Monday, January 31, 2011

January UFO Update/Design Wall

I willl not be able to finish the January challenge on time, but I will finish it.  I have all the blocks done, and am working on the last filler strip (under the angel).  After seeing it up on the wall, I need to adjust the curve in the stem.  So I'll be ripping it out to start again.  It needs to be more curvy to match the ones already done.  It is good to see this one almost done.  When I was reading the instructions for the angel block it said to sew on the appliqued filler and the plain filler (what!).  I don't have anymore fabric.  I never gave a measurement for the plain filler or said to cut two of the background when I cut the filler strip.  I cut and made all of the background blocks a long time ago and pack them with the patterns so that back ground was ready to go when I would go to work on the blocks.  This has been packed away for at least 5 years.  I drew out the star color of the blocks to watch how they would be placed and just pulled scraps for the applique when I would work on that block.  I spent part of the weekend spraying the blocks with vinegar and water to help set the colors as some of the reds were bleeding.  This is my first applique quilt I have ever done.  I have done small sections of applique,  but not a whole quilt before.  And this is all needleturn.  I have enjoyed sitting in the living room working on it as the TV is on, especially when it is too cold to get in my studio to work.
     We are expecting another cold snap to come in on Tuesday.  The weekend was sooo nice, 75 on Saturday and Sunday was almost the same.  Tuesday/Wednesday it is to get into the 10-20's possibly with a wintery mix. Speaking of Saturday:  my quilt group got together and worked on our donation quilt for this year.  I had a nice time with everyone and enjoyed the sewing that we got done.  It is a churn dash in 1930's and will have applique in the corner borders.  I'll post a pic when it is done.  Here we are working:
You only see two rows of the quilt, the rest is out being sewn.  We had quite the conversation planning the borders. It has been a small challenge, but as usual will be great when it is completed.  I like that we do something different each year.  It is always a challenge to work with blocks that other people sew because you get such a varience of sizes.  It does help us all to grow as quilters when we see a problem and brainstorm together to find the solution.  This year we are going to make a smaller quilt to donate to the AgriLife Center where we hold our meetings.  If they hang on the wall in the meeting room, it will help to buffer the sound and make the noise level better.  I hope we donate some more to them to show off our guilds work and add to the decor of the building. 
     I also worked on the buttons a bit, but will have that as a later post.  It will be a busy week.  Today is the last day to pay property taxes without a penalty, so I expect I will be standing at the counter most of the day and my feet will be killing me tonight.  Happy sewing.

3 comments:

  1. So glad you are making progress on your UFO! It is a huge undertaking and you are close to being finished...way to stick with it!

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  2. I have a hard time meeting my deadlines. The key is that you are making progress and it will be done. It is a super cute quilt.

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  3. Glad to hear you'll be adding to this Blog soon. I'm wondering what you are working on lately.

    Dawn

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