Double Header Day!

I have been striving to complete my UFOs over the last several months.  So far I have been making good progress.  I have now just finished two small wall hangings that have been in my UFO pile for quite a while now, years in fact.  All they needed were bindings.  It took a while but I finally attached the binding.  Once the binding was attached, it was a long time until I found time to do the hand sewing part of the binding.  They just never seemed to rise to the top of the pile.  Until now. 

My strategy has been to work on the low hanging fruit first.  There was no overwhelming need to have them done.  They were not gifts, they were not needed for a holiday decoration.  But, in the scheme of things, they required very little time to complete so it made sense to finish these first.

These are the two completed wall hangings.  The blocks are the same and in the same arrangement in each one, but they are done in a positive-negative setting. 

 

This picture shows the back of the wall hangings.  The quilting was done by Karen Thompson.  She used the leaf pattern on the backing as an inspiration for the overall quilting.  It works very well! 

 

This is one of the wall hangings finally on the quilt rack on one side of the fireplace!  It is actually hanging very straight, the Hubs is an engineer, so the shelf is perfectly level and centered.  I just didn't take a very straight photo!  The other wall hanging is on the opposite side of the fireplace.  Unfortunately, it hangs behind our flat screen TV so you only get to see the top block and half of the second block but you get the idea.  The quilt racks were purchased at a quilt show sometime in 2009.  They were custom made and stained to match our furniture.  The shelf is the perfect place to display some of my Jim Shore pieces. 

 

 

Next "fruit" to be picked is a small lap quilt that needs to be bound.  The binding strips are cut but need to be sewn together and attached to the lap quilt.  This binding will be all done by machine.  I think I see a pattern here!  After that is completed, there are two small table runners that need to be sandwiched, quilted and bound.  I won't go more than those three projects ahead since you never know when Murphy's Law will rear it's ugly head! 

 

Stay tuned!

 

My Intentional UFO!

I am trying to balance my time between large projects like bed quilts, finishing up several lots of UFOs, and starting a new project.  I think I probably share this problem with many others.  I have joined several quilting groups on Facebook and have started a BOM on one of them.  I have never done a BOM before and so far I am enjoying this one.  All the fabrics have been selected and the January block is complete.  The pattern for the February block has been printed and reviewed and will be done next week when I know I will have some extra free time.  I also participated in a challenge from this group to use up 2.5 squares.  I originally completed one 6x6 square block and thought I was done when I found out that the challenge was to complete at least a baby quilt size from the scraps.  This meant cutting 432 squares from my stash.  I did end up cutting all the squares, assigning them to a block (I have never been able to just pull a block from a bag)  and sewing 6 of the 12 blocks.  I finally realized that this was more than I wanted to do because I had so many other irons in the fire that needed my attention and I had no current need for this particular quilt.  So, the challenge was put aside for now.  It will be finished within a few weeks however. 

So, after much deliberation, I have decided to do a Farmer's Wife sampler quilt.  I was intrigued with this quilt since it is made from 6.5 inch blocks and the pattern has 111 blocks.  Some I have made already, but most I have not attempted.  I like the idea of trying new blocks.  I think this keeps the excitement in the project, especially since this will most likely end up being a queen size quilt.  The blocks are inspired by the letters written by farm wives to respond to a question posted by a newspaper in 1920 which wanted to know if mothers wanted their daughters to marry a farmer.  The letters were reviewed and several winners were chosen.  The cash prizes ranged from $200 to $1. 

The book "The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt" book was authored by Laurie Aaron Hird who was inspired by the letters received.  She then selected 111 blocks which were inspired by the letters.  These include Broken Dishes, Broken Sugar Bowl, Steps to the Alter, Farmer's Puzzle and many more. 

 

Now that I have decided on the project, the next hurdle was to choose the fabrics.  I am on a stash reduction path right now so I wasn't planning on buying new fabric for this project.  But I also wanted to use a coordinated pallet of fabrics.  Then I remembered that I had quite a collection of 1930s fabric fat quarters.  I have 42 FQs of the Storybook Classics collection from Windham Fabrics and 33 other FQs that were collected over the years. 

 

 

I think these will do very nicely! 

 

My next step was to choose the blocks I wanted to make first.  I needed a selection method.  Do I make them in the order they are in the book, by name, by number, by number of pieces?  And the winner is....drum roll please.....by number of colors per block!  I went through the book and selected all the blocks that used two colors regardless of number of pieces.  You can see all the yellow page markers in the photo of the book above. 

I think this will give me a nice variety of starter blocks. 

 

The book contains a CD with all the templates needed to make the blocks.  It's been a while since I used templates so this will be an interesting part of this project.  My next step is to review the CD and determine which templates are needed first.  I may attempt to find some alternate cutting options since 6.5" blocks are pretty common and many of these blocks have been around for a while. 

 

There is no definite schedule for completing this project.  I am hoping to make 2 blocks per week, but this is not carved in stone.  My target month for my first block is March.  We'll see how that goes first but I think that is very possible "God willing and the creek don't rise!"

 

 

 



My next table runner project - or two, or three!

First, let's be clear, I am the first to admit that I have a long list of quilty things to do start and finish but I think these are some good choices to put in the top 10 for this year. 

I really like love table runners!  I find them easy to make, quick to finish and I can quilt them myself which increases my confidence with machine quilting. They can also be made in a variety of widths and lengths. Plus, i can buy fabrics for every holiday!  Now that we have two homes, I have plenty of places to put them.  Many of the quilt shops carry these as kits with the striped fabric already cut and the backing fabric included.  

One of my favorite patterns for table runners uses striped fabrics. These are certainly the easiest projects to do since they are made with only 5 seams!  I have made several of them which can be found by using the label "runner".  

Those table runners were made with the Easy Striped Table Runner pattern designed by Karen Montgomery.  I have fabric to make several more from that pattern.  

The other table runners will be made from the Triangle Frenzy Runner pattern by Bunnie Cleland.  These are new to me.  One is called "Runner" and the other is called "Swirl".  These patterns also have instructions for left-handed cutting which is a big plus!  

In addition to the striped fabric and the pattern, the other required tool is the 60° ruler.  I have two sizes of this ruler, the Creative Grid 8" (CGRT60) and the Creative Grid (CGRT12560) 12".  I used the smaller ruler for the Easy Striped pattern.  The Frenzy pattern calls for the larger ruler.  

These rulers can also be used to make a hexagon table topper.  There are several good ones out there.  The pattern for the Triangle Frenzy indicates they have one available.  I don't have that one - yet - but I do have this one by Sew Biz.  

I know these rulers are a bit expensive so it is nice when you can use them for several purposes.  I bet this one can be altered to make a Christmas tree skirt!  

The fabrics I have on hand to make several of these table runners (or table topper) are suitable for both everyday use and holidays.  I have fabrics for fall, Thanksgiving and Christmas as well as everyday runners.  I will most likely make the Easter table runner first, followed by the birthday runner.  

I also have these fabrics that were recently purchased from The Village Quiltery near our cabin in the Poconos.  They had such a wonderful selection of these striped fabrics.  I also purchased backing fabrics to match.  

It may sound like I have an overabundance of runner fabrics, (they now have their own bin!) but considering that the runners take about an hour to make, I can make several in a day.  They do not require binding, although that is certainly an alternative to the "pillow case" finishing technique that I use.  I finish mine off with decorative top-stitching.  They are perfect to use for any occasion but they also make wonderful gifts!