UFO Busting #140

 

Well, I'm showing up today a little embarrassed...I can't believe it's been almost a month since I've been on my own page.  This year I really tried to spring forward.  Hard.  But, I think I may have landed face first and just went back to sleep.  

So, what has been going on?  What I can't show you is I have been busily pattern testing a mystery quilt for the amazing Cheryl over at Meadow Mist Designs.  It will be released later on this year and all I have to say is...I LOVE IT.  And that is all I can say right now.  

Things that I can say are, the quilt for my niece is well underway. 

And so is the new bed quilt another friend ask me to make.

But, what I've really been enjoying, is returning to my crafting roots...cross stitch.  I have not touched needle and floss in years. What I love about it...it's super portable.

So I picked up this fun pattern by Lori Holt, unburied my huge DMC collection and went to town.

 Also, while shopping, I found a quilting friend in the wild.  I picked up the latest issue of Fons and Porter's Love of Quilting magazine, turned to the first page and found my good friend Sandra (mmm!quilts) in the Benartex add!

It was a great surprise...she had no idea she was in print, in an ad.

So I have to ask...what have you guys been up to???  Please link up below and share what you've been busily working on while I've been in hibernation.  

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There is nothing like tax season on a car lot to make you so tired you forget you hold a weekly linky party.

UFO Busting #139

 

Happy Saturday!  It feels like spring is so close you can taste it.  Everything is turning green and I'm loving it!  

Also, this week, I am loving fabric.  Most of my quilt time went to gathering fabrics for projects.  I will begin working on some secret sewing that I won't be able to share, but what I can share is the pretty fabrics I will be using.

What better way to welcome in the new season than with some happy spring colors!  I can't wait to start chopping these beauties up.

Since I won't be able to share my progress, I figured I needed an easy project to work on at the same time that I can share.  Enter these beauties.

A friend recently asked if I could make her a bed quilt using these fun pastel prints.  Simple big square blocks will be perfect for show casing the flowers and humming birds and will provide me with quick easy piecing.  Win...win...for all.  In the middle of all this piecing, I hope to dedicate one evening a week to only quilting.  I have a million UFO's that need busted and if I just keep creating more where will that leave me??

Right now it leaves me looking at last week's party and Donna Lee at DonnaLeeQ and a really good UFO idea.  Donna is just like me, totes of started projects that I fell out of love with and hope to return to. 

The difference between Donna and I?  I return to the tote and wonder...what was I making exactly?  Donna returns to the tote and says...

Oh, yeah, that's my project.  Donna includes a picture of the project or the pattern to make sure she knows exactly what she's working on when she picks it back up.  I love it!  Now, I need to run into my sewing room and do this!  Thanks for the great tip, Donna.  Sometimes answers are so simple but you just don't think of it at the them.

Now it's your turn.  Link up below and show us what you've been up to this week.

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And now I will leave you with this...of course I can't help but talk about sewing when I'm at work.  It's what I do.  And everyone there humors me and pretends to care...it's what we do.  This week my co-worker comes in grinning and says what makes a quilt?  Squares that are attached together?  I said yeah, that's a loose definition but I'll allow it.  He then presents me with his first quilt.

And proceeded to hang it on my wall of quilts so everyone will be able to see it.

I swear in between all the goofing off we do, work gets done...well maybe.

UFO Busting #138

 

Happy Saturday!  I'm super excited because this week I was able to move a UFO along to become a finished quilt top.  I started piecing on the Moda Modern Building Block quilt some time back in 2015.  I then spent the next 6ish years "collecting" just the right fabrics as I pieced off and on.  Seeing all the fabric in totes I "collected" I realized it was high time to finish this project and put everything away.  Space is golden.

It's huge! And I love it.  Finishing this quilt top felt just as good an I imagined it would.  The original quilt kit came with all solid fabrics, but I followed the lead of my friend Julie and created my version using prints that read (mostly) as solids.

I have to say it's super tempting to quilt this one up with all over straight lines for a faster finish, but I'm going to set it aside for just a bit longer and give it the custom quilting I imagined in my head.  It's why I pieced it in the first place...to have fun quilting it.

So for now, it will go on the shelf and I will concentrate on finishing up the baby quilt I pieced toward the end of last year.  

