June UFOs

I was busy during June finishing lots of UFOs.  Most of them were smaller projects left hanging around my sewing room for years.  You already saw On the Line on June 23rd's post.  Here are several other projects I finished last month.  It feels great to have them done and my gift chest is replenished.  I just love giving a hand made present to someone special.

From the Smarty Pants pattern; cute baby gift; I've made 6 sets

Tiara pillow #1; those are lots of French knots with metallic thread, not fun!

Tiara #2

Sweet jacket but the little girl is too big for it now!

Jacket pattern, really fun and easy, just time consuming.

Thanksgiving coasters

Christmas card baskets, lots of tutorials if you Google it.  They are tedious to make, my yarn is messy!

On The Line

This is a great little pattern I bought at a fabulous shop in South Jordan, Utah at Material Girls.  It's a fun little embroidery project that I've taken my time completing.  I planned to give these to my mom and sister a couple of years ago for Christmas.  Well, I just walked my sister's over to her and said a very late or very early "Merry Christmas".  It just depends on how you look at it.  Anyway, here's my finished projects.

I just love them and think they are so sweet to hang in the laundry room.  It's funny, my sister was just putting another load in the washing machine when I delivered this to her!

March UFO

I shared this pattern for the Happy Jacket many months ago.  I finally finished mine -- just in time for 70-80 degree weather!  Not the best timing for a finished UFO I must say.  But anyway, here it is.

I really do like it.  My friend, Rachel and I had fun with these.  They were a lot more work than expected.  I'm ready for next winter here with mine.  Just have to add my fancy button closure in front.

March UFO

This is from the same pattern used in my February UFO.  I love the pink and brown together.  Here's a closer look at the blocks and prairie points.

Again, the only thing I bought was the background.  I really think the brown check is fun and adds more dimension than a tone on tone in cream or white.  This is also up for donation when the time is right -- although one of my daughters has her eye on it!

February UFO

I keep up with these monthly UFO completions because there's a prize at the end of October from my local quilt guild!  It is a fabulous motivator for me.  This is February's UFO, complete now.  It was started several years ago, made completely from scraps.  The pattern is Bloomin' Steps from ScrapTherapy.  The only thing I bought was the background fabric, the backing is pieced from my stash.  I just love the Prairie Points binding. It wasn't very difficult and adds a fun dimension to the quilt.

Here's a little closer look at the binding.

This will go in my extensive quilt stash with the intention of donating it to the next blanket drive I hear about.  I hope it will keep a someone warm on a cold night.

Happy New Year 2012!

Happy New Year!

 I resolve to keep my neglected blog updated twice a week.  It seems we have been so busy this fall with many home projects which included new paint, cabinets, countertops, furniture, lighting, accessories, etc.  It's almost finished!  It's been lots of fun and the house is looking spectacular.  It really needed updating after 15 years.  I will devote some posts to the new look eventually.  Some finish work (like backsplash, ceiling patches, pictures) needs to get done before the rooms are really photo ready.

This is my first official finish of 2012.  It's Bloomin' Steps from the Scrap Therapy line of patterns.  I just love this quilt, especially the border.  My husband, Don, is already in love with this and can't wait to use it to keep him warm while watching TV in the family room.  We have a leather sectional so a quilt really helps during the winter == although it was 63 here today.

I have spent some time today on my resolutions and have a good plan in place for a new me in 2012.  I'll share throughout the year.

August UFO

I am staying on track with finishing one UFO a month.  Well, this one is really fabulous.  Of course, I am somewhat biased!  But really, it's the pattern that is fabulous.  This is called Mandala.  The pattern was published in an Australian quilt magazine many years ago. 

This is a variation of the traditional Drunkards Path. It was making 700+ of the same curved pieces, the arc and center.  Then you follow the picture for light and dark placement.  I started it in a class.  We all traded small floral strip sets.  The idea was fabulous.  I just love this quilt and could make another one.  It is big, 91" X 91" and took some time to finish.

Here's a closer look at the block and a snapshot of the sweet rosebud fabric I used for the back.  And don't forget your quilt label!

