Christmas Wishes

Merry Christmas, everyone!

May you and your families be blessed with Peace, Love and Joy at this magical time of year!

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another finish

These are the blocks I got back from my swap on scqis (southern cross quilters initial swap) All the ladies did lovely work on my blocks and Im really pleased with it

Finished Bargello and Big bed quilt...

I just posted photos of the bargello I finished and a large bed quilt....about 5 years in the "finishing". Have also completed two table toppers...but they have already been gifted. Still have so many more..they seem to multiply!

Last One For the Year Finished!

Well, I finally finished the last supper (lol) cloth on my UFO list - this one I really had to finish as it is a present. The last one I did and this are for my sisters for Christmas, okay they were meant for the Christmas before last but at least they are now done.

This one is white on white with a briar roses motif, I like all one colour cloths because it doesn't matter what colour china you put with them and you can change your colour scheme without worrying that it won't fit....lol.

I didn't get as many UFO's completed as I would have liked but I am pleased that I was able to cross a few off the list.

Big thanks to Lindi for organising this blog challenge because without it I would have added more UFO's to the pile and not got any done!!

another finish

HI all,
Well the "rebellion quilt" is now finished and I think I will keep it for myself.
I was trying to tell myself that I had to finish off ufos etc before I could start something new. I was being soooo good, but well you are all quilters, you know how it is!!!
Anyways a quilty friend was offloading some of her excess stuff, at really good prices I might add and one of them was a layer cake.
I bought it and found a great pattern on the moda bake shop site and this quilt is the result.
Sorry its not the best photo but I didnt have any "quilt holding" helpers around.

Two finishes.....finally

Just finished this x block....... quilt. Piecing that is. Hope to get quilted before Christmas. Also finished a Table topper...but forgot to get a photo...and have given it away...so hope my friend will send me a photo. I have been

swamped with customer quilts at the moment. But finally a finish. Actually...I did also finish a baby quilt for my new grandbaby.... but that was also delivered! So a couple....done finally.

7 Weeks Left!!!

Yes, ladies, only 7 weeks left for this year's challenge. What are you going to achieve in this time? Will you finish a UFO? Or are you too busy doing new projects for all those Secret Santa swaps you signed up for?

Despite being very, very busy, I still intend getting one teeny weeny UFO completed. Not much, I know, but it is something!


BTW, Blessed, you still haven't sent me your addy! Or don't you read this blog anymore?
Sooziii, somewhere in my gmails, I have yours. Just have to find it!

UUUUU

this is what you get done when you get not sleep

This is what can be achieved in a week with hardly any sleep due to horrible hay fever. Firstly quilt from last week bound and labelled.

Not One, But Three!

You thought I'd given up, didn't you? But I'm busy here, in my little corner, stitching away! I have [shamefacedly hangs head] been working on some projects that weren't even a gleam in my eye this time last year, but I'm still trying to discipline myself to finish those UFOs.

Here are a couple of recent triumphs.

Exhibit A:




This is a little wall hanging/tabletopper I pieced at the turn of the century! I had already machine stitched-in-the-ditch, so all I needed to do was a little hand quilting in the border, zap on the binding, and Voila! Another UFO bites the dust!

Exhibit B:




I started this sewing machine cover at least six or seven years ago. A friend had sent me the embroidered panel, along with the pattern. But somehow it stalled, and was unearthed on a recent archeological dig in the nether regions of the closet. And I wondered why I hadn't finished it? Got bored with it I guess....But I'm much more mature now, so I got down to business and finished the binding, which was all it needed. Now, it's performing duties as a dust cover for my machine, when it's not in use. Which, admittedly, is not often.

And lastly, exhibit C:





This might not qualify as "finished", since it is only one of a set of four place mats, started sometime last year. The other three are in various stages of development. This one was finished except for the binding, a matter of half an hour's work.

So there! What have the rest of you been up to?

3rd Quarter gone!

Well, there goes the 3rd quarter! How much did you achieve?

I managed to start a few new things, but no WIPs or UFOs were done! Congratulations those who did cross things off.

The usual draw was made for a winner - each finished UFO getting an entry. The winner is Sooziii (Christening Gown entry)! Congrats, Sooziii!