What's not going to wait is looking at all the fun we had at last week's party.  Also celebrating a quilt top finish we have Gretchen at Gretchen's Little Corner.  This week she finished up her Climbing Jacob's Ladder quilt top.

Jacob's Ladder is one of my favorite blocks and I'm crushing hard for her version in the fun browns.  Simple and elegant.  Make sure you pop over and congratulate her on this finish.

Next up we have Anja over at Anja Quilts and she is celebrating a UFO finish that she completed a few months ago.  She was on the UFO roll!  

Anja participated in Leanne at Devoted Quilter's Medallion Magic QAL back in 2019 to create this quilt top.  OMG look at how those oranges pop against the beautiful dark blue!  Make sure you swing by and tell her how much you love this quilt!

Now it's your turn.  Link up below and show us what you've been up to this week.

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UFO Busting #137

 

Happy cold and snowy Saturday!  I hope wherever you are, you are warm and safe or maybe even in the middle of summer.  Today I'm dreaming of quilts and hoping to quickly craw under some after a day of working.  This week, I plugged along with Moda Modern Building Blocks.  I'm on the last section!  The 36" inch block is completed and I've started on the six 6" blocks.

 As you can see, I've done fabric pulls for the rest of the blocks.  As much as I want this finished, I'm itching to stop piecing and start quilting.

To help curb that quilting itch, I got the Line Design set up and started playing with it.  You don't have to wait on me though, to give you lots of details about it, you can grab one for yourself here, in Kim's Etsy shop.

As you can see, set up is super simple which allows you to get to playtime...NOW!  Hopefully tomorrow morning, I will be posting more about my playtime with the Line Design.  My daughter was nice enough to help me shoot a few quick videos that I have posted to my Instagram page.  I can't say enough about how great this tool is to practice with.  It is a wonderful way to improve your muscle memory in the exact same way you quilt with a sit down machine.  A no waste way to improve your quilty confidence and that is what gets UFO's busted!

You know what else gets UFO's busted?  Not letting them be UFO's in the first place and that's what Sandra at mmm!quilts did with her Varadero Vibe project!  Sandra has been playing along this year with Project Quilting and has again made a super cool piece for the week's prompt/project.

If you know my dear friend, one thing you will know about her is she LOVES to collect sea glass or beach glass.  So it only makes sense when given the Virtual Vacation prompt that she make something to celebrate all of the fun times she's had collecting those beautiful rounded pieces of glass.  Stop by and enjoy some sunny beach pictures to warm you up and congratulate her on this finish.  You can read more about the process of how this piece came together with time to spare.  Not much time, but it counts!

Now it's your turn.  Link up below and show us what you have been up to this week.  Bonus points if there is sun and sand included.

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UFO Busting #136

 

It's Saturday and we are back at it!  I feel like I'm getting closer to quilt top finish.  I can see the finish line but I'm still miles away.  I was able to get the third section of the Moda Modern Build Blocks quilt together this week.

Hopefully, the last section will come together quickly.  It basically consists of a huge block with some 6"blocks at the bottom.  I'm so close!

The last big block was suppose to be a fun mess of triangles and bias edges.  Yeah, mentally I'm not there.  I found a way to tackle it using half square triangles.  Fingers crossed it will still look amazing.

This week I received happy mail I have been patiently waiting on.  A few weeks ago I reached out to a fellow designer about testing, what I think is an amazing product for free motion quilting.  I was super excited when she picked me as one of the fellow testers.  I think this is a game changer!  Want to practice free motion quilting?  Afraid to actually put thread to fabric?  Want a reusable way to practice over and over again without waste?  Let me introduce you to Kim Mastromartino and her Line Design quilting tool.

I will do a full post this week (and maybe a video over on Instagram) to introduce you to the Line Design.  Since it was 8 when I got home last night, I had enough energy to squeal with delight when I opened it and go to bed.  I really do feel like this is a game changer to anyones' free motion quilting and I can't wait to play with it and show it to you!

You know what else I can't wait to do?  Share with you from last week's party.  First up we have Vashuda at Storied Quilts and all the fun projects she's been working on.

