Thursday, December 29, 2011

2012 UFO Challenge



Once again for 2012 I will be participating in Judy's UFO Challenge. Since Judy posted her list and the sign up to participate in the upcoming year, I have spent a lot of time thinking about my UFO list. Last year I foolishly listed 18 UFOs. This year I am only going to list 12 (really 13) even though I do have more than that. The other thing that I decided to do is that I am going to prioritize my list. I will be completing my UFOs in the order that I have listed. I have several UFOs that I do not care to finish this year that I will not even be listing.

Here is my UFO list for 2012 in the order that I will most likely be completing them:

0.      I started this jacket in April 2010 in a class at Bayside Quilters. The sleeves are too short and I need to add cuffs. Other than that it just needs a binding. I did not give the jacket a number because I WILL be finishing that jacket sometime this year when I decide what to do with the cuffs.

 1.      “It’s All About the Green” This quilt is just like the one I made for my son’s girlfriend for Christmas. I pieced the top in December 2011.



2.      This Round Robin Quilt top was made in a Round Robin Bee that I participated in 2010-2011.


3.      This Signature Quilt was started in 2007 for SON #1’s graduation from college. I did not finish it sooner because my son had blocks that he was going to have friends sign. Well, he never did have friends sign them. It looks like his quilt will only have signatures of family members. I told him that I wanted to finish his quilt this year. He is to give the unsigned blocks back to me. If he can’t find them I will have to make more.  


4.      This Trash to Treasure Pineapple Quilt was started in a class at Bayside Quilters with Gyleen Fitzgerald in May 2011.


5.      This Sew Simple Pineapple Quilt was started in a workshop in January 2011. I had collected the dark red and gold for many years. For about a year I had been thinking about what I could do with those fabrics. I am very pleased with this pattern. They are really not my favorite colors anymore but I love how this quilt is looking.



6.      This quilt is really an old one. It is so old that I started hand quilting it. It is from before I had my longarm, and even before I took my quilts to a longarmer. It probably dates to 1999. It was a mystery quilt taught in a class by Peggy of Peggy’s Sewing Center at the 7-Sisters Quilt Guild. You can see on the back where the stars are hand quilted. I plan to finish it on the longarm so I can get it done.

7.      This quilt was started in a workshop with Jane Sassaman in August 2011. I am fascinated with Jane’s work and was very excited to be able to take her workshop.


8.      I think this log cabin was started in 2000. I was making it for my bed. I really am not crazy about those fabrics anymore. I plan on painting my bedroom this year, so if I do not get it done soon I may never get to use it on my bed. This one was on my UFO list for 2011. I really do need to get it done.


9.      This small quilt is hand appliquéd. I finished the top in early 2010. It was on my UFO list for 2011. 


10.      This wholecloth quilt top was purchased at the Lancaster Quilt Show in 2004 before I got my longarm. I have wanted to make a wholecloth quilt, but before I spend the time designing my own it does make sense to practice on this one first.


11. And 12. These 2 quilt tops were made in about 2007. They are for the twin beds in one of the guest rooms. If I do not finish them soon I will probably repaint that room. Again they were on the UFO list for 2011.


I am trying to get organize for 2012 and I hope to get all of these quilts completed.


Monday, December 26, 2011

Other Finishes for 2011

All of the quilts I completed in 2011.


2011 proved to be a very productive year for me. I had about the same amount of longarm business that I have had the past few years and I finished 20 of my own quilts. That is by far the most quilts I have ever finished in one year. Eleven of those quilts were UFOs from previous years. Those 11 quilts were finished by participating in a UFO Challenge over at Patchwork Times. The other 9 were quilts that I started and completed in 2011. They are pictured below.

 This quilt was actually pieced in December2010 and quilted and bound in January 2011.
It was a baby quilt for Amelia.

 I do not have many Valentine decorations so I made some table toppers for Valentines Day. I made 5 small toppers and am counting them as one quilt. 

My Art Bee had a "common object" challenge. At one of our meetings in the fall (October 2010) we each brought a common object in a paper bag and we drew a bag. We did show each other the object that was in our bag. My common object was a wire whisk. We were to make a small quilt using this object in some way. I simply used the whisk as a pattern for the flower petals.