As soon as I work out what you have won, I will post it off to you. :)

BTW, Blessed, I still don't have your addy to send your prize off.

Good luck with the Final quarter, everyone! Don't let all those Christmas projects get in the way of at least finishing one thing!

AT LAST!!!



Knuckled down, finally stopped procrastinating and got the Christening Gown finished. I had finished all the embroidering last year so I really have been putting it off!

I realised that if I didn't stop making excuses I would never get it done so when I knew that the baby was being induced I decided that it had to be finished before it was born.....lol.


I have never been, and never will be a seamstress - I won't tell you how long I read the stupid directions and tried to make some sense of them. I also know, just like when you pull an engine apart, I ended up with left over bits....rotfl. But regardless of all that I am really pleased the the final result - in fact I have surprised myself.


I still haven't completed the back - trying to decide whether to have buttons or ribbons to fasten the back. Finally decided that ribbons would be best in case future children are bigger/older/plumper and need that little extra room that you could get by tying the back opening instead of buttoning it.

Anyway, my most important UFO is now in the completed pile and I couldn't be happier especially in view of the devastating news about Abigail - I doubt I could concentrate on the sewing with the news hanging over my head. Still trying to get my head around the diagnosis.

For some reason the colour hasn't come out right - it looks white when in actual fact it is Ivory - Swiss Batiste in a lovely ivory colour - but at least you get the idea.

So my next UFO to attempt? To be honest I have no idea - been doing a lot of knitting of cute little girlie boleros and hug me tights ...lol ..... but rest assured I will try and get at least one more done before the year is out! Actually I have one more cloth to complete that I want to give as a Christmas Present so that will have to be done.

I Hope It Is Done

Yes, I thought it was done a couple of months ago but my DS#1 wanted it big enough to fit his queen size bed (with the deep mattresses they have now) so what's a mother to do but please her darling boy. All it lacks is the quilting. This is a two block quilt of my own design using blocks from the Quilters Cache--one is called Winding Blades and the other Soaring Past Time--hence the name Time Travel. DS#1 loves to travel. Strike off one UFO!

Blessings to ya'll,

Marilyn

TaDa!!!

Finished another one!


Spent the last few days making a concerted effort to complete my Hidden Star Log Cabin and finally got it done.


Now all I have to do is quilt it (along with the 1000 peace quilt) but it can wait a little before I do that.

The pics don't do it justice because I can't get the colours right. The aubergine just doesn't seem to want to come out right but at least you get the general idea.

So another UFO is crossed off the list. Not sure when or what I will start on - I have a machine embroidered quilt on the go and .....yes I know ...... still have the christening gown to get done....rotfl.

The Supper Cloth Lady Strikes Again ......lol.

Yep, finished another one, that leaves just one more supper cloth in the Great UFO Pile. This one is a little larger so could count as a small table cloth I guess. I really like the pattern of this one, in the white on white it looks very elegant.

It was started er, um - let's just say it was started sometime in the previous er 3 years.....lol.

Now if I can just get the remaining one finished I will have two Christmas presents completed way in time for Christmas. (Please don't hold your breathe though).


As well as finishing this I also have completed the quilt top I started when Philip was in the Palliative Care unit. I have made a few starts on it over the last year and a half but just haven't been able to really get into it.

I decided to make a real effort and get it finished. I was going to donate it to the unit but now have decided to donate to the 1000 Cranes for Peace Challenge.

I will quilt it after I finish a log cabin started sometime between the above supper cloth and the just finished quilt top.

I have made inroads on the log cabin one and am a little over half way through it. It is a basic log cabin until the last round when it has plain coloured bits (very technical term) that make stars when the log cabins are joined together.

There are 16 12 1/2" squares in it and I have to think (rotfl) to make sure I do the correct plain shapes in the right places to form the stars. So far so good. Have 5 blocks completed and the remaining blocks completed to the final two rounds.

Monkey Quilt Finished

With my DIL's pregnancy getting close to the end I figured I should get a move on some of the UFO's I started last year. With that in mind I decided to make a concentrated effort and get my Five Little Monkeys quilt finished.
So with no further ado I give you my latest finished, completed, done with and over UFO! Ta Da......rotfl.



