July UFO - DONE!

Whoa! I am back on track with my goal of finishing UFOs in the month in which they are assigned. I missed out, sadly, on finishing the June UFO - and I still plan to get 'er done - but I went ahead with July and now I can boast a finish. Let's check it out.

This is Wishes - a quilt begun in January of 2014. The Fat Quarter Shop and its accompanying blog Jolly Jabber hosted a quilt-along in which each month quilters were given a block to make along with directions on setting and border. I was all in on this until October of that year, and then I just plopped it all in a tub and stored it away. I think I got busy with Christmas-oriented things, and found that I just had no time to keep up. Here are a few links to read about the progress made previously: January '14; October '14.

Fast forward to January of 2017 when we Frankfort Girls decided to do a UFO-each-month challenge. This came up as my task for July, and now it is done - hooray!

I spent the most aggravating time on doing these borders, made to look like checkerboards. I sewed one on wrong, and you'd have thought I needed to call in a support team because I just could not get the final border to fit properly. Eventually, after nearly wearing out that seam ripper, I did get it right. Whew. It might be a long time before I think to do another checkerboard border.

Here are some additional looks at Wishes. The fabric is an early line by Fig Tree Quilts/Joanna Figueroa and Lisa Quan for Moda called A Day in the Country. I mostly followed the pattern provided. My changes are in the use of cornerstones, the placement of two blocks and the color separation in a block or two. With a sampler quilt, those concerns don't really matter much, and I am pleased with the results.

Now what to do next? I sometimes get that lost feeling when I finish a quilt, as if I will never decide on my next project. This time, however, it is all decided. I must finish the second of this summer's commissions, and then I will truly be free to work on whatever I want.

Hope your day is productive!

I've linked up with Amanda Jean and her Finish It Up Friday party at Crazy Mom Quilts.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Progress on July UFO

After missing my goal in June of finishing my UFO, I am determined to complete my July UFO. I have finished the final 2 blocks, and later today I am ready to sew borders. I prepped a big pile of 2.5-inch strips to be formed into little units that become a checkerboard-type border. I am chomping at the bit to get started. Here are the last two blocks, November and December. Click here to find additional information on this quilt's background.

I will also have to do a quick fix-it job on that December block. I don't mind that I occasionally lose points on my intersections, but the base of that basket is just too far off. I will definitely be picking it out and fixing little boo-boo.

All of that must wait until this afternoon, however, as this morning I am prepared to head over to Hillsboro to deliver the memory quilt to Shirley. I ended up adding more quilting to it yesterday, and I am much happier with how it looks. Much more 'finished-looking,' I believe. My mom and sister are going along for the delivery, so we will have a nice visit. Then this evening, I have agreed to help my neighbor with a 4-H fair booth project. My neighbor is the 4-H adviser for the club both my girls were in, so when she called a week or so ago for assistance with a booth project, I was happy to help. I will try to get pictures and share with you all the youthful exuberance in a later post.

Have a productive day!
Happy Quilting, Friends!

Can I Do It?

What do I want to do?? Finish the July UFO, of course. Early each month I am full of optimism that I will be checking a UFO of my list and I have been successful in accomplishing that 5 of 6 months so far this year. I had planned to show more of July's UFO a couple of days ago, but a slow internet was thwarting my efforts. Today, things are running more smoothly, so let's have a quick look. This was a quilt-along I worked on in 2014 called Wishes; it was sponsored by the folks at Fat Quarter Shop. The fabric is a line from Fig Tree and Co. called A Day In the Country; I had a collection of fat quarters from this line.

January Block

February Block

March Block

April Block

May Block

June Block

July Block

August Block

September Block

October Block

Remaining to be done: November and December's blocks; the checkerboard border; then putting all the parts together into a flimsy! Easy-peasy, right? My optimistic nature tells me I can do it!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

July's UFO

The Frankfort girls met at Jan's on Friday and we drew our number for the July UFO. The magic number this month is 3 - on my list that is to finish the quilt-along I began in 2014 called Wishes.

My internet - or possibly my aging cell phone - is not cooperating very well with sending photos to my laptop. So the long, informative post I had hoped to share is not going to happen. I can, though, give you the link to one of the 2014 posts describing this project. Why not click here to go have a look.

I can show you the wonderful vintage fabric I am using on this project - A Day in the Country by Fig Tree. It excites me to pull each completed block from the storage tub; it's so subtle and soft, just as soothing as can be. I will be really glad to be able to call this a finish. 

Happy Quilting, Friends!