Finished – April’s UFO!

I was delighted when the UFO drawn for April turned out to be this little project. This was made with strips received in an exchange at guild last fall.  I’m not thrilled with the way I used the strips, but decided it was better to get them made into something than to leave them sitting around waiting for the perfect inspiration to use them.
How simple this would be! – it just needed a border, then it could be quilted and bound – perfect project for a busy month.   
But it wasn’t quite as easy as I thought.
It took a while to find where I’d put the rest of the blue fabric for the border.  I was relieved that there was just enough to miter the stripe to match the centre!
And my machine balked a bit at the thread I used for quilting.  Worked fine once I tweaked my settings a little, but that took a while.
Then I realized that the tiny scallop in the print wasn’t navy blue as I thought, but black.  Quandary – navy binding?  or black?  I finally went with the navy because the black seemed too harsh.  (Bet you can’t even tell from the photo!)
Then I had to block the piece to have that little printed stripe running nice and straight down the sides.  And I had to stitch the binding on from the back so it could be turned to the front – I wanted it to just touch the scallop-y bit.
I still think it’s an odd little piece, but it’s DONE DONE, and it turned out well.  It looks great on the small table in my sewing room.

Flying Geese

Another preemie quilt.  The dimensional geese blocks were made by members of Sew Scrappy Club at our last meeting.  Now they are flying in formation ready to be donated to the NICU at the Regional Hospital.  Well done, scrappy quilters!

 

UFO Completed for March

In my box of UFOs  #1 turned out to be these Wonky Pumpkins.  The pumpkin blocks were made last fall as a demo for a class.  As I worked with the blocks this month I explored various liberated piecing ideas and had a great time. 
I also managed to incorporate a specific fabric (“Winter’s Grace, by Mark Lipinski), thus satisfying the requirements for a challenge I’m engaged in.   I’m delighted to have this little wall quilt all together.  I’ve even started on the quilting, and the binding is made and ready to apply. 
Now I'm eager to see what the project will be for next month!

Preemie Puzzle Mystery Revealed

 

We’ve reached the last step of the Mystery Quilt.  See the link to the instructions on the Preemie Puzzle Mystery page to the right.

 

Here’s what my version looks like.

I hope it will brighten up the day for some tiny baby in  the Intensive Care Nursery.

 

I can’t wait to see what yours looks like!

New Book!

Look what arrived in my mailbox!  Autographed by the author!
It’s full of wonderful ideas for playing with color and fabric.  I’d like to dive in and get started right now!  You can read all about this book right here.
And there are some beautiful photos inside.  Including one of this quilt:
It’s on page 91, and it looks great in the book.  Almost as beautiful as it looks on my wall at home.

Thanks, Christine!  I’m very proud to have a quilt in your book. 

Preemie Quilts

 

Today I was handed a bag with some preemie quilts for the guild’s ongoing donation project. 

Do you recognize this pattern?  These were made from last year’s Guild Mystery.  Don’t they look great!  Thanks, Grace!

 

 

February’s UFO (#10) is done

 

 

 

This month’s UFO was #10 – which made it a simple task for me.  This little NOEL wall-hanging was a teaching sample from 2009.   I took it to retreat with me and managed to sew some batting scraps together for it, back it with muslin, and get the quilting done.  When I got back home it just needed binding and a hanging sleeve.  So now it is done done!   And I’m actually ahead of the game for Christmas, for a change!