Oldest UFO finished!

This is the oldest quilt I have started and not finished!  

Well to be more accurate part of it is!

I started making the EPP rosestar blocks way back in March 2012, using the EPP tutorial by Clare aka selfsewn.   I made about fourteen and Lucy made one for me too!

Then I decided I could not make a whole quilt of them!  I just don't enjoy EPP enough and then there would be the boring bits inbetween too. It just wasn't going to happen.

So I started combining them with these blocks.    These are two of my favourites ...

When I added them to the background fabric I spaced them out more and added these - which I took from Jen Kingwell's Georgetown on my mind pattern.

And ended up with this huge top!  

It seems to have stayed at this stage for a long while.   I couldn't decide how to quilt it!

But now I am quilting in the ditch for the blocks and doing random FMQ in the background!

It is a huge and heavy quilt for me to quilt on my domestic machine so thank goodness for that Horn table I got last year!  It makes such a difference having my machine set in!

I have been doing a little bit of quilting everday for over a week now and I'm pleased to say....

....it is finished!  

I should have tidied up a bit!

and a panoramic slice across the quilt - playing with the things my camera can do...

Sigh!  I'm really quite pleased with this!  Not quite sure what to call it - working title was Vintage Circles - anybody think of something better?

I'll be linking this up to FAL2016 when the time comes!  

This one is on my FAL2016 list here

Weekend Activity!

I watched eldest daughter ride on my favourite horse Jack - she is beginning to like him!   She still prefers the mare she used to ride and knows quite well but I think he is starting to win her over!  Well done Jack!

  

I watched youngest daughter roller skating...she has been practicing during the Easter hols and wants to continue building her confidence and skill!  Good for her I say!

No my activity was of the sewing kind!  As usual here!

I picked up two projects that I started with Carolyn Forster one from way back and the other is a project from last year!

The UFO is a basketweave design the sashing gives you the feeling of woven strips going under and over each other  - well they are supposed to though I think my prints are possibly too close in value to really get that effect - hey I started this one some while ago!

The squares surrounded by the sashing are all pale creams - you know quiet colours because I was going to fill them up with glorious hand quilting and I did make a start on that...

From the front

From the back

Yup - I haven't even finished one block!


So in an effort to move things along a bit I started some machine quilting in the sashing and chose a motif from the printed fabric - an oak leaf!

Oak leaf from the front

 I used some variegated green Aurifil 40 thread and am pleased with the effect from the front anyway.  I have put this quilt together in the 'Quilt as you go method' so it is in four sections that easily fit under the machine and I will later sew the sections together and then quilt over the joins.

Just one little hiccough - have you ever done this?   Woops!

It pays to clear your sewing table  before you start machine quilting - am tempted to leave it in as a reminder...or is that an excuse for someone who doesn't like unpicking?



I will machine stitch all the sashing and around the four patch panel but the question is...... do I unpick all that handstitching in the one panel and do just machining to get this quilt finished or do I continue with the handstitching?  


Or should I change to cotton perle big stitching in those panels adding a bit of brighter colour to a subtle or dull ( depending on your point of view) quilt!?  


C'mon girls I could do with some advise here!  Personally I am leaning towards the cotton perle!

My other project was to make progress with my spools blocks

I diligently completed 19  last year 


And I have started 13 more this weekend

I think I can push this one along a bit!  For me this was a new colour palette to work with and predominantly solids - just one little print on the thread bit of the spool!  I think I need about 81 to make a quilt - still some way to go then.

Finish-along - bring it on - Round 2!

Rhonda is challenging us to sign up and deliver a list of projects - which have to have been started, you know UFOs - for the second quarter of the Finish-along!  


I have a lot of UFOs and need all the help I can get and so I signed up to deliver four in the last quarter and do you know what?   I actually got them done!


I have high hopes for this next quarter - April to end of June!


So what am I going to tackle I hear you ask...?


First up I desperately want to finish this quilt - 


The Fruity Polo quilt....

I got ready for the FAL by hand sewing lots of centres on the hexagons but am wanting to add a wide border all round this quilt and was waiting on an order of Kona cerise to do that.  


It has now arrived  - yipee!  I may add a further border but will wait to see how it looks.  Then I am thinking of coloured strips of Kona solids for the backing!   And some machine quilting round the hexagons....simple enough!




Second I want to finish this top Friendship's Garden - my oldest UFO dating back to 2005!  Two borders to applique on by hand and the top is done!  Then if I have time, layering and basting this biggy would be good - ready for a bit of handquilting in the next quarter!  I want this one finished in time for hubby and my silver wedding anniversary on 5th September this year!

Not sure if this qualifies as finished but if not this quarter then most definitely next!




Third I need to get this quilt completed The Jelly Roll Sampler - another one from a Carolyn Forster workshop....

This is made from thirties repro fabric and I had fun looking out lots of HST variants but I have only scratched the surface!

Those alternate plain squares are crying out for some quilting and I was thinking of this pattern...

Not sure whether that will be by hand or by machine...?  


I even have the backing fabric (I just need to sew it together) and the binding fabric ...but I hate basting quilts which is why this is still a top!






Fourthly this little baby quilt panel in dark colours has been hanging around forever and needs to be done and sent on its way - wherever that may be!


Noah and his animals...dated or what??  

I got four things done last time and I hope that I really can complete these three quilts and one quilt top.  Is that enough?  


