Halloween UFO

I started this UFO well before Halloween last year. I almost got it done in time for Halloween, but got stopped by the quilting, again (sigh). I tried to quilt it and it just didn't come out like I wanted. By then, Halloween was over and I lost interest. So, I'm going to try again to finish well before Halloween so I can hang it up in my office. I had a lot of fun finding the right fabric and doing the raw edge applique on this one. I changed the layout a little bit and decided that my blocks were going to be wonky and not all the same size. I didn't really know what I was doing, but I like the way it turned out.

This guy is pretty cool!


I used a combination of sewing and colored markers for the lines


Boo!

Are you scared?

Yes, all those little bones are appliqued! Mwahhhhh!

This is my favorite. I love the expression on her face.

I want to make this into the shape of a (long) pumpkin, and still need to come up with a pumpkin stem for the top of it.

If you don't hear me talking about this over the next few months, please bug me about it! Sometimes I need that extra push. If anyone wants the free pattern, click here.

Take care,

Karen

Pinwheel quilt

Thanks, everyone, for the border suggestions on my pinwheel quilt. To answer a few of your questions, no, I only have a small amount of green fabric. I ran out, and that's how I ended up using a different fabric for the outer edge. At the time, I wasn't happy about running out, but now I think that was a good thing. It made it more interesting. But, I don't have very much of the outer green fabric left either, so don't think I'll be able to do much with that remaining fabric either.

I like Cheryl's suggestion of adding a black and pink border. Although it is not easy to see, the outer green triangles are a print with black and white flowers. I'm also toying with the idea of an appliqued border at the top of the quilt. I wasn't thinking when I put this together, and it is more square than I'd like it to be. I'm thinking something simple, like what they did in this picture from the quilt show I recently went to. I think I have enough green fabric for the vines.

In addition to the pinwheel blocks, my grandmother also left behind 2 finished quilt tops, a set of dresden plate blocks on white muslin, and a set of sunbonnet sue on muslin, along with many pieces cut and ready for assembly. I'm going to look to see if there are some fabrics I can use for the border of the pinwheel quilt. One of these days, I will get them out and take some pictures. In the mean time, I don't think of these unfinished blocks as UFO's...I have enough pressure with my own UFO's.

Speaking of UFO's, I think it's time to pull out my Halloween UFO. I'll do some pictures tomorrow if my DH doesn't take my computer away to be fixed...

Take care, Karen

I finished it!

I've been working on my pinwheel quilt a little bit each weekend, and I finally finished it yesterday. I say finished, but I'm not whether sure it is done or not. I've been thinking about a border, perhaps a piano key border in blacks and whites. I don't have any black/white stash. It would be a chore, but I'd probably have to go to the quilt store and buy some fabric ;)

Here is the (un-ironed) quilt top.

My helper had to test it out.

Since you all inspired me to get this top done, I'm asking what would you do?

Would you stop where it is or would you put a border on it? What kind of border would you put on it? What color border would you do? The picture looks like it is blue green, but it is actually a green 30's reproduction color.

Looks like we're going to have another day of rain so maybe I'll pull out another UFO, perhaps try to finish my Halloween wall hanging before Halloween!

Hope your day is a good one.
Karen

Ssshhhh! Don't tell anyone I'm here

See that handsome dude at the top of this blog? That's me, Robert Redford, Red for short (a/k/a Rusty). The quilter in the house doesn't know I'm here, so mum's the word. Let me tell you a little about myself. I was adopted by this family a few years ago after my parents couldn't care for me anymore. Much to my disgust, there was already another cat in the this house who thought he was king of the house. Boy, did I show him who was boss. This is what he looks like. He thinks he so cool with that grey beard. And he's lazy too, all he ever does is sleep (when he's not picking a fight with me.)

I'm the also quilt supervisor around this place. My job is to distract the quilter as much as possible, and sit on the unfinished quilt (see above). Why just last night, the quilter was working on that flying saucer from out of space, (you know, whispering, the UFO), and I decided that the tomato pin cushion needed closer inspection. Each time she wasn't looking, I kept moving it to check it out. She got mad at me and finally put everything away. I don't thinks she understands that as a quality control supervisor, I'm only checking it for structural integrity.

Anyway, the real reason I'm here is that I need your help. I've been checking out some of the other blogs and find to my surprise, I'm not the only quilt supervisor. I think I'm in love. Piwacket is her name, and here is where you can find a picture.


She's hot, I tell ya. She's H A W T!!! Don't you think she's hot? But I don't even think she knows I'm alive. She's been MIA from her blog for a few weeks now. What should I do?


