Finish #3 for 2011 :)

Here it is, the third finish of the year:

LeMoyne Blues

Not sure what's going to come out of the dryer. . . the white fabric looked like it was trying to be funky when I pulled it out of the washer. We'll see!

Addendum, Thursday March 10:

Well, that white fabric got whipped back into line by the dryer - enough to make me happy again, anyway.  :)  It's a weird fabric that stretches unpredictably. Been in my stash for quite a while. I was worried when I saw it hanging all baggy-saggy from the more open areas (moderately quilted, no huge spaces!) - especially since this fabric is used in a queen-size quilt that is going to my favorite long-arm gal, Patty, when my turn comes back around. It'll just need closer quilting done on those parts to keep it looking really sharp.

Lookin' Good!  

And it's a BEAUTIFUL follow-on day after a nasty tornado/thunderstorm day with the wildest thunder and scariest-looking radar line I may have ever seen.  :D

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

One of Life's Bumps

Thought we could all use a smile - Isn't this rose beautiful? One of the few red roses I've encoutered that actually smells pretty, too.  Too bad there's not a scratch-n-sniff widget!

I've been eagerly anticipating our guild's quilt retreat that starts tomorrow - all signed up for three terrific classes, have my totes of supplies ready to go and everything! (Boy, was I good about using stash pieces!)  But now I won't get to go to at least the first day. It's OK. The reason I have to suddenly drive to a meeting 8 hours away is an important one. Family business. Well, Life does tend to pop up and slap our best-laid plans around - but those are the important moments, aren't they? 

I finally got more batteries, so I can share my UFO BOMs that I barely managed to slip into the February check-off list. I love these two projects.  :)

From Wild Rose Cottage:

I just LOVE LOVE LOVE this block. The colors are so much prettier in real life - yellow and green are vibrant, rose is less saturated, white is crisp.



(This was done in January, before I got my blog organized.)



From Selvages:

I just love this quilt, too. :D

This was the fourth month of work on the project. Previous blocks:

From June 2010 ~~>

<~~ From July 2010 - Hey! check out that fun swirl in the on-point block - looks like a cowlick on a forehead!  lol

 





From Oct. 2010 ~~>



<~~ And these are the alt blocks. I've put together 4 so far.

Not doing bad at all this year on moving UFOs along around my studies. Those studies really annoy me sometimes, getting in the way of quilting!!!

Why I can't sew very much at all these days:

For some strange reason I thought it was a good idea to pursue my old goal of doing a Master's in History.  ::sigh::  I just want to be a quilter when I grow up, so why am I doing this?  Oh yeah - future job options.  well, ok - I suppose   ;D

This semester will bring me half way through my pre-thesis courses. What will I do for my thesis?  I have no clue!!  Better figure that out soon and line up some faculty advisors. . .


In the meantime, take another smell of this gorgeous rose and then go make your day productive!!