August? UFO Challenge

Judy's challenge for August was to complete #7 on my list of UFO's.  Maybe I'll do that in September.  Instead, for August I completed #9 which hasn't even been drawn yet.  That doesn't make me feel ahead of the game since it was the first quilt I completed for the year.

Number 9 was this blue and yellow patchwork quilt.  It finished up at about 60 x 90, which should be good for a twin bed.  The back is flannel, making it a nice cozy weight for the coming cool weather.

It was a little large for me to get a decent picture.  Hanging on the line you can see a little more than half of it - the other half looks pretty much the same ;)

I also managed to complete two baby quilts in August.

I guess it's obvious that I love simple patchwork.  I love working with lots of fabrics, but I do run into problems with my no plan/no pattern method.  It's always a struggle to come up with a piece of fabric large enough for the back of a quilt.  Sometimes I end up buying yardage, but I prefer to make do.  I'm happy I was able to stretch a piece of fabric for each of these baby quilts.

Check the links on Judy's blog at Patchwork Times to see what other UFO's are being completed.

Now I'm wallowing in the joy and freedom of my first week of retirement -- it's even better than I imagined.

My Sewing Room Rug

Sometimes I'm glad I have a hard time purging "stuff".   While I was making an attempt at cleaning my sewing room a couple of weeks ago, I came across a bin of selvages.  For several years I've seen different projects that quilters have made using selvages and I decided to start saving them.  I wasn't sure what I would do with them, but I do think they're sort of fun.   I've dug through them a few times when I needed to know the  name of a certain fabric to check if I could buy it again.

Anyway...... when I came across the bag I came real close to pitching it.  But like so often happens, I just moved it from a bin to a plastic bag so it wouldn't take up so much space, and I shoved it into a different corner.

Then I came across this fun project.  It didn't take me long to dig out that bag and get started!  In just a few days, I turned this mess -

into this cheerful rug for my sewing room!  I have to say I just love it!

Now if I need to know the name of a fabric, I just crawl on the floor instead of trying to figure out where I put that bag!

I recently purchased a box of these little red things.  They seemed a bit pricey, but I wanted to try them out.  I have to say, they're worth the money spent!

And for the record -- I think I'm cured of purging!

Which reminds me - I almost forgot.  I wasn't sure what I was going to use for a base for the rug.  Then I remembered this blanket that Sharyn had bought for me at a garage sale.  Another item that I came close to purging recently -- and it was perfect!

If you save your selvages, there are instructions for making one of your own here.

Churn Dash

While I was making an attempt to organize my sewing room last week, I came across the rows for my churn dash quilt .  This one was on my UFO list for 2011 but got replaced by a special order quilt.  I added it to my 2012 UFO Challenge list, and I felt pretty obligated to get it done this year.

I finally finished adding the borders to it this morning.

The thought of quilting this one is a little intimidating.  It'll probably go to the bottom of my "to be quilted" pile.

The blocks are 6" square.  I started out making the blocks with Christmas fabrics, then added other green and red prints from my stash for variety.

It has just a quiet, cozy Christmas feel to it.

Three Steps Forward

and one step back.  I'm o.k. with that.

I satisfied my piecing itch for this week with this log cabin scrap quilt.  I was able to make 12 blocks while using each fabric only once.

I really made a mess of my sewing room making this one!    One of the oldest fabrics in the quilt was a gift that my daughter brought from Finland over 20 years ago and the newest piece was bought on a recent trip to Green Bay.  I don't remember where I've used all the fabrics, but most of them bring back warm memories.

One more in the "to be quilted" stack.   After I get my sewing room somewhat back in order, I'll work on that.

Working on my Promise

When I said I would devote August to quilting, I really didn't realize how many tops I had stacked away.  It seems there's enough to keep me busy through the next few months.

I thought I better get started - so I quilted

and I quilted.

Then I took a little break to make some binding.  This was pretty slick -- I used a sheet found at a garage sale.  Cutting a sheet on the bias gives you pretty long bias strips.  I only needed to piece together four strips to make more than enough for the quilt shown above -- 60" x 90".  It'll make it so much easier to avoid seams on the corners when I stitch it to the quilt.  

I did a little basting

and went back to doing more quilting.

I plan to keep at the quilting, but it's hard for me to stay away from piecing for very long.  So last night I pulled out my bin of 2-1/2" strips and started grabbing anything that was on the light side.   On a  whim, I decided to start a scrappy log cabin.  I think I'll see how big it gets without using any fabric more than once.