Focus on the Finish!

Folks who read my blog blather on a regular basis know I have been trying to stay focused on finishing projects that have been in the WIP and UFO stage for too long.  I got started on this Finish Focus when the commotion made by all the stalled projects overwhelmed me every time I entered my sewing room.  

I've made good progress over the last few months, but when I sat down this week to make a list of projects to focus on for 2019, I found the list was still heavy with UFOs.  At the same time, the list of projects I want to attempt doesn't get any shorter, either.  All I can say is, "So many quilts, so little time!"

One recent project was to finish binding this large (88" x 88") quilt.  I'm happy to report the binding is finished, as is the label.  I haven't had an opportunity to do some really good photos of this quilt; maybe before year's end that will happen.

Autumn decorating season reminded me this candle mat was still unfinished, so I got busy and completed the embroidered details.  Once that was done, I stitched on the backing and pronounced it Finished!  This was a wool project started at a workshop at my LQS, Quilted Owl.  Pattern by Primitive Gatherings.

Another UFO was this knit shawl I started at least 4 years ago - probably longer, but the exact date is lost in the mists of time.  About three-quarters of the way through, I realized I needed more yarn to finish the project.  Although it was easy to obtain more yarn and the colorway matched fine, the texture of the second skein was a little different and the second side of the shawl came out a bit looser than the original.  Or maybe that's because my knitting became looser over all the years it took to complete the shawl?!

Pattern:  Nae Shawl by Anat Rodan.  Yarn:  Fino by Manos del Uruguay.  I finished the final stitches on this last night and popped it over my shoulders as Dear Son and I were binge-watching "The Last Kingdom" on Netflix.  It was the perfect amount of warmth for one of our cool, but not cold, fall evenings!

Another Finish Focus is to complete the binding for several quilts.  This Nine-Patch variation quilt started out as a Rainbow Scrap Challenge project in 2016.  The backing fabric has been in my stash for years and I thought it would make a fun back for this particular quilt.  Having a printed backing seemed to dictate using a solid for the binding, although I like to use bright prints for the bindings on these RSC quilts.  Fortunately, I found the perfect light purple cross-weave fabric in my stash - I love it when that happens!

Diane Knott of Butterfly Threads Quilting did the long-arm quilting for me.  This picture doesn't do it justice, but it's the perfect amount of swirly softness to complement all those squares.  Diane did a fabulous job and I can't wait to take some glamour shots to show off her work!

Still more Finishing:  Fun with Barb's Nine Patch swap blocks (2014).  I had seen this setting years ago in a quilt magazine (remember when we got our inspiration from quilt magazines?), clipped the picture and added it to my quilting bucket list.  Barb's Nine Patch swap was the perfect opportunity to use this setting.  Some sources call it Tonganoxie Nine Patch, but if you Google that, you'll get all kinds of variations.  Yes, the background fabric is supposed to look kinda washed-out and splotchy - it's from a Betsy Chutchian line called Rachel Remembered.  

I'm still debating whether the quilt needs a border/borders.  While I was rummaging shopping in my stash for potential border fabrics, I came across this chunk of Mark Twain-themed fabric that will be perfect for the backing.

One of my focus quilts for 2019 will be Burgoyne Surrounded - another Rainbow Scrap Challenge project that has gotten stalled.  I need 25 BS blocks for the quilt (current count: 15) and 30 nine-patch (3 inch) blocks for the setting.  I pulled scraps from my 1.5 inch strip bin and cut lots of nine-patch parts to use as leader-enders over the next couple of weeks.  Here are a few that got finished as I stitched up the Tonganoxie/Fun with Barb Nine-Patches.

My big focus for the rest of this year is going to be working on the blocks for the Gathered Harvest appliqué quilt.  This was a BOM from the Quilted Owl.  My goal was to perfect my machine appliqué skills on this project.  All the pieces are ready to be stitched for this block, so I just need some un-interrupted machine stitching time.

Sorry for the long re-cap!  It looks like I've accomplished a lot over the past few weeks, but honestly, most of these projects just needed a few hours of attention to get them Finished.  It makes me happy to see the progress, and the noise from UFOs has abated somewhat.  I think it's almost time to reward myself with a new project!

