Wednesday, March 21, 2018

UFO Progress

I thought I'd pop in to let you know what's going on in the 'many irons in the fire' world of mmm! quilts these days. This post was mostly written on Tuesday, with a couple of items to finish up Wednesday morning before posting. Unfortunately a rather wicked persistent headache put the kibosh on my plans, which means this is getting posted Wednesday evening!

UFO #1:  Rainbow Scrap Challenge
I've caught up on my blocks for March and made the second one for February. If you recall, I did not have much in the way of purple scraps with me in Florida. March's blocks are the light and lime green ones. Here they are all together for the first time. These are definitely eating up some 2.5" squares! I am cutting 3" squares from bigger scraps  to make two at a time HSTs.


UFO #2:  Q1FAL project
The quilt for my aunt should be a finish for Friday! Her birthday is April 27. It should arrive in plenty of time for that....except it's nearly a year late for the special one, as she was 80 last year! Ah well, all in good time. Here are a couple sneak peeks.
The background is getting an all-over jigsaw-style meander. This is like meditating or watching fish for me; I just LOVE it.

Straight and curved ruler work in the stars.
The border is a freehand flowers, leaves and ribbons design. Here is a photo of the backing, seen from below the loaded quilt:

This is a wide backing from Connecting Threads (affiliate link). This is the first time I've used a wide backing and it is LOVELY not to have pieced it ahead of time. Wait. I had to because this is directional, and for once CT cut it just a smidge (they're usually pretty generous) past the 2 yards and my quilt is 72.5" (I made it a bit bigger than the original plan, and didn't have a definitive plan when I ordered the backing, gulp) so unless I wanted the flowers going sideways, which I did contemplate, but nope, just could not do, I had to add in a couple of inches at the bottom edge.

*Just a little plug for my darling sponsor, Melody of The Red Hen Shop. She cuts a very generous yard of fabric. Ask Wendy of Pieceful Thoughts of My Quilting Life who won the first draw for the 30 Quilts Design Challenge on IG. Anyhow. I'll be honest, I wasn't sure of the hand of this wide backing; it feels a bit polished or glossy. However, it drapes and quilts beautifully, and now that it is off the frame, squared up and awaiting binding, I am totally pleased with the feel of it. I'll talk more about it on Friday after it's been laundered.

UFO #3: Sewcial Bee Sampler
I couldn't take one moment away from working on the Cat-eye-doscope Plus quilt for Cheryl's and Paige's blog hop, so I was one block behind in this ongoing sew-along I'm doing with Tish, Anja and Dave. Now I'm caught up. Might have to hit it with a spray of water or starch to make the outer border lie flat. I did some pretty fancy fussy cutting for this to get the arrows aligned and the flower in the centre. The navy and that flower are all on a striped fabric.

UFO #4: Postcard from Sweden
Almost 8 rows done; had hoped to have 10 (half way) by today...
I'm finding that sewing a row into pairs and then the subsequent row into pairs, and then making the foursies as I mentioned in a previous post, is really working well. I'm doing it as leader/enders still for the most part.

UFO #5: Selvages knitted rug
I started this last September. I started knitting it on our way to the Toledo Zoo, where we took Brady one day when he and Brianne were here. He actually asked me out of the blue on FaceTime a week ago about it! He has such a great memory. It's coming along, getting heavy!! I keep my selvages in a plastic bag as you see, as it helps lessen the tangling. I usually just knit in the car on it. It's a tutorial on Amanda Jean's blog, Crazy Mom Quilts.

UFO #6:  30 Quilt Designs Challenge on Instagram
The second draw, again from The Red Hen Shop, for designs 11-20, is Thursday, March 22. Design ideas are still zipping around in my brain but I've not made myself stick to my earlier routine of a few times a week first thing in the morning, sit down and draw or play in EQ8. There are several in the works and/or in my brain however. Here's one I did this morning:


The final draw, two major prizes, (check back tomorrow for the post on my sponsors), is April 15. There are a few who are finished or very close to being finished 30 designs. Again there are some exciting stories: I know of three designs headed to be published, and another, one of Michelle's, Creative Blonde, was lovingly made by Katya @madeatturnpikecottage:


Isn't that the coolest? Michelle is one of our new quilt bloggers in the upcoming hop next month, which adds another layer of cool!

UFO #7: My Beach
Speaking of cool, I took myself for a lovely walk along Seacliff beach on Sunday afternoon. It was a decent temperature finally, 11C, (we've been a fair bit below normal), the sun was shining, the skies blue.
You may recall that one of my photos from a couple of weeks ago of 'my' lake, Lake Erie, showed lovely blue waters; when we arrived here on March 3, the lake was open.  Seacliff Beach, in the photo here, is a mere 8 km east of me.  No, there's no snow...but wait, what's that white stuff at the lake's shore?
Unbelievable Frozen Objects/Orchestra!
Remember how I said that this beach is a great place for beach glass due to the currents that push it in here? There was no wind to speak of that day, so the currents must've pushed in the shards of ice that are still floating around in the lake, or perhaps making their way down from Lake St. Clair. The whorls in the water remind me of a deck of cards fanned out, or dominoes.
This gives you a bit of an idea of how the beach is in a bit of a cove. There were others beach walkers, and another one snapping photos of the cool patterns.

