UFO Shot Down!! Wagon Wheels West 2 is finished at long, long last. :D

I can't believe this quilt is finally finished. Complete with label!

78" x 98"

It is a twin of one I made for my father, except that this one has the Hobbs Tuscany Wool for batting.

They are an execution of Charlotte O'Leary's "Wagon Wheels" in the same fabrics she used. They were both started late in 2008 after a serious Internet search for the fabrics from shops around the country. The line was already 2 or 3 years old at that time, so it was a little tough to find everything.

I made the quilts as a family heirloom tribute to a straight line-up on our family tree of remarkable people who made the Western pioner trek across the United States in wagon trains and handcart companies. The reproduction fabrics cover the range of those migrations, from 1846 to the 1890s. The flag fabric is easy to pin-point, as the US flag had 30 stars from 1848-1851.

Patty Butcher, my fantabulous local longarmer back in Niceville, did all the quilting except the names that I wanted to add myself in the triple inner borders. She was a real trooper, working with my covered wagon and handcart motifs that I wanted in the center of each wheel block.

To put in the names, I found a font I like, blew it up humongous, and traced them straight off my laptop onto Golden Threads paper. . .

. . . which I pinned around the border and free-motion quilted right through. Worked like a charm!

The names on mine are a bit different from the ones on my dad's, reflecting the branches from my mother's side.  All 16 of my great-great grandparents!

Every one of them made that journey.

Margaret Nebraska Imlay was even born en route on the plains of Nebraska. Can you imagine??? At least it was June, and not January!  I actually have 17 names on mine, because Margaret's mother, born Anna Eliza Coward, was no coward. That's for certain.

As I noted on the label: Here’s to the faith, the grit, the sheer determination these men and women proved themselves with as they went west to find their Zion.

P.S. - Linda made me remember part of these quilts' story, so I'm pasting in my reply:

 You know - I saw the quilt online and instantly got that idea for the names. Once I worked up the broken wheel blocks, though, I *hated* the project!  lol  They were not my colors or style and just made me feel bleh to work with. So they went boxed away for a year or so. Then I felt guilty, pulled them out, cut the sashing, and laid them all out on the floor. And magic happened, you know? They just looked so great together. I'm really glad I set them to marinate for a while rather than giving them away!

~*~*~*~*~

Thanks to these great hosts for superb inspirational link-ups! You should check these places out for more cool projects folks have finished. :D

* Link A Finish Friday at Richard's * *

.

WIP - 19 Dec '12 - Time for a switch :)

I'm super antsy for the last stitches to be in on this label, because then I get to strike a UFO off the list and make a blessed project switch -FINALLY- at one of my stations.  :D  Yes!

Coming to the stitching station tonight:

Pulling UFO Hawaiian Etude back into active work. 

This is my first hand-quilting piece. 

I've made progress already in shortening my stitches. 

You can see that here in the difference between the stitches on the fuchsia batik and the the cream stitches outlining the inner motif. I've gone from 5/inch to 8/inch. (We do count only the top stitches, right?)

Koko zeroed in on this 15" mini pretty fast when I trespassed on his sun patch to get some shots.

At the FMQ station:

Finished the grass! 

Now to do the loopy "flight lines" around the flower heads, then I can do the quilting for the bias print and that's all. On track for having this UFO quilted by New Year's.  That is happiness.


At the piecing station:

Fences all made!!!!!  

Just need to attach the top and bottom and put the last border on this UFO. I'm just not certain whether I'll leave it as is, or if I want to applique something in the plain green corners you see on the pattern pic. 

I think their emptiness bothers me, and since I've made other tweaks, shouldn't I do something here, too? I'm thinking of appliqueing this motif in those squares with some of my medium and light-tone pink scraps from the blocks.

Thank you to Lee and this week's host for facilitating this motivational link-up!

WIP Wed. - 5 Dec 2012 - roses and bugs and cold fingers

Last week's WIP is finished, so the focus has shifted. 