October Potpourri (No Pumpkin Spice!)

When your current goal is to finish a bunch of outstanding projects, it's hard to come up with compelling blog topics.  Right now I'm in the process of hand-stitching the binding on a queen-size quilt.  I'm not one of those people who can stitch down a binding in one long session (carpal tunnel issues), so I try to do a little bit of stitching every day.  I'll get this one finished eventually, but there are three more waiting in the binding queue!

This is the quilt being bound:  Austen Family Album - a BOW by Barbara Brackman.  I divided up my completed blocks and made two quilts with them.  The colors are a little washed out here, but I love the soft look of the pink, yellow, and turquoise fabrics.

The first Austen Family Album quilt contained orange, green and brown fabrics.  I gifted the finished quilt to my sister.

We're finally getting some cooler fall weather here in South Louisiana.  I was inspired to do a little decorating.  I purchased the turkey platter on the left at an antique mall almost exactly 4 years ago.  After that first purchase, my Dear Hubby and I seemed to stumble across vintage turkey platters every time we went antiquing.  Pretty soon we had a collection.  My favorites are the ones with advertising for local furniture stores.  They must have been premiums for folks who purchased furniture around the holidays.

We couldn't stop with just turkey platters, we had to start adding turkey figures, too.  

My Halloween decorating is minimal compared to what I did when my kids were small.  There's a closet full of Halloween decorations, waiting for grandkids or a garage sale, whichever comes first!  I made this little quilt from brown and orange scraps and a great jack-o-lantern fabric.  It's perfect for displaying some Halloween push puppets and wind-up toys.

And now it's time to go stitch some more binding!  I hope everyone has a great week!

Austen Family Album Volume 1 - The Complete Story

I briefly mentioned my Austen Family Album quilt last week.  It was a finished object I noted as part of the 17ufosin2017 challenge.  I thought the quilt deserved to have its entire story told, so here we go with its biography!

I started making the Austen Family Album blocks in April, 2014.  Barbara Brackman provided the patterns and I used fabric from one of my all-time favorite collections - Curio by Basic Grey (Moda).  When the BOW was complete, I had a wall full of 12-inch blocks.  I decided to split the colors into groups, with yellow, pink and turquoise fabrics in one group and the brown and orange fabrics in another.

I put the final stitches in the binding at the end of May, just in time for a trip to Florida.  I planned on giving the quilt to my sister, and I knew I would see her during my visit.

My local LAQ, Cindy Braiwick, did a fantastic job on the quilting.   

The finished quilt measures out at 74 inches by 88 inches.   My sister was excited to have such a "literary" quilt (she was an English major in college).  She said she was looking forward to re-reading some Jane Austen while snuggled under her quilt!

May: 17ufosin2017

Time for another 17ufosin2017 report.  I missed last month's link-up, mostly because I posted my only progress for the month as a link to Audrey's Quilty 365 wrap-up post.  

I'm so glad I pushed myself to assemble all those Quilty 365 blocks into a top - otherwise I'd probably still have a basket full of blocks 5 years from now!  My son came up with the name "Full Circle".   I don't have a timetable for the quilting, but it will happen eventually.

Another of my 17 projects for 2017 was to simply add borders to a scrappy RWB quilt that has been in the making for a year or two.  

The photograph makes the border look very dark, but in person it's a great frame for all those red, white and blue fabrics.  At some point later this year, the top will get quilted and gifted.

Once the red, white and blue quilt was off the design wall, I started pinning up these Sawtooth Star and Uneven 9-Patch blocks.  I've had the blocks made for several years, so it was a priority for me to get them assembled into a top this year.  I still have a lot of stitching to do on this project, but 17ufosin 2017 will help keep me motivated!

Last, but not least, I finished hand-stitching the binding and label for one of my Austen Family Album quilts.  It was gifted to my sister just this past weekend.  I think she liked it!

That's all my progress to date.  It's been very satisfying to check off projects on my 17ufosin2017 list, although there are still some very large projects left to complete!  Meredithe has a linky party over at her blog, pomegranate and chintz, so do check out all the other ufo progress.

