Tag Archives: UFO

Great Aunt Bess’s “Fizzle Drawer” and A Busy Week

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I have a number of pieces of antique furniture, as much out of obligation as desire. These belonged to my grandparents, great-grandparents, and in one case to my great-great-grandmother. One of them contains Great Aunt Bess’s “Fizzle Drawer”.

Granny once commented on it, saying that whenever her sister, Bess, had a sewing project that “fizzled”, the project went into that drawer. I’m not sure what happened after that. This would have been in the early part of the 20th Century, but I don’t even know whether the “fizzle” items were clothing or something else.  By the time I inherited the furniture they were long gone!

I think some of my UFOs probably should go in the “fizzle drawer”, but I don’t know when to quit, so I keep working on them.  This next one was a class I did not especially enjoy, but I’ve converted it to 4 large blocks to be combined into a donation quilt.

This next one is not a fizzle, it’s a set of place mats I made for a quick holiday class to teach this fall.  I developed this pattern YEARS ago for McCall’s Quick Quilts and have made many versions of it since.  Place mats are a nice hostess gift to have on hand.

We went to the “apple barn” this weekend and got some apples–must be fall!  Here is the view from the apple barn, looking across some trees heavy with red apples to the mountains beyond.  It doesn’t get any better than that!

How was your week?

One UFO Makes 3 Quilts!

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I made these “prepared fabric” squares some months ago with John Cage’s “prepared piano” in mind.  Then they sat in a box while I wondered what to do with them.

At a quilt retreat, I got some of them out and put them together into a 40″ x 44″ quilt top for Ronald McDonald House.nov-ufo

So the November UFO (UnFinished Object) project was to do something with the rest of those squares.  I modified them further and made 2 more Ronald McDonald quilt tops, each 40 inches square.

That UFO box is empty!  There were a few scraps for the scrap bin, and 3 blocks for the orphan block bin, but that project is DONE!

Sort of like that turkey…how was your Thanksgiving?

Finished Tops!

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After much deliberation about layout, I got my Modern Sampler quilt put together last week and sent it off to be quilted.  Here’s the final top:

modern sampler

My Modern Sampler top is ready for quilting!

Then, for good measure, I put together the batik blocks from a swap I was in several years ago and sent that top off to be quilted, as well.

batik quilt blocks

Group batik blocks, put together and ready for quilting

Yes, the sashing DOES vary a bit, because the blocks do.  That’s the way it goes with a block swap.  I love the variety of the blocks and, of course, the batik fabrics.

I’m sending this to Aunt Marti’s UFO challenge, which helps keep me motivated.  What are you up to?

Projects 2013–Part I

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For some time I’ve been meaning to add to my blog with a gallery of projects for each of the past several years.  I’ve been held up in part by the variable quality of my photography over the years, but I’ve decided to just start anyway.  Here are some projects from 2013.

I entered several national contests in 2013, the year I also started this blog.  Here is the quilt I made for the Quilt Alliance TWENTY challenge and chose as the header for my blog:

Rising star art quilt

Rising Star, made for the Quilt Alliance TWENTY contest in 2013

I made this quilt for the Michael Miller challenge in 2013:

Michael Miller Challenge 2013

Packet of Posey Seeds

And I made this little quilt for the Pantone Challenge:

Applique quilt

Radiating Orchid mini-quilt for the Radiant Orchid Challenge

I attended some wonderful classes with Laura Wasilowski in 2013, and made this little art quilt:

applique art quilt

Leaf, made in class with Laura Wasilowski

I did some “crafty” things in 2013, including chambray shirts decorated with orphan blocks and matching T shirts for a special baby and his special Dad:

A decorated chambray work shirt
Here’s another orphan block on a shirt

Here are a set of placemats and two table runners from 2013:quilted placemats

leaf runner

table runner

Table runner made from a strip of leftovers

Also in 2013, I made an apron for a special friend and a caddy for carrying my iron to classes and retreats:

2013 was also a good year to make pillows for friends and to use up orphan blocks:

Well!  That’s it for special projects from 2013.  The actual quilts from 2013 are up next–more to come!

2015 Finishes: Part I

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Ronald McDonald House is the chosen recipient of donation quilts from one of my groups, and EACH of us made 12 quilts for that cause this year.  I finished the last 2 this month (yes, a LITTLE behind!).

These are a good illustration of why a dark border is a good idea to make a quilt feel “finished”.  I’ll try to remember that next year!

And here are the other 10 donation quilt finishes for the year.  I love how different they are! I got to try lots of new things 🙂

Design by Cindy Williams
Pseudo Random arrangement starting with Kaffe fabric
This is a leaders-and-enders project
February donation quilt. This started out entirely different, but I failed to take Before and After pictures.
The “New! Improved!” quilt
Flower Fairies
Donation quilt made from orphan star blocks
February finish and January donation quilt

More finishes coming soon!

Kaleidoscope Design and More

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The November UFO project was to design a quilt to use these beautiful Jane Sassaman fabrics. Here’s my “final” decision on the layout. (“Final” in quotes because It isn’t over til it’s over).

My notebook wasn't big enough for the whole layout, but you get the idea!

My notebook wasn’t big enough for the whole layout, but you get the idea!

You can see paper mock-ups of my blocks showing the fabric HERE, but here are a couple of examples.  Of course, the one with 4 wedges would have 6 if this were the real blocks instead of a paper mock-up.

