2018 UFO Line-Up

By now you should know I enjoy participating in American Patchwork & Quilting's UFO Challenge each year. Some years I do pretty good. Other times (like 2017) not so much. But January marks a new year and I'll be doing my best to at least make some progress on the following quilts.

Before I share my list, I have an important note. As I was trying to decide which projects I really want to work on this year, I was having too hard of a time deciding. Why? Because I didn't want to lose time on my Ongoing Projects (listed in the right sidebar). But I wasn't sure they were "worthy" of a whole month's attention. I was just having such a hard time. So I decided that I'd throw in a couple of Float Months on my list. When those numbers come up, I'll work on whatever my heart desires that month ... could be finishing up an earlier project worked on during the year; could be extra time to spend on one of the Ongoing Projects; could actually be a brand new project that I just HAVE to work on!!! Who knows? Who cares? Two FREE MONTHS sound good to me and seems a bit more doable for my style of quilting.

So here is MY official APQ 2018 UFO Challenge List:

1. Jamestown Sampler. This was a BOM at Sweet Annies Quilt Shoppe. Sadly the store is no more. This project has been worked on in years past and I aim to finish the top at least this year.

I have three mitered borders to add to get this top completed. I hate borders and mitering scares the bejeebers out of me!

2. Alex's Stars Round-a-Bout. This quilt was started during a guild class in August 2012 with Gudrun Erla. I had so much fun making this top for two reasons: I learned all about partial seam construction and LOVED the process. My sister also took this class which made it doubly fun. I have to mention that her top is finished, quilted, and lays on my bed at her house when I visit -- just a small reminder that mine has yet to be completed! (Jab! Jab!)

3. Blowin' In the Wind. A mystery quilt from Rosemary's Quilt Shop. Last touched -- January 2015 at retreat. This one has made the list several times and yet here it is again -- not finished! Another top that is finished except for the borders. Time permitting, I'd like to have it quilted this time around too! What a dreamer!

4. EPP Sheep Doorstop. I started this project quite some time ago from a Primitive Quilts & Projects magazine. I thought I was being clever and wouldn't need to make as many hexis as called for. I was ready to start cutting up the fabric until .... yup, should have followed the directions to a tee. This one shouldn't take too long but part of the time will be to figure out where I left off.

5. FLOAT MONTH!!! TBD at that time ....

6. March 2015 Gold Star. Another MQAL that I did through Rosemary's Fabric Shop. Do you get the idea that I might like mystery quilt-a-longs? Anyway it only needs quilting. I would love to have this one hanging over my couch or in the kitchen. I totally love the two fabrics I used and am anxious to see what's left that I can put back into the stash! Isn't that the most ridiculous reason you ever heard to finish a quilt???

7. Kitties For Sarah. The panel & coordinating fabrics came from Rosemary's Fabric Shop. It's ready for quilting which should not be too difficult. Outline the kitties and put something simple in the 9-patches, sashing, and borders. I've got the backing stashed with it, might need some batting.

8. Colorado Shop Hopping with Linda & Corky. I LOVE THIS PROJECT! As the name implies, the blocks and fabrics were collected on a Colorado Shop Hop and my sister Linda, her friend Corky, and I were going to tackle it together. Because each shop had its own layout design, each of our quilts were going to be slightly different. Corky purchased an entire kit and her quilt has been finished for quite some time. Linda may still be working on some of her blocks.

I decided to combine two shop layouts, do a pieced sashing, and to also add a pieced border. My blocks are done and quite a bit of the pieced sashing is done. I hope I wrote down my ideas because it has been FOREVER since I've even looked at this project!

9. FLOAT MONTH!!! TBD at that time ....

10. Scrap Dance Two-Step. Another MQAL but this one was through From My Carolina Home blog. I did it entirely with scraps and chose the queen size for my guest bedroom. However, my daughter-in-law asked for a quilt and it may be sent to her and my son. Then again, I still may keep it because I've got another quilt in my mind that is more their style and colors.

Wherever this one ends up, I plan on adding two borders to the sides to widen the entire thing and add a final border all around. Should make a perfect queen-sized quilt!

11. Layers of Love. Made out of a fabric swap with my retreat friends. The pattern & technique was taught by Lynn Hagemeier from Kansas Troubles Quilts by Moda. I love how this is turning out. I need to finish the top & bottom borders with a pieced cornerstone. Of course there is one last border also -- my nemesis!

12. Ten-Minute Blocks Quilt. Started in a class by LindaLee from my guild in December. There were only three of us that showed up for the class. We are to have our toppers done to show the guild what they missed at the next guild meeting (January 9). I'm putting this as my #12 because I know that this is the first number chosen for the 2018 UFO Challenge and I have a deadline. It should also give me extra time to get the first block of On Ringo Lake done and continue making progress on it. Yes, I'm already patting myself on the back for a probably successful 1st month of the challenge!

So there you have it: a few of my quilting goals for this year. Keep on sewing!

