Spring Cleaning UFOs

    I wonder why we quilters tend to always have UFOs.  I certainly have my share.  Spring is the time for cleaning so I am cleaning up some UFOs or at least making progress on them.  I finished piecing an adult top for guild comfort quilts. Instead of using the kit as is, I just had to play and add a few wonky ( aka Maverick ) stars. The dark ones show up better in this setting. 

     I made 2 more HSTs and added a column on the second part of the Scrappy Duo quilts.  I added a breaker and outer border. You can find more about the pattern in this past post.  Now this top will go on the stack to be quilted.   

    Last November my guild enjoyed a lecture and watercolor workshop by Debbie Clarke of Stitchin Therapy.  I find her work inspiring and have been reminded that I need more practice with value. The small watercolor from her workshop is ready for quilting.  It is not perfect; however, “a finished quilt is better than a perfect one.” 

     My church group had some fun playing with watercolor squares as an introduction.  I added sashing hoping that it would give the impression of lattice.  This one still needs borders but making progress. 

Hoping you enjoy some spring cleaning of your sewing space and make progress on your UFOs.

Comfort Quilt Finish

     

     The quilting is finished and the binding on this big block quilt.

  I turned it in today at my church group sew day.  For many, many years I have enjoyed watching “Sewing with Nancy” on my local educational TV channel.  Big block quilt designs by Debbie Bowles were featured in 2 episodes which you can watch online at sew-big-quilt-blocks-part-2  .

    I practiced several new FM motifs in the quilting. In the purple areas I tried swirl-like pebbles.  If I am going to do pebbles, I need a LOT more practice.   

     I also enjoyed a quick trip to deliver Easter outfits for granddaughters. They were exited to try on something new made by their grandma, even with wet hair from swimming.

Enjoy a few minutes sewing or quilting.

Time for Some Quilting

     The weather here is sooo beautiful I could not help but spend a few hours working in the yard to prepare for spring.  After a little rest after, I was ready to do some free-motion quilting on a church comfort quilt.  Because of the beautiful large scale print, I simply meandered in the large blocks using a gold thread.   I hope you can see the flower swirl motif quilted in the green squares.

Here is a sketch of what it is like.  

Next I quilted loops in the cream sections. 

I am still deciding what motif to quilt in the purple areas.  That will wait for tomorrow.  

Hope you enjoy some time sewing/quilting.

Variety of Sewing Projects

    I have been saving my small scraps of fabric ( too small for made-fabric or crumbs) and scraps of batting to stuff pet beds.  Several friends also save theirs for me.  This past weekend I spent several hours cutting them up smaller for stuffing.  It is more difficult to work with long strings.  I did so much cutting I formed a blister.  The result was 3 finished pet beds for donation and one more almost done. 

The style with the ridge around does take more time but I know many dogs and cats love to rest their head on or curl up against something.  I found the idea at http://shelterbeds.blogspot.com/  even though I did not follow it exactly.

Here is another link with a tutorial.

http://www.lovebugstudios.com/blog/2012/04/17/how-to-make-a-dog-bed-for-an-animal-shelter/

    I also made one Easter dress and matching pink shrugs for granddaughters. 

The beautiful warm days are also calling me to work in the yard so I am not sure what I will accomplish today.

Enjoy a few minutes sewing /quilting!

Beginners and Day Bee Show and Tell

    Last night I enjoyed teaching the JoAnn Fabrics beginning quilting class for 2 terrific students.  They finished one Ohio Star block and components for the second.

I look forward to seeing their quilts in the future.

    This morning we had a great gathering hosted by Bonney. I love the show and tell.  It does not have to be quilting but here are a couple of quilts shared.  Mary showed her second monkey baby quilt.  This time she made it a little longer than the pattern.  I love the rainbow of fabrics.

Sixteen members of Day Bee participated in a block swap of pinwheels.  Sue made a few more to complete her design and showed her finished quilt.  Lovely!

I’m getting ready to spend the afternoon working on an Easter dress. 

Enjoy some time sewing and quilting. 

Not Much Sewing Going On

      Instead of sewing and quilting, I have spent some time with granddaughters.  Then I took time to paint a room and add a light fixture to a ceiling fan.  Now I will have great light for cutting and sewing.

    This coming week will be a busy week quilting events.  Monday evening I will be teaching another beginner quilt class for JoAnn Fabrics. Tuesday will be Day Bee meeting and we are collecting puppy blocks and monochromatic string blocks for comfort quilts so I made a puppy block ( I don’t know where the pattern came from but it is cute) and 2 orange string blocks.   

Wednesday will be my church quilt group.  After that, I hope to get some quilting of my own done.

Hope you find some time to enjoy sewing / quilting.