Saturday, July 16, 2016

Q3 Finish-A-Long

In an effort to reform my UFO spaziness, I'm compiling potential completions for the third quarter. There's no way everything is getting done, but here's a short list of more likely candidates.
I'm very excited about my epic album quilt. I've collected signatures from my favorite sew-lebrities like Tula Pink, Alison Glass, Elizabeth Hartman, and Amy Butler. The intention is to turn these into quilt blocks using fabric designed by those who have inscribed their names. These blocks will be combined into an breath-taking quilt that will be raffled to fight children's poverty here in New Mexico, where we are #1 for childhood hunger. What a wretched awful thing to top the charts with! That makes me cry because I was a teacher, and I have three children. I can't bear the thought of helpless little ones starving, day after day because nobody is adequately taking care of their most basic need to survive.
Then there's the long-awaited high school graduation quilt for my brother, who now has a Master's degree and a job lined up. I'm embarrassed to admit how long I spent waiting for my quilting skill to catch up with my vision for this quilt. Enough already, it is going to get done!
This one is another version of my Sparkler quilt, that is closer to my current fabric vibe.
This star pillow is going to serve as an excellent way to break in my Westalee ruler foot.
I love this top and my coordinating 12 wt Aurifil threads, so what's the hold up?
I've plotted out a design for my Egypt-inspired sampler, so it should be a fun one to bring to fruition.
It's possible that this Christmas Disappearing 9-Patch would be pieced already if I had spent the time sewing instead of interrogating young offspring about where they hid the pieces.
I have boat blocks and a Pinterest board, but I'm not entirely sure where this one is going.
Progress on this Native American-inspired design has been hampered by my tendency to continually pull solids from this project basket for other projects. I ought to wrap up the paper-piecing before I forget where I've taken the fabric.
Lorna of Sew Fresh Quilts, who is a genius at animal quilt designs, is creating a Bear Paw pattern that is adorable. These fabrics aspire to turn into her fun new design.
I have a glimmer of an idea for these fabrics. I'd like to use the prints to create flower buds in a manner similar to Graceful Rhapsody by Louise Madore (picture below my fabric stack).
Many years ago, I participated in a Saturday Sampler program, and made most of the blocks. However, I never started the finishing kit which includes all the flowers shown in the bottom except the yellow lilies. At this point, my appliqué blocks are starting to fray because I used a cheaper fusible and a less dense stitch. Throughout the year-long program, I held the hope that my incohesive blocks would make sense together in the end. Unfortunately, this did not occur as many of the blocks do not have the light blue background. While I was going to make this quilt for my mother, I've always been disturbed by the unharmonious design. Not loving the final result dissuaded me from continuing to complete the large amount of appliqué remaining, fixing my fraying blocks, piecing the top together, and hiring someone to long arm the project.
Instead, I'm going to repair, sash, and assemble the blocks that have the same background into a smaller quilt that I can easily manage quilting on my home machine.
It's about time that I realize I am never going to be motivated to put this one together if I have to make it exactly as designed due to the effort and expense it would entail only to make something that doesn't excite me. And if you know me very well, you know nothing excites me like starting something else.
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4 comments:

  1. I am glad you are making a quilt to fight hunger... your list is long but I hope you have time to vote because this will possibly make the biggest difference:)

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  2. This is a very long list . Good luck with it.

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  3. As usual, your writing is so fun to read, and your clever comments about your works (like the closing) accurately depict most of your readers, I'm pretty sure. I have made lists like this, and they do help--nothing like declaring in public things that you might not ever finish. In that case, some charity organizations will be happy to take our goods, which is an option I always keep in the back of my mind. That said, you've got some impressive quilts lined up, from the signature quilt to the Egyptian and Indian-themed quilts. Pretty creative--good luck with all your projects!

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  4. Your work is exquisite! You have an eye for combining colors. I'm all about starting something new when I really need to finish something I've already started! I can't help myself!

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