UFO Challenge: CathyO Mystery DONE

This was an interesting finish for me. I started this quilt back in 2009 when I was just starting to quilt. (Do you see where I am going with this...) I can really appreciate how far I have grown after working with this one!


Here are a few things that I have learned since this quilt:

1. The most obvious is the color combination. I still like the fabrics and the colors but just wish I had used a white or dark chocolate to contrast the blue and green.



2. When sewing a ton of little pieces an accurate 1/4 inch is a must.



3. While many will tell you to only press seams to one side, again because of all the little pieces and seams, I should have pressed everything open. (I now press most of my seams open.)
   I have been trying to get all these UFO's done and out of the way so I can make new and exciting things.... I will be working on 2 more this weekend. Hopefully I will have some new pictures to share by Monday.
   
   

UFO Challenge: Dan's Quilt DONE

I finished another UFO in May/June. Dan's quilt started as a sketch during one of my more boring classes when I was attending grad school. My classmate Dan thought I was crazy. I love the way it turned out. I love the colors, the design (super simple half square triangles) and the modern guy feel to it.
Again taking advantage of my Parent's ranch for the awesome pictures. I was getting tired of my backyard fence.

A June finish... Picnic Scraps

I'm taking full advantage of my Parent's ranch. I love my Mom's swing as a picture prop. This quilt was donated to the St. James Episcopal Church for their summer fundraiser. I love how it turned out and see many more in my future. In case you are wondering... the inspiration for the block came from Miss Print and this wonderful tutorial. I wanted the blocks to be big enough to see the design so I enlarged the blocks to 10.5 inches unfinished. So 4 single blocks across measure 40.5 inches. I used a thin muslin for a foundation so it was nice and sturdy. The center string consists of scraps that I sewed together and trimmed to 2 inches. The side white strings were cut to 1.5 inches. Then I just kept adding strings as usual to the sides. I finished this quilt in about a week.

I had debated using paper foundations but I like having the stability of the muslin foundation when I was piecing these big blocks together. I used Warm and Natural batting and had no problem free motion quilting this on my little Janome. I see a much larger version in my future for our queen sized bed. Lord knows I have plenty of scraps to use up...