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.

Using more scraps

I'll have to admit I'm not too crazy about the quilt I shared in my last post.  But please don't say "me either" because I'm a little touchy right now.  It seems like that often happens with quilts that I start and then put aside for any length of time.  I have to get better about finishing a project that I start -- or just get rid of it if I don't want to finish it while I'm still excited about it.

Anyway -- I needed something to cheer me up.  I had cut tons of 2-1/2" strips for the 36-patch quilt, and I had lots of end pieces left after I diced them up.  I thought I should be able to put them together into  something that would please me, so I made another baby quilt top.

I just love a scrappy look.  My design board still holds the 36-patch quilt, so I tried the clothesline.  It doesn't really show the colors too well.

Here's one indoors.

I love it -- it almost makes me want to have another baby to wrap it around.  Even the purple polka dots don't bother me.  Now I really really have to get busy and quilt a few of my tops.  Really.  That'll be my August goal.

My 36 Patch Process

Last July I joined a 36-patch quiltalong with Amanda Jean of crazy mom quilts.  I decided to use some of the softer colors in my Kaffe Fassett collection, and this was the start of my quilt top.

I soon ran out of colors that would work and so it got shoved into a bin for a year.  I finally pulled it out a year later but had a hard time getting interested in continuing with it.  Then I decided I wanted to see what would happen if I added a little brightness to it.

I liked the higher contrast blocks but I needed more of them.  Also, I made a few poor choices, leaving some of the blocks with no contrast at all -- I needed to replace at least a few of them.

Getting closer, but the purple polka dot didn't agree with me -- back to the sewing machine.

There are still some blocks that are lacking in contrast -- but I'm getting pretty tired of making this block so they'll probably stay in the quilt.  I'll play around with the layout a bit until I'm satisfied with the balance of color and then start stitching them together next week.  I do love having a design wall that allows me to play with the layout until I come up with something that makes me happy.  Just might be that the purple polka dot finds its way back into this quilt.   Or I may end up back at the machine, but not today.  My only real goal is to stick with fabrics I have and not go buy something new that I think may be just what it needs.

Or maybe this will work -