Making Progress on UFO

     I just finished adding the final border on the blue and yellow BOM UFO from 2004.  I shopped my stash and found a perfect blue tone on tone print for that border instead of the solid blue.  I’m loving this quilt top.

Sorry I don’t have a space large enough for a better photo since the top measures 73” by 92”.  Next I need to find a backing.  I will check my stash first but don’t think I have anything suitable.     

                       

    Wednesday my church quilt group met.  Instead of sewing we spent the day pressing and sorting donated fabric again.  I helped a new member sandwich a quilt, and I pulled batting scraps and fabric for the back of the “Star Gazing” quilt.    I also pulled fat quarters to make another more scrappy “Star Gazing” quilt.  You can find more information about the quilt pattern here.    

Saturday I washed and pressed another load of donated fabric.  I pieced backing and sewed together the batting scraps so it is ready to be sandwiched. 

Enjoy some time sewing or quilting!

Star Gazing Quilt Top

      I just finished piecing a “Star Gazing” lap size ( 48” x 64”)  quilt top.  The pattern is by Britney Walsh of Soft Day Quilts.  You can get the lap size pattern free on Craftsy or other sizes for $1.00. 

      It was very fast and fairly easy.  A standard 24” rotary ruler is not long enough to draw the diagonal lines for this size block so you need a yardstick.  I was also a little uncomfortable cutting the pieces after sewing the diagonals because there are no exact measures for that.  You only use the cross hairs of your stitching and line up with the edges. 

They came out okay.   I wanted to try this technique in which you make 8 HSTs at once.  You can find the directions on the Craftsy blog here.   

I next plan to make this pattern using scrappy fat quarters. 

Enjoy some time each day sewing or quilting!

One of Those Days

     I recently had one of those days when several things just did not go right.  I planned to add a wide border to a top of made-fabric blocks.  I was inspired by a quilt by Victoria Findlay Wolfe in her book 15 Minutes of Play – Improvisational Quilts. I measured and had fabric to cut the borders lengthwise without piecing.  It sat for a few days until I decided to add them.  Wouldn’t you know, I did not think about my plan and cut strips crosswise. Once I cut one I had to continue and seam pieces together. The top is done even though it does not look as neat as I had planned.  It is a full size bed version of my green made-fabric lap quilt.

     I finished quilting the large block comfort quilt for my church.

 I quilted in a large simple meander but it was a struggle because of thread breaks and tension problems at the end.  I changed the needle a couple of times and I am still not sure what the problem is so the next quilt top will wait until it is solved.

Enjoy some time sewing and quilting!

Odds and Ends

     I feel like I have not accomplished much this week.  I did pull some orphan blocks ( the black and pale green nine patches and designed a small quilt to use them.  I challenged myself to piece the alternate block with Y seams. 

Here is the top.  It is on the pile to be quilted. 

      Wednesday my church quilt group met.  We worked most of the day organizing donated fabric.  I brought home 2 more loads to be washed.

    Today we celebrate the life of one of our members.  Her daughter met with us and donated much of her mother’s stash. We will miss Beverley’s friendship and contribution to our group.

Enjoy some time sewing and  quilting!

Work in Progress

   Soon after I retired from teaching public school, I got involved in my first quilt group at my local Hancock Fabric Store with the BOM.  After I finished my first BOM quilt in 2004, they had BOM kits on sale from 2003.  I bought one but it sat until recently.  I finally pulled it out and pieced the 12 blocks.

They sat a little longer until I saw a charity quilt on Jo’sCountry Junction blog. Instead of finishing it like the pattern suggests, it gave me the idea to set the blocks on-point.  I shopped in my stash and found the perfect green print and blue and yellow strip.  The 12 blocks are now together with sashing.  In the bottom corner you may see pieces I am thinking about using for borders. I have fabric for a solid blue border; however, I may look for something different.  So far I really like how it is progressing and it is very different than the original plan from Hancock.

Enjoy time sewing and quilting!