I handed it over to her and my son yesterday and both we very happy with it. It looks great in the nursery which has been painted with a soft green and has the theme of Noah's ark. The animals on the ark are in soft colours and have things like lions with mauve manes and giraffe with blue and pink spots so I chose soft colours to match for the patchwork blocks. The furniture in the room is caramel so that's why the number locks have a caramel background.

I have also finished the jelly roll log cabin sort of quilt top I plan to quilt it over the next week so will post a picture when it is done. I also finished another supper cloth (one more to do in the UFO supper cloth pile....lol); just need to put some lace around the edge when I hem it so will post a pic of that when I post the quilt.

Introducing UFO #4

At last I have made a start on the next log cabin quilt. This is to be for our king size bed so I'll be making 36 x 14" squares, quilt-as-you-go style.

I decided on a log cabin quilt for our bed and bought some fabrics for it last year, along with the fabrics for the first log cabin, seen here. Then I purchased a few more plus the backing in January of this year. Now I still need to buy one more dark brown/chocolate fabric for third row of dark.

*

I've decided I can make a start on the squares and get them made up to the point of needing that third dark. Then I can take one square shopping with me so as to get just the right fabric.

*

So off to the sewing maching I go. Hope everyone else is enjoying some sewing time.

2nd Quarter Winner!

drum roll......

The names have been placed into the hat.

An independant, non-related and totally unbiased person has drawn out the name.

And the winner is........................................................

Blessed Speedy!

Congratulations! Please email your addy (link on my blog or leave comment which i wont publish) and there will be a little something popped in the mail for you.

YYYYY

What constitutes finished?

So far, quilts have only been counted as finished once they have been quilted and bound, simply because that was what you were all posting. Some of you don't quilt all your quilts yourself, so the question has been raised "Do tops count?"

As we only have 8 days left in this quarter, we will continue with that for this comp.

drum roll....

However, next quarter, we will also count quilt tops!

:)

Finished Large Lap Quilt

At last! A totally finished (bound and labelled) UFO that is no longer a UFO!
This is a quilt for my Great-Niece, S. Can't wait to give it to her.

More finishes happening soon, all going well.

(And provided I don't get caught up in on-line Scrabble matches with Di! - which reminds me: Where are your finished UFOs, Di?)

Running Ahead or Running Behind?

Are you ahead with finishing UFOs or are you getting left behind?

June has now begun, so you have 1 month to get your name up on the finished list. The prize this Quarter is not going to the person with the most finished, so don't get disheartened by Pennie's burst of energy! :)

Instead, for every completed UFO, your name will go into the draw for the prize. Doesn't that make you want to finish something?

So get cracking, everyone! Get those entries in!

eeee

#4 of 4 FINISHED!

Now this finished #4 of 4... I started making this for my DB1's 50th birthday... he turned 60 last year...
It was never going to be a big quilt, just something to throw over his lap but... he gave me something really *#@^%$^* for my birthday so I threw this top down the bottom of my UFO pile and have maintained my rage! LOL I've softened over the years and have a much nicer quilt in mind for him now.
Having just bought a Supreme Slider and Hoop I decided I'd practice machine quilting on this little one. I pin basted half of it and was so impatient to start I did... I was going great guns and thought I didn't need to pin baste the rest sooooo off I went till... UhOh!!! Puckers galore! I decided to cut off the last three rows and turn it into an even smaller quilt but then changed my mind and went for it LOL It doesn't look too bad till you realize it isn't square!!!!!

I'm so quick to start new projects and so..o...o slow to finish them. This is the first finished UFO in a long time so I'm hereby giving myself a pat on the back!

She's Back... #3 of 4 Finished

This one has been hanging around for years, I made these sorts of Raggy quilts for my grandchildren, two brights for the boys and two pinks for the girls. This one uses up the last of my Jan Mullenz flannels. When I made one like this for my 6 year old grandson all my DD1's friends children wanted one so several mothers decided they wanted to learn how to make them themselves so I very carefully started this little sample keeping the stages separate then writing all the instructions and so on... but they never came... something always turned up but at last early this year a date was made and I was able to teach them but this little fellow just sat and waited unfinished. My DD1's friends have made theirs and at last I've finished off my sample... now I'm just waiting for the birth of my #5 grandchild in Macao and if it's a boy it can have this quilt and if it's a girl it can have yesterday's quilt.