On Ringo Lake Part 5

In between Christmas & today, we said good-bye to our daughter. It's always sad to see her go but I'm happy to see how much her kitties welcome her home. Sarah has her own life and I'm happy that she shares what time she can with us. She also always welcomes us when we visit her.

I put together a bit of On Ringo Lake Part 5. It was a re-run of Part 2 only using a different color. Perfect because life is busy enough this time of year.

Linking up with Bonnie HERE . It's amazing how far all us On Ringo Lakers have come. I think we're all looking forward to seeing how this mystery is going to come together. Looking good!

This post is short & sweet. I'm off to a Mid-Way Between Christmas & New Year Party!

Keep on sewing!

PS I started updating my blog for the new year. It's a work in progress and sure to change over the next couple of days!

On Ringo Lake Part 4

Short post today. Daughter is arriving today and brother & his family on Friday. Am I ready? Nope but here we go anyway!

Linking up with On Ringo Lake Part 4 HERE!

I'm still managing to do a little (emphasis on LITTLE for sure this week!) on these clues. Looking forward to seeing how they will all come together! This morning I did 4 units for Clue 4. *wink* Made sense to me! I did two of them -- the outside ones in the picture -- per Bonnie's instructions (which were good!) and two of them -- the inside ones -- using Lynn Wilder's Patchwork Math method (also good). Both leave bias edges outside which I don't like to do because I invariably will stretch that sucker out. Big bummer! I pressed these units with Best Press to try to avoid that issue.

Anyway, if one of the next steps is to sew a HST onto these units, then I have a way that I will use that works well for me. However, if we don't, I've got a lot of these individual units to master!!! UGH! 

Have a Merry Christmas, my friends. I know I will because I'll be surrounded by family.

Keep on sewing!!

On Ringo Lake Part 3

Man, this mystery quilt sure does cook along. So glad I decided to take Bonnie Hunter up and just do a few segments of each clue. You know, I screw up enough but can you imagine what a mess I'd have if I tried to actually keep up by completing every clue???? Just to prove my point, we were to make mirror images of pieced rectangles. I cut out enough to do 14 figuring I'd make 7 pointing each way. Well wouldn't you know I ended up with 9 and 5??!! Still equals 14 but definitely not evenly! Hahahaha! Check it out in the picture below:

I also discovered that I've mixed up my colors without telling myself! Ha! Where I was going to have green is now purple and vice versa. It's OK though because my screw up goes through all the clues so far so I'm good, just not what I had in mind at the beginning.

There are a lot of people playing with Bonnie's On Ringo Lake Mystery. Check out their combos right here: Link Up #3. It's definitely not too late to join in!

Keep on sewing!

On Ringo Lake, Part 2

So far, so good. I am keeping up with the clues, if you can call it that. Again I only did a few of Clue #2 but I'm really liking what I see so far in the link-ups. Some of the quilters have been arranging their clues in interesting block formations. Hmmmm .... are they on the right track OR has Bonnie thrown them a curve? We'll see as the journey progress. If you'd like to see what others have been up to, LINK HERE!

In the meantime, here are my Clue #2 blocks: Flying Geese!

On a side note, look at this gorgeous beauty who has been showing up on our own pond lately! I think I'll call him Ringo because his timing is perfect. This is the 2nd day (not in a row, though) that he's made an appearance. I haven't seen him in a couple days but that doesn't mean he's not around. He could just be hanging out at the other pond in our subdivision.

Wherever he is, I hope he's having a wonderful day and I wish the same for you. Let's sew!!!

On Ringo Lake & Autumn Jubilee

Do you follow Bonnie Hunter of the Quiltville Blog? Every year on the Friday after Thanksgiving she begins a mystery quilt-a-long and this year's is titled On Ringo Lake. Clue #1 came out last Friday and I've decided to give it a shot. For the last couple of years I've watched others make her scrappy-style mystery quilts and I've wished I'd joined along. This year I'm going to sew with the Quiltville group but I'm only going to do a few of the weekly blocks until I see how the pattern turns out. If I like it, I'll finish it 100% of the way it was meant to be. If I decide it's not quite my style, I'll piece together what I've got and see what else I come up with. Sounds like a good plan, right?

Clue #1 was to make 9-patches. Bonnie is using colors inspired  by her photo of Ringo Lake. Here is her button so you can get an idea of her color palette. To see everyone's progress, click HERE for the Monday Link-up.

I'll be using slightly different colors. Her chocolate browns will also be my chocolate browns. (Yum! I love chocolate!) Her turquoise will be my green and her melon will be my purple. These are my blocks for this week. Nothing too spectacular to look at so far but it is progress!

On another front, I have been making headway on my Autumn Jubilee lap quilt. This quilt-a-long was generously hosted by Carole from From My Carolina Home Blog. Not only did she post directions for this quilt in 3 sizes, but there was also a tablet cover and a wool candle mat you could make. Again a very generous gift from yet another sweet blogger. I believe I've shared her information here before but here's another plug because it's so worth it! Click HERE to check out EVERYTHING she offers -- gardening, cooking, card making, traveling, and (of course) quilting.

Here are a couple pictures of my blocks. When I laid them out on the floor, they became "Polly Approved"!