March: 17ufosin2017 Progress

My Quilting Muse must have taken a Caribbean vacation this month.  I have not had much motivation to work on any quilting projects, be they new or old.  I did make a little progress on my 17ufosin2017, so maybe seeing that progress laid out here will help inspire me!

My Quilty 365 circles are almost a flimsy.  I stitched all the 30 circle sets together with a narrow, light gray sashing.  I have 7 circles that didn't fit into the block scheme.  My plan is to add another row of sashing on the bottom, then a narrow row of the 7 circles and some words.  The gray sashing will get repeated on all the outer edges of the quilt.  I'm not sure if that will complete the flimsy - the quilt hasn't spoken yet.

I made the continuous bias binding for my Austen Family Album quilt and attached it.  However, I have yet to pick up a needle and start stitching the binding to the back of the quilt.  

March also found me stitching up another batch of string blocks for the Spring Clean quilt.  I now have 2 completed blocks - only 7 left to go!  I've been working on the string blocks on the weekends we go to our camp.  In the interest of speeding things up, I brought home all the strings so I could make blocks on weekday evenings after work - great therapy!  

Having the 17ufosin2017 challenge has helped with the quilting motivation, even if that doggone Muse went on vacation!

Jane Austen and Eagles - All On A Mardi Gras Day

In my book it has been a good Mardi Gras.  The weather was cold (for New Orleans!) and overcast, but we were snug at home enjoying a Tuesday off from work and watching all the festivities on television.  As my friend called it - "Jammie Gras"!  Best of all, our oldest son came by and joined us for ceremonial cheeseburgers as our farewell to rich food before the abstinence of Lent.  (We often have a steak feast on Mardi Gras, but we did that on Thursday with our youngest son who flew in for the crazy weekend before Mardi Gras.)

 

I added the outer borders to the brown version of the Austen Family Album quilt.  The final border is a damask-type floral print.  I like the soft finish to this version.  As I worked on the the border, I wondered if Jane Austen would enjoy Mardi Gras.  I decided she would find the culture and traditions (and snobbery) as amusing as Regency England.  

 

Here's a close-up to give a better picture of the sashing and border.

Once I had the Austen Family Album borders tackled, I was ready for my main Mardi Gras project:  prepping block one of my Quilt Like An Eagle quilt project.

 

I will be out of town for some new job training for the next few days, necessitating some nights in a hotel.  I wanted to get the block all prepped for applique, so I'd have something to do after work.  I used the freezer paper and starch methods to get all his raw edges turned under and ready for stitching.  He's not pinned or basted at this point, but that will be easy to do tomorrow evening.  He has two different color talons because I couldn't decide which color I preferred.  I think I'll go with blue.  I'm pretty excited to finally have this project under way - I just hope I have the energy to work on him for the next couple of nights!

 

Mardi Gras will be over soon - the festivities traditionally end at midnight when the courts of Rex, King of Carnival (above) and Comus, another of the oldest Mardi Gras krewes, meet and salute each other.  In the French Quarter, police on horseback ride abreast down Bourbon Street, ceremoniously announcing "Mardi Gras is over!"  

Me, I'll be fast asleep and dreaming of quilts to come.

 

Superb Owl Stitching

It's time again for the uniquely American extravaganza related to a championship football game (American football).  I'm amused at the changes in how the game is referenced since the National Football League (NFL) - governing organization of American football - has copyrighted the name commonly applied to the game:  S*per*owl.  Every business with a reason to refer to the super game has come up with alternate terms, so they don't have to pay royalties to the NFL.  My favorite by far is "Superb Owl".  

In honor of the game, I offer up an owl of my own - a barn owl we met while Geocaching a few years ago on the Woodlands Trail. 

 

I won't be doing any hand stitching during the game this year as I need to rest both wrists.  I've been experiencing numbness and tingling in both hands at night, so I'm trying to avoid all wrist-intensive activities for awhile.

