UFO Update -- Sandstone Stack the Deck

This is one of my really old UFOs, started right after I really began quilting. I'd found the book Stack the Deck! by Karla Alexander at the library and thought the technique looked do-able.

And for some reason, decided to make a sandstone colored quilt with appliqued petroglyphs. It's not the last time I've deliberately matched my quilt colors to rocks, but it's the attempt that makes the least sense.

The colors look a little better in real life. If I'd used a different technique, I think I'd take the blocks apart and remove the dark brown -- but that's not going to work here. I'm stuck with what I've got, wonky blocks that need trimming and miles of loose thread removed.

 

 

 

When I started this project, I thought I'd have to get my petroglyphs from a book.  Then last year we camped at Dinosaur National Monument and saw these guys. See the two big lizards? Directly above the one on the right is a little man.  The boys and I think it looks like the lizards are after him.

 

 

Now that I've found the perfect subject for my applique, I'm a little more motivated to finish the quilt top. To see more design walls, head over to Patchwork Times.

my pink and green quilt

A few years ago, I fell head over heels for the combination of light pink and green and started pulling fabric from my scrap bags and watching for sale fabric.

 

I cut some pieces, just enough of a start to claim this quilt on my UFO list.  There are different types of UFOs -- the ones you've made significant progress on and then abandoned, the ones you've bought a kit or pattern and specific fabric for and given up on, and the ones you haven't exactly started, but really want to be working on so you put them on the list so that you can work on them instead of the real UFOs. At least that's how I classify mine.

That missing book of scrap quilts that I'd found my pattern in turned up again and the blocks aren't pieced like this after all. It also turns out I don't like the quilt in the book as much as I first did. I like the version I've been carrying around in my imagination better -- but now I'm not even sure if I want a pink and green quilt to keep.

sigh

It's not a real problem -- there's another pink quilt that I really, really, really want to make. The fabric can be shifted over to that one. And there's always something to do with the green. If I decide to abandon this project.

I pieced these blocks this afternoon, figuring that if I didn't love them, I could make enough for a baby quilt and call the project done.  The decision would be easier if the cut pieces had been in the box with the rest of of the fabric and I knew how many there were.

Drab Postage Stamp update

This is another of my favorite UFOs. It got its start when I made this lap quilt and this one. I loved the way the fabrics played together and decided to make a big one for myself.

If I'd taken better notes, I might have it done by now, but as it is, I'm not sure what size it was intended to be. Probably sixty inches square, but maybe a little larger. Whatever the size was, I'd cut enough squares to piece the blocks. Then I raided the squares for Jo's Quilt Square Quilt Along and didn't keep track of how many I took. And found some more  fabrics and cut some more squares...and then I cleaned up around my sewing machine and didn't put everything together...

Now I've got two other postage stamp quilts planned, so this one may wait a while longer.

Lego Quilt Update

As soon as I saw the Lego Quilt tutorial, I knew I wanted to make one. This is one of my favorites of the projects I'm working on right now. I love the itty bitty pieces and the way it works with some of the wilder fabrics in my stash.

 

I went through my scraps and used my 1 1/2" strip die to cut all of the wide enough ones into even strips. Then I cut them down into little chunks for the quilt. I've probably got enough bits to finish it, but I want to dig deeper into my stash and see what else I can find.

I'm in no huge hurry to finish. This one is for me, and I'm enjoying the process.

 

the missing baby quilts

I'd finish these two baby quilts in a heartbeat -- if I could find them! Both vanished at the same time, around three years ago. I've turned the sewing room upside down. I've gone through boxes and drawers and there's not a trace of them anywhere.

One of these days, I'm hoping they'll turn up folded in a piece of batting or some other ridiculous place, but for now I suppose they belong in my UFO parade.


I made this one from some orphan blocks out of one of the scrap bags and then couldn't figure out what to put in those blank white squares. Now that the quilt is hiding from me, I've got plenty of ideas.


For this one, I was just playing with some strings from the scrap bags. The perfect backing is still waiting for it (and yes, I did check -- it's not folded up in the backing fabric!)

What's the longest stretch you've misplaced a quilt top for?

Hocuspocusville Update

I guess the biggest suprise here is that one of my completely stitched houses wasn't in the box with everything else. I'm doing a surprisingly good job of not panicking -- it's got to be somewhere safe, right?

 

 

The pattern is Hocuspocusville by Crabapple Hill and I'm stitching it on Mirage from Connecting Threads. (I'm almost sure the color is antique, but don't hold me to that.)  After searching every  quilt shop around, this stuff turned out to be the perfect choice. It's nice and thick and has a great mottled look to it that doesn't overwhelm the stitching.

The houses have been my favorite project to pick up and spend some time with when I just want to snuggle up with a project...at least they were until I got distracted by the sock yarn. I'd almost forgotten I was working on this one until I compared a couple of lists and realized that it was missing. That's okay -- my houses will be here after June first!

 

I'm linking up to Slow Stitching at Kathy's Quilts.

basket quilt update

This one just kind of happened. I was looking through a quilting magazine and liked the pattern and realized that I probably had suitable fabric and just might have the skills to do the piecing...And two afternoons later I had the top all finished except for the applique.  

 

There are supposed to be flowers in the baskets and filling up that white border. The top's been sitting since February 2008, waiting patiently for me to decide what to do about that yawning expanse of white space.

 

 

I really thought about just giving it away, but it has a fun back story. So now I'm thinking of cutting a bunch of flowers with my Rose of Sharon die and doing something in the borders like Jo's Bubbly Quilt. I'd fuse the flowers in place first, because I'd want to be a little choosy about the placement.

 

I do like the basket blocks. If the pattern ever surfaces again, I can see myself making more of them.

 

 

Judy is planning a UFO Parade on April 15, and I'm pulling my UFOs together for my entry.

North Pacific Update

I started this one about the same time I started Leif's Snails, back in 2009. The patterns were both in the September 2006 issue of Quilter's Newsletter. I do still want this quilt, but apparently I didn't want it quite enough to actually sit down and make it.


I kept worrying that the center blocks wouldn't come together in the right size for that wonderful pieced border. Looking at my finished blocks, that fear might have been justified. Now that I've got a die cutter that will cut the triangles, I really should give this one another shot.




Judy is planning a UFO Parade on April 15, and I'm pulling my UFOs together for my entry.

Hobo Quilt update

I get giddy over sampler quilts. Not the kind with a dozen twelve inch blocks -- the kind that represent an insane long term committment. If there's a sampler quilt book, I've either got it or I want it.  Not that I've started any of them yet.

Except for the Hobo Quilt.

This may be the messiest, fiddliest project I've got going. It's a mix of applique and piecing and all of the little pieces are odd sizes and different colors so  I wind up cutting each one individually. I'm working from my stash of thrift store shirts and obsessing over every last fabric choice.

And, as crazy as it makes me, I do love it. I want to make the big version of the quilt, which calls for sixty blocks. I didn't realize until I pulled it out today that I've got almost half of them done. Maybe it's time to make some more.



Judy is planning a UFO Parade on April 15, and I'm pulling my UFOs together for my entry.