2012 UFO Challenge - September Update

At the start of this year, there were 4 UFOs on my list.  The Purple and Yellow quilt was finished last month, so that leaves just 3 on my list.  I've spent the last two months working on the project from Moose on the Porch's 2012 Layer Cake Quilt Along project.  At the beginning of September it looked like this:

 The last border was sewn on about 11:30 last night.  So it's officially a finished flimsy.

Blocks from Moose on the Porch's
Layer Cake Quilt Along

The layer cake wasn't the easiest to work with.  I think the border helps a lot, but this isn't one of my favorite projects.  I'll use the left over 10" squares and border fabrics to piece a back at some point.  I didn't expect to get this project completed, I'm very happy to get it to the point of being a finished top.  My plan is to practice my quilting skills on this project.  I'm not ready to do that right now, so this project has reached a good stopping point. 

For now, I'm going to move on to October's UFO.  Number 6 on my list is Scrappy Stars.  At the end of January it looked like this: 

 

Pattern is Folk Art Christmas Stars

by Robyn Pandolph

Hopefully, I can make a lot of headway on this project in the next month.  Even if it doesn't get finished, any progress would be great. 

I'm linking up Judy of Patchwork Times who is, as always, the gracious hostess of the 2012 UFO Challenge.

Design Wall Monday - September 10th

It was a quiet weekend, not much going on.  We attended the 100th year anniversary service for Drama Teen's school on Sunday.  Between the service and the following reception, that took up most of Sunday morning.  But that left Sunday afternoon for sewing. 
 Amethyst, block 2, of the Grandmother's Choice BOW was finished.  Sewing with templates is something I haven't done much of.  I may need to start marking the stitching lines at the corners because I'm not quite getting those right.  But the Amethyst block came out OK as long as I apply the galloping horse rule. 

Grandmother's Choice
Barbara Brackman BOW

 

Most of the machine time this weekend was spent on UFO #11, the Layer Cake Quilt Along project from 2010.

 

 

Layer Cake Quilt Along
By Moose on the Porch

 

I finished framing all the blocks and started assembling the blocks into rows.  I'm not in love with this quilt, I'm hoping the borders will help tie all the disparte blocks together.  The layer cake included both colorways of this line, but the two colorways don't mingle well to my mind.  But I'll finish it and probably use it to practice doing my own quilting, something that's been on the to do list for several years, but I've not actually done yet.  In a number of ways, this quilt has been a good learning experience. 

 

That's it for the design wall. I'm linking up with Patchwork Times as usual and hope to have some time this evening to check out all the eye candy posted there.   









2012 UFO Challenge - August Update

Is it really the last day of August?  That just doesn't seem possible.  There was a lot going on this month, I switched positions at work, we took vacation, and Drama Teen started school.  Consequently it feels like not much got done in the sewing room this month.  I'm still working on The Sofa Quilt.  The flying geese for the "B" block are eating my lunch.  However, the Purple and Yellow Quilt (renamed to And Kiss Me Jack) did get finished this month.

Pattern by Judy Turner and Margaret Rolf

From the Book "Successful Scrap Quilts"

This one was a quilt on my 2012 UFO list, though not the one I was supposed to be working on this month.  But hey, it's now off the list, which leaves just 3 UFOs. 

Project #7 on my list was the Layer Cake Quilt Along project from 2010.  I didn't pull it out to work on till last weekend.  Even so, I did make some progress.  The plan was to sash the blocks with black as that looked OK in EQ. 

But what looks good in EQ doesn't always work when you put the actual fabrics next to each other.  The border fabric looks like it has a black background, but it's really a very dark brown.  So the black fabric didn't look really great with it, even though it did work with many of the blocks.  So I went looking for something else and finally realized that teal would work with the border fabric. 

Going with teal meant changing some of the framing strips on the blocks, but that could be managed.  So after 2 nights spent on making a decision on the sashing fabric, I did finally start cutting and sewing the framing strips on the blocks.  I managed to get 3 of the 12 blocks framed. 

