As the year started I was wondering just how many UFO’s I would be able to finish as my calendar filled with 17 customer quilts, five Quilts of Valor, music contests and substituting. Then March hit and as each event was canceled it gave me more time to devote to my list. As a result I was able to check three completely off and make progress on a few others.
In January I finished a project for our Panama Quilt Guild that I had started in 2019. Our challenge for this year was to make a pattern called Solar Flare in which each block was a half-square triangle. We could use the fabric of our choice and make it any size. I chose warm colors from my stash and purchased the background fabric. The pattern indicated making 6 7/8” squares but I chose 7” to make the cutting easier. As a result my quilt was a bit bigger than was shown in the pattern. At each meeting a few quilts were shared during show-and-tell and it was fun to see what everyone had made. I had thought about doing a custom quilting design on my quilt but ultimately decided on a quick all-over design instead as I didn’t want to invest too much time.
In January I also took the opportunity to stitch a kit that I had purchased at Quilt Stitches in Beatrice. I saw the quilt when I was in the store during the holidays and thought it was too cute to pass up. It features a panel of snowmen surrounded by several pieced star blocks and I could envision some fun quilting. After I stitched it together, however, I felt that I was going to be under a time crunch and decided to just do an overall design on this quilt, too. While it would have been fun to play with a custom design I was happy with the overall design as it looks like snow swirling around the snowmen.
In February I began to stitch blocks using Moda Cupcake Mix #2, a pack of charm squares that I received in a drawing at a quilting class, and background fabric from my stash. This particular Cupcake Mix makes paper-pieced half-square triangles. I chose to stitch them into a star block and have finished 12 of the 21 blocks so far. My plan is to use the 12 of the blocks in a table runner and nine of the blocks in a table topper. I purchased border and sashing fabric to coordinate with the blocks and I can’t wait to see how they will go together!
Then March arrived and I found myself with much more time on my hands than I had anticipated. In the evenings I have been working on my 5-year English Paper-Piecing project and have now added two more rows to the center section. Only three more to go! I also coordinated my appliqué patterns with the dish towels that I had accumulated. I’m looking forward to making Easter, Fourth of July, Fall, and Christmas towels for donations and gifts. In addition I cut out fabric to make two Husker quilts and will stitch them together when I need a little no-mind sewing some day.
Towards the middle of March I finally felt some motivation to complete the final Dream Big panel that I had purchased. This was actually the first one that I bought because I liked the teal color way and thought it would go nicely in our entryway or kitchen. I stitched it with designs in much the same way that I did the piece for Melissa and Kevin’s wedding last fall.
I finished the month of March stitching masks to aid in the fight against the Coronavirus. I tried several patterns before settling on a variation that I learned from Leah Day. You can check this link on her YouTube channel for instructions. I changed it slightly by eliminating the wire around the nose and only stitching the sides to finish the mask. So far I have made 13 masks and have six more cut out and ready to stitch. I have a feeling that I will be stitching a lot more in the month of April!
