UFO's

Now that all my Crumb Chaos quilts are finished I decided switch my focus to unfinished tops during March. I dug out several very well aged projects to take with me to the beach. I think I've shown only one of these before. It's my goal to turn all of these into finished flimsies - with one exception - by the end of March. Think I can make it? I sure hope so!

The first is one you've seen before. Tangled Threads friends made most of these blocks for me shortly after I joined the group. The pattern is from the April 1990 issue of Quilters Newsletter Magazine, and I think they were made within a few months after the issue came out. The fabrics are certainly from the 1980's! I had seven blocks - all but one hand pieced - so I cut out two more for a nice size square table topper. I hand pieced the eighth block on Thursday. My friend Kim, who wasn't in the group that long ago, offered to hand piece the last block so she'd have a hand in the quilt too. I hand pieced the blocks to each other on Saturday - now they are just waiting for the last block - which I should have tomorrow. I bought one yard of red at Center Diamond for the scallops and the outside border as I had nothing bright enough in my stash. I think this will make a great summer table topper for our dining table. You can see what the border will look like on the scanned picture. I think this will make a great summer table topper for our dining table.

The second UFO is from my Daisy Kingdom teaching days of 1991-92. It's called Daisy Twist. It's from Marsha McCloskey's book "Lessons in Machine Piecing", published in 1990. I have a bunch more blocks cut out - not sure how many - so this will be my machine piecing project for this month. Appliquéing the center circles will give me handwork for Tuesday nights also. Not sure what I'll do with this one when it's finished - the fabrics make me think of spring so I'll probably try to incorporate it into my spring decorations.

The next two UFO's are two sets of blocks made by the PINS - my online Pacific Northwest retreat group that meets twice a year. I've decided to combine these two sets of friendship blocks into one project. I'll use the tiny blocks - you can tell which ones I made as I have four of them left - as centers for more log cabin blocks. That should give me enough blocks for a nice couch throw. I should be able to finish this top quickly.

The last UFO is a set of seven 6" sampler blocks. Several years ago I participated in a $5 Quilt project at a local shop. I paid $5 for the first block kit, then received each kit after that for free as long as I returned with the finished block from the month before. We also got our name put into a basket for an extra drawing if we made a second block each month. I decided to shrink each 12" block to a 6" block and make it from 1930's fabrics - the original blocks are made from Civil War prints. I made only seven blocks because the shop closed after that. We received the last two patterns for the nine block quilt, but I no longer had any incentive to make the smaller blocks. I've looked at these many times since then, and today have decided I don't want to make a quilt from these. I love the 30's prints, but I'd rather use them to reproduce traditional 30's designs. So these seven blocks are going into my "orphan drawer" where they will wait until I have enough orphan blocks and spare parts to do another quilt. I feel really good about this decision - especially as it allows me to cross another unfinished flimsy off my list!

Today I must focus on straightening up the house before I can sew. My sewing room is a mess - at least by my usual standards. The dining room table is covered with baby toys - the teachers at Fred's school gave him a "Grandpa" shower now that he has two grandchildren who will be spending time at our house. I need to find a basket for these and a place to store them. My clothes, etc. from the beach are scattered all over the floor of the computer room - I was pulling everything out of the suitcase last night so find my prescriptions - which of course were on the very bottom. There is lots of laundry to do and a kitchen to straighten up. I need to figure out something for dinner - do I remember how to cook LOL? Doesn't sound like I'll have much time to sew today!