UFO Challenge – February

My BFF Nancy has issued the UFO challenge again for 2010.  I have this challenge list over on my sidebar.  For the next 9 months she will pick a number at the beginning of the month and the challenge is to get the UFO that corresponds with that number on your list finished before the end of the month.

Number 7 was drawn for February which means I’ll be working on my Blue Bricks & Stepping Stones Quilt.  The blocks are still in process but I have the basic 4-patch/Brick unit pieced and pressed.  The print along the bottom of the photo is going to be the border.  I really am enjoying working on this one.

This has been my leader/ender project off and on and I made quite a bit of progress on it that way.  But now it’s time to buckle down and git-r-dun!

UFO Challenge – January Finish!

I’ve finally finished my January finish for the 2010 UFO Challenge!!!  YAY!!  I put the last stitches in Patty’s Quilt while hubby and I were watching the movie Gran Torino on this snowy Saturday.  Here’s the finished quilt…

And a close-up of the Wonky Feathers….

I’m looking forward to working on my February UFO for the challenge.  In the meantime, tomorrow I’ll be quilting the baby quilt I finished piecing this week so that I can get it into the mail.  I pulled the backing and binding fabrics out a little while ago and I’ll make the binding and pin the backing onto the frame tonight.  I love snowy weekends!!!

Too Good to Cut….

I joined the Too Good to Cut Challenge at the beginning of the year and have decided to use my Allspice Tapestry FQ Tower from Moda. 

I fell in love with these fabrics when they first came out and just had to have them!  So I bought the FQ bundle and have yet to do anything with them.  I’ve been looking for the perfect pattern to use them in.  I’ve narrowed it down to a few different patterns and will make a final decision soon.  As soon as I make a firm decision I’ll be sure to let you all know :)

Come and join us and cut into that fabric you’ve been saving.  It’ll be fun!!

Another UFO Finished for January :)

I finished the binding on my mother in law’s Trip Around the World quilt.  I’m thrilled to have it finished and she will be over to visit on Sunday so I can finally give it to her.  This quilt was supposed to be her Christmas gift.  However breaking my elbow 4 days before Christmas kept me from being able to finish it.  I think she’ll be happy when she sees it.

I also managed to finish the baby quilt top made from the blocks that were on my design wall this past Monday.  I hope to get it quilted this weekend and finished next week so that I can send it off to my college friend’s new baby.

All in all a pretty productive week so far and I’m still working on the binding of my friend Patty’s quilt so I should have another finish pretty soon :)

Design Wall Monday…

I have something on my design wall for a change!!  I’m working with these blocks from an “Imperfect Block Swap” I participated in several years ago.  These will be sashed with blue fabric and a swirly green for cornerstones and bordered with a cute print to become a baby quilt for a friend of mine from college who just had her first baby.  I’m very excited to get this finished and sent to it’s new owner :)

I also got the bindings and labels machine sewn onto the 2 quilts I recently quilted.  Now I have handwork to do in the evenings while watching TV with my hubby :)

Tomorrow I have to go back to work after being off for nearly 2 weeks, it’s gonna be rough when that alarm clock rings in the morning…..

Friday Night Sew-In – February

The date has been set for February’s Friday Night Sew-In.  Join everyone on Feb 19th for the fun!!  I’ll be sewing away as it will be smack dab in the middle of my February Stay-cation!!!

Second One Quilted

I finished quilting the second quilt on my Stay-cation Goal list!  I also cut out both bindings and one of the labels is stitching out as I type.  So either later today or tomorrow I’ll be making and attaching the bindings by machine and will hand stitch them down in the evenings after work.

Here’s the quilt before binding….

And a close-up of the quilting….

I quilted “Wonky Feathers” by Dawn The Pajama Quilter.  I love this very forgiving quilting pattern!

One Down…

…. one to go….

I finished quilting my mother in law’s Trip Around the World quilt late last night.  I still need to attach the binding and label by machine and then hand stitch them down, but I can work on that in the evenings.  Here’s the picture before binding….

And a close-up of the quilting…

I have the next quilt loaded on the frame, bobbins wound and the machine rethreaded and ready to quilt tomorrow.  I’ll be back with more pictures when I finish quilting the next one :)

Hope everyone’s having a great weekend!!

Update on Stay-cation Goals….

Alas, no quilting has happened yet….but for good reason.  When I started “Project Stash Relocation” the rest of the room looked like a bomb went off.  I couldn’t take it anymore, so I’ve spent the last 3 days turning the messy room back into my quilting studio.  And here’s the result….

The view from the door….

Two of my Elfa drawer units which now house some UFOs, flannels, most of my precuts (FQ Bundles, Jelly Rolls, Honey Buns & Turnovers – Charms are in another rolling unit because they wouldn’t fit in the drawers – I think I have a precut problem, wonder if there’s a 12 step program), purchased tote bags are in the unit in the left corner of the room).  FQs, panels, backing fabrics and kits are in the unit on the right near the frame.

The closet with my yardage on the shelves and my third Elfa drawer unit.  The Elfa has more UFOs, handmade bags and totes and packaged batting in the drawers.

