February's UFO

Live from Area 51, Judy selected #10 for this month's UFO.  I am excited about this pick too, as it is my oldest UFO.  I bought this Bear's Paw pillow kit by Lasting Piece at The Cotton Ball in Morro Bay, probably when my Australian friend *Sue was here and we were on our California adventure in January 2001.

I did not know a lot about quilting then and had no idea what I was getting into with such small pieces!  I did fine until it came to the quilting part, where I came to a dead stop.  I plan to hand quilt this per the instructions.  They used a cable in the outer border and included a template (that blue thing) and simple stitch in the ditch for the bear's paws.  I'll have to get a better photo as the colors are not showing up as richly as they truly are.  Marking needs to take place before any needlework, so that is a task maybe for tonight when Grant is holding band practice here.

January's UFO selection officially was identified as a finished quilt on January 30th, one day before the deadline.  Happy dance time (actually, it was more like turn out the light and rest my tired eyes time)!

This was an experiment in color and print to see if I could make a quilt that would be neutral, that is, neither feminine nor masculine.  Those I've shown it to seem to agree that it is neutral, so I am pleased.

Oops, this picture is posted sideways!  The stripe goes horizontal on the back.  See more pics on my UFO page here.  This was a pattern called Comfort Zone, from Quilts and More Summer 2006 magazine.  I like the name and will keep it.  I just found a note in the magazine indicating I was going to finish this for a different UFO challenge in 2008, oh my.  So it is older than I remembered, but that's not going on the label!


*Keeping Susie and her family in Northern Queensland close in my thoughts as they are getting hit by Category 5 Cyclone Yasi right now.  It crossed the coast between Cairns and Innisfail and they have evacuated from their house and taken their boat from the Port Douglas Marina up the inlet!! Scary, scary and much damage to come. Those who pray, please send prayers for Queensland!

Design Wall Monday--Jan 24, 2011

Not much to show on my Design Wall but there is something this week, as opposed to last!

The first few rows of the Kitchen Sink quilt.  It is coming together nicely.

Saturday I pinned the Comfort Zone quilt with my mom's help.  It is great to have a quilting assistant.  Thanks, Mom!  Now I have to come up with a quilting plan and get this finished in the next week.  I already know I have no appropriate thread to use so it's back to the fabric store for me. Oh darn.

This time when we set up the folding tables we propped them up with two pavers under each leg, raising the level of the tables by about 5 inches to a height of 34 inches, which is standard kitchen countertop height.  Working on a table instead of the living room floor required about the same amount of setup time (i.e., getting the tables/pavers from the backyard shed versus moving furniture and rolling up a big rug) and was so much easier on backs, knees and necks!  Go to Judy's Patchwork Times blog to see other Design Walls.

Happy New Year!

It's 1/1/11, another once in a century date, so I couldn't pass up posting today. 

So how did you ring in the New Year?  Grant took me out to a nearby hotel's bar/restaurant where a fellow musician friend was playing bass in a band.  We enjoyed lots of early Rock n Roll a la Carl Perkins and Buddy Holly and other early artists.  There was even some dancing, which was fun.  Usually I don't get to dance because Grant is PLAYING in the band.  There was an interesting mix of folks there and the people watching was great.  The music was not too loud and it wasn't crowded.  My kind of low key evening.  It was unusual for us to go out for New Year's Eve--I can't remember the last time we did!

Today I spent quite a few hours de-Christmasing the house.  It seems to take such a long time to pack it all up, but I got some help from Grant and Erica with the tree, took down and packed up all the various decorations, wreaths, etc, and everything is now put away in the garage.  The living room feels twice as big but not as cheery!  I got out my black bears and pinecones for winter decor.  Feels good to have it all done in one day.  Usually my advanced procrastinating skills mean there are half packed boxes laying around for at least a couple of days.

This morning I checked on Judy's UFO Challenge number drawn and was happy to see it was #6, which corresponds to the easiest finish on my list, the Comfort Zone quilt.

I already have the backing cut, the binding made, and the completed top ready to layer and pin baste.  It's a good thing Judy picked that one, as I'll be very busy finishing up Erica's quilt in the next three weeks before she moves.  Tonight I took photos of the other projects listed on my UFO Challenge page and will post those directly.  A Happy New Year to you all!