July: 17ufosin2017

The end of July means it's time for another 17ufosin2017 report.

I missed reporting on my UFO projects at the end of June, but my July report will be identical to what I would've reported in June!

One of my most ambitious projects for 17ufosin2017 was to assemble all these Sawtooth Star and Uneven 9-Patch blocks.  I got that accomplished, only to realize the quilt was not going to be the size I expected.  What can I say, sometimes long-term projects play tricks on your memory!

I did not have the willpower to make another big batch of stars and 9-patches, so I decided to add a border of Flying Geese to help reach my desired size.  I made about 90 of these FG blocks, so now they need to be pieced together and attached.  I'll finish this quilt eventually!

Another 17ufosin2017 project is to get the binding on this Scrap Jar Star quilt.  I did get the binding made and machine-stitched to the front, but I still need to do the hand-stitching part.  I confess I have a mental block against stitching bindings down in the summertime.  My house is air conditioned, so I really can't say it's too hot to have a quilt on my lap.  Maybe it's the lack of appropriate television programming in the summer?  (i.e. I get lots of quilt binding done during American football season!)

I've also made some progress on the Nae Shawl over the past two months.  This one is kind of tedious, because it's mostly stockinette stitch and only gets decreased one stitch per round (front and back).  I'm down to about 40 stitches, so the rounds go quickly.  Once it's bound off I'll have to find a place to block it where the cat and dogs won't pester it.

I'm looking forward to seeing what progress others have made on their 17ufosin2017.  Check out the link-up at Meredithe's blog to see what's being worked on!

The Big Blue Monster

One of the projects I am aiming to finish this year is a blue and white scrap quilt I planned with my guest room bed in mind.  The guest room never seems to have a decorating scheme or quilts of its own - maybe because my kids keep moving home and setting up camp in there!

Back in 2014, the guest room was vacant, so I decided to make a quilt for that room.  The room is painted blue, so I knew a blue and white quilt would be perfect.  I decided to make Sawtooth Star and Uneven 9-patch blocks, inspired by a quilt on Barbara Brackman's website.  I cut parts and pieces from my very large collection of blue fabrics and used a white on white fabric for the background.

My original plan was for 100 eight inch blocks.  When I reached that goal, I decided the quilt wasn't big enough and added more blocks until I had enough for 11 rows by 11 rows.

Last weekend I started pinning the blocks to the design wall.  I chose an uneven number of rows so there would be a Sawtooth Star block in each corner.  

Once I had all the blocks pinned up, I did the math and decided the quilt STILL wasn't big enough for a queen-sized bed.

Fortunately, I still had my cutting instructions, so I quickly cut and pieced another row of blocks, making the quilt 12 x 11, or 96 inches by 88 inches.

I've dubbed the quilt the Big Blue Monster because it fills the design wall and I'm feeling overwhelmed about stitching all those 8 inch blocks together!  I didn't even add the new row to the design wall because I'd have to climb up and down the step-stool or crawl on my knees to get it pinned up.

If I were staying home this weekend (Memorial Day observance in the United States), I could probably get lots of stitching done.  I'm off to Florida to visit family, though, so all those blocks will just have to chill until I get back.  This project has been underway since 2014, so I guess it can wait a little longer!