She's got the Stay at Home Round Robin, the monthly color challenge and these once abandoned block pillow cases (pictured above) going on.  But wait there's even more!  Make sure you stop by and check out all the wonderful colors and projects she is making progress on!

Next up, we have Nancy at Grace and Peace Quilting and two darling baby quilt finishes.

What do you do when you make too many blocks for your quilt along quilt?  Make two quilts! (there's never a thing as too many blocks)  With Valentines Day this weekend, I am crushing hard on these pinks she used to create the quilts.  And each has its own fun quilting design.  Make sure you hop over to congratulate her on her two fun finishes and fall in quilty love.

Now it's your turn.  Link up below and show us what you've been up to this week.

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UFO Busting #135

 

Happy Saturday!  It's been a bitterly cold week here in my world, so my time has been spent inside staying as cozy as possible.  I can finally share with you my finished quilt top from Cheryl at Meadow Mist Designs Moorewood Mystery Quilt!

This week, she released the final block and the quilt layout.  My quilt had actually been pieced since the spring and remained well hidden so as not to spill the beans accidently.  I love pattern testing!

My quilt time this week focused on working on more of the 6" blocks for the Moda Modern Building Blocks quilt.  You would think 6" blocks would piece together pretty quickly, but that is false.

Some of these blocks have lots of little pieces in them, so I'm trying to take my time to make sure they come out nice and square.  Working on them in my back sewing room is working out quite nicely.  Things are a little cramped, but I'm in my own little world back there.  Caroline followed me, rather snuck in, and had her own adventure.

The addition of my ironing board finally allowed her to be able to scale the armoire and achieve the heights she has been looking for.  Afterwards she celebrated with a nap.  Maybe that is out of her system now.

Now let's see where your quilting adventures took you last week.  First up we have Anja at Anja Quilts and a sentence that nearly gave me a heart attack.  "My final UFO is now complete!!"  What?  I find myself jealous and asking how did you do that??  No, really, that's awesome!  And the last UFO is just gorgeous! 

This is her version of the Stellar Stars Block of the Month.  She chose an all over stipple and the texture is to die for!  Make sure you hop over and congratulate her on this huge accomplishment!  Anja, just because you don't have anymore UFO's doesn't mean you can't party hearty with us!

Next up we have Sandra at mmm!quilts also celebrating a finish this week with her Rainbow Way Quilt.

This one is full of quilty texture that is leaving me drooling!!!  She packed a ton of fun quilting motifs in this one.  Just run over there and check it out!  

Now it's your turn.  Link up below and show us what you've been up to this week.

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UFO Busting #134

 

This week I shared the finish of the T-shirt quilt I recently made.  I celebrate because it did not turn into a UFO!

The quilt has been delivered and is hopefully be loved as I type.  If you would like, you can read more about this finish here.

Something I realized I hadn't shared about on the blog is Cheryl at Meadow Mist Designs current mystery quilt, Moorewood Mystery.  I pattern tested this one for her earlier last year, but I've forgot to share my progress as it's actually going on.

Luckily I was able to grab from my stash and a local quilt shop before everything went on lock down.  Since I was locked in my house for 6 weeks, I had plenty of time to work on this one.

This month, Cheryl released the instructions for block A.

It's never to late to join in.  There is still time to begin before the big reveal in the next couple months.  I did the entire quilt I think in 2 or 3 weeks and that was with lots of breaks.  

What I am (knock on wood) not taking a break from is celebrating all of your hard work last week!  First up we have Lynette over at What a Hoot! and a UFO flimsy finish!!  

This month, she's been working hard to finish up piecing this several year old snowman quilt.  And it is adorable!!  I'm not a big appliquer, but I look at this and think all those pieces must have taken forever.  Make sure you hop over to cheer her on as she tackles her next UFO and leave some virtual hugs.

Next up we have Nancy at Grace and Peace Quilting and her DrEAMi/squirrel finish.  This particular squirrel was her project for this week's Project Quilting challenge, fussy cutting.

Absolutely stunning!  Those Japanese indigo fabrics are to die for!  I love how the simple echo quilting really gives this piece a modern feel.  Make sure you circle over to congratulate Nancy on this finish.

Now it's your turn.  Link up below and show us what you've been working on this week.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter