Monday, February 21, 2011

Quilter's alert: UFOs are landing!

Today at the quilt guild meeting we had the first round of Show & Tell for our latest UFO attack. (Un-Finished Object, if you didn't know).
There were more finished UFOs than regular Show & Tell items, so that means it was really time to attack!
I had two quilts in each category, but honestly, they were all UFOs! However, I can only count the ones I handed in on my official list!
 Quilts are so nice when they are finished! This one is about 54" square, and I can hardly remember making it. But I'll never forget it now...it was not basted when I started quilting it!
I must have planned to baste it, and had a flannel back and batting all ready to go...but then it ended up in a pile with the other tops.
Here's a tip: if it's not basted yet, don't fold the 3 layers together so it looks like it is!
I started in quilting and then decided the check the back...and discovered about 6" missing from the backing on one side!
Yes, the same amount was hanging over past the batting on the other side!
I cut the "extra" off and moved it over to the side where it belonged..
Thank goodness the flannel backing and cotton batt were clinging together...there is not one pucker or pleat on the back of this un-basted quilt!
I also finished the Big Box Challenege from last year.
I had purchased 1.5 yds. of background fabric and a package of fat quarters at JoAnn, with no idea of what I would make (hence the title). I cut everything into 2.5" strips, and eventually ended up with this:
What fun! It's quilted with varigated thread now, too, and bright lime green & yellow binding.
These are going to the sale room at the quilt show in September!
This is from a class that Cherry-cherry taught a long time ago.  The technique came from "Tumbling Triangles" in Karla Alexander's book Stack A New Deck (Martingale). Lots of fun patterns in that book use free cutting techniques.
This one has been sold already, and a lucky baby is really going to get some real visual stimulation!

The fourth quilt is the one from the last post, with the blue & white 9-patch blocks. It went immediately to the community service chairman to add to the other quilts we give to foster children.

Whew! You'd think I had made some real progress.
But noooooooo (as John Belushi would say). The stack of UFO tops is still in the double digits...and in the process of a bit of studio cleaning, I encountered two more UFOs still in the piecing stage.
I know there are even more hiding out. I am ignoring them for the time being (one I have been ignoring for over 25 years, and all the blocks are completed!).
The best thing about having a UFO list with numbered spaces is I only have to think about the 10 that are on the list! And I put two on that are really Mom's UFOs, so that's even better.
But I do have a load of quilting ahead!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Fun! I especially like the tumbling triangles.

What is the difference between a "finished UFO" and a "regular Show & Tell item"? In my sewing room, everything's a UFO until I finish it, and then it's a Show & Tell item?

Elizabeth