UFO Challenge update

Another miss for September--although I did get the free-pieced names finished for the second of my Any Witch Way quilts, which was one of the goals.  Since I altered my plan for both tops because I also wanted to add free-pieced names, plus I made the piano key border for the second, there is more left to do.  I plan to continue working this weekend and get to at least a completed top stage with the free-pieced names added.

The UFO number picked for October is #11, which coincidentally was the UFO I swapped out for September, and is a block swap project that has been waiting a long time in the queue. 

Scrappy 9 patches are going to be laid out in a zig zag fashion.  I copied this layout from a quilt Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville called her Zig-Zag 9 Patch  (made in 2005), although hers was made from 2" leader-ender squares and my blocks are from 2.5" squares.  Bonnie has excellent references on her site for figuring setting squares and triangles and I will make good use of those.  I'll have to count up the blocks already made as the bed-sized layout I drew up requires a few more 9 patches.  The setting fabric is the warm buff yardage in the left side of the photo. 

This is a very very busy month for me but I do plan to work on this UFO as much as I can, in between finishing the wedding quilt, my outfit for the wedding, more sewing for the wedding, and THE WEDDING, now only 29 days away!  DD Elaine is off to her Bachelorette weekend with her sister and friends in Palm Springs, and her fiance Chris is in Las Vegas with his group of pals. I went with Elaine to her final fitting on Thursday and her wedding gown is just perfect on her.  Plus, Elizabeth, the seamstress, charged her $100 less than first quoted!  Elizabeth is just a doll and so fun to talk to.  She's doing two of the bridesmaids' dresses as well, and asked for pictures of the wedding.  So sweet.

Name game

The name game, or rather free-pieced letter game, continued several nights this week.  I lined them up to see what they would look like once surrounded by background.

The capital R in Rafilda bothered me--seeming too clunky.

So I did a little surgery and added a narrow background strip for refinement of the letter.  As with any new technique, it takes a bit of time to get your mind wrapped around it, but by the third name I was comfortable "thinking in strips" as I added them and branched out by exploring fonts.  It is the deadline for the UFO challenge and obviously I will not get a quilt finished today, but I am four steps closer!  What do you think?

One Word Wednesday

Autumn.

Tuesday's Orts--Sept 27, 2011

Another bunch of Orts, in this case flotsam and jetsam of my week that land here each week.

• When you've had a blister on your toe for 10 days, can you pop it?  I'm afraid to!
• Computer problems at work have resulted in far too many stressful hours for months now.  Our database crashed totally on Thursday and luckily our tech guy was able to get it back after about 3 hours of work on Friday.  A new server has been ordered but until it gets here it is "fingers crossed" every day.  Not fun.
• No matter which practice management program Dr. P and I look at and how many different ways they work the numbers, it all adds up to about $6000 a year for a medical office billing and scheduling program.  And of course that does not include the price of new computers/routers, installation of same, or any future software upgrades.  Sheesh. 
• Traffic rant:  Drivers who realize they need to turn, but just maddeningly drift from the far right lane across two lanes to the left turn lane in half a block, without signaling and in no apparent hurry, making the rest of us have to hit our brakes.  Why can't they just go up to the next block and turn? 
• In the interest of moving more (i.e., getting up from sitting), this weekend I made about 30 trips in and out of the garage to the box of fall decor items instead of bringing the box in the house.  Wish I'd worn a pedometer to keep track of my mileage.
• Our volunteer corn plant has grown a lot.
  
  





I wouldn't describe it as lush, and I don't believe it will produce fruit, but it is pretty with its tassels.  Another is about to burst forth.  Grant thinks we should cut it down but I'm not ready to--I like it! 

Design Wall Monday--Sept 26, 2011

On my Design Surface today is more of the same--still working on my September UFO, Any Witch Way (Quiltmaker, Sept/Oct 2009).  I'm now constructing all the witches' names.

Kachan is spelled out, joining Jerryl.  Playing with letters is fun but requires concentration to make sure the background and letter fabrics are going in their correct spots.  I've made a start on the next witch's name, which will be Rafilda, and have branched out a bit from the block style.  More on that later!  See more Design Walls on Judy's Patchwork Times. 

Do you do this?

I went shopping for pants to wear to work and came home with a jacket.  It's a new color for me, green (ha ha).  The fit was good and the fabric a nice brushed twill, with lots of the dressmaker details I like.

However, I pictured unwinding my long hair from the epaulet buttons multiple times per wearing.

They weren't even sewn into a seam so I knew my seam ripper would quickly be in use once I got the jacket home. 

A few stitches tacking the facing to the seam allowance to secure it...

...and the jacket is ready to launder and wear.  Removing that detail was quick and easy.  I often deconstruct new clothing--and sometimes old--with my seam ripper, especially flaps on pockets and labels in itchy spots. 

I still need pants, though!

Word Play

Strips cut and Word Play Quilts book at the ready, I started playing with letters this morning.  The E was first, followed by J, L, the Rs, and finally Y.  My letters got bigger--the Y is outsized because I mistakenly used a wider strip than called for.

Not bad for a first attempt, but the letters seemed too blocky and crude for these elegant witches.

Lowercase letters are easier to make, too. 

This combo fits the space well but I may mix upper and lower case for fun.  That decision doesn't have to be made until all the names are ready to be assembled.  Then I'll add spacers and finally trim to a consistent height.  So far I have not had to discard any whole letters, but some pieces definitely hit the trash bin.  I barely had enough leftover fabric to make all these letters, so I better be more careful as I go--there isn't much left of any of these fabrics!