9-patch again

Well, I kept at it!  By working on a batch of 9-patch blocks at a time, soon the empty spaces on my design wall dwindled until the centre was all done.  A few tweaks here and there and I'm happy with the look.

Then, a few days of serious sewing of the rows and the centre is complete.  Now, just the outer borders to do!  It is truly amazing what can get done when I focus on just one project.  Hmmm, perhaps that is what I need to do to get some other ufo's completed.  :o)

Gotta focus ... gotta focus ... gotta focus ....

Have a great day!

9 patches

While I have been cutting scraps for my split apple cores into four piles (remember my scrap system that I have mentioned a few times on my blog?), I figured that it would be sensible to also cut pieces for another UFO that uses the same fabrics.

This is a 9-patch project that has never been shown before on my blog.  Looking back at when this was started, it appears around 2009.  Perhaps it was meant to be a leader/ender project.  I don't remember.  Too much time has passed.  Anyway, there were not many pieces in those piles.  Time to do something about that.

 Up onto my design wall they went.  A good start.

 After two days of working, I can see progress.

I try to do my 9-patches in groups of 10 or more.  After they are sewn together, up they go on the design wall and stepping back, I can feel that an accomplishment has been made.  A few here and there don't make any difference, but 10 blocks show up instantly.

After 3 days of work, definite progress.

I need to keep this momentum going!!!  :o)

Have a great day!

Little Pony

Another UFO out from the closet (or shelf in my case).  The last time you saw this project, it was at this stage.

The addition of some more borders sure made a difference along with some appliqué.

More leaves need to be sewn down.

A few butterflies, too.  Add some embroidery.  The list goes on.

Almost there!

Have a great day!

A quilting pact

A quilting friend and I have made a pact to bring 4 projects to completed top stage by the end of 2016.

We even shook hands on it.

We each have lots of UFO's (I'm in the 40+ projects on the go).  She is way up there too.  Each one of our projects has a lot of slow stitching on them.  Like me, she does a lot of EPP and appliqué.

We each start new projects at the drop of a hat.

We are the perfect match to egg each other on to fulfilling this pact.

These are the ones that I committed to.  When you look at the dates, some of them have been around for a while.

So, what needs to be done to get each of them to completed stage?  Read on, my friends.

My star quilts needs appliqué borders.  The leaves, etc. have been prepped.  They just need to be sewn on.

Just Blessings will need to go up on my design wall to give me time to look at it and figure out how to finish it.

Rail Fence Delight just needs another appliqué section and outer borders.

Ozark Cobblestone needs borders and appliqué.  All the appliqué pieces are ready for sewing.

My other goal will be to quilt a number of the 27 tops that are waiting to be quilted.  Now, that has been my goal every year, but sadly, it just doesn't seem to happen.  This year, I'm planning on marking and sandwiching a couple of tops so that when I'm ready to quilt, they are ready to go.  We'll see if that helps.

Lofty goals.  We'll see how the year ends.  Bring on 2016!

Have a great day!

2015 tally

To all my quilting friends and readers of my blog ..... Happy New Year and all the best for 2016!

I just love this time of year when quilters do a tally on their blogs and we get to revisit wonderful tops and quilts.  The eye candy is sometimes too much, but I'm not going to complain.  Bring on those year end tallies.  Inspiration to finish a few UFO's sure kicks into high gear soon afterwards and I do know that it has hit me hard.

Now, let's get down to business.   Was 2015 a good year for me?  

These are the finished quilts that got made last year:

Every time I see my Gumballs quilt (shown below), I want to do that border quilting again.  Just love, love it!

  These are my completed tops:

Plus, one more top that has to remain a secret for now.  A lot of slow stitching went into some of these tops and I enjoyed each stitch.

So, was it a good year for me?  Absolutely.  Any completed quilt or any project brought to a top stage is always a good thing.

Have a great day!