July UFO

Well, I am happy to say my July UFO is finished a little earlier this month.  I am working on a couple of new projects that I had to put down for many hours to get this done.  I bought the table runner pattern a couple of summers ago in Kansas City but dragged my feet to the finish line.  The instructions were difficult to follow and I had this up on my design wall for a few weeks before I could figure out the last couple of steps. 

I really think it's lovely and the colors are perfect in the room.  Here's a close up of the hexagons.

I have lots of pieces and parts leftover and I'm off to make some coasters now.

June UFO

I am staying on track to finish a UFO each month.  This month I am coming in just under the wire with my UFO.  The good thing is I finished many new projects, that's a lot of fun and the UFO pile doesn't grow.  Here is the Bullseye quilt I started a couple of years ago.  I had a grand vision for the machine quilting, got it half done and realized it looked terrible.  So I spent some time in front of the TV picking out the stitching.  Then I started over with a simple diagonal pattern.  I learned in a couple of machine quilting classes that your quilting should compliment the quilt pattern. So if there are curves, use straight lines for quilting and vice versa.  I highly recommend this pattern for fun, scraps and easy sewing. 

May UFO's

I've been busy this month finishing small projects.  I already showed you several of the embroidery projects.  I also finished a small embroidery tote -- the embroidery and sewing parts!  Here is the pattern picture. 

I just LOVE Rosalie Quinlan and have a few more of her patterns to get started.  She is from Australia and is very popular here right now.  Here is my rendition.

The Back

The Front

The absolutely, positively fabulous lining.  I just LOVE this fabric to pieces.  I found it while in Salt Lake at the always wonderful quilt shop, Quilts, Etc.  It's so vintage, just my style.  I'm still working on the needle case and should be able to show it off soon!  I can't wait to get a project prepped to put in my new bag.

April UFO

Well, I am keeping my promise and finishing at least one UFO a month.  I may get to the end of this 3 year list by December.  That would be sweet!

This quilt was started a couple of years ago in my fabulous sewing group.  It was a project one month.  We all bought our background fabrics and traded scraps -- one of my favorite ways of making a scrap quilt!  I surveyed my quilt collection and decided most of the quilts had beige or white backgrounds.  So I got out of my box for this one.

I think the black background is stunning!  This is an idea to be used again, for sure.

Below is a close up of the quilt.

And here is my label and a glimpse of the funky black and white print backing.

Now it's time to figure out which UFO gets finished in May!

March UFO

It's me again!  I'm so proud of this finished UFO.  I posted a little about this project last year.  The quilt is Sylvia's Bridal Quilt from the Elm Creek Quilter's series.  We made this in my quilt club.  I showed a few completed blocks.  My goal was to complete all 140 blocks in the book but I ran out of dark fabrics.  I could not get the fabric anywhere and had to be content with 120 blocks.  Here's my quilt!

This is a big quilt!  It's hard to capture all of it in one picture.  Here are some sections of this fabulous piece.

I think this will be our summer bed quilt.  I love these on our bed.  It's fun to study each block and remember what it was like to make it.  Now, some of these were big challenges and took 2-3 hours to make.

February UFO

I continue on my quest to finish a UFO each month.

This quilt was started at my group's annual Lake Tahoe sew in -- or we sometimes call it a sweat shop!  We traded our scraps to make this 91" X 91" quilt -- I think it is pretty cool looking.

 That's my tiny label in the corner.  I helped my group make a little Lake Tahoe patch for their quilt -- but alas, where is mine?  Who knows!  My good friend Loretta gave me a special friendship panel to add to mine and it is back there.

This quilt will be used to keep us warm in the family room when we sit around, relax and watch TV in the evenings.

November UFO finish

My November UFO finish is sqeaking in under the wire.  With two trips this month my sewing time has been limited.  Yesterday was our group's sew day and we made this adorable (and very functional) Abbey Bag.

The bag was made from the scraps I used to make two tote bags during the past year.  This is meant to sit next to your sewing machine.  The flower is a pin cushion and then there's a bag to catch thread, scraps etc. with a sweet pocket tucked inside.