Under the HQ16 frame there are several rolling carts which contain the majority of my 100+ UFOs as well as some miscellaneous threads in one of the carts.

I’m shocked at how much I have in this 12’ x 12’ room.  And I can still move around easily.  Wooohooo!

Now I can get back to quilting MIL’s quilt.  The backing fabric is already pinned onto the front roller.  In a few minutes I’ll go pin it onto the takeup roller and then tomorrow I can get it quilted and load the other quilt :)

“Stay-cation” Goals

I’m on vacation until January 26th and am not going away.  So I get the next week + to quilt quilt quilt!!!

Over the weekend I finished one UFO and hope to get 2 more UFOs quilted this coming week.  I’ll be quilting my Mother in Law’s quilt (which was supposed to be finished for Christmas, but a broken elbow threw a monkey wrench into that plan) and hopefully have it labeled and bound to give to her when I see her on January 31st.

The other quilt I’m planning to quilt is my friend Patty’s quilt.  It’s on my UFO Challenge list over there ----------------> 
and it’s been in the works for far too long.  I finally found the perfect blue fabric in my stash for the inner border and binding and I have a nice wide blue paisley print for the backing.

Tomorrow I’ll get working on quilting my Mother in Law’s quilt.  The backing is already loaded onto the frame so I have NO EXCUSES!

Great Giveaway & Sale!!

Suzanne is having a wonderful 1000th post giveaway and a huge sale at her online store Knots & Bolts.  Go check it out!!!

My First 2010 Finish….

It’s done!  The Music quilt is done!!  I finished the binding last night not long after the Colts beat the Ravens in the playoffs….Woohoo!

I’m very happy to have this quilt finished, it was a challenge with a broken elbow, but I managed.  And now it will go to the Bingo event to be raffled off to benefit my daughter’s Band Booster program.

Now on to the next UFO, I have 2 that I want to get quilted this coming week….

How I Spent My Friday Night Sew In

Well I did what I’d planned during the Friday night Sew In…. I quilted the Music Quilt….

And I quilted the bag pieces for my daughter’s overnight bag….

Today I stitched out the label for the Music Quilt and made and attached the binding and label….Now I’m hand stitching the binding and label to the quilt while we watch football.

Are You Ready????

For the Friday Night Sew-In tonight…..

I am.  Tonight I’ll be finishing the quilting on my New Year’s Eve Mystery quilt.  It has to be finished for a raffle on Sunday to benefit my daughter’s high school band program.

Here’s what it looks like right now. 

I’ll also be quilting the bag pieces for the overnight bag I’m making for my daughter.  There will be leftover backing and batting after I quilt the music quilt, so I’ll quilt the bag pieces at the bottom of the quilt before I take it off the frame.  Since the bag is fully lined the backing won’t show when it’s finished.

Project Stash Relocation….

At the start of the year I decided that it was time to get my stash in order.  For the last few years my stash has been kept in Elfa drawer units and I came to the conclusion that I really need to be able to see my fabrics in order to use them.  So hubby and I went to Lowes and bought a wire shelving unit and then we pulled all the drawers out of the existing units (well hubby did since I can’t lift anything that heavy with a broken elbow).  Next I started refolding all of my fabrics and sorting them by color/theme.  This picture shows my “normal” fabrics, 100% cotton quilting fabrics sorted by color with the novelties/prints together as well.

I still have to go through my flannel fabrics and I have already moved my panels, wide backings, Christmas fabrics, 30’s prints and batiks/hand dyes into other units.  My fat quarters and precuts (jelly rolls, charm packs, layer cakes, honey buns & FQ bundles) still need to be put away but I should be able to get that all taken care of soon.

I’m also going to rearrange the layout of my studio to make it more quilter friendly.  So I’ll post more pictures as I have things settled.

I think 2010 is going to be a great year for organizing!!

Coworker Holiday Gifts

Now that the last gift has been received I can finally show you all what I made to gift to my coworkers.  I bought the acrylic mugs awhile back and then string pieced the backgrounds and embroidered things to fit each recipient.  I love how they turned out and everyone seemed very happy with them :)

Joining the Friday Night Sew-In

I’ll be joining along in the Friday Night Sew-In on January 15th.  I’m excited to be quilting with other quilters around the world for an evening.  Hopefully you’ll join me too! 

UFO Challenge – January

My BFF Nancy has issued the UFO challenge again for 2010.  I have this challenge list over on my sidebar.  For the next 10 months she will pick a number at the beginning of the month and the challenge is to get the UFO that corresponds with that number on your list finished before the end of the month.

For January the number is 4, which means that I will be working on “Patty’s Quilt”  The top is done and it just needs to be quilted.  I’m still trying to decide if I want to add borders or not.  What do you think?  I think a narrow blue inner border and a wider border using the red print and finishing with the same blue for the binding would look good.

Either way, hopefully it’ll be finished before February 1st (along with 2 other UFOs that have January deadlines).

Even with a broken elbow, I plan to have a productive month :)