Painstaking Progress

It is time once again to look at the progress - or lack thereof - that I made during the last three months on my UFO (Un-Finished Objects) list. I started the year with ten projects and have added four as the year has gone along. I finished five of the original ten during the first quarter of the year and made progress on six others during the second quarter. During July, August, and September I have worked on a couple of projects in preparation for the wedding of our daughter, Melissa, in November. As a result I was able to check two projects off the list and delete another.

You are probably wondering how I could delete a UFO since most of those projects are started in one form or another. This particular project, however, was just an idea that I had. I had intended to make a throw-size quilt for Melissa as a bridal shower gift but I had not yet chosen a pattern or purchased any fabric. As the year unfolded and I decided to do a Dream Big panel for the wedding reception I realized that making a throw was just not going to happen.

Now back to the list - I was able to complete the Hydrangea-colored Dream Big panel as a practice piece for the Orchid panel that will be used on the cake table at the reception. Although I don’t often take the time to practice on an entire quilt this one was small enough - 45”x 45” - that I decided it was well worth my time and effort to do so. And I’m so glad that I did. I learned so much and am confident that I can complete the Orchid panel in plenty of time for the wedding.

I was also able to finish the king-size quilt that I plan to give to Kevin and Melissa as a wedding gift. For some reason I put off starting this quilt until this summer. That is so unlike me as I am a planner and feel better when I accomplish tasks well in advance of deadlines. I’ve known since the start of the year that the wedding was happening in November but I guess it just seemed so far away at that time. It was a fun quilt to put together as part of it was paper-pieced - a technique that I enjoy doing - and I used fabrics that I purchased when I visited Missouri Star Quilting Company in Hamilton, Missouri in June. I also quilted a small project that my Mom made with the leftover fabric.

Towards the end of September my long arm quilting machine had some issues which necessitated a trip to the repair shop in Fremont. In the meantime I stitched up 23 fabric postcards that I will send to customers as Christmas cards from Forest Acres Custom Quilting. These are a quick and fun project to do and a great way to use fabric and batting scraps.

I have also stitched 14 customer quilts and one Quilt of Valor during the past three months. One customer quilt was the construction of the Violet Craft unicorn - a paper-pieced top with 194 pieces! You can be sure that you will soon see a blog post devoted entirely to that quilt.