Above is the flower, below is the outside of the bag.

I'm very happy with this project.  Some of the directions were tricky but with a group effort we figured it all out.  My friends made their own coordinating covered buttons for theirs and it looked fabulous.  The pattern can be found at www.Abbeylanequilts.com.  It's #113.  I know it's been popular this year and many local quilt shops have taught this as a class.

October Finished UFO

My pace is picking up to get these 19 UFO projects finished.  This quilt pattern was called Tic Tac Toe and I think it's cute.  I used scraps for the background and blocks, bought the sashing and border fabrics.  It's been hanging out for about a year waiting to be quilted.  I finished the binding last night, had to wash it to get the marking lines out.  It's a little puffy and it seems something went wrong.  This will definitely be a charity quilt.  It makes me happy to think it will keep someone warm at night -- someone that doesn't have a nice warm blanket.

This really was an easy quilt to sew together.  Might have to make another one -- I certainly have enough scraps!  Here's a better picture of a block:

Happy sewing to you.

September UFO

My quilt guild has a 12-4-12 program for finishing up those UFO's we all have stashed around the house.  This is my second year of participating.  You sign up, send a picture and description of your finished UFO during 12 of 12 months.  If you keep up, you get a $25 gift certificate to the quilt shop of your choice.  It has been a fabulous motivator for me.  Some months I'm just barely making it but I've kept on top of it and won my gift certificate.  It's a great treat and helps by another backing or binding fabric.

This month's finish was a French Roses quilt.  It's made entirely from scraps leftover from a kit for the Charming Log Cabin quilt.  I also made a French Rose Buds quilt from the same scraps. 

My plan was to donate the quilt to charity.  But my daughter saw it and fell in love with it.  So it will be added to her stash.  I'm building a stash of scrap quilts for both of my girls.

Here's a close up of one of the lovely roses.

I did the machine quilting myself.  I have to practice, practice, practice.  It is a challenge for me but I know I will only improve.

These patterns are both fabulous.  Heather French is the designer.  They've been very popular at quilt shops everywhere the past few years.

Another Tote Bag

Tote bags It's fun to have them filled with some of your favorite things and works in progress to take on the road.  I used to sit for hours at the dance studio working on a hand applique project, cross stitch, embroidery, letters, cards, etc. while our daughters danced.  Now I use them for traveling.   

This is actually a finished UFO.  I bought the pattern and fabrics last summer.  The pattern is "On the Road Again, Part I" by Reets' Rags to Stitches.  It's described as a 22" X 17" Quilted Travel Bag with Lots of Pockets.  

The sewing fabric is by Alexander Henry.  Many of his fabulous fabrics have made their way into my many projects and quilts over the years.  Here's a picture of some of the inside pockets:

Can't wait to fill this up with another cool project to take "on the road"!

Baby UFO

I'm really trying to get some of these projects done on my UFO list.  There are so many to finish I'm overwhelmed at times.  And I'm doing a bad job of keeping up with my Sylvia's Bridal quilt blocks.  My plan is to prioritize these UFO's and spend some time on my monthly club blocks.  And of course, take a deep breath!

I just finished the binding on this sweet scrap baby quilt.

I just love this scrappy look, turned out being a baby girl's quilt. I am practicing my machine quilting and did a decent job.  This will go to a charity and some lucky little baby girl.

Snow Angel

I just finished another UFO, this was supposed to be done for last Christmas!

I bought this kit at a shop in Iowa last year when we were visiting my in-laws.  It's about 28 X 28".  I did the hand embroidery, machine piecing and machine quilting.  Here's a closer look at the Snow Angel.

I think she is so sweet and will probably be a fun gift for someone special this year.

Finished another UFO

This was such a simple, fun project I put off for so long.  It's a funky yoga mat bag.  It's a free pattern you can print from Amy Butler's website.  She is one of my very favorite fabric and pattern designers.  The fabric is hers too.

I have my (actually my daughter's) lavender mat tucked inside, all ready for yoga tomorrow night!  I just realized the picture is sideways and I can't fix it in this program!  But you get the idea.