I think I have enough fabric to make 4 central patches with 6 wedges each, though I’ll check before I cut (one of my husband’s favorites is, “measure twice, cut once”). Then I’ll fit in as many of the 4-patch kaleidoscopes as seems reasonable while leaving adequate negative space.

The Back-up Plan (must have one!) is all 4-patch kaleidoscopes if it turns out I don’t have enough fabric for both the 6-wedge and the 4-patch designs.  That would be fine, too, though I like the variety of sizes in the design I’ve chosen.  (Will I like it as much when I’m trying to sash those varied shapes and sizes?)

I’m thinking I’ll use soft green fabric for the background; this seems to want to be a green quilt with pink and blue accents.  The background probably will be a solid fabric, since these blocks have a lot going on.

I’ve made two more projects this month, but they aren’t quilts.  One is a crib sheet from this fun arrow fabric by Maureen Cracknell.  The other is a changing pad cover in this “Indian Summer” fabric by Sarah Watson.

There are several places on the internet to get free patterns for crib sheets and changing pad covers, and they were easy to make.

And now, ON TO THE CHRISTMAS SEWING!!!

November’s UFO

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As you probably know, I’m playing along with Aunt Marti’s UFO Challenge for 2015. This month’s UFO is a group of gorgeous Jane Sassaman fabrics I’ve had for several years. I want to make a queen sized quilt, but I’ve been debating the design for a long time, since I want to make the most of these fabrics.

Need to design a quilt for this wonderful fabric

Need to design a quilt for this wonderful fabric

Luckily, a quilter who is a better designer than I came to visit this fall, and she helped me look at ways to make kaleidoscope blocks from these fabrics.  So November’s challenge is to come up with a design for the quilt.  I’m not even requiring myself to CUT any fabric, just decide on a design.Sassaman book

Jane Sassaman’s book suggests making paper copies of the fabrics to cut up in order to try designs.  I scanned the fabrics to my printer and made many copies, then cut them up to make either 4-part or 6-part kaleidoscope blocks.  Of course, that limits my trials to typing paper size pieces.Sassaman-papers

I printed at low resolution to save ink and still used up my color cartridge!  Here are a few of the trial blocks cut from paper and taped together:

Sassaman-10

Here are some blocks made from 4 squares

And here are some partial blocks made from 60 degree triangles:

Finally, here are all my trial blocks made of paper so far:Sassaman-group

Any suggestions for making the most of these prints, either with or without kaleidoscope blocks?

6 August Projects!

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As always, I’m taking part in Aunt Marti’s UFO challenge. The August UFO was actually finished back in February as a donation quilt:

Donation quilt

February donation quilt. This started out entirely different, but I failed to take Before and After pictures.

That gave me all of August to work on quilting another UFO, my Swim quilt. It’s completely quilted, but I’m still thinking about whether to add more fish, some beads, or more quilting before I bind it.

improvised quilt

“Swim” is about 50′ x 50″.  I quilted wavy horizontal lines all over it.

I’m caught up on making quilt tops for donation. My goal is a quilt a month, and I made 3 tops in August. They still need to be quilted, but I’ll have a one-woman quilting party and get it done.  They are 40″ x 40″, so not difficult to do on a home machine.

Pseudo Random arrangement starting with Kaffe fabric
This is a leaders-and-enders project
Quilt top made from khaki pants and 2 shirts

Finally, I made several new blocks for My Modern Sampler. You can read about the one below here, and I’ll be blogging about the others in the coming weeks.

modern scrap block

The Modern Scrap Block will finish 12 inches square

And a good thing August was so productive, because every weekend in September is scheduled! Yikes!

From Orphans to Donation

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One of my UFO (UnFinished Object) goals for the year is to do something with some of my orphan blocks. (Those are miscellaneous blocks left from various projects; you can read about them here).  I’ve already turned a bunch of them into quilts, but I hauled them out again last month to give it another shot.

orphan blocks

These star blocks are orphans left over from several projects, so they are different sizes

These are left from various projects, but I just love star blocks so they probably won’t be the last of the breed 🙂  And you can probably see that one of them even has a piece turned wrong, which I did NOT see until just now 😀

After fooling around with various options for them, I selected 5 and made this quilt:

orphan blocks

Donation quilt made from orphan star blocks

It actually worked out just fine to simply add a partial border to the smallest one.  And the purple fabric is left from yet another project, so win-win!

What do you do with your orphan blocks?

A Toddler Quilt and a “Finish”

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One of the things I like about Aunt Marti’s UFO challenge is that I get to decide what constitutes a “finish”.  With that in mind, my January “finish” consisted of sending my Charley Harper quilt off to the longarm quilter.  Lest you think that just means handing it over, I had to select backing and make binding so that when it comes back I’ll be all ready to bind it.  So here it is ready to go:

Turning Twenty Again, Charley Harper fabric

Binding is ready for when the Charley Harper quilt is returned to me

I started making the binding when I finish the quilt top for two reasons:  I already have the fabric right there, so it saves time later.  And I don’t accidentally use that binding fabric for something else before the quilt is ready for it 😉

My other finish this week (and this one is really, really finished) is a toddler quilt.  It is 42″ x 52″ and is backed with Minkee Dot fabric.  It has no batting. (Yeah, I know, that means it’s “not a quilt”.  Right.)  This makes it both soft and light, so a toddler can carry it around with him.  He can use it to make a fort, take a nap, have a picnic, or whatever else.  Here it is, from start to finish:

Toddler Quilt

Toddler Quilt

I think this simple design would be good for a donation quilt, as well.  It was quick and easy to make, and I think it shows the cute fabric to advantage.