Well, if I guess I'm off to take a cold shower. Or even better, if I can get into the garage I can walk all over the quilter's car and leave footprints on the windshield. Yeah, that'll cheer me up.

So long...I'll leave you with another handsome picture of ME!

(Does this picture make my butt look big?)

SMILE!

Computer trouble!

Ugh, my computer's been getting slower and slower (again), and I think I may have to get someone to fix it. I would love to get a new computer, but they all come with Windows Vista instead of Windows XP, and that doesn't play nice with my embroidery software. Bernina has a way to "help" you spend more money by not supporting older software. Even though my Bernina program is less than 3 years old, I would have to upgrade it to the next level if I move to Windows Vista. And their "upgrades" tend to cost almost as much as the original software--not exactly cheap. So, the decision to buy a new computer is more than just the cost of the computer.

So, I'm spending the day doing what I should have been doing all along, and that is backing up my important files. I'd rather be sewing or better yet, attending a quilt show if there was one going on.

I'm blocked at work from seeing any of the blogs or getting into blogger. So, if you don't hear from me for a while, that's what's happening. Maybe this will give me the push I need to get some sewing done. Sometimes, the internet and blogs have a way of sucking huge amounts of time out of my day.

Karen

Happy Birthday Violet

Today is my (great) niece's 1st birthday. I don't get to see her too much because she lives in Washington. But my niece, Amanda, does a wonderful job of posting pictuers of Violet and her sister Amelia on her blog. Here she is celebrating her birthday.

She's not too sure about this cake...

I think she's starting to like it...

Yup, there's that smile. She likes it.

This is Amelia on her birthday a few months ago. She loves being a princess.

I'm too groovy...

Happy Birthday Violet!

There's a reason why they are UFO's

Ok, so Cheryl and Erin inspired me to pick up one of my UFO's. It started a few weeks ago when Erin posted about her grandmother's quilt, and Cheryl's been posting about scrappy quilts. I was getting bored with the quilt I was working on, and hadn't done any sewing for a while. So, why not pull out something else to work on? So, I pulled out the 30's quilt I'd been working on, and sorted, ironed, and laid it all out.


First, I have to give you the background on this quilt. My grandmother died when I was young, and when my parents were cleaning out her house, they came across a bunch of fabric. Nobody wanted this fabric, and me being the only sewer in the family, said "I'll take it". I wasn't a quilter at the time, so I had no idea what to do with this stuff. I put it in a closet for many years. Then I bought this book and it told me what I had, which was a bunch of 30's quilt blocks. I still didn't do anything with the quilt blocks for many years, until I has been quilting for 4-5 years. Then, I got the courage to try to put a quilt together from these blocks.

I took one of those "finish" classes at the LQS so I could get some direction on where to start. Now, these quilt blocks were poorly made so I had to sort out the best from the worst. I swear I spent forever trying to get these blocks squared up. The blocks were kind of busy when put next to each other, and I was afraid that if I tried to sew the blocks together, none of the points would match. This is what the blocks look like.



So, I decided that I would put some plain sqares between the blocks, thinking it would quiet them down a bit. What I didn't realize at the time was that the plain squares would also stabilize the blocks so they would be easier to sew together. I got as far as sewing the blocks into rows before it became a UFO for about a year. So, when I pulled it out to work on, you'd think it would be easy. I just had to sew the rows together (I made it on point), put the finishing triangles around the edge, and I'd be almost done. Wrong...

I remember now why it took so long to sew together in rows. I had to stop every few blocks or so and reinforce some of the seams so the blocks would not fall apart. I wasn't about to pull apart all those pinwheel blocks and completely redo them. Well, now I had to reinforce the other seams as I put it together in rows. Trying to match the blocks together as I sewed was another challenge. I swear those blocks changed in size from when I squared them up. So, I was trying to ease the blocks together. Then I came to this block. THIS IS WHY THIS IS A UFO!


There was no "easing" of this block. Should I try to sew the middle seam together so it would fit better? No, that didn't work. So I went Marie Antoinette for a minute and thought "off with its' head" It was out of here. I pulled it out and put a new block in, and I was back in business.

Whew! I got two rows sewed together this weekend. It is halfway there. Here is what I have so far.

You know, the treadmill makes a wonderful place to hold your ironed rows while waiting to be sewed together. Why not? It's not serving any other useful purpose.

So, this is why we have UFO's. Hope everyone had a good 4th!

Karen