Warning - There is a 'Show Off' loose in the top paddock! #2 of 4 Finished.

My friend Michelle gave me these lovely soft fabrics about 8 years ago, I washed them with something and the colours went dull so I napisan-ed them which improved them a little, then I cut the fabrics into 3 1/2" squares which left no leftovers and started sewing the fabrics together but as I sewed and the more I looked at the fabrics I could see another napisan was needed and I couldn't do it now because the fabrics were far too small... soooo.... this little project was put away and became a UFO... till last week when I really got stuck back into it.
It's for a toddler of the female persuasion and measures 40" X 43"

Another Warning... I've almost finished another little quilt...

#1 of 4 - Finished!

This FINISHED Tablerunner is the SCQuilters Mystery Quilt #4 - which I started on Saturday 3rd of November 2001. How precise is that!! No I didn't get that from my files (i.e. my head) I looked it up in the SCQ Mystery Quilt Group Files.
It's only small and when I dug it out I wondered why it had been hanging around for so long... now that it's finished and on the dining table I know.... I DO NOT like it!!!!!!!!! It's chunky, blocky and boring... it had 3D triangles which would have been perfect for catching things so I machine quilted them down. I liked the fabrics 8 years ago but... nah... it will have to go back in the box.

Warning Warning Warning... you will need to get your skates on to catch up to me :-)

I have been working on my pile of UFO's and have three lap quilts and one table runner almost finished, two are raggy and need clipping and two need their bindings sewn down... I will search my files (i.e. my head) and find the start dates for these four, finish them off and then 'Wow' you with photos this week.. Okay!
In this photo you will see the four quilts I'm working on and behind the 'decreasing' UFO pile.
I think I will do a little happy dance then settle down in the sun and sew... or clip...

A Surprise Finish

Saturday was full of surprises. I didn't think I'd get this quilt finished but it came together quickly at the last. "Double Choc" was my T-block quilt which I put together using quilt-as-you-go method. Each block is joined with a finished half-inch strip front and back. Of course put a quilt down and a cat will always appear.

Here is a close up of the cream fabrics.

"Toffee Bon Bon" is the log cabin quilt I completed in early March and now has a name. It looks like a giant bon bon wrapper to me so I went with that.

Both quilts were gifted last night at my brother's surprise "Big O" birthday party. Above is his and "Double Choc" is for my SIL who also celebrated her "Big O" with a surprise party earlier in the year. I was very happy to deliver his and her's gifts just in time for winter next month.
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Now to ponder which UFO will get my attention next. DH thinks I need to make our bed quilt next which will be another quilt-as-you-go log cabin but I only purchased the fabrics for it in January this year so it doesn't qualify as a UFO.

*

Happy Sewing

feeling virtuous, stuff done etc but you'll have to take my word for it

feeling virtuous, stuff done etc but you'll have to take my word for it
Well I got up this morning and thought I should post my progress here on my blog, so here am I....sadly no photos to prove I have done what I am going to tell you, as DD2 Sarah has taken my camera to a deb she went to last night, so you will have to just take my word for it.
How many of you, and I can see heads nodding, download patterns, blocks of the month etc and print off or save them onto your computer? Do you ever ACTUALLY do them???
I realised I am very guilty of this the other day when I went thru a pile of stuff Id printed off for "later" and went to file them
There were hundreds!!!
Anways found six (yes six!!!) blocks of the month in progress that I had printed off.
All cute, all ones I still want to do - so said to myself "enough is enough".
Started on the first one bunny hill which started in January, of course I have ALL the months printed off so traced them all and did them - hooray!!!
Then quickly check the site and May was up, so I've done it too - I think this qualifies for saying I'm up to date
PLUS I finished the little quilt I made/designed in the class with Michele Hill at the southern cross quilters retreat in Adelaide
Amazing!!!
(but true - trust me, photos WILL follow)

An Answer for Pennie

Pennie - yes this is called Cutwork. It is a type of embroidery and can most certainly be done by hand. But not me -ROTFL - I do it on a machine!

