WIP Wednesday #1 for me

I think I'll join along with Freshly Pieced's WIP Wednesday gang, if they'll have me.  ;D
I have such an amazingly long line of UFO's, I can use every motivational tool to turn those into WIPs and FINISHES!

This one is Marissa's Moment of Freakishness. So named because at 13 years old, she does NOT like sweet pinks and "girly" colors - give her black and neons! For some strange reason that we don't understand, though, the 3 Sisters Aviary charm packs grabbed her heart. Of course we had to buy a couple and some of the yardage, and this is (most of) the design I came up with. I need to put some leaves on those stems this week and then add the diagonal-print yardage around the edges to bring it to twin size. It has a coordinating pillow case, too! The heart yo-yo flower heads are only pinned on until the quilting has been done.

Marissa's Moment is not my only WIP, by far. In January I ransacked every storage space in my home and rounded up every single unfinished quilting project I could find. There were 36. No kidding!!!  Now, to be fair to myself, 3 of those were my children's (but they need my help to do the next stage) and 6 of those were adoptions from my cousin's WIPs when she died last year. But still - 27 of my very own UFO's!!!!

I like having a UFO list, even though most quilters shy away from the acronym and use the more positive WIP.  With "UFO," I get to have a "Firing Range" - and it sounds so fun right next to the BOM list.  (hehe - whatever makes the daunting list more fun!)

I have three more of those UFO's on the active WIP table, alongside a new project from my local guild's retreat last week. I was loathe to add that project because of my personal rule: No new projects until 8 UFOs have been completed. But I had a committment from months ago for the retreat, so there it is.

The new WIP is a tablerunner using 15" LeMoyne Star blocks. The class taught us a quilt-as-you-go technique that I really needed to learn in order to move forward on an old UFO king-size quilt. (So, does it really, REALLY count for being an entirely new project?)  ;D

Here it is after last night's progress. I only need to sew the borders on and bind it. Hopefully I'll be able to finish the borders today around my massive history readings. I've been snapping shots to work up a tutorial when I'm finished.


Dad's Wagon Wheels West Heritage Quilt is almost there! It's on Patty's longarm frame right now. She's putting the covered wagon and handcart motifs inside circles in each of the full blocks for me and I trust her to do something really cool with the sashing. When I get it back, I'll free-motion the family names of his pioneering ancestors on those Golden Threads papers around the edges in that triple inner border. Then I'll send it off to Dad, who's been patiently waiting since Christmas to get this really neat quilt. This should be finished before month's end!!  Three years in the making.

Devon's What a Hoot! Graduation quilt is also on the active table. I got the bodies glued on Monday, ready for satin-stitching in the next few days. 20 of those cute little buggers. I made this quilt last year for her sister, and it's really fun. Perfect for cheering up a blah dorm room! She chose blues and raspberries for her colors. (The owl blocks alternate with 16-patches and are surrounded by a white border with triple "ribbon" borders and Celtic-knot corners.)

The last active WIP is Lori's Irish Butterflies, which has a really fun story involving her kids. You can catch the full story at my blog from last week.  :)







This week's stats:
New projects - 1 (to learn a technique needed for an on-hold quilt)
Completed projects this week - 1 (free-motion quilting station is created!!!)
Actively in progress - 5 (same as last week)
UFO Firing Range - 34 (not counting untouched kits!)
Finishes for 2011 - 2

Completed tops awaiting quilting:
Three charity wheelchair quilts
Katie Loves Christopher
Wagon Wheels West #2
Trip Around the World with Mr. Hernandez (Mr. Hernandez's)
Trip Around the World with Mr. Hernandez (Heather's)
Be Attitudes
We Love Kelly
Sailing with the Flying Needles
Poor Forgotten Orphan from 15 years ago