  

I have been addressing some Austen Family Album blocks.  I decided to separate the blocks from this BOW and make two quilts.  One quilt will feature the browns, greens and oranges.  The other will have mainly yellow, pink and turquoise blocks.  

I consulted with the proprietor of one of my local quilt shops - The Quilted Owl - and she immediately suggested a great fabric for the sashing.  So far I've only completed the between-the-block sashing, but I'm very happy with the Color Weave fabric from P & B Textiles.  

I've already decided to share this quilt with my sister, with whom I share a love of books and reading.  

And now it's time to join the family (all my boys are home!) and watch the Superb Owl!

 

Austen Family Album: Wrapping Up The Story

I have been working on Barbara Brackman's Jane Austen-themed BOW since last April.  I had fallen behind in completing the weekly blocks (which concluded in early December), so one of my January goals was to finish the remaining blocks and at least get started on setting the blocks into a quilt top.

I chose to use a fabric line from several years ago called "Curio" by the Moda designers Basic Grey.  Most of the fabrics in the line were lovely, but there were some drawbacks to the choice.  There wasn't a lot of contrast in the fabrics, so I added several light neutral fabrics to bring some spark to the blocks.  The sampler blocks often called for a central print to be highlighted, and the fabric group only had one large floral print (in several colorways) that was suitable.  So, I wound up purchasing some traditional floral fabrics to mix in with the Curio fabrics.  Finally, the colors crossed a broad spectrum, including pink, yellow, green, brown and pumpkin.  I went ahead and used all the colors, but perhaps I should've narrowed the field a little.

The blocks are all complete, so now I'm deciding how to set them.  I have a large piece of a neutral Moda Grunge fabric that would work for sashing.  I also have a fabric in mind for an outer border, if I can still purchase enough of it.  That would be a fairly quick and painless proposition.

On the other hand, now that I have the blocks arranged on the wall, some of the darker blocks really stand out.  I'm wondering if I should split the blocks into two piles, one light and one dark.  I'd need to make two additional blocks to get a 4 x 5 setting for each separate quilt.  I could even set the blocks on point, which is what I originally wanted to do - but 36 blocks on point would make a huge quilt.  By making two quilts, I'd have one for myself and one for my English major sister!

Either way, I really enjoyed participating in this BOW.  Barbara Brackman provided a treasure trove of historical information about Jane Austen and her life and times.  I stretched out and played with fabric and color choices, which was a great experience for me.  I think I'm done with sampler quilts for awhile (this is my third one in as many years), but I'm glad I pushed myself to try new things.

I have an unexpected day off from work tomorrow, so I'm hoping to have some time to play with arranging these blocks some more.  I definitely DON'T want to put them away for awhile, since my goal for 2015 is to finish Works In Progress!

2015: It's All About the WIPs!

Many bloggers have shared delightful quilt year retrospectives this week.  I was inspired to look back over my quilting year, and I was surprised to find I had only completed TWO quilts this year!

On the other hand, my collection of WIPs (works in progress) seems to just keep growing.  I did some cleaning and tidying in the sewing room this fall, and decided it was time to focus on finishing projects.  That's my goal for 2015 - to make a serious dent in all the projects in varying states of completion!

 

Both of this year's completed quilts were started as part of the 2012 Rainbow Scrap Challenge. 

 

I probably would have finished more quilts in 2014, but I developed a reluctance to begin that last step in quilting:  applying the binding.  Normally, I don't mind the binding process and actually enjoy hand-stitching the binding to the back of the quilt.  For some reason, I just could not get excited about binding for most of this year.  As a result, there are four quilts in the queue that need binding! 

 

I did manage to get a few flimsies completed this year.  There's also another plaid memory quilt - similar to the quilt top in the upper right corner - in the queue for quilting.

 

The biggest queue is quilt tops in various stages of piecing.  I'm embarrassed to fully enumerate all of the languishing projects, so I chose a few to really focus on for the first part of the year.  

The birds, flowers and stars are destined to be an applique border for the bowtie blocks below.  

The blue and white blocks were a year long leader-ender project of uneven 9 patches and alternate sawtooth stars.  All the blocks are finished now and need assembling.