Top billing is currently at the quilting station, where "Marissa's Moment" is back on line. This is twin-sized, with scalloped edges. The pinwheel field in the center is all quilted, as is the outer border and some stabilizing along the stems and leaves of the flower field. 

Right now I'm quilting in the bugs.  (The wrinkles you see are because the quilt's bunched up to catch some light.)   We have butterflies. . .

dragonflies. . . 

and bumble-buzzes.

Next, I'll do the lacework around the heart flowers.

Up on the main level of the house, I'm cutting pieces for the assembly of my "Wild Rose Cottage" BOM. I'll very likely do some piecing every now and then for a break from the intensity of FMQ work.

And when we're watching our post-dinner shows, I'm stitching the binding for "Wagon Wheels West - 2," after which I have the last little bit of very special quilting to fill in.

But I need to get me some of those fingerless gloves! My hands just get so chilled at night.

Thank you to Lee and this week's host for facilitating this motivational link-up! * I'm also linking to Nina's

*
And . . . Every one of these is a UFO pulled back onto the WIP line this week, so I'm linking up at Leah's

UFO Sunday

Label's On!! Wagon Wheels West is **Finished**

Wagon Wheels West is out of the wash, labeled, and off the UFO list!!

Wow, how good it feels to finish this - three years in the making.  It's a special quilt, going to Dad.

I like substantial labels that tell the quilt's story as well as its "demographics," and after my local quilt guild's last meeting, I don't think my labels will ever be the same. Just had to make a wagon silhouette to top this heirloom off!

The story of this one is that it's a family heirloom tribute to a straight line-up on our family tree of remarkable people who made the Western trek across the United States in wagon trains and handcart companies. The reproduction fabrics cover the range of those migrations, from 1846 to the 1890s. The flag fabric is easy to pin-point, as the US flag had 30 stars from 1848-1851. 

The top is an execution of Charlotte O'Leary's "Wagon Wheels" in the same fabrics she used. (Queen size at 78 x 98) 

Many shopping hours were spent online back in 2008 to track them down from shops all over the country!  

Finished the top in November

Those corners gave me fits. My OCD demanded perfectly matched stripes in the mitering, but the border's stripe interval didn't fit the math of both sides. So. . . I actually fussy-cut the floral stripe, mitered that onto the ends, then turned under the allowance I'd left and hand-stitched them onto the first tan portion of the other side. I was a lot happier with a skinnier tan part than with a mismatched corner miter. I oh-so-carefully centered the stripes, so all 4 corners match.  

The quilting was a bit problematic. I had very specific themes in mind, but the rich colors and busy pattern of the scrappy Broken Wagon Wheel blocks and sashing didn't lend themselves well to displaying fancy quilting. I decided I wanted to keep the motifs and let it be a fun Hide-and-Seek quilt that gives delightful secrets up to those who take the time to look closely. Patty (my local long-armer) did a fantastic job putting my covered wagon and handcart designs into wagon wheel motifs on all the blocks. As I mentioned earlier in the week, I then free-motion quilted family names into the triple inner border with my table-top. The result is, admittedly, mighty subtle, but it's a lot of fun to look closely and find the components. 

The lucky ones had a wagon and stock to pull it.

But many of them had to settle for handcarts. Can you *imagine* walking more than 1000 miles while pulling one of these over rough roads, open prairie, gullies, deserts, rivers without bridges, and mountains?

In hindsight, I would have used a heavier thread for the names. But those who know what they are will find them.  :)

Can't believe it's finally, completely finished!!

Not to worry, though - I'll get to play with the whole idea a bit more later on, as the top has a twin!

P.S. Somebody left me a really nice Anonymous comment on my last WIP post. I can't reply like I would like to do, so I want to tell you "Thank you" here both for the compliment and for following my little blog.