I have an embroidery machine so it is really very easy to do. Basically the machine stitches out an outline of the completed design; I then carefully cut away the fabric where there is to be 'gaps'. Once the fabric has been removed, its back to the machine and let it complete the design.

The hardest part, apart from the careful cutting, is laying out the design in the beginning. Taking the time to draw centre and placement lines means a neater more professional finish, although I have to admit I am still not perfect in my placement.

The design can be as simple as a few areas of cutaway fabric to something almost like lace.

A Supper Cloth - or an Afternoon tea cloth - is a small tablecloth; the idea was that for supper or afternoon tea a full table is not set so a small cloth is thrown on one end of the table and set with china and yummy cakes etc. You could also use it as a topper over a larger plain cloth or on a small round table.

Yes, Its Another Supper Cloth But It IS Finished!!

Despite spending most of my time painting recently I did manage to finish another UFO.

This is another supper cloth that I started, er, um way back when....lol.

I had completed three of the four butterflies in the centre and that was as far as it had progressed. I finally got stuck into it and completed all the embroidery a couple of weeks ago and then did the wing needle edges and hemmed it this week.

I am a happy camper because I was thinking that nothing was going to get completed this quarter.

The corners are a sort of cut down version of the centre although they are quite large. I would normally put lace around the edge but I felt the cutwork was so heavy and so pretty it could stand alone.

The centre is a really pretty cutwork design and I was very pleased with the way it stitched out.

I have realised that my grandchild is due August/September so I think my next project is going to be finishing the Christening Gown I started last year. I have completed all the embroidery on the eight panels, sleeves, bodice and back so now I have to cut it all out then stitch it together.

I am not looking forward to it - it is going to be a very big learning curve for me because I am not a clothing sewer, and this is full of entredeaux lace and insert lace and ....oh my!

PS - the cloth has got a new home to go to - B11 forgot it is Mother's Day and started panicking about what he could buy his Mum. I offered the cloth and he jumped at it ..... rotfl..... just hope she likes it.

Finished Pattern tester, Floating Bubbles quilt.....

Finally finished the Floating Bubbles test pattern, my DD in law, Jen created. It is done and hanging in the quilt shop. I am so pleased with it...it was pretty quick and easy, and fat quarter friendly. I have another full sized quilt ready to have final borders added then it is going to be quilted. It seems to be getting harder to get my UFO's finished.... maybe its the nicer weather?Have a great week.

Sweet Baby Jane

I haven't been blogging much, but I have been busy in my sewing room, working on new projects and UFOs.

These are squares I started last year sometime, using my Sweet Baby Jane jelly roll.

This is where they were still up to at Easter.

This is where they are up to now.

The top is now finished, [and square, i might add! :)]. I'm trying to decide whether to quilt it myself or get it done professionally. It will all depend on how I decide to quilt it.

So that's another UFO well on its way to being done.

Into The Stretch On One More!

A recent, casual comment provided me with the needed inspiration to finish this wall hanging. This time it is a legitimate UFO! I was inspired by a pattern based on the blocks that would have been made by the characters in the Little house On The Prairie books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. We lived in Minnesota at the time [we moved here from there in 2001!] I had a good friend, Heide, from Germany, who wanted to learn to do patchwork. I volunteered to teach her [sort of "the blind leading the blind!"] We both learned a lot and our weekly stitching sessions cemented our friendship, and helped to make the long Minnesota winter bearable!

The top picture was my first try at Quilting With Laura. When we moved here I taught a class in it at a local quilt store. This is the version I made there:




It eventually became a gift for my sister, who is taking very good care of it!

There really isn't much left to do. It's already sandwiched and basted. All I have to do is quilt in the ditches [by machine], and maybe a few little hand quilting touches.....Then a sleeve for hanging, some binding, and Bingo! A gift ready to go...

I'm quilting some teddy bears right now, so am all warmed up for ditch quilting!