Twenty Years in the Making.

When I see how quickly I can sew blocks together, finish the top and then quilt and finish the binding, it makes me wonder why I have procrastinated so long on some of my many UFOs. I think one of the main problems is that the project wasn't working out how I wanted and other things became more urgent. Anyway this quilt only took 20 years in the making and it's great to have a finish so early in the new year.

I've also finished all the piecing for the hexagons and this will be my next finish. I am in the process of hand appliqueing the hexagon edges to borders and plan to quilt and bind it tomorrow or the next day. I've also made good progress with cleaning out my sewing room so it's been a good start to 2015.
Marijke, the 1940s blue cutter quilt has the flowers stitched down by machine but I will hand applique the replacement petals to repair it.

Thanks for stopping by.
Hugs, Jan Mac

I Found Another One.

I'm still cleaning, de-cluttering and excavating my sewing room and it's great to be able to find things I'd totally forgotten about. As a consequence I'm also inspired to finish off some of my far too many UFOs. These blocks are about 20 years old and were part of an online swap. I was going to make the Tennessee Waltz pattern and make Snowball blocks as the alternate block. Of course when I swapped the blocks I was very busy with work and the blocks weren't all of the same colour pallette so they have languished in the cupboard. Also there were only 17 of them measuring 12" but then I dithered over whether or not to make more for a larger quilt. In the end I left 2 out and made a nice sized quilt with 15 of them.  I've pulled them out a couple of times and planned to finish it as a donation quilt but had others which would take less work to finish so they were put away again.
  Today was the day for a finish! I pulled them out, stitched them together, made the borders and a pieced backing. Tonight I plan to quilt it with just a simple meander. I'm pleased with how they look now they have a border and it will make a pretty quilt. It's got enough dark colours to be a masculine quilt as well so it will probably be donated but I may just keep it here for a little while and enjoy it being finished.

I used some fabric strips to make the backing wider and I'd better get off the computer and get it quilted.
Hugs, Jan Mac

More UFOs Found

We're having a heat wave and I really should just sit and stitch in the AC but I really want to continue to excavate the sewing room and get things under control while I have a few days off work and while I am on a break from traveling. I've been unearthing all sorts of treasures I'd forgotten about and it's a good way to find and organize the UFOs that have been forgotten.
We're also cat sitting and these little kitties certainly liven up the household. As soon as I lay a quilt, top o9r blocks on the floor they are straight over to it and lie down. This is a 1930s cutter quilt I bought quite a few years ago, unseen. I'm going to repair and bind the 6 blocks as a small quilt as well as joining another 4 blocks which have an outer border section as another piece to hang. I love trying to give these pieces new life.

While I was excavating I found lots of half made bits and pieces. Some are going to be donated to the Salvos shop as I have plenty to work with and there are some embroidery kits, cross stitch kits etc that I can part with and bless someone else. I'm also taking apart some of these stitched pieces that I don't want to finish.

These are like "quilt soup" and will join lots of other scraps in some new projects. I find it's a lot better to just let some UFOs go and put the fabric back into the scrap baskets to add interest to something I want to work on rather than having bits and pieces in bags which I will never get to finish.

I want to get back to the other UFOs I'm finishing but when the "urge to purge " strikes, I find it's best to just get busy so I can clear the tables for my next quilting project.
  There have already been houses lost to bush fires, but thankfully no loss of life. Stay safe everyone.
Hugs, Jan Mac

Staying Focused on a Finish.

 Happy New Year everyone. I hope you're all enjoying some time for stitching as well as spending time with family and friends. I don't make resolutions for the new year but I do try to focus on one or two things I want to achieve for the coming year. This year I want to finish off lots of my WIPs as well as UFOs. I have done really well at staying focused on finishing the re-make of this 1930s piece. It's looking a bit crushed because I had it folded up when I went to select fabric for the borders. I have almost finished the piecing and hope to appliqué the pieces onto the borders over the weekend.
 We're having extremely hot weather for the next few days so staying inside in air conditioning is very appealing. I'm just hoping we don't get bush fires again this year. Stay cool!
Hugs, Jan Mac

A UFO From the 1860s.

I have been inspired to finish off some UFOs. Some are mine and some are from other quilters. I purchased this set of blocks from the US about 20 years ago. They were made in the 1860s so another 20 years waiting for completion wasn't really a big issue. They have never been washed and are in pretty good condition considering their age. They are all pieced by hand and are not really accurate, leading them to be of different sizes. As a result, I decided to frame each block and then cut them all to the same size. This cuts off some of the star points but I didn't want to put too much stress on the fabric by trying to stretch them to fit.

I am adding sashing which blends in with the framing fabric.

As you can see they are made from clothing scraps and by finishing them as a quilt I hope to prolong their life as well as being able to enjoy them rather than having them in a cupboard somewhere.

This is my favourite quilting book for working with blocks of different sizes. It's an older one but also gives lots of good ideas for working with odd numbers of blocks and it's the book I use the most when piecing block sets.
  I've had a few nights of work and now have a little break so I plan to get this quilt finished while I have all the pieces set out and before I lose anything. LOL This may well be my first finish for 2015 and after 155 years it's not a moment too soon! I hope you all have a very happy and prosperous year for 2015 as well as finishing up lots of your UFOs. That is my aim for the coming year but time will tell if I can maintain my progress before succumbing to starting something new.
 Happy New Year everyone.
Hugs, Jan Mac

The Fickle Quilter

My first love with quilting is needleturn applique and I had every intention of maintaining my progress with catching up with the Chester County Criswell Quilt BOM. I was on a roll and really enjoying my progress. Then I didn't get my prep work done so returned to working on these 1930 hexagons. I have finished all the white hexies around the edge and now just have the edges to fill in with parts of hexie flowers.

It's a very good project to have when I have time for some hand piecing. Then I had the urge to finish off some UFOs and when that urge strikes I like to go with it.Some of the UFOs are mine and some are antique or vintage tops and blocks. I'm very grateful that I don't earn my living  from my quilting as it means I can be fickle and capricious and change my mind about my favourite quilts and techniques. I can work on what pleases me while the mood strikes and I hope my changeable way of working on projects will lead to more finishes very soon. In the meantime I am back to working nights again so I can ponder which project I'll pick up when I'm awake. I'm starting to go through the antique blocks I've bought about 20 years ago and plan to get some of them finished. Or I might change my mind and get back to the applique - so many choices to make.

Hugs, Jan Mac

The Fish Quilt.

 I offered to make a gift quilt for my Melbourne Quilt Group while I was home long enough to get one finished. LOL! The blocks were made by the group's members and there was a good mix of colours for the fish. I deliberately put one of them swimming against the tide and I named this quilt - "There's Always One"! I guess I like to swim against the tide too at times.

 I used some fish fabric from my stash and it will make a nice quilt for my group to donate.

I've added a copy of the instructions in case anyone other than Marijke wants the pattern. It would make a very cute kid's quilt, especially if all the background "sea" fabric was the same.
  It's good to get a gift quilt finished and now I'm back to working on some of my own UFOs as well as some from others.Thanks for stopping by.
Hugs, Jan Mac