Donation Quilts

I have completed two donation quilts.  My friend, Shannan, gave me some odd left over blocks from a quilt project she did.  They are 5"X5" squares of cooking bears, bees, rabbits, carrots, and ducks.  I added a couple of light fabrics to the mix and whipped up a cute child's quilt to donate.  I did a stitch in the ditch on my home sewing machine.  It turned out soft and adorable.

Then, I completed our quilt groups BoM (block of the month) and made an extra one.  I was looking through the pile of unfinished work on my buffet and found some card trick blocks that our quilt group had done last year.  They donated them for a donation quilt and, of course, yours truly ended up with them.  I decided I wanted this done and out of my house!  So, I added my BoM to the mix (top center block) and tried to figure out how to put these blocks together in a quilt.  The trouble with getting blocks from 5 or 6 other quilters is they never turn out to be the same size.  The smallest one was 11.5 inches instead of 12.5 inches, so I placed it on the back.  As it turns out, I really like the back of this quilt.  I don't care for the front so much, but my daughter does, so statistically someone else will like it, too.  It is fun and it is done.  I just need to turn these quilts in, so they can be donated.

This is the card trick quilt; to be donated

Back of card trick quilt.  I like the back better than the front. But that is just me.

I go to work, I go home. I go to work, I go home.

     I go to work. I go home. I work at a medical center and have been deemed essential personnel.  At home, I have been quilting!  I have been a busy little bee!  Of my nine UFO's on my list to complete in 2020, I have four completed and number five is at the long-arm quilter's house.  In addition to that, I have completed two donation quilts, one art quilt, and have been working with "the girls" on some doll quilts.  Now, I am doing two things: working on Aunt Karen's quilt and gearing up to make masks.  My daughter, who resides in another state, has her e-mail blocked with over 5000 e-mails, so she cannot login and view the fab photos I just e-mailed her today.  I am posting the photos I took of Ebony, that she cannot access in her Yahoo e-mail. 

    When I am working on quilt backs and I put a large piece of fabric on my ironing surface (which is on the top of a book case), she stops whatever she is doing and runs over and goes between my fabric and the ironing board (bookcase).  She plops her butt down, usually on my foot, and then spreads herself out causing the fabric to want to come down on her, but I have it under my iron on top the ironing board.  Well, this time the fabric was not draped on the floor, just barely off the floor, so I took a few seconds to grab my camera and take a couple photos.

Ebony's backside sticking out from under the fabric I am trying to press.

Ebony looking like "What is your face doing down here by me and my fabric?"

Rocket Ships Quilt Completed: My third UFO done this year!

Unfinished object (UFO) is a quilting term.  I have completed my third one for 2020 and the fourth one is well on it's way.  Plus, I am quilting a donation quilt that I pieced a couple weeks ago.  Whew!

Click on the photo to see it enlarged.

I started this one about four years ago, but I think I already went over that in my first post of 2020, where I listed all nine unfinished projects I intend to complete in 2020.  I am working on them as hard as I can, so I can get to the fun stuff, the new stuff, I want to do as well.  This may be my third UFO for 2020, but I have made three other quilts besides them.  A couple of them are doll quilts, which I do not post on this blog.  If you want to see doll quilts, please, click on the link, on the left side of this page, titled "Gluten Free Doll Quilts."  I suggest you keep scrolling down and also look at the older posts, as there are a lot of them and I think these dolls make amazing quilts!
     Meanwhile, on this site, I am working on my next UFO, the purple twisting turning twenty quilt.  What's on my design wall in March? The PTTT quilt.  I have all the rows sewed (that would be five rows of 16"X16" blocks), and I just need to sew the rows to each other.  Maybe tomorrow night I will get that done and get started on the border.

the bottom row is not on my wall, as it will not fit.

We had a quilting retreat at my house this last weekend. I hogged the design wall, but we had plenty of layout space in my quilt room, as we set-up our sewing machines in the living room.  It was just enough for the five of us.  It was nice to be together for awhile.  Due to COVID-19, we know we will not get to hang out for a while.  We had a supportive and productive weekend.

Second UFO completed!

On Sunday, March 1, at 9:22 pm, I completed my flannel frog quilt.  I looked back in my photos from 2011 and found the small quilt I made with the left over fabrics from the quilt top I made.  So, I made the flannel frog quilt top in January-February of 2011.  I just got it all finished this week.  I quilted it on my home sewing machine.  I had some problems with the spring-loaded quilting foot, so my husband ordered me a new one.  It got here in two days, and it worked like a champ.

it is 72 inches long and 61 inches wide

 This next photo is of the little quilt I made in February of 2011, out of the left overs from making the big quilt top.  I have enjoyed it for many years.  I am so happy to have the big one finished (nine years later!).  Who knew?

