August UFO done! and preview on Sept.

And here it is! The quilted square is one I made at a class about ...oh...7 or 8 years ago. I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do with it at the time, so into the pile it went. Here's a detail shot:

And the back.
Yes I realize this is not the most difficult of projects, but it was unfinished. It also gave me time to get a head start on my Fassett snowballs quilt for September. I also finished my Chez Moi 2 quilt top.

Here's what I started with on the Fassett snowballs. A pile of fabrics and partly cut pieces. This was from the Kaffe Fassett class I took at the quilt festival a couple of years ago. As UFOs go, this one isn't that old.

I didn't want to make the full queen size quilt. I'm just doing a lap/throw size. It still takes 320 small squares for the corners.

Here's the first couple of rows:

Here's a couple more. I've got the blocks assembled for the fifth row, and that will put me at the halfway point. My goal is to have the top done this weekend.

Stay tuned!

ann

Kitchen chairs

In other news, I have projects that are UFOs, but are not quilting projects. The first is recovering my kitchen chairs.

This has been an ordeal? headache? trial? something for a couple of reasons. First off, Mr. Belfry didn't like my fabric choice. How anyone couldn't like Amy Butler's Soul Blossoms, I'll never know. This wasn't the first fabric; this was actually the third, but it was the first one I liked with the chairs. The first two were remnants I picked up that looked terrible with the finish.

The second fabric was ok. He liked it better than the first, but it didn't really do anything. This is a laminated cotton from the Nicey Jane line.

Then in a fit of pique while at JoAnn's I bought the third fabric. I told him I was using one of the three, whether he liked it or not. The third one, of course, is polka dots. He laughed and said go for it. (It actually looks really nice).

It isn't a coated fabric like I wanted, so I guess I'll scotchgard it. My MIL originally covered the seats in upholstery fabric for car seats. It's lasted almost 40 years, so you can't fault her choice. Actually the fabric is ok except for the front corners. It was the foam that had disintegrated and needed to be replaced most of all.

The other reason this project has dragged on is mechanical difficulties. First, I couldn't get staples for my stapler. Then my electric drill wouldn't hold a charge anymore (It is almost 10 years old). So, I replaced both of those. That took three trips to the hardware store. The other factor is the chairs are a little over engineered. I had to take out 12 screws to get the seats off. Four of them had to be done manually since I don't have an extension for my new drill. I did learn that if you are taking apart a piece of wooden furniture, if you leave it long enough the parts will change shape and it will not be fun to get the holes to match up again.

Here's the after pic: Not to shabby!

Not bad for my first solo upholstery job. At least the fabric is straight.

June, better late than never

If you're considering starting a blog, one factor to consider before sharing it with your family is that it makes it very hard to talk about Christmas or birthday presents. There's also a good chance that you'll get asked why you haven't put up any photos recently. I have been sewing though.

I missed the deadline for the June UFO. I did finish it except for the binding by the end of the July 4th weekend. This quilt was originally intended to be a Christmas gift. But now I'm not sure. I'm still weighing if it will go with the intended recipient's house or not. hmmm.....

It started out as a pile of partly pieced strips:

I did a pseudo-quilt as you go technique, then came back and did a decorative stitch on each strip. I think I saw something similar in a catalog that inspired me. It's about 40x60".

I also finished up this one in May:

This was my #6 nephew's graduation quilt. The pattern is Tennessee Waltz. It's been done for awhile. All it needed was a label. I also wanted to get it shipped so he would see it before the rest of the world. Detail shot:

Additionally, I got the binding on two quilts to send to Japan. They're nothing fancy, but they'll keep someone warm. These are going to Quilts 4 Japan.

Other sewing:

I finished all my subway blocks and the top. Next up is quilting.

I've been working on my Chez Moi 2 quilt blocks for the past several months and completed that top, too.

I've working on the Glorified nine-patch blocks.

And I made a pillow for a retirement gift for a co-worker:

I've also started and finished my UFO for August. I learned last month. Do the UFO first, then catch up on other stuff. :) You'll have to wait to see that one.

July UFO

Greetings Blogland!

Last week while I was traveling for a conference with Mr. Belfry, I got through my entire binding pile. Six days in an air-conditioned hotel room. 5 quilts bound. Bliss. Granted, none of them were huge, but they would have had to wait til the cooler fall weather arrived to work on them at home. I've never had a binding pile before. Usually I do the binding as soon as I finish the quilt. I guess that means the challenge is working because I'm finishing things, and the list is getting shorter.

So not only did I finish my June UFO (better late than never), but I also finished my July UFO. And here it is:

This is another quilt I started just to play with a charm pack. I made up a bunch of squares then set them aside. The fabric is Oz by Sanae for Moda.

I had a few fat quarters to try and figure out a border, but nothing really worked. So, I decided to forgo the border and just finish it. It's around 25x30 inches and quilted in the ditch.

My August UFO is a really, really easy one. I think I put it on the list here, so I'd have a chance to catch up. I am behind where I wanted to be, but I'm still working through the piles very well.

Just a stone's throw...

What I did on my summer vacation...or rather Memorial day weekend. I helped my sister turn that pile of limestone into part of a flower bed. I say part because we all had to quit when our backs were done in.

Exhibit A: The limestone. Did I mention she got it for free? Neat huh?

Exhibit B: existing flower box/planter with rotting timbers. They were practically mulch when we removed them. Mulch with nails and rusty spikes.

And another side:

And the front side:

Exhibit C: After the timbers were out, we (mostly sis) dug a trench for the new stones.

Trench side 2:

Exhibit D: The first layer! Woo Hoo!

We got all the way around. Did I mention that each stone weighed 40-70 pounds and took two of us to move? Not a single one wobbles.

It only took us 4 hours.

And that was the end of that.

Eventually it will be 4-5 layers tall. That's as far as we got before I flew home. My back wasn't sorry to leave. ;)

Whoosh!

That's the sound that May made as it flew by me. I must have blinked or something or they cut days out of the month. I did, however, get a UFO finished. It was a flimsy and I got it quilted and bound just under the wire.

Here's the before:

Here it is quilted:

Here is the finished and bound quilt:

Here's a closeup of the border and binding. I chose a fun plaid for the binding:

Here is the back. It's a really vibrant batik print in orange and aqua:

I also got two quilts for Japan quilted and the bindings sewn to the top. Those just need the hand sewing now. I also finished the last 5 of the 25 subway blocks. I'll do a separate post on that one. Not a bad month, I suppose.

Ta.

A

April UFO finish

Here's my UFO finish for April. This is an original pattern I call Licorice Sticks. Yet again, another quilt that got set aside before the borders were added. In this case it was a combination of getting distracted by the next project, and being unsure what I wanted to do/what I had enough fabric for to finish the top. My goal for this was to finish the top this month. I squeaked in under the deadline and finished up last night.

Here's the before.

And here's the after. I added two simple borders and called it a day. Sorry about the daylight shot. Not used to having that around here.

Here's a detail shot to give you a better idea on colors. I used a Bali pop roll in Mocha Mint.

Yay! Done and ready for quilting. The backing and binding are also finished. And hey, guess what? The binding is dots!

I'll be quilting this one at mom's next weekend so this will be completely finished soon. I'll have to look at my list and see what I picked to work on in May. I get a pic up soon.

a