Needles and Pens

So, if you check out that little "UFO Challenge" list along the right side of the page, the one where I was supposed to finish one UFO per month this year, you might notice that I haven't finished one since, oh, March or so... but good news! I just finished my September challenge quilt, with barely a moment to spare. This quilt started out early in 2009, as a mystery quilt with Hugs from Helen . I remember being super excited to find all the fabrics I needed right in my stash. They weren't "perfect," but they worked. They looked bright and cheery and Eastery, and since I've never made an Easter quilt, I felt totally justified in starting something new. I kept up on the mystery steps, right up to the finished top. I even found a backing in my stash got it all layered, pinned and ready to quilt... ... then I got completely hung up on the quilting. I wanted to do some free-motion meandering in the white spaces, though I have always been most comforta...

This month's goal for the Patchwork Times UFO Challenge was one of the sewing projects I used to fill in for the (unbelieveable!) lack of unfinished quilts that I have left to work on. (It also provided a much-needed break after finishing my crazy-intense January project !) Lucky number 10 -- Tim's Fleece Vest -- last appeared here as a pattern, a zipper and a bunch of yellow fleece in a pile in my sewing room: All chosen by my 12-year-old son, who wanted fleece vests in his favorite color combo, yellow and black. I finished the black one right away, but then the holidays were upon us, and the yellow was put on the back burner while I focused on other projects. (Sewing clothing is not my favorite thing, so any excuse to procrastinate will do!) He seemed very happy with Vest #1. However, in the three months that followed, I never once saw him wear it. So I made a slight change in the plans and decided to go with a different pattern. This pattern is adult sized, ...

Still plugging away on my appliqued rose blocks, and finally there's a light at the end of the tunnel. Four more blocks were completed this past week; the Radical Rose, the Mexican Rose, Grandmother's Rose, and the Wild Rose. That leaves just two more to go! My next block is in progress... This one is the most difficult of them all, I think. Look at all those sharp inward curves -- such a headache to turn those under! But it's coming along, and will make finishing my last one seem like a breeze. If all goes well, I'll be starting on my quilt top in a few more days... wish me luck!

Well, 2011 is off to a great start! My family has been healthy so far, the days are getting longer, my Christmas decorations are almost all packed away, and I have set myself up with an awesome challenge to help me steer clear of the mid-winter blues. So far, so good. On New Year's Day, the first number was drawn for the 2011 Patchwork Times UFO Challenge ... ...and I learned that my project for January is lucky number six, the Floral Applique Quilt. All I have to do is make 10 more hand-appliqued blocks, sew them into a top, quilt it and bind it. That's all. By the end of this month. No problem! LoL Actually, my first thought was, "There is absolutely no way." Period. But then the incredible, miraculous motivation of a challenge kicked in, and I've been working like a maniac ever since, trying to beat the clock. I've spent every spare minute this week cutting, basting, pressing, pinning and stitching, and yes, I have made progress ! So far, I've finished...

Quilting incentive for 2011: Judy Laquidara's UFO Challenge at Patchwork Times ! When I went to make a list of 12 projects to finish, I was honestly shocked to find that I don't have 12 unfinished quilts! I must be getting better about finishing what I start, as just a few years ago the count was over 20. Now it stands at seven, so I added a few unfinished (and largely un started ) sewing projects to round out my list of 12. Hope that's not bending the rules too far... At any rate, here's my list: 1. Easter Quilt , a 2009 mystery, partially quilted. Just needs the rest of the quilting and a binding. 2. Sampler Baby Quilt , put together on a whim earlier this year from "orphan blocks" in my closet. Needs quilting and binding. 3. "Where Are Your Shoes and Socks?" A Pat Sloan Block-of-the-Month from 2007 (I think), which I've been working on (and collecting shoe fabrics for) off-and-on ever since. I have five more blocks to applique and then to ...

It's a question I've asked often of my 14-year-old daughter lately, as she walks out the door for school in the morning, thirty degree temps and a hint of snow on the ground -- wearing flip-flops on her feet. It's so hard to let go of summer... But this is about different socks and shoes. Two-dimensional ones, painstakingly hand-stitched in needle-turned applique on 8-1/2" squares of fabric. These are not my daughter's socks and shoes. Though I guess they might be, someday. ;o) As is the case with so many of my quilting projects, this one began a few years back and is still a work-in-progress. In 2006, Pat Sloan introduced a block-of-the-month program titled, "Where are Your Socks and Shoes?" and I faithfully downloaded the pattern each month. I did not so faithfully make the blocks. In January 2007, my sewing machine was in the shop for minor repairs, and when one is out of a sewing machine, one is often overcome by a sudden, uncanny need to sew. Desper...