Another UFO finish - and it's an oldie!

I'm happy to report that the Spring Trio is quilted, bound, and labeled - ready to hang in the entryway next spring. Don't they look great on the blue wall? Not sure why the one on the left has such a crooked left edge in the picture - it really is straight! Nothing like finishing a 16 year old UFO to give one a real feeling of satisfaction!

I also finished a couple of the little projects from my quilt history classes with Eileen Trestain. The first is a "make-do" done in the Turn of the Century Random Sampler class. At some point I may get a new base for this one - the candle holder Eileen furnished in class really isn't big enough for this one. The second picture shows two "pocket pincushions" that I made in the Civil War class. Love these, as the pins can't poke clear through and catch on something. These were so easy to make - just two circles of thin cardboard, two of batting, and two of silk taffeta. Gather the edges of the circles, then insert the batting and cardboard, then pull the gathering stitches and tie off. Tack in your ribbon hanging loop, then whip stitch or ladder stitch the two circles together. Easy, quick, and very useful!

Last night I moved on to my next UFO - "Times Remembered" by Pat Sloan. I made the first two blocks in 2003, as well as the pieced backgrounds for the rest of the blocks. Then I must have started something new as this project was put aside. I figure the best way to handle these remaining UFOs - three appliqué quilts - is to treat them like block of the month programs. If I finish one block each month in each quilt then they should be finished tops by the end of next year. I'll start by prepping all of them, so I can pick up a new one as soon as the old one is finished. Works for me I think! I'd hoped to have the first blocks prepped by now, but instead I watched Joseph all week. A joy to be sure - I'm a lucky grandma! And today I have two small customer tops that must be quilted. So these blocks must wait for another day at least.

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Gratitudes:
1. Beautiful fresh fall vegetables for roasting
2. Fragrant fresh herbs from a friend
3. Good times with great friends

A week of Joseph and handwork

It's been a Joseph week so far. Cousin Katelin and Aunt Debbi are sick with the flu so he can't go to his other grandma's. Joseph time is always so much fun - he is such a happy, lively little guy who also entertains himself very well.

This is also a handwork week. I've been concentrating on hand quilting. I've finished two of the Spring Trio wall hangings - now they just need binding. I hope to finish the third one at Tangled Threads tonight. Since I have no bits left of the fat quarter I used for the border I had to find something else. Would you believe almost every blue I have is either way too dark or has a gray cast? I finally found this VERY old Jinny Beyer by RJR. I think I'll cut the binding strips lengthwise so I can control the placement of the lighter shades. I hope to be report this project finished by the end of this week. All those pillows I made last month didn't count for the Stashbuster UFO challenge as they included no quilting. My name has now crept much too close to the top of the Queen's list for my comfort!

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Gratitudes:

1. Eating breakfast with a handsome young man in lime green and overalls

2. Several days of beautiful fall sunshine

3. The end of UFO's is in sight!

Ready for quilting

The Halloween top is finished! I've also finished stitching the back - using up all the leftovers from the sashings as well as the strips I cut for possible inner borders! I even have a light colored strip in the back where I can write the label information! This quilt is now number four in line to be quilted. I think I need to focus on doing some quilting this coming week!

A huge thank you to everyone who so freely shared your opinions. They really helped me decide what to do. I tried so many different things - I even looked in the stash to see if there was a border alternative I'd not considered. As I tried different things I was able to eliminate bit by bit, and finally made my decision this morning. I decided not to use a narrow inner border because I really didn't want anything to take away from the 1" squares around the edge of the quilt. I also realized that the "dead trees with owls" fabric was the best choice - I just needed to make the borders narrower so they didn't distract from the quilt center. I settled on 3 1/2" wide, and I love how it looks. I really wanted to use this fabric, because it's so perfect for a Halloween quilt. Leafless trees in a dark, stormy-looking night, with owls perching in the branches as the final perfect touch. Now I'm eager to get this finished, as I really want to display it this year.

I also made a decision about the spring blocks thanks to everyone's suggestions. It never occurred to me to split them up. I've put the basket block in the orphan block drawer to go into a donation quilt. I'm going to border the two long vertical blocks, as well as the three little blocks, and turn them into a set of three small spring wall hangings. Those should finish very quickly. The bunny will turn into a pillow for Easter decorating, and the sunbonnet girl into a spring pillow for the entry bench. That just leaves the clothes line - not sure what I'll do with that one. Maybe add it to the orphan drawer too. I can't begin to remember who made it, so it doesn't have any special meaning for me. Now I'm eager to get going with these projects. A huge thank you to those sharing ideas for these blocks - they really helped me get my mind around the problem of what to do with these blocks.

Sure felt good to finally cross another unfinished top off my UFO list!

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Gratitudes:

1. A great visit with Lily, Sophie and their parents.

2. A wonderful evening spent with friends

3. Enough stamina to increase my time on the exercise bike

More ideas

Since so many like the "dead trees", I tried it with a narrower border of about 3". Liked that much better than the wider border, but forgot to take a picture. Tried a narrow inner border of the dark green - it got lost. The narrow inner border of a lighter, brighter green is better, but still doesn't wow me. I think I like the narrow orange inner border - at least better than the green - but I still think I like it better without any narrow inner border.

I have another set of blocks made by the same group of ladies for me. The subject was "Spring", and I provided a packet of fabrics for each of them. These are from 1992!!!! They aren't nearly as successful as the Halloween blocks - in my opinion anyway - but I want to do something with them. To me the big pieced basket doesn't "go", so I think I'll use it for a label on the back. I had a serious falling out with the lady who made it, who moved away at least 15 years ago, so I'd rather not see it on the front of the quilt at all.

Anybody besides me remember these fabrics? They were 1980's calicoes - about all I have left since I gave the rest away for charity years ago.