UFOs

Every year around New Years, I make my UFO list (UnFinished Objects … or Quilts).  I try to keep track of all my quilt starts and when they are finished.  Last year, I had 47 UFOs on Jan 1.  This year I will have 38!  I’m pleased that the number is down … although, much higher than I’d like it to be. Only 10 of the quilts just need quilting and binding.

There is much discussion on the web as to what defines a UFO.  I find it easiest to consider each quilt that is in progress on January 1 as an UFO.

In 2016, I started 30 quilts!  Wow!  I find that hard to believe. And of those 30 quilts, I finished 22 of them!  All of them have been gifted or will be in the near future.

Here’s my plan to tackle my UFOs:  Every Monday, I quilt with a lovely bunch of ladies.  I have a personal “rule” that I only work on UFOs.  I threw that rule out this year as my priorities changed and I was working on the quilts made with Grandma’s fabrics.  However, January 2 is the beginning of a new year and I’ll go back to my own personal rule.

I have prioritized which ones I want to work on.

• On Monday, which is for piecing, I will work on # 15 and #38
• During the rest of the week, I’ll work on quilting #37 (the final quilt using Grandma’s fabrics)

Linky Party

Then on Tuesday, I will start a Linky Party and you can join in the fun.  I will be posting pictures of what I’ve worked on and you can do the same.  If you have a blog – you enter the URL of the blog post and fill in all the rest of the blanks.  If you don’t have a blog, you can use a flicker page or a Pinterest page that contains a photo of your work.

Mystery Quilt

Well, I have caught up on my clues for Bonnie Hunter’s Mystery Quilt!  Yeah!!! Yes, I’ve gotten all of the blocks for Part 1 to 5 completed!   I’ve been doing the yearly mysteries since 2009 and this is the first time I’ve ever gotten caught up.  Clue 6 came out this morning & i’ll get started on it later today!

Linking to:
Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Crazy Mom Quilts
Busy Hands Quilts

Happy Quilting and Happy New Year! 

Gail

With being away, Christmas decorating, cooking and both kids here, I’ve done very little sewing. However, I did manage to make a few blocks for Part 4 and Part 5 (on the right side of the cutting mat) of Bonnie Hunter’s En Provence mystery. Also shown are some of Part 1, 2 & 3 … none of the clues are completed!

To see what others in the quilty world are working on wander over to these blogs:

• Patchwork Times
• Love, Laugh, Quilt
• Quilting is More Fun than Housework
• En Provence – Quiltville

Happy Quilting!

Gail

A week or so ago, I was working on a Christmas gift and just gave you a glimpse of the back.  I did get it finished before I flew to Ontario … it has been gifted, my aunt loves it! and so now, I can show you a picture:

I had 2 different panels which I purchased in Pennsylvania in the spring.  There was the one of the bird houses (top left) and one of the birds (bottom right).  Each bird house or bird was an individual rectangle, and when sewn together, the tree in the background joined together nicely.  The top right & bottom left window panes are an alternating mixture of birdhouses & birds.  I like how: although they are similar, each of the 4 window panes are slightly different.  Of course, the border was quilted in feathers!

This was the first time I have made an attic window.  I debated about doing mitered corners or doing half-square triangles.  A friend said that it would look way better with the mitered corners.  I knew she was right.  I took my time and each one turned out perfectly!

Linking to:
Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Crazy Mom Quilts
Busy Hands Quilts

Happy Quilting!

Gail

I have been travelling in Ontario for the last week and haven’t been able to post anything on the blog. But, I’m home now and able to spend a bit of time catching up. And hopefully get a bit of sewing done!

I did have an awesome time in Ontario, visiting family … it was really great!

Here are the projects that I was working on before I left and hope to continue to work on soon!

Grandma’s Fabrics #13

is being quilted … with 120 white blocks and each block having a different motif, it’s taking a while to get this done.

En Provence – A Bonnie Hunter Mystery

This is the start of Clue #3 of the Bonnie Hunter mystery, “En Provence”.  I have 20 of the dark blue/light blue 4-patches done, 30 more pairs to sew and more to cut and sew …

And, since I was away, I haven’t started on Clue #4 … maybe soon!

To see what others have done for the En Provence Mystery, go to this Quiltville post.

Happy Quilting

Gail

Currently, I’m working on 3 things at once.

First:  Quilt #13 is now a top. It needs to be quilted and bound

.

Second:  The Bonnie Hunter Mystery (En Provence):  Step 1 in about 2/3 done and Step 2 is about 2/3 cut out, with none sewn.  I’ve been asked what colours I’m using.  I will be using dark and light blues in place of Bonnie’s purples and the dark red shown in the picture below.  My neutrals are neutrals and I will probably choose a darker green than Bonnie’s yellowy green.

Third: I’ve been quilting a Christmas gift … this is a part of the back

To see what others in the quilty world are working on wander over to these blogs:

• Patchwork Times
• Love, Laugh, Quilt
• Quilting is More Fun than Housework
• En Provence – Quiltville

Happy Quilting!

Gail

Early this year, I taught a group how to “Make it Scrappy and Faster”. This included using the “Easy Angle” ruler and to do “Leader’s and Enders” mug-rug project.   Leader’s and Enders is a phrase coined by Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville.com . I had been doing a version of this before I ever heard of the Internet and blogging: I called it 2 at a time.  It’s basically an assembly line method of working on 2 quilts, or 2 different portions of the quilt, at the same time.  People often ask how I get so many quilts done and I believe these 2 techniques are the answer.

Here are photos of the participants quilts.

Dawn, Heidi, Linda and Isabelle put their quilts together in the traditional “Jewel Box” setting.

Matt, Barb, Dawn and Laurel  put them together in a different arrangement.  Matt made his larger with the design off-centre.  I find it exciting when people take what you give them and make it their own!  And yes, Dawn made both the blue one above and the pink one below.  Others have told me that they’ve made more, but I haven’t seen any pictures.

Linking to:
Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Crazy Mom Quilts
Busy Hands Quilts

Happy Quilting,

Gail

My cousin told me that pictures of my quilts were not visible on my blog.  I went searching and realized that I had deleted them.  So, I’ve gone back and have replaced all but one of them. I’ll have to find it later.

Thanks, Terry, for letting me know!