It could be, but we can only count quilts/projects on our list and with no penalty for uncompleted projects I feel I should just get all my UFOs out there in the open...so here are a few more


My Strip plaid quilt top


This one was inspired by Juliekquilts.  If you do not know her and her lovely scrappy, often stringy quilts then I think it is about time you did!  She is also super quick at putting her quilts together...unlike me!

I need to add a border on but I seem to have thought of rather a complicated one which has put me off somewhat but the top should be done and soon.  Though what I will do on the back - I have no idea yet!   Suggestions are welcome....




The Churn Dash 9 Patch - again inspired by JulieKQuilts - oversized blocks in solids and using the red repro fabrics leftover from the Jelly Roll Sampler.  


I want to make a granny square top as the other side to this one in the other thirties fabrics I have left - not sure if that makes it a new start or a finishing off? 

Fright Nite - the top was completed in Quarter 1 and I have an idea for the back - I just have to get on with it!  Again - new start or finishing off?

And finally the Basket Weave quilt - another Carolyn Forster workshop!  

This is one panel of four I think!  Now I started this an age ago but decided to quilt this heavily by hand as-you-go and only got as far as this one square, which if you look closely isn't even finished.... 

Was I mad or what?  I think that crosshatching is about a quarter of an inch square!   I am tempted to take it out and start again only choose a quicker quilting pattern or machine quilt it!   What do you think!?  Would probably make a good FMQ sampler...?






Now when I say these are all my UFOs - they are all the 'more or less half done ones' .  I have a few more at the block stage but I shall parade them another day....enough already I hear you scream!


I doubt I will finish eight projects this quarter as I am doing a few other things too but I flag them up so you can nag me, and remind me, and stop me from starting too many new things!   Well you can try...

My March in Fabric!

This was March - the month of mad hares, a bit of sunshine and a hope that I might get closer to my goal of NO MORE UFOs!  One UFO finished in the top left corner and two more showing progress - middle and bottom right....that cannot be bad!  

I have to thank the lovely Rhonda and her Finish-along! for that progress!  

Thank you Rhonda! Thank you Rhonda!  Thank you, thank you Rhonda!

The one in the middle wasn't on my list for the first quarter but I was thinking of including it in my next list and have just moved it closer to the finishing line in anticipation.  

You can all join in for the next quarter - April to June - the link up post will be at Rhonda's on 7th April.   Go check it out!

I finished my other two quilts in previous months so that was a great result for me.

My other pics are of bee blocks, my blog birthday giveaway, a reversible bag I finished up from fabric cut out and given away by the lovely Cindy!   And my new project Rose Star blocks directed by the lovely Clare @ Selfsewn though she has now started another project - tjah I just cannot keep up!

Linking up to Lynne and her Fresh Sewing Day!  Check out what everyone else has been up to and I'll no doubt see you there!

I'm Fixing a Hole where the Rain get's in....

And stops my mind from wandering....where it will goooooooo! Where it will gooooo!  (Beatles Sgt Pepper - for you youngsters!)

I was going to put this quilt top on my next Finish-along-with-Rhonda list to encourage me to put circles on every round hole which was the next step to finishing this UFO.  I am happy to say that having started all my hand sewing with it's sister quilt - the little back number - I just got on with it and filled in those holes, all done now already see:

The pattern is the same as my little black number but looks quite different I think!  It is called Kaleidoscope Hexagon and was designed by Carolyn Forster -  but this one I started calling my Polo Fruity Quilt as it reminded me of the bright colours of Polo Fruits.


I was then on the hunt for a border fabric and having tested out several bright solid colours and with a bit of help in narrowing it down from Saffy and the girls - we decided on Kona Cerise !  I only have a half metre of this so have ordered 2 more metres in the hope that I can make nice wide borders of yumminess to hold all that colour.

Can't wait for that order to arrive!  


I know I could prevaricate for Britain but it didn't really take that long to get this step done and I have been putting it off for ages.  Why?




I think that with the help of a few deadlines (thanks so much Rhonda!) and a bit more determination to finish, I may get most of my UFOs done.....




Unless I keep starting new things again!  My wishlist of projects I want to start up is getting longer and longer....can I hold off?


Stained Pink - still haven't decided on the fabric....
Swoon  - in Echo
Retro Flowers - maybe in Liberty, maybe not...
Granny Squares - probably in 30s repro
Carnival - possibly in Liberty and Oakshott cotton 
Hopscotch - do not know what to make this one in!




I think I may need professional help!  I am a serial patchworker - is that such a crime?

The little black number....

I have been quiet for a little while....the reason being I wanted to finish my fourth Finish-along project (to see my list please follow here!) and still had quite a lot of work to do.

But then the sun came out....the flowers came out....and I started working in the garden in the sunshine....not digging, stitching!

There wasn't too much hand quilting left to do or rather I couldn't do too much handquilting because of this....argh!

But there was still the border to quilt and no time to get new thread I thought so I finished the border with some machine stitching and do you know what I like the extra definition of the machine stitching.  I don't usually mix the two!

I thought this quilt had an Art Deco look because of the colours, well I think the machine stitching adds to that...and here's the big picture

And here's the back - it's actually a polycotton but don't tell those quilt police and I might get away with it.  The handquilting looks a bit like flowers which is nice.   The stitching isn't perfect - but it is done!

I tried a variation on the usual rounded or square corner - yes this was deliberate!  Not sure if it works but I was trying to add to that Art Deco feel!

So now I can feel like I have met the challenge!  Four Finish-along projects completed in this quarter - but oh so many more UFOs to do....!

Both Saffy and I are exhausted!

Better get ready for the next quarter then!


PS Linking up with Rhonda!