APQ 2016 December UFO

I can hardly believe the APQ 2016 UFO Challenge has come to an end.  I am pretty pleased that I did as well as I did with completing 10 of 12 projects.  The twelve projects spanned everything from table runners to large quilts all in various stages of completion.  My September project was coming along nicely until my sewing machine died.  Taking the time to get the problem diagnosed and a solution created used up the majority of my quilting time.  I needed to put this one down and step away from the sewing room!  This is on my list for early 2017.  It may be late, but at least it will be finished, and finished well. 

My December project was probably the one that took the most time and labor, neither of which I had in a month where holidays required shopping, baking, decorating and attending family gatherings. 

This project was started during my "I love Civil War fabrics" period of the late 1990s.  My husband has always been intrigued by the Civil War period and reads anything he can find on this period in history, including this book.  The pattern I used was one of nine presented in Barbara Brackman's book "Quilts from the Civil War".  In addition to containing nine patterns for quilts made during this timeframe, it was also a wonderful resource describing the textiles of the period as well as why certain fabrics were used and how they were used.  The book also contains many pictures of quilts made and stories and excerpt from diaries, newspapers, magazines and letters. 

The pattern for the nine patch quilt presented in the book would have made a quilt finishing at 44.5" x 66.5" but I decided to add an additional column to make it a bit wider. 

Many of my other UFO projects were started during a class.  This one was one I chose to make since I was really enjoying the range of fabrics available for this period and, as a new-ish quilter, I was confident I could handle a quilt of 9 patch blocks and sashing.  The 9 patches were made by cutting individual 2.5" squares.  In today's world there are techniques that use strips and the "sew then cut" method.  I got a very small taste of what the women experienced when they made their blocks in the 1860s. 

As you may have guessed, this UFO remains a UFO.  Time was just not on my side for this one.  I did get 10 blocks completed and the 342 squares for the other 38 blocks are cut and assembled in sets ready to sew.  The fabrics for my sashing, backing and binding are prewashed and pressed.  So I have every confidence that this one will be finished and ready for quilting by the end of the first quarter of the new year.  I think this will make a fine twin size quilt for my guest room.  This room is most used by our 11 year old grandson when he visits and is very appropriate for him.  He, like his Grandfather, is also entranced by the history of the Civil War.   

So, it's time to come up with some projects for the new year!  Stay tuned.......

APQ 2016 November UFO

Eleven down, one to go! This is my November UFO challenge project. It was started in February 2000 as a class project.  This is probably one of my more "vintage" unfinished objects!  I had only been quilting for a short time then. I think I have improved quite a bit since then. I like having a reminder! This was made with Civil War fabrics for my DH. He thinks it's perfect! I truly love that man!

I think it was just the luck of the draw that the two UFOs left for 2016 were the ones that required the most time and labor during the months that have the most events and/or holidays!  In addition to trying to complete this challenge, I had a two week vacation, a birthday, an anniversary, Thanksgiving, Christmas and all the activities associated with them!  But I think working on these projects grounded me during that very hectic time.  

Lots of HSTs to cut and sew!  I don't make them this way anymore thanks to all the tutorials on the MSQC website.  I did do  a lot of chain piecing though! 

The top is completed and the backing is cut to size.  When the weather warms up, I will spray baste the sandwich in our garage so I have good ventilation and then machine quilt this puppy. 

This will make a nice couch quilt in our New Jersey dwelling! 

APQ 2016 October UFO

UFO project #10 is another oldie but goodie.  This APQ challenge involves 12 UFO projects listed on a form that was submitted to APQ last December.  The projects were listed from 1 to 12.  Every first of the month starting with January 2016, APQ pulled a number out of a hat (that's just how I imagine they did it but chances are the use a random number generator - not as magical) and published the number on their site.  I have my own preferences for the choice each month, because, of course, I know what it will take to complete each one and depending on my free time and scheduling, I know the level of difficulty each project will present.  I did a happy dance when number 10 was chosen for this month's UFO. 

The project used "Not Your Grandmother's Tumbling Blocks" pattern by Marcia L. Baker.  This is a strip-pieced method of making tumbling blocks.  I love this block but the thought of making the block with Y seams was overwhelming at the stage of quilting I was in then. I loved the pattern booklet, it was very well done and easy to follow, even for a beginner. 