The sound of the ice is incredible! The closest I can come to it is a wind chimes mobile I bought my mum a few years ago from Key West, made of thin incandescent shells. It's kind of a plastic-y sound times 100! The waves were undulating gently in, which made the entire mass look and sound so cool.


A quick note about Craftsy (affiliate link there and in this paragraph) that came in late this afternoon and I have already checked it out: they are having a terrific sale...

Up to 60% Off Quilt, Knit & Crochet Kits & Supplies at Craftsy.com 3/22-3/25/18 11:59pm MST.
and before you roll your eyes and say ya ya, like every other, oh no. This one the prices are the lowest I've seen, lower than I paid for my Lily and Loom Modern Hand Drawn, wahhh! I may have to pick up a leedle more yardage of it, (already got a fat quarter pack and a yard of the navy from a previous sale) because it is just awesome. I would not steer you wrong, promise. CA$4.67/yard?!! Sign me up!

But there is so much more at Craftsy: they are getting their own cotton thread I see... and I have not been disappointed in any of the yarn (3 different kits so far) I've bought from them, and there's a bunch of great deals on yarn too, just so ya know. And (so many 'ands' I know) ANGELA did a brand new video today where she uses Boundless Ombré fabrics - love it! Love her description of her red wine, "mmm, that's a floral bouquet with cotton..."


Linking up
Tish 'n Wonderland
Sew Fresh Quilts

16 comments:

  1. Progress is good. I need to start making more progress on my UFOs. I saw an e-mail about that Craftsy sale...guess I need to check it out.

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  2. That knitting looks great, and the ice, I can almost hear it crackling.Love those rainbow blocks, and the backing on your quilt, truly beautiful.

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  3. Whoa, look at the ice; that is spectacular and oooh, the sound, how amazing!! Out of all of these I found myself staring at the selvages knitted rug. I can't help myself, I'm going to have to check out that tutorial!

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  4. Very cool ice photos! I bet the sound is amazing. Congrats on all the UFO progress, you are moving along on a lot of different fronts.

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  5. Hi Sandra,
    That yellow and blue quilt for your aunt is really pretty. I love those colors together. And you've gotten really far on Postcard! I hope to make it to 10 rows together by this weekend . . . That ice! How cool is looks and the texture natures achieves is just awesome. I wish I could hear it cracking. ~smile~ Roseanne

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  6. You have a lot going on, just wondering when you find the time to sleep?? Those ice photos..WOW.

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  7. You will feel so good once your Aunt's quilt is off your plate and then onto the next UFO;) Very cool pic's of the ice on the beach.

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  8. You have been busy and blogging about it! I love that ice sound, it is really so cool to watch the shards crash into each other. In the earlier part of the winter we saw it on the ocean as we crossed Casco Bay. It is just an amazing site and the one you are showing is much more impressive than what we saw. I am persisting getting some designs out! Today a blog entry or two.....

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  9. I have never seen ice like that! How cool! And how great that you got to see it, because I imagine that it's a rapidly passing phenomenon. Love your RSC blocks!

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  10. You are so right, Sandra, The Red Hen Shop fabric is just amazing. Melody is delightful to work with, and so generous in her yardage. I cannot wait to play with the fabric she sent! Hmm. I'm looking for a diversion today (when I should be working on Postcard - true confessions, y'know)! You've been a busy lady, as usual! I like the look of that meander; wish my brain could wrap itself around that quilting design. I need to practice it a bit more.

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  11. You're a busy, busy gal this season, Sandra! I hope it's more fulfilling than frenzying, but I suspect it's a bit of both. I would love to see the waves of ice sheets...so cool! However, I'd like to see it from shore NOT from on deck of my boat :)

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  12. SO MUCH HAPPENING!!! And you found time to take some cool (or cold) pictures too? These are as much a treat as the lovely quilting lines on bright blue and buttery yellow fabrics. Love wide backing :-)

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  13. Lovely UFOs! A selvages knitting run?! I can't wait to see it finished. The ice photos are so amazing! Thanks so much for sharing them!

    -Soma

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  14. That ice is so creepy scary but also so pretty. Love seeing all the shades of gray in the photo. BTW, I already purchased the Modern Hand Drawn fabrics already thanks to you and I'm think these fabrics would look good for your Playtime Plus Quilt Along.

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  15. You are so so busy. Well done on your Aunts quilt, I’m sure she will love and appreciate it, lovely backing. Unfortunately I haven’t got back to my Postcards, lots pulling me away from quilting and blogging just now and I’m away from home for a few days now. However, as Scarlett always said ‘Tomorrow is another day’.

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  16. You've got a lot going on, all so pretty! And thank you for taking time away from other projects for the blog hop! You quilt is beautiful! I beach ice is so cool!

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