 This quilt was made for the Bayside Quilters Challenge in June. The Challenge was Bear/Bare. Mine was titled "Bare Feet At The Beach." The photo is of my niece and daughter in 2008. I won for the category of "Best Use Of Technique." The method I used was Altered Photo Artistry by Beth Wheeler.

 This "Blooming 9-Patch" was started in a class at Bayside Quilters in April.

 I made this Lightning Quilt during Hurricane Irene the end of August. Thank goodness our electric never went out.

At Seven Sisters Quilt Guild we had a fabric exchange. We were each to bring 2 strips of medium/dark and 2 strips of light neutral fabrics for each participant. The strips were 6 inches wide and 9 of us participated. This is my finished quilt. I  finished it in September. I did not realize until right now that I never took her outside for her photo shoot. I will have to do that later.

This "Sew Simple Pineapple Quilt" was made for my newest great-nephew.

This quilt was made for a Christmas gift for my son's girlfriend.

2011 UFO Summary

Of the 18 UFOs I listed in December 2010, 11 were completed. Even listing 18 was crazy to begin with. I am very excited about the 11 that I did get done. I am so thankful for Judy's UFO Challenge because it really motivated me to finish some of my own quilts. 

Here are the UFOs that I did finish in 2011.

This Kaleidoscope String Quilt was started in March 2008 in a class with Bayside Quilters.

This dimensional hand applique was started in my Baltimore Album Bee last year in 2009.

The inspiration for this top is the Jane Sassaman fabrics. It was pieced in 2005.

 I finished this top in early 2010. It was a block of the month from "The Quilt Show" in 2008.

I got this quilt top a long time ago at an auction that my quilt guild had. The center was finished and there was fabric included for the border. I think I put the borders on at retreat in 2007. I am not sure how old it is but it is vintage fabrics.

This quilt is machine appliqued. It is probably from about 2006.

This quilt top was from a block exchange with my mom and sisters. I think it is from about 1999 or 2000.

 This scrappy top was made from a block exchange with my mom and sisters in 2004-2005. The inspiration for this quilt came from a quilt we saw at the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show in 2004.

 This top was baby sized. I made a throw in 2010 and this was made with the left-overs. I decided to add borders to make it large enough for a gift for a friend.

This star quilt was started in 2004 when I went to visit my sister in Washington state. While we were there we went to the Sisters Oregon Quilt Show. It was a 6 hour drive and I appliqued when I was not driving. My sister gave me the extra stars and circles from a quilt she was working on. I put the top together at retreat in 2007. 

This Joseph's Coat was started in early 2010. I was following along with a quilt-along but I fell behind. In the quilt-along they were hand appliqueing but I appliqued mine on the machine. I was so excited to get this done. I think it is the most beautiful quilt I have ever made.

Stash Report, Week 52, 2011

It is hard to believe that this is the last stash report of the year.
I am very glad I participated in Judy's stash reports this year.
I has been very interesting to see how much fabric I have actually used and purchased. The good thing is that I did use more than I bought this year!


This week I used 4 yards for the back and binding of this quilt.

Used this Week: 4.0 yards

Used year to Date: 146.5 yards

Added this Week: 0 yards

Added Year to Date: 109.75 yards

Net Used for 2011: 36.75 yards

Christmas Green


I did get the quilt finished in time for Christmas for my son's girlfriend.


I think she really likes it!


This quilt is just like the one that I made during Hurricane Irene and posted about it here. 


 I ended up making 2 quilts like this.
The first top I made had all different greens in it.


My daughter and I decided that we really did not like the dark greens in it.


I will keep that one for myself.


I made this one without the darkest greens for the girlfriend.


It looks so much better than the other one and I am very happy with how it turned out.


Friday, December 16, 2011

Christmas Quilts


These 2 Christmas quilts were made by Mary Lou.




I also made this quilt last year. 


I really like how the overall ribbon quilting looks on this quilt.


This quilt has ribbon and holly quilted in the background but it is a little difficult to see it.


I made this Christmas Tree Quilt 2 years ago and posted it here.


Mary Lou did a great job on both of them!