Blocks from Moose on the Porch's

Layer Cake Quilt Along

The strips are cut to frame 3 more of the blocks.  Not a lot of progress this month, but it should go much faster now that all the fabric choices have been finalized and I actually have a plan.  Not great progress, but at least there was progress. 

Check out Patchwork Times to see more disappearing UFOs. 

2012 UFO Challenge - June Progress

I wasn't going to post anything for the UFO challenge because I haven't finished anything, but then I realized there had not been a UFO challenge post on my progress since the end of January.  Now that we are at the halfway mark for 2012, an update is probaby a good idea. 

Even though I've not finished any of my UFOs as yet, progress has been made on 3 of the 4 UFO's  included in this year's challenge. (UFO list is here)  Of those 3 quilts, the Purple and Yellow Quilt just needs binding.  That's scheduled for next weekend.  Scrappy Stars hasn't been touched since January.  There has been some progress on the RWB Quilt.  When I pulled that project out of the box back in May, there was only 1 block completed. 

Another 4 blocks have been completed since then.

These stars are time consuming, so they go pretty slowly.  The layout I have in mind will need another 8 star blocks, so there is still quite a bit to do.  But progress has been made, which is what I wanted.  Finishes would be nice, but 2 of the 4 UFOs on the list started with almost nothing.  I doubt I finish this project by the end of July, but even if I don't, any additional work makes it that much closer to being a finished quilt. 

Check out all the other UFO progress posted over at Patchwork Times. 

2012 UFO Challenge - January Progress

My 2012 UFO list contains only 4 quilts.  That's all that's left after 3 years of very focused effort on UFO completions. Most of what is left on the list is going to take a fair amount of effort.  I joined Patchwork Times' 2012 UFO Challenge with the sure knowledge that it would take me longer than 1 month to finish each quilt.  My goal was to make significant progress on each project and hopefully finish each by the end of the year, or at least get close. 

For January Judy picked quilt #5, which is the Scrappy Stars project started back in 2003.  I started January with this.

And ended January with this:

I ended up changing out some of the background fabrics for simple tone on tones because the backgrounds with the red prints on them tended to muddy the design when viewed in EQ.  Three new prints  for the stars were also added.  Even though it doesn't look like a lot of progress, I'm pretty happy with how it went.  But for now, this project will go back in the box and I'll move on to February's project. 

Today Judy drew #1, which is the Purple and Yellow scrap quilt.

It needs borders and backing before it can be sent out for quilting.  This one might get finished enough to be quilted by the end of the month, but I don't think it will get completed.  We'll see.   

Since I don't have a completed UFO I'm not linking up with Judy's progress reports. But you can click here if you want to see what did get crossed off UFO lists this month. 

2012 UFO Challenge - Quilt List

Judy of Patchwork Times is again sponsoring a UFO challenge.  I didn't play along last year,  but decided that it would be fun to try my hand at the challenge this year.  I only have 4 UFOs.  However, I also have a day job and Kiddo is playing multiple sports this spring, so it's not likely that I'd be able to finish any of the UFOs in a single month.  Each project has been assigned 3 numbers and I'll switch between the 4 based on what number Judy pulls each month.  If they all get done by the end of the year that would be fabulous. 

Here's my list:

1,2,3:  Purple/Yellow Scrap Quilt - From 2006

Needs borders and the backing made before it can be shipped off for quilting. 

4,5,6:  Scrappy Stars - From 2003

Only 4 blocks completed.  This is supposed to be a queen sized quilt.  I have no idea how many more blocks I need to make. 

7,8,9:  Moose on the Porch Layer Cake Quilt Along - From 2010

All the blocks are completed and the setting has been designed.  Just need to cut and assemble the sashing, the borders, make a back and it can go off for quilting. 

10,11,12 RWB (Red, White and Blue) Stars - from 2005

This started as a technique class at the local quilt shop.  I intended to make a quilt, but didn't get past the first block.

So that's my UFO list for 2012.  Even if they don't all get done, any progress at all would be a plus.