UFO #1 for 2016 is finished!

I am loving this UFO challenge.  I finished a nice little leaf applique quilt and can call it done!  I am thrilled to bits to be motivated this way.  One of my favorite things about this little quilt is the pieced fabric for the fall leaf.  I enjoyed quilting it and pushed myself to do something a little fancy in the border.  I almost always rush to finish the quilting and don't do anything elaborate, especially in my class samples.   It was a good exercise in patience and pushing myself when so often I go for the quick ending.

   

Le Millefiori and English Paper Piecing

Truth be told, my exciting project for the year is not on the UFO list.  It is new (begun in November) and slow.  It is hand piecing and fussy cut and complex, so a lot of time is spent picking fabrics, cutting and prepping the pieces before I work.


It is based on the book Milliefiore Quilts by Willyne Hammerstein and is a gorgeous quilt.  The cover quilt is the one that I am working on.  There are Facebook groups and pinterest pictures of different versions of this quilt, which makes it even more fun.

I have completed one round and love the process.  I am still trying to figure out if I love the way that I am doing the English Paper Piecing.  I am using glue, which makes one part of the preparation just zip along.  I started using the 3/8" templates, but am using the templates with the 1/4" seam allowance as I find the 3/8" seam allowance too much for the smaller pieces.  I have gone through a variety of threads but am now using mettler embroidery weight thread with thread heaven for my piecing.  It nearly disappears and I have many fewer problems with it than with the others I tried (Bottom Line, Masterpiece and Aurifil).  Right now I am using a stitch called "the flat back stitch".  There are many explanations of the stitch, but you can see a video here at DIY addict.

I am now on my second rosette and enjoying the process a bit more.  I think I have gotten more comfortable with the pieces and the flat back stitch.  There are two Facebook groups for the Millefiori -La Passacaglia quilt and one for the New Hexagon Book-Millefiore group.  They are wonderful resources for learning more about the process.

I'll post on this as I complete rounds.  My plan is to make a smaller quilt and I think I have narrowed the size on the layout page.  I will soon figure out exactly the rounds I need to and make more plans for this fun quilt.  It's exciting to begin something like this and I am enjoying the planing process.  To say that I'm nervous about completing the edges would be an understatement, but I have plenty to do before I get there, so I am not focusing too much on that (ok, maybe that's a lie).

UFO project begins

Here are the year's UFO (unfinished objects) I'd like to finish this year.  The sheet has 12 projects and the designated number for this month is #2, so I will work on the Fall Leaf appliqué quilt.

This little quilt was made as a shop sample for Cambridge Quilts.  It needs to be sandwiched, quilted, bound and labeled.  One of the two fabrics behind it will be its backing, which will hardly be seen, but I like them to relate to the front of the quilt/wall hanging. I think this is a very doable project for the month.

As I looked around my room, I realized there are a million more things that I have planned: patterns, fabric collections with no project, knitting projects, organizing projects and on-line classes.

My plan of attack for these was to create some "stickies" on my computer and list those items.  I'm not sure how I'll commit to doing them, but for now they are in front of my face; we will see if that helps.

Begin as you mean to go on

On the last day of 2015 I finished a Diva Frame Wallet.

 I love the little wallet and think I learned a few things:

1. Do some prep work - I cut out the project.
2. Find the missing pieces - I found a zipper that would work.
3. Pick it up again and make it.

As I begin this year of quilting and occasional other crafts, I want to set a few goals for me:

1. MORE - quilt and knit more
2. SMARTER - learn to use EQ7
3. SHARE - resume my blog and begin to work on creating some 4 lessons/patterns 

I saw two blogs referring to this goal and one intrigued me.  The one I selected is a group of folks who will commit to finishing 12 projects (how could I have so many) through the year.  First you pick your 12 projects, then the monthly number is assigned and that's the one you work to finish.  You can find this challenge at All People Quilt.

Tomorrow, I'll post my list and a picture of the first project I'm tackling.

Cathedral windows

So, here's what I am teaching today.  This is a class in cathedral windows, that mixes machine piecing and handwork.   I use Lynne Edward's book Cathedral Window Quilts.  Really, what I should be doing now is working on a report for my church's annual meeting but this is more fun.  

This is a small piece, with little purpose except to practice the technique.   I started another piece in a batik; I'll post after I get a bit more done.  Off to teach...

A new year....new commitments

So, I have decided to plow through my pile of miscellaneous patterns and projects.  The list of the things on the works in progress does not even begin to touch the many things I have lined up.  I outgrow my office and now have things stashed in my husband's office and the guest room.  It is too much.  I vow to complete at least two small projects every month.  I have made great progress on "The Abbey" and am now working on the skies/borders on the left and right.  I think I may have a solution today, and that will be a big help as I can't do the piecing on the last bit of wall on the right until I know the skies/borders fabric.   Never a dull moment.

Meanwhile I must get over socks....  I keep knitting the same one, different pattern, always the wrong size.  Maybe I need to break out and take a lesson but I won't do that until March. 

Other projects include many patterns I have collected but don't know what I'll do with the finish project: a lizard, a loon, salmon from Alaska...so many applique/places I visited things.   Maybe that will be the theme - places I have been --and there can be a rotating display.  Other things are just collections waiting for creativity to strike.  I also have things like some donated fabric for a benefit quilt.   The squares are begun, but I am no where near done.  I am really looking forward to getting on with the many exciting projects and finishing a small bit every day!

Whitby Abbey revisited

It's been awhile but I think I really now want to commit to McMusing. I am excited because I have finally gone back to my photographic quilt of Whitby Abbey, begun in April 2008 in a Ruth McDowell class. With any luck I could be quilting it early next year. My husband often reminds me that "Luck is the residue of design". In this case it means committing to my project on my unscheduled days (no work, not too many appointments). Today is one of those days and I will work on the project again. Yeah.

I am posting two pictures of the abbey in progress. The first is one (above) is of the abbey at the end of the workshop. The next one is of the abbey at the end of a weekend in April 2009 that I worked on it and tried to get back to the project and really come to some conclusion about how the sky would work. I think that the idea of different skies works for this. The center "pinker" is fabric from Mickey Lawler. I searched for other batiks that would blend and think that I have found a few. On the far right and left are scraps that I bought from Mickey Lawler many years ago (probably 9 or 10 years ago) when I first started quilting. They will make for a pretty interestiong border. There will also be a purplish sky across the top, to help break up the vertical thrust of the quilt. I'll post a picture later today of where I am now. (The plan is to work and photograph today - we'll see how it goes).

I also have some knitting projects I am working on - my sisyphus socks - I keep working on them and having to rework. I feel as though I am forever doomed to knit this one pair. I'll take a picture of them too. I have a scarf in process for the church fair. I really should make half a dozen but I don't think that will happen. It is only two weeks away...

Okay, exercise then on to quilting. Wish me luck.