It is time for the last quarterly update of my 2018 Unfinished Objects (UFO’s). In October, November, and December of last year I completed 13 customer quilts and seven Quilts of Valor. I also completed two quilts for myself - the fall wool quilt and a Limelight quilt made from Iowa Hawkeye fabric - and I made progress on three others - the 2018 Row By Row quilt, the English Paper-Piecing (EPP) quilt, and a Limelight quilt made from colorful, scrappy fabric in primarily oranges and pinks.
My finished quilts included one that was on my UFO list last year - the Bertie’s Autumn wool quilt kit that I bought at Calico Annie’s in Fullerton, Nebraska. That quilt caught my eye the moment I walked into the quilt shop. I enjoy working with wool and it was nice to have a hand project to do last winter. The quilting was fun as I just made it up as I worked through the quilt adding a background filler and other stitches to enhance the appliqués. I decided to gift this quilt to my mom for Christmas since she hinted strongly several times that she would like to have it.
I also made a quilt using the Limelight pattern - a quick-to-make quilt that uses twelve fat quarters. I first saw this idea when the gals from Cut Up & Quilt in Council Bluffs came to a Panama Quilt Guild meeting. They showed the quilt made from Iowa Hawkeye prints and from Nebraska Cornhusker prints. I thought this quilt with Iowa prints would be for Lindsay’s boyfriend, Dustin, who is a huge Iowa Hawkeye fan. I added four bright yellows and four blacks to the four Iowa prints and then stitched an all-over geometric design on my long arm.
One of the three projects on which I made some progress was my 2018 Row By Row quilt. I completed all of the Rows and cut out the fabric for the border and sashing strips. I am excited to put this quilt together as it will look quite different from my previous Row quilts because of the different sizes of the Rows.
My EPP quilt now has eight of eleven hexagon rows (I’ve started on row nine) and eight of ten diamond rows completed. This is the project that I chose for my guild’s UFO challenge but I don’t feel like I’m making as much progress on it as I would like. Hand-piecing the hexagons is enjoyable to do but I don’t feel like I get much done compared to the time I spent on it. Guess I will just keep plugging away.
I also completed the top of another Limelight quilt. This time I used a set of scrappy fabrics that I purchased from Cut Up & Quilt. And I was able to quilt and bind this top yesterday while we were getting snowed in with 11” of the white stuff. Now I can claim my first project of 2019 completed and check that one off of my UFO list!!
I also did a couple of projects for Christmas gifts. I made 40 postcards to send to my 2018 customers. I got this idea from a pod caster that I like to listen to - Lynn from The Stitch TV Show. I also made folded fabric ornaments for my six piano students. I followed patterns from Folded Fabric Fun by Nancy J. Martin. I have made those in the past to add to wreaths as well as Christmas trees. Both of those projects are quick and fun to do - a great way to use up scraps of fabric and batting - and have a meaningful gift to give for Christmas.
I am looking forward to making a new UFO list for 2019 and keeping track of what I accomplish throughout the year. I found it to be a successful experiment that kept me focused on what needed to be done. Now I have quilts to use instead of having them sitting in my “to-do” pile!!