 If you look at the cat photos on the right side of this web page, and scroll down to the third one from-the-bottom, you will see Merlinda, the Ninja Cat, sitting on top of the flannel frog quilt as it was being laid out on my table.  That is the photo I went looking for, so I could date when I got the quilt top finished.  Merlinda is no longer with us.  Sad panda.

My Version of an Art Quilt

On January 2, I started to create my version of an art quilt.  I've been invited to enter a couple quilts in a Veterans Art Show coming up this spring.  I worked steadily and I have it all completed.  The quilting is by Sid Mooney.  My second quilt in as many months.  I feel I am making a good start on 2020, from a quilting perspective.

Title:  What's New.

In March, I expect to get two more of my unfinished quilts completed and get started on the quilt I have been meaning to make for my aunt.  It is shaping up to be an exciting year!  Let's see how it goes!

First UFO Challenge Quilt Completed!

I am feeling not too bad about my progress on my UFO list for 2020.  I have one UFO at the quilter's, getting quilted.  The one I have completed, I quilted myself.  I just used my home machine and quilted horizontal lines across it.  

It is a really long quilt for someone who is very tall.  It turns out that someone is my cousin nephew, Jeff.  It is so long, we needed a ladder to hold it up, but then the lighting was not right.  I took it outside and folded it and draped it over one of our Adirondack chairs.  The Spumoni II is the one I got finished first:

click on photo to enlarge

Happy 2020 List of UFOs!

Happy 2020!  We made it into another year.  My quilt group is doing a 2020 UFO Completion Challenge.  We have to submit a list, then have them all done by December 2020, to be in a drawing for cash.  I really believe I can do one a month, however, I have other projects that I will be doing in between these nine.  Following are the 9 UFO's I have submitted for the challenge:
#1 and #2 are Twisting Turning Twenty quilts
#3 Rocket Ships
#4 Poker Run by Buggy Barn
#5 Phyllis' Phorty
#6 Ohio Star quilt I started in 2001      #8 Spumoni Quilt
#7 16 Patch Bandana quilt                   #9 Flannel Frog quilt

There are two cut out quilts here; one is multicolored and the other is mainly purple and white.  I would say I started these about five years ago. What happened?

I started this rock ships quilt about four years ago, as a project I could do while visiting my mother.  Of course, when I took them with me she had put her sewing machine in the closet with her bed in front of it.  I thought I could spend more time with her if I had something to do, plus it would engage her a little more.  Oh well.

I bought a Buggy Barn quilt book, approximately 7 to 8 years ago, so I could do the Poker Run quilt. It all seemed so simple on the surface of it.  Fortunately, two years ago, one of the Buggy Barn people came to the Quilt Crossing, in Boise.  She had a class, where we could bring whatever Buggy Barn quilt we were working on and she would help us with the process.  It was invaluable, and I did get all the horse blocks completed and squared up. Then back it went, into the UFO pile!  This is the year, I finally get it done! Yes!  My backing, barns, fences, and sky fabrics are all in that pile. 

My friend, Phyllis, did some cleaning out of her stash and UFO's a couple years ago (coulda been four years ago?), and I happily took these wonderful blocks from her.  Guess what?  I am actually going to do something with them, finally.

I took a beginning quilt class at the Quilt Crossing, in 2001, with my friend, Elverta.  It was in the little strip mall on the corner of Liberty Street and Fairview, in Boise.  The classroom was upstairs; narrow steep stairs. Sewing machines up!  Elverta had a great big quilt top done by the end of the class.  She is an overachiever.  This is what I had at the end of the class. I was just not happy with getting these corner stones and sashing to work.  I threw up my hands and decided I would quilt other things until I could get back to this bit of frustration.  I know I will be ripping out a good bit of this, pressing it, and redoing it.  I want to start it soon, because one of our quilt group members is new to quilting and she is taking this same class in January/February.  I can't let her beat me!  But it will probably not happen, because I have my Aunt's florescent quilt to get finished first (one of those not on the list).

This one just needs a couple borders added then finished up.  I have lovely fabric for the back! I can hardly wait! 

This is the Spumoni Quilt. I started it with leftovers from the original Spumoni Quilt. I got the top finished, but never quilted it. I still have the backing fabric with it in my UFO pile.  It will be wonderful when completed.

#9 is the flannel frog quilt, I started in 2011.  I used the scraps that were left over from the quilt top to make a kitty quilt that my kitty has enjoyed for a very long time.  

As I said, I am excited about starting on these projects and getting them finished!  It is going to be an interesting year, as right now I am working on an art quilt.  I am determined to get it finished this month.  I guess I better get into the quilt room and get started!