Poster Child for Make-do Scrappy Quilts

Finish #13 for 2018. And only seven years in the making.

In 2011 I did a block swap for Bonnie Hunter's (Quiltville) Chunky Churn Dash block. I blogged about it here on March 1, 2011. I decided to set it with alternate blocks inspired by a Kim Diehl quilt. I've had the top made (except for the outer piano-key border) since April 2011.

In fact, I had misplaced the top and found it a week or so ago while sorting through a pile in my sewing room.

I decided it needed something more than the two inner borders, and remembered that I had lots of 4 to 5-inch long strip sets from my checkerboard quilt (blogged about here). I only had to make six extra segments and I had enough for the complete outer border. How's that for making do and using up scraps.

Each of the alternate blocks is made from prints that don't appear anywhere else in the blocks. None of the fabrics in the piano keys appear in the center of the quilt (although they are repeated in the border). 

To add to the scrappiness, about 60% of the chunky churn dash blocks came from the block swap and use fabrics I don't have in my stash. 

I estimate that there are between 130 and 150 different fabrics in this quilt! I think that's a record, even for me.

Stash-Buster Quilt

2018 Quilting Goals:

• Goal #1: Make a dent in my huge fabric stash.
• Goal #2: Finish some UFOs (more than I want to admit)
• Goal #3: Quilt more of my "flimsies" (better known as unquilted quilt tops -- I've got 27 of them!)

The checkerboard quilt I recently finished was a UFO, but to finish it I used some of my huge collection of traditional fabrics. Each 10-inch block uses two fat eighths: one neutral and one color. I also use yardage in my stash for the backing. And this quilt was only a flimsy for one day before I put it on the frame and quilted it.

It's not too big -- 50 inches by 60 inches. The perfect size for a throw and the perfect style for a utility quilt.

Here are some more photos:

This is the perfect advanced-beginner quilt who is ready to do some serious chain piecing, as well as strip piecing and sub-cutting into units to be reassembled.

Because the quilt has an old-fashioned look, I decided to wash it to give it a slightly worn feel. It will definitely get used, so hopefully future washings will add to the cozy look and feel.

Year-to-date finishes -- eight quilts

• UFOs: 1 (the checkerboard quilt in this blog post)
• Flimsies into quilts: 3 (see also A Couple Random Quilt Finishes and Pinwheels for Caroline)
• Other quilts (started and finished in 2018): Another Pony Express Quilt and three quilts for magazines that will appear in the July/August issues of McCall's Quilts, Quiltmaker, and Quilting Quickly. (I'll blog about them after they appear in the magazines.)

Not too bad for the first ten weeks of the year!

Quilt Finish: Pinwheels for Caroline

Another long forgotten quilt top is finally quilted and bound. 

I finished the top in June 2011, blogged about it HERE, and am glad to move this from the UFO list to the DONE list. It has 930 pieces to make a quilt that is 51 X 60 inches. It was designed by Lori Smith (From My Heart to Your Hands) and is named Pinwheels for Caroline.

This is a great quilt to use up scraps. I used a variety of methods for making all of the half-square triangle units, depending on the size of my scraps. If I had strips, I used the Easy Angle HST ruler. If I had miscellaneous square scraps, I used triangle paper. You can read about the methods HERE.

Gotta love scrappy quilts! And quilting them with an all-over, edge-to-edge design is the perfect way to complete them. (Good thing, since that's really all I do!)

Enjoy!

When Does a Project Go From Being a WIP to a UFO?

So just when does a project go from being a “work in progress” (WIP) to an “unfinished object” (UFO)? Or worse, when does it become a PIG (project in grocery bag)?

I was pondering this question while sewing and squaring up the first 103 of 192 half-square triangles for a retirement quilt I’m making for the person who was been my boss for the better part of the past 21 years. (More on that in another post.)

Here’s how I would distinguish a WIP from a UFO.

First, how long it’s been since I started it. If it’s been more than about six months since I started it, it’s likely a UFO.

Second, how long it’s been since I made any progress on the project. If I haven’t worked on it for a couple months, it’s a UFO.

And, third, whether it’s still out on my sewing counter or at the top of my stitching basket to be picked up and worked on at a moment’s notice. If it’s out on my sewing room counter because I intend to work on it (but other things seem to get in the way), then I would classify as a WIP rather than UFO. But once it goes into the cupboard, it’s definitely a UFO – or even a PIG because it’s clear I have no plan to finish it any time soon.

Note that a project can go from being a UFO or PIG to a WIP because I pulled it out, did some pressing and cutting, and even some sewing. This is the case for the Kim Diehl spool quilt. I finished machine appliquéing the border vines one evening this past week and picked out the fabrics for the leaves and buds.

Based on my definitions above, the retirement quilt qualifies as a WIP. I’ve had the fabric for about 18 months or so, but I only started it two weeks ago when I cut the fabrics into triangles for the half-square triangles.

My version of Miss Rosie’s Quilt Co. “Route 44” quilt also qualifies as a WIP. I started the quilt at Winterfest at the end of January and have worked on it a couple times so far in February, including Saturday when I pretty much finished all of the blocks.

However, these projects qualify as UFOs:

I’ve had these “Hot Buttered Rum” square-in-square blocks done for probably 15 years! I love the fabrics, colors and pattern. This is about 30 of the 42 13-inch blocks. (Yes, this has the potential to be one BIG quilt, especially once border(s) are added.)

I kind of want to keep this quilt for me (it was the second quilt I made after starting quilting again in the late 90s), but I haven’t wanted it bad enough to get it finished and quilted. I was thinking about finishing it for a wedding quilt for my most recently married nephew – but his bride mentioned she really likes black, white and red. Oh well, back to the drawing board for them!

This quilt, Jan Patek and Alma Allen’s Baskets and Berries quilt, also qualifies as a UFO – even though one of the three final blocks is out on my sewing room counter and begging me to finish it.

The first nine blocks were hand appliquéd, starting in about 2001. In fact, it was my first hand appliqué project. I really want to finish the last three blocks by hand as well. I decided a long time ago that I didn’t have it in me to do the appliquéd border like the original.

I saw this design finished at the 2005 HQMS (Home Quilting Machine Show) and liked the pieced border the quilter had used and think it will be a good way to finish this up (when the last three blocks are done, of course.)

Unfortunately I didn’t note the name of the person who made this version (isn’t it lovely?), so can’t give her credit.

I am even the proud owner of one of my grandmother’s UFO quilts. (I have a feeling this may be her only UFO as she usually finished what she started!) I don’t even know where I have the blocks hidden in my sewing room in order to take a photograph of them.

I think that’s enough UFO “true confessions” for one post. I could easily do the same with cross stitching projects – but will spare myself the humiliation!