Rounding out the projects are two samplers from 2014.  The Rainbow Scrap Sampler was offered by Angela at Soscrappy.  I've been participating in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge for a couple of years, so doing the sampler was a fun project to share with online scrap-loving friends.  I also participated in Barbara Brackman's Austen Family Album, a sampler that focused on author Jane Austen and her friends and relations.  I need to finish another half dozen or so blocks for this project before it will be ready for assembly.

 

There's still at least one more memory quilt to make.  That will be a total of 6 quilts made from my father's shirts.  I made a good start on the center of the 6th quilt today.

So my goal is to avoid new projects and focus on finishing some of the quilts I've shared today.  It will be hard to resist the siren song of fabric and creativity, but I'll be much happier when some of these projects are off the "To Do" list!

 

 

Friday Scrap Bag

A  compendium of recent quilt-related activities...

 

I signed up for Barb's 9-patch swap back in July.  She shared a terrific nine-patch technique on her blog and incited a swarm of nine-patch construction!  I've been lollygagging a little, mostly making the blocks as leader-enders.  Now the deadline is looming and I'm only half-way through.  I will be sewing nine-patches like mad for the next few days!

 

I lucked into one of these beauties a few weeks ago.  Sorry for the funky color, I didn't want to have half the design washed out by using the camera's flash.  

 

The tin was issued in 1997 and originally held miniature Milky Way candy bars.  The bottom of the tin is labeled "Baltimore Album Quilt" and explains the history of Baltimore Album quilts. 

 

Oh look!  The nine-patch blocks fit perfectly!

 

Another block in the Austen Family Album series, this one representing Anne Brydges LeFroy, a good friend of Jane Austen's - hence the block name "Friendship".

 

Old Maid's Puzzle is for Anne LeFroy's nephew, Tom LeFroy, with whom Jane had a brief romance.  Indeed, that romance was the basis of the movie Becoming Jane, but as always, screenwriters take liberties with the story!

I also finished hand-stitching the binding on another Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilt, but I need to take outdoor pictures of it - and it's raining right now.  Maybe tomorrow...

 

 

 

Keeping up with the Austens

I am caught up once again with the blocks for Barbara Brackman's Austen Family Album BOW.  I have been enjoying all the stories about Jane Austen's circle of family and friends.  There is also a Flickr group associated with the BOW, and it has been fun to see how different stitchers interpret the blocks.

 

The Lucky Pieces block is in memory of Jane Austen's Aunt Jane Leigh-Perrot.  Aunt Jane was accused of shoplifting some expensive lace and held in prison until her trial.  If she had been found guilty at trial, she could have been executed or sent to the penal colony in Australia.  Fortunately, she was declared not guilty when evidence turned up the shopkeeper and his assistants may have planted the lace in hopes of blackmailing Aunt Jane.  Lucky indeed!

 

The block Water Wheel commemorates Jane Austen's uncle and Aunt Jane's husband - James Leigh-Perrot.  Uncle James suffered from gout and spent a good deal of time in the English city of Bath, "taking the waters" in hopes of a cure.

 

Indian Star is meant to remember Austen family friend Warren Hastings.  Mr. Hastings was Governor General of India when Jane Austen was born and continued to have a close association with the family throughout his life.  

 

The Cross Patch block was chosen to represent Mary Lloyd, an Austen family neighbor and later Jane's sister-in-law.  

 

Martha Lloyd, Mary Lloyd's sister, was also a friend to the Austens and later became a housemate to Jane, her sister Cassandra and Mrs. Austen.  Her block is called Best Friend.

 The West Wind block was chosen to remember Cassandra Austen's fiance, Tom Fowle.  Mr. Fowle became acquainted with the Austens when he attended the school run by Jane and Cassandra's father.  Mr. Fowle became a minister for the Church of England, but he initially had no parish and no job.  He sailed to the West Indies as a chaplain, but died of a fever before he could return and marry Cassandra Austen.  

The Austen Family Album series will have 36 blocks when complete.  The current block is number 21, so the end will be here sooner rather than later.  I have been reading novels other than Jane Austen's - I shall need to redirect my literary steps in that direction!