WIP Wednesday #4 for me

Back to routine after 2 weeks off. Feels boring and good at the same time. Spring breaks are all over, and Scott's back to full-time days at work. We're feeling pretty thankful for the blessing of returned health. The neurologist labeled his stroke as a Reparable something something, and Scott's already had full recovery of his arm sensation. Just waiting for the official medical board review for the Air Force to close the chapter as far as "job security" goes. The fact that they've put him back to work full time at the clinic means they're not going to let him go. I think that's a good thing. ;D



Quilting mile marker for this week: I did my first free-form free-motion quilting on this charity wheelchair quilt. Ummm. . .  I took pictures ONLY so I could laugh at them later on when I have gained this skill. Let me say I have a whole new respect for the work of folks such as Leah Day! Bobbin tension was fine except for one tiny area, that's where there good news ends. Back-tracing was usually nasty by my standards; stitch size was  all over the place. Design execution failed - the eyes of the peacock feathers were supposed to be 2 or 3 times bigger than they turned out. I'll get better!

Charity quilt #2 is pinned and ready to go as my next guinea pig. These are lap quilts for wheelchair-bound folks, with the bottom corners lopped off so they don't get caught in the wheels.  Both quilts need binding this coming week.

Actually, Devon pinned this, not me. Wanted to do some community service.  :D  

Finished binding Dad's Wagonwheels West and ready to stitch the names into the border. Just need to make more table space between the machine and the wall.


I really like these Pinmoors! Purchased one bag (yes, they are very expensive) and cut them in half like someone mentioned doing several months ago. Work like a charm - More bags of these would make EXCELLENT gifts on special days ::hint-hint::


And, of course, primary focus has been on my coursework, which currently prioritizes this critical review.






Other active projects for the next few days:
BOM for quilt guild tomorrow
Week 13 discussion and Rakove Critical Review
Stitching Devon's owl bodies and prepping the wings and belly hearts.
Tail work on Marissa's Moment
Catch up Valor Bee blocks
Lori's Butterflies


This week's stats:
New Projects - None (Good Girl!!)
Completed Projects This Week - 0
In Active Progress - 3 (Dad's Wagon Wheels; Charity Quilt 1; Charity Quilt 2)
UFO Firing Range - 33 (not counting untouched kits!)
Finishes for 2011 - 4

Completed tops awaiting quilting:
Two charity wheelchair quilts
Katie Loves Christopher
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
Wagon Wheels West #2
Poor Forgotten Orphan from 15 years ago
Devon's Silk Spinners

Really? We have to snuggle now??

Almost always, Koko's snuggliness is the coolest thing in the world. Every once in a while, though, his insistence is a bit inconvenient. . .   You should have seen him determinedly ignoring the movement of my wrist under his little head.

 - - Finished Dad's binding. Now for the name-quilting!

WIP Wednesday #3

Wednesday already??  wow! The top WIP this week is Dad's Wagon Wheels West heritage quilt. Marco guards it for me when I'm not actively stitching the binding. Aren't cats and quilts perfect for each other?

I do have a wee bit of quilting left to do on this. Patty long-armed most everything (which I'll share when this is finished), but I'm going to free-motion family names into one of the borders around all the edges after the binding is stitched down. Have plans for a really fun label, too.  The guest's quilt show at our last local guild meeting really inspired me to dress up my labels. I need to get her name from the coordinator so I can send her a little thank you note! :D

Marissa's Moment has moved along this week (I've already shared that), as well as the applique block that lives in my purse.

This week's stats:
New Projects - None (Good Girl!!)
Completed Projects This Week - 0
In Progress - 4 (Dad's Wagon Wheels; Marissa's Moment; What a Hoot, Devon; Lori's Butterflies)
UFO Firing Range - 33 (not counting untouched kits!)
Finishes for 2011 - 4

Completed tops awaiting quilting:
Three charity wheelchair quilts
Katie Loves Christopher
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
Wagon Wheels West #2
Poor Forgotten Orphan from 15 years ago
Devon's Silk Spinners