Wow, can’t believe it has been over a year since I posted something! I’ve been busy sewing and doing projects, but just haven’t had the time to take pictures and put together the posts. I plan to start posting a bit in 2016.
I signed up for a UFO challenge at my local quilt shop and I hope to complete ten UFOs by March 31! I think I have a good chance of getting 8 completely done, and two will just have some progress made. Will post a list of the projects in the next few days so you can can see what I’ve been up to this past year.
So far so good, I’ve been able to quilt at least 20 minutes a day in Feb. It’s only day 4, but I feel very optimistic about being able to do this. I am going out of town for a few days in Feb, and am already planning what project I can take with me. It will probably be one of my embroidery or wool appliqué WIPs.
If you recall, my first quilt was a red and white Irish Chain quilt with a blue border. I removed the blue border since it didn’t really add anything and I think it looks much better as just a red and white quilt.
Finished Irish Chain!
Meandering Stitches did the quilting for me. I stitched on the binding this weekend. I think it looks great!
I also finished cutting out all the sashing for a Halloween Quilt I started last September. Now that everything is cut out, it shouldn’t take too long to put together. Here’s a teaser of what it looks like.
The goal is to quilt for at least 20 minutes a day in the month of February. I am pleased to announce I will be joining her and her merry band in this commitment and hereby post my official statement:
I, Heather Chandler, who is drowning in UFOs am joining Quilting Hottie Haven’s second annual DaGMT event, and pledge to quilt for 20 minutes every day of the month of February, 2013. In doing so I hope to clear out my sewing room so I can start another round of unfinished projects. I also want to thank Beth Helfter (THE Quilting Hottie) for coming up with this brilliant concept and inspiring me to join.
I’ve already put together a list of what I hope to finish. It is very ambitious, but if I complete at least four things on this list, I will consider it a HUGE success. I will tyr to post regular progress reports each week. In no particular order, the projects are:
Only 128 more days until Christmas! Normally at this time of the year, I am thinking about Halloween and working on fall projects, but let’s take a quick detour to Christmas today. I have a whole stack of UFOs sitting near my work table, and I am slowly working through them. Today I finished up some wool Christmas ornaments that I started 2 years ago!
Wool Ornaments
This is the “Trimmings” pattern from Wooden Spool Designs (ppst – the pattern is on sale at her website). It’s a great way to use up wool scraps. They also make lovely gift tags and teacher gifts.
First off, here’s my monthly stash reduction report for February 2012:
Used the last month: 4 yards
Used Year to Date: 5 yards
Added in the last Month: 2 yards
Added Year to Date: 32 yards
Net Used for 2012: +28 yards
As you can see, I had a much better month then January, since I actually used more fabric than I bought. My overall net went down by 1 yard, so surely by the end of the year my net fabric used will be running in the negative (that’s the goal).
Wool Rabbit Throw Pillow
I also had time to finally finish two pillow kits that I’ve had for at least 4 years! The first is a cute little wool bunny – perfect for Spring. This kit is from a LQS (local quilt shop), and I think the owner of the shop drew the bunny pattern. This is wool applique on top of one of those colorful cotton dishtowels. The trim is a cream colored fringe that sets off the pillow perfectly.
Fourth of July Pillow
The second pillow is from a Crabapple Hill pattern (I think it was a freebie pattern she offered a long time ago). It is stitched with Red, White, and Blue perle cotton. I love the fireworks!
What projects have you been able to complete this month? What are you working on for Spring?
My goal is to finish one UFO a month – so here is the one for February – the Patriotic Table Runner! I machine quilted this myself on my Bernina with the BSR. This was one of my first attempts and I can tell that I need a lot of practice with my free motion quilting.
Patriotic Table Runner
I’m also not entirely sure I am using the BSR correctly – I swear my stitches looked much neater when I tried this out in the store. I was able to write my name and everything! However, like anything, this is something that requires a lot of practice in order to do correctly. I don’t see myself doing a lot of my own quilting though, as my favorite part is making the quilt top! For something like table runners or simple quilting, I can handle it.
It’s only natural to take inventory of all your UFOs at the first of the year. You want to have an idea of how far you are behind – right? The interesting thing about UFOs, is that at the time they were started, they were the most exciting project ever and I couldn’t wait to finish them. Now, they just sit there, unfinished, like an albatross around my neck (perhaps that’s a bit dramatic). Here’s the stack of UFOs that are currently taking up space in my closet:
UFOs
As you can see, there are quite a few of them. By the way, my definition of a UFO is a project that actually had work done – fabric was cut, sewing was done, etc. This doesn’t count all the kits or all the projects that supplies I bought supplies for (that actually takes up two cabinets). This year, I am determined to either complete my UFOs or give them to someone else to complete and enjoy.
Fourth of July Table Runner
This is a table runner that is *almost* finished. It has been quilted halfway, just needs some binding (my machine broke when I was quilting it the first time so I put it aside).
Sweetheart Vine Table Runner
The Sweetheart Table Runner is my first attempt at applique. All the applique pieces are complete and basted down, I just need to sew around them, add a border, and then quilt it (it sounds so easy when I describe it).
Three Cheers for Red, White, Blue
This is a very small embroidery project I started 2 years ago. It is halfway finished. It probably would only take 3 hours to finish it up, add a border and make it into a small pillow. This is something that can be carried around in my purse and stitched on when I am waiting for something.
In order to keep myself honest, I am going to list them all on the blog and will provide monthly updates on the progress. Hopefully, by the end of the year, I won’t have any UFOs (or at least it will be a new batch).
Keep it Thimble 