018, I began 9 new quilts (oops, make that 10 now) of which 3 were completed.
That leaves 7 added to work-in-process list, of which 5 are flimsies ready to quilt. Open projects include the new Irish Chainish and the green Irish Star Chain flimsy.  Hmmm, do you see a theme here? 

Ending UFO/WIP count is 19, including 8 flimsies ready to quilt. 

Wow, those flimsies are accumulating! Normally I send most of my pieced quilts out to be longarmed, but I'm getting to the point where I want some level of custom quilting and am not happy about paying for it. That means I need better equipment so I can do my own quilting. So I played with a Juki mid-arm at my local quilt shop. I tried doing a small feather and it came out really good for my first try. I definitely like the stitch regulator. But I need your advice before buying a mid-arm. 

PLEASE comment if you have experience using a mid-arm and can recommend certain features or manufacturers.

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On a higher note, my airplane is getting its annual maintenance tune-up. She needs new spark plugs, a replacement tire and other parts, plus some other work so it will not be a low-cost checkup this time. <sigh>  Poor baby, she didn't get much exercise this past year. Airplanes need regular exercise, just like us humans.  I expect to fly much more frequently in 2019 and already several trips in mind. I'm also dusting off the elliptical and free weights <deeper sigh>.

Three More UFOs Finished

Hallelujah1  Three more old UFO projects were finished this past week!!!!

The red/white disappearing 4-patch from 2012 is assembled, quilted and bound!  I had just enough backing material from Connecting Threads to piece the backing. The quilting is lots of hearts done in a red/pink variegated thread. The  outer border is a red-on-white print of hearts. My longarmer Patty claimed that I have my Valentine's present done early. LOL.

 

Then I finished up my Little Fox quilt, a Patch Pals pattern from Quiltmaker magazine, that I had sewn way back in 2015. This was actually enjoyable to FMQ myself. Why do I procrastinate when it comes to quilting my own projects (at least the small ones)?  This one turned out so cute!

While I was on the FMQ bandwagon, I decided to finally finish the quilting on my Red Cross quilt, sewn in 2013. Again, I had stalled out on the FMQ step.  This has the same backing as my other red/white quilt above.  The block pattern is Greek Cross. The color scheme was one I had seen from a modern quilt guild in Oklahoma (can't recall which one). Each cross block featured a different red print. <giggle> It gave me an excuse to buy many different reds to build up my stash.

Ah-hah! With three UFOs finished, you know what that means?  Time to start a new project1  Oh, wait. I did that already with that green Irish Star Chain pattern.  Eight blocks are finished and eight more blocks are kitted up ready to sew. My plan is to make 20 blocks, set 4 by 5 for a nice lap quilt. 

Red quilts and green quilts? Sounds like I am gearing up for Christmas. Maybe it's time to work on that tree skirt and Christmas table runner I had cut out late last year. Those are two more UFOs on my list that could be easily crossed off.

Have you started on your Christmas projects? It's best to get them done before the busy holiday preparation time begins. Every year I promise myself that I would get my gifts purchased or made before Thanksgiving so I can enjoy the holidays without rushing around at the last minute. Never have been able to achieve that. And only rarely do I get holiday cards sent out more than a week before Christmas. My sister is one of those people who sends her cards out the day after Thanksgiving. There has only been one year that I beat her, or at least I thought I had.  Her card came in the mail the afternoon after I dropped off my cards at the post office. Maybe I should step up my game and bake cookies to send the day after Thanksgiving with a pretty card. Game on, sis!

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UFO Confession

How many UFOs do you have?  That's a question we quilters tend to ask each other.  Possibly helps us feel better about ourselves if the response is higher than our own list. LOL So what is a UFO?

A UFO is an unfinished quilting project.  In my mind, a few orphan blocks is not a UFO.  Setting aside fabric for a future quilt is not a UFO (because you can change your mind).  But actually cutting into the fabric with the intent of making blocks for a full quilt flips the switch to UFO until it is actually finished.  Finished means assembled, sandwiched, quilted, and bound.  Labeling is secondary, although some quilters believe until it is labeled, it is still unfinished.  Not me. I tend to label in a batch of several quilts at a time, so the quilt is done when binding is finished.

With that in mind, I decided to be honest with myself and compile a list. Whew, baby!  It was quite a list!  It got so long I had to put it in a spreadsheet. I'm an accountant, so I live and breathe in Excel. Then I figured out what stage each project was in (making blocks, ready for assembly, ready for quilting, ready to bind).  Deep breath. Okay, here goes:

I have TWENTY FIVE unfinished projects.

Not too bad, but not too good.  How many UFOs do you have?  'Cause I need to feel better.

Then, because my list was in a spreadsheet, I began to schedule which projects to work on. Those closest to being finished got to go first in line.

Top 10 quilts are:

1. Jamestown Landing, started in 2013. DONE in January. I have to take credit for my 2018 finishes, right?

2. Magnolia mystery from Meadow Mist designs, started in 2017. At the longarmer. I didn't get a pic of the final flimsy, but definitely will get a good picture when it comes back to me.

3. Big Star County mystery from Alycia Quilts, started in 2017. At the longarmer.

4. Grand Illusion, a Bonnie Hunter mystery from 2014. Blocks are done, need to assemble. Backing is on hand (it's that dark aqua I had found recently and forgotten it was for this quilt).

5.  In the 'Hood mystery from EvaPaige Quilt Designs, started in 2017. Backing is on hand. Need to sandwich & FMQ.  My plan is to quilt little scotties in the four blank square and do little swirls or tiny stipples around the block scotties. The big scotties need hair and sweater stiching. Not sure what to do with the border bones.

6. Floribunda, a Bonnie Hunter design started in 2012. Blocks are done, border is nearly complete. Need to assemble. Backing is on hand.

7. Sapphire Stars, a mystery from Kevin the Quilter, started in 2017.  Finished assembling the blocks in January, nearly done with the border. Backing has been ordered. I hope to drop off to longarmer in February.

8. Red Cross, started in 2013. Need to finish the FMQ. It's already bound.

9. Baby Fox, circa 2015. It is sandwiched and ready for FMQ.

10. En Provence, a Bonnie Hunter mystery from 2016. Six blocks done, need three more plus sashing and border. Will need to shop for backing.  Or maybe I should skip the sashing and do 12 blocks total. Looks pretty with the just the blocks, doesn't it.

As I said on January 1, my goal is to finish at least half of my UFOs. That means I need to finish THIRTEEN.  If I hold true to my Excel schedule, I could finish as many as 22. And my goal is to resist starting another project until three UFOs are done.

The remaining quilts are Garden Party, 1860's Revival, Red/White DSP4, 2015 Craftsy Sampler, RSC15 sampler, a t-shirt quilt, Lady of the Lake, a 199X baby blanket, fabric cut for a patriotic Tobacco Road, an assembled tree skirt, a Christmas table runner cut and ready to sew, a Crabapple Trees medallion, a batik Jewel Box, String X, and my first quilt which needs a border fix before it can be quilted.

Ummm, I must confess I have already kinda, sorta, started a new project already. Angela at SoScrappy announced her RSC18. Although my 2015 blocks are still languishing in the UFO bin, I just know I can keep up with RSC18. Yes, I know I can.  I pulled my light blue scraps and cut enough to make three 10" blocks. She announced the February purple block design today, so will need to cut some purple scraps and keep it going.

Just for fun, I also made a few Lady of the Lake blocks because I just cannot resist doing some piecing. This one is going to be so pretty!  After finishing my last blue & white quilt (Jamestown Landing), I had to push this blue/white one onto the active working list.

So it's your turn to confess. How many UFOs do you have?