UFO Challenge - April quilts

I have a couple of finished quilts to share.  As part of the UFO Challenge with Stashbusters I have been focusing on some old (vintage!) UFOs.  Today I posted the completion of a quilt that includes blocks my mother made many years ago.  She had chosen some distinctive fabrics to fussy cut into a variety of blocks and there they sat for years.  I completed the top with multiple borders and quilted it this week.  It's all done!  One more finish for the list and I feel great about wrapping this up.  The quilt measures 58" square.

I also finished another UFO that I forgot to include on the UFO list, but I'm so happy to have it to share too.

A couple of years ago I participated in a mystery quilt challenge at a guild retreat and here are the results. At 52" x 63" it is a delightful quilt that I love. I really enjoyed this challenge and look forward to doing one at a future retreat. I machine quilted the center with a large meander and the borders reflect the angles in the quilt design.  I used painters tape to lay out the design in the borders and the stitching results are great.You can see a bit of this stitching in the left side of the photo, next to the window.

Two more completed UFO's - lots and lots to go. Next, I'm finishing the quilt from my Intro to Quilting class at the Pine Needle.  It must date back to the mid 90's. Don't you think it's about time to get it done?

March Projects

Just like the spring weather the month of March blew through quickly.  We did a bit of traveling to warm sunny vacation spots, but I also finished a couple of projects. 

The first project I completed was a traveling knitting project that had been a UFO from the summer.  This pattern is named Hurricane and I found it on Ravelry.  The yarn is a yummy cashmere merino wool blend I purchased at the first Sock Summit a few years ago.

I made more pillow cases - about 8 in total in March - that I  turned in along with a lap robe (36" square) for Comforting Quilts at our latest quilt guild meeting. Here is a picture of a couple of the pillowcases.

And, just in time for display at our guild quilt show, I completed the quilt I donated for Quilts of Valor.  I started this project last summer at a workshop put on by the guild.  The pattern is Show Your Spirit by Gayle Bong, from her book Twin Peaks. The method for making the pattern was easy to understand and came out to nice throw size at 55" x 62". The quilt is now on it's way for distribution to a returning soldier through QOV.

Striped sweater vest

Here is the sweater vest that I finished up and blocked this morning.  I'm sending this to www.afghansforafghans.org  for their spring 2012 shipment overseas. The pattern is Basic Vest for Children #256 by Knitting Pure and Simple. The yarn is Patons Classic Wool which was lovely and soft to knit. I used the directions for a size 8 but it finished to measure for a size 6 with extra length, which will add warmth for the child who receives this sweater. I'm pleased with how it turned out and will use this pattern again to make another vest later this year.

February finishes...so far

We're part way into February and so before the month slips away I thought I'd share some projects I have finished. First is a lap robe version of Turning Twenty that has been sandwiched since summer - oh my! I finally found a template I liked and some courage to machine quilt it. I think it turned out pretty good.  I will give this to the quilt guild as this months commitment to Comforting Quilts.
I enjoyed trying out the Turning Twenty pattern, but think I will down size the blocks to add more interest to the layout when I use this pattern again.

I also had fun making four more pillowcases for CanKer. Monkeys, daisies, dinosaurs and cowboys- they are so fun to make and quick too.  I'm making a small dent in the fabrics for this project, but I have to admit I bought another piece of cute turtle fabric this week.  It was on sale and I just couldn't pass it up. What is a person to do???  I can be so weak when it comes to cute fabric.  I'll  make it into a pillowcase soon.

I'm finishing up a sweater vest for Afghans to Afghans and will post a photo before I put it in the mail. There are lots of other UFO's in the works so there will be more finished projects to come later this month.

Quilting Marathon

I had a long weekend at home by myself and finished two quilting projects that have been in the works for more years than I care to admit. 

 The blocks for the red, gray and black quilt came from a block swap on the internet that I participated in.  The only requirements were that each person in the swap supply a focus fabric for the other people to use in blocks (I chose a red marble) and that the blocks finish 12" square.  There are a total of 12 blocks and eight of them were included in this throw.  I did stitch in the ditch on each block and then finished with quilted straight bands in the black outside area. I bound it in the red focus fabric.  Yeah!  First finish of 2012!

 My second finish of the year is a child's quilt - mile a minute squares from my scrap bag.  If you look closely you'll see that the border/sashing fabric is from 2000. Ooops this is a bit old!  I machine quilted this and I think I'm getting better at the curly q's.  The quilt was donated to Loaves and Fishes to raise money for their program.

On another front, I finished knitting a pair of socks that have been traveling with me for over a year.  Finally done!  They fit perfectly and this reduces my knitting UFO's too.

I'm working on a row by row quilt that my mother originally pieced.  I have reconstructed it a bit and fused some embellishments on it as well as added a different border print that I think balances the project a bit better.  I'm also working on a set of pillowcases and will post photos later this week. 

Small projects

As I keep plugging away at machine quilting a long abandoned UFO, I have taken some time out to finish a couple of small projects.

This is a quilters gadget keeper with pockets that zips completely closed so nothing can fall out. It has been in a nearly finished state at the bottom of a pile in my sewing room for years. I've donated this to our guilds silent auction. I'm sure someone will find a million uses for this!

These are pillow cases number 1 and 2 for 2012 that I will be making for CanKer which collects pillowcases for children having cancer treatment in local hospitals.  I have a full shelf of fabrics that I pick up for this project whenever these prints are on sale. They have french seams and are easy to whip up once the fabric is coordinated. I will have quite a variety of prints turning magically into pillowcases each week. These two turned out really nice and I hope they will brighten a child's day.

Happy Dance!!!

I'm doing the happy dance because I have finished two ufo's this week!  

This string quilt has been sandwiched for quite a while, but now it is finished!  My first finish for 2012 is done and will be donated this month to the guild for comforting quilts.(37x54) It has a lot of fun children prints.

The red white and blue album quilt is a top that came my way from my mom's stash.  I finished the borders, backed it and machine quilted it. (44x56)  The person who pieced the top did an outstanding job and the layout is so interesting to look at. It turned out great!

On New Year's Day I participated in  Patchwork Planet's one day mystery called Chips N Strips.

Here is my top so far - I need to put the final borders on and then it's ready to be quilted. The borders will be the same color as the zigzag and there will be 9 patch blocks in the corners when it's done. All the fabric, except the zigzag, final border and backing, is from my stash.

I'm still working on the smaller elements of my Orca Bay quilt in order to start assembling it. I should have my first layout done in a few days -