My guild, Hearts 'n' Hands, offers quite a few charity opportunities. One of them that I enjoy contributing to is the Linus Project, quilts for children in need. The part I enjoy is quilting the top that someone else made. I do this on my domestic machine, apply the label, and sew down the binding. I try to do two each year but I do believe this is the first one for 2017. I'll have to make    up for that in 2018!

Here are a couple of pictures of the quilt I'm finishing up. First the front. I chose this top to quilt because it looked to me like a little boy's quilt. They seem to be made less often than little girl quilts. Probably because we like to make the "pretty" ones.

Since we recently enjoyed Thanksgiving, I would be remiss if I didn't mention two of the people I'm most thankful for. That's my husband who tolerates my quirkiness and my occasional OCD behavior. Sitting at the table with him is my mother, 84 years young and still enjoying life and can still smile when I lash out at whoever gets in my way when frustrated. A not-so-nice side of me, for sure ... 

I'll close off this post with a picture of Gracie. After all, Polly was mentioned earlier in the post and we need to keep things even, not to mention I'm thankful for her too. She's my walking buddy! Look at that face -- what a sweet girl, resting her big, old mug on my leg!

Hope you're having a great week! Until next time, let's sew!

I'm a Loser ... What else can I say?

Man, I'm a loser ... what else can I say? Plenty! It's been since the middle of September that I posted last. It's not like I've been loafing around or anything. Just haven't blogged in a while. So let's catch up starting with the APQ 2017 UFO Challenge.

September's UFO was #7 -- Blueberry Buckle. For the life of me, I can't remember what this one looks like so I couldn't even look for it. It was a Mystery Quilt-a-Long from Rosemary's Quilt Shop but I never found it that month. September was a bust.

My October 2017 UFO Challenge #3 was Life of Plenty. I really, really, REALLY want to hand quilt this one but I don't know where it is. What I do know is that it is finished and just needs to be layered and quilted. But first, I must find it. This one will definitely be on my list for 2018.

Of course I had to see what November project is up for the UFO Challenge ... #9, Kitties for Sarah. This is another one that I really, really, REALLY have been wanting to finish up. I believe I only have the quilting left to do. And another plus -- I think I even know where this one is! When I find it (this weekend, I hope), I'll be sure to take a picture to post. Who knows? I may even get it layered up!!!

That takes care of my UFO Challenges, next up are my Irene Blanck projects. I'm happy to say that I believe my Clam Shells top is complete. I was planning on a narrow border of the dark brown and following it up with a light-ish wider border for a little applique but it feels done to me right now. I might change my mind, trim down the brown, and have at it later. It needs to percolate, I think.

As for the Mosaics project, I am just about finished with all the applique in the center. Whew! That was a lot and did I mention a bit bulky? This center is like 50" square and difficult to work with while turning curves and such. Many times I wished my hands were larger to hold all that wadded up fabric! Anyway, I'm liking this project and already have numerous hexie circles ready for a border unit.

Note the flowers in the middle unit on the right are not 100% done yet. Working on them as well as the mirror-image on the left. Yay! Progress!

I've been working on a couple of quilt-a-longs with a blogger that goes by From My Carolina Home. While following along with Scrap Dance Two-Step, I tried very hard to keep up followed by catch up. I just need to finish up now. I was all in to sewing the queen-sized version and have it quilted with a pantograph pattern so it could grace my guest room bed. While visiting my son & daughter-in-law this past August, Amanda asked me to make a quilt for their bed. I immediately thought of this quilt because it's done in fall colors and my son LOVES Fall! I need to get going so it can be quilted in time for Christmas .... maybe?

From My Carolina Home also had a quilt-a-long titled Autumn Jubilee 2017 and I decided a throw size would be perfect for me! I don't have a fall quilt for my couch and again I thought I'd sew this up in no time! I sure do dream big. In the meantime we took a vacation so once again I'm playing catch up. So glad I already had my 120 HSTs sewn up from a weekend retreat. Just trying to find time to sew up the blocks.

Well, poop! Just noticed in this picture that the star on the left is WRONG!  Thankfully I noticed it now rather than when the whole quilt was pieced! Correction to be made soon! Haha!

As for knitting, I'm trying to complete my Senior Year 1st Semester through Loopy Academy. We were to knit three projects using 250 yds or more of yarn: 1. Entrelac Pattern; 2. Asymmetric Pattern; and 3. Reading Pattern from a Chart. I picked out three sock patterns to fulfill these requirements. Here are my Entrelac Socks:

The sock on the left has been blocked while the one on the right has not. What a difference! You can find the pattern details HERE! Once the 2nd sock is blocked I'll be able to submit this pair for credit.

I'm currently working on Wasabi Socks to fulfill the asymmetric project. I've had this pattern dog-earred in an Interweave Knits Magazine for a long time. It's in the Spring 2010 Issue ... a long time ago! I'm working the instep now on the first sock and then I'll finish the foot and on to sock #2.

So obviously I'm not the slacker you may have thought I was ... just slacking on my blog!

Have a fantastic day!