This project gave me a bit of a break, and I thank the quilting gods for that!  This is again a project for a class I took at Bittersweet Designs in Washington Crossing PA.  This was a wonderful shop and I started my quilting journey there.  I took a sampler quilt class and thought I had gotten in way over my head but I had good friends who got me through the tough beginning.  My completed sampler quilt is often used on my bed.  Unfortunately, this shop closed several years after this class.  I have many fond memories of this place! 

But I took this class to learn the tumbling blocks pattern but from strip sets and not from sewing Y seams.  I thought I had jumped from the frying pan into the fire!  But I did finish the two sessions of the class, but not the project!   I still have the original class instructions and I was flabbergasted to see that the dates of my class were 9/11 and 10/2 -of 1999!  1999!  So, after 17 years, this one is finally done and in use! 

These pictures show how it looked in early October.  It was in fairly good shape and really just needed a row or two more, batting, quilting and binding.  I was surprised I stored it in a place I could find it easily!  And looking at it 17 years later, I was pleasantly surprised at how nicely my seams matched!  I can only imagine how long I took to get those points to match! 

So, here is the finished product.  It was machine quilted and the binding was hand sewn down, both by me.  Since I used Christmas fabrics, (I have no idea why other than the class was given in September - did I tell you it was 1999?), I must have had thought I could finish it for Christmas.  As I think of it now, I actually AM finishing it for Christmas, just not the one I had in mind! 

The original plan was to make a wall hanging.  As you can see, it ended up as a table runner and fits perfectly on my foyer table.  It just made sense to reduce the size to something that I would get more use out of compared to a wall hanging. 

So, onto the project for November.  This one is a larger lap quilt in Civil War fabrics using the monkey wrench block.  Another oldie, ready to be completed! 

APQ 2016 September UFO - Almost

We are nearing the end of this challenge and I have actually surprised myself with how much I accomplished.  These UFO projects were not the only projects I was working on each month. 

This month's challenge was to complete a BOM (block of the month) that I started in 2015.  I have a separate area on this blog to describe this project.  This was a mystery quilt of sorts.  One block was assigned per month.  I managed to get 4 of the blocks completed during the month it was assigned.  Then Murphy's Law set in and I became a bit overwhelmed with all my irons in the fire and the diminished time I had to work on them. 

At the time of the UFO challenge, I had four more 12.5" blocks to complete as well as fifty-one 6.6" blocks and 50 border blocks that were comprised of 2-HST and two 2.5" squares per block.  I decided to work on the border blocks first.  Lots of cutting, making HST construction, then joining those with 2.5" blocks to make the border units. 

Now, all of the fabrics have already been chosen and assigned a number which needed to match the numbers assigned to each block.  I like this method, it gets me out of my comfort level! 

So, I started cutting 200 squares and sewing them into 50 block units.  I had just finished the 22 inner border blocks and was started to work on the 28 outer border blocks when my world stopped spinning - my workhorse of a sewing machine, my Pfaff 7570 just stopped working. 

No warning signs, it just went kaput!  Now I do have to confess that I have another machine, a Bernina 350PE.  Ok, and a Featherweight.  Oh, alright I also have a Singer Futura and another Singer handed down to me from my sweet mother-in-law.  Both of those are in cabinets.  But, I have been using my Pfaff for over 20 years and just wanted her back!  I looked online for all the information I could find on what could possibly have gone wrong.  I check my online groups as well.  Then I finally decided I needed to get her into my Pfaff expert for a proper diagnosis. 

I was truly worried! 

The news wasn't good.  Parts for older Pfaffs are not easy to come by, and they are expensive.  My sweet husband was going to pick up the $450 tab to replace the LCD screen, but I was so surprised when the repair tech said he would not recommend going forward with the repair.  He said there was no way of knowing what else could be wrong since he needed the LCD to be working to finish the diagnostics.  Given the age of the machine, it was not a good financial decision to replace the LCD screen.  So, I said goodbye to my Pfaff.  Her working space is now occupied by my Bernina and she has been a dream to use.

On a positive note, I need to tell you about my new favorite tool - Block_Loc!  It was a miracle worker for the little HST blocks that needed to be made for the border units.  Here is the squaring up in progress and all the scraps I created. The rulers come in a variety of sizes.  I have (and love, love, love) the 6.5", 4.5" and 2.5" rulers. 


However, with all the time spent on getting Pfaff back up and running, there was no more time to finish the September project.  But, it WILL get done early next year, hopefully in the first quarter.  I did make progress, so I decided that I would consider this an interrupted project and not an unfinished one! 

And life goes on......

The project for October is a tumbling blocks project in Christmas fabrics.  Perfect timing!