February UFO - #1 - Still at Quilters :(

Unfortunately my Diamond Patch Quilt that is my #1 on the 2012 UFO Challenge is still at the quilter's. Once it gets back I will quicky bind it and post as completed at that time.

Sad that the second month of my 2012 Challenge that I am not able to complete the quilt but will work to meet the March Challenge !!!

Salt Water Taffy Quilt

Here is a quilt that I made last year for Joe and Diana Guyer, some friends who got married last May. 

The pattern is called Salt Water Taffy and was supposed to be made with Batiks, however, I had my Mom's stash of Star fabrics and used those. 

I used a solid blue for the backing and solid red for the binding as the top was pretty busy on it's own.



Joe and Diana are stars in my life... they are fellow Christians and members of my Peace Group and they help to keep me grounded in Christ.  Therefore, I wanted to share the star fabric with them.



2012 UFO #6 Done !!!

My 2012 UFO #6 is my 'failed' Jelly Roll Quilt - I cut the strips at 2 inches wide (instead of 2 1/2 inches wide) and then sewed them together not in a random order.... so it ended up with the fabrics meeting a lot. So to make it somewhat unique, I cut it into four rectangles, inserted navy blue sashing and sewed it back together.  I am happy with the result.....

And for the backing I pieced together the fabric with more of the navy blue sashing.

So I have two items on my UFO done for 2012 and a couple more close.... So glad that I made my UFO list as it is keeping me focused... but I am still doing other projects that are not on my list... think I caught the bug !!!



Heart String Quilt Project

I follow a fellow quilter/blogger named Mary and she is part of a group called Heart Strings Quilt Project.  They run year long challenges to make String Quilts using different colors and/or themes and the finished quilts are given away to worthy organizations.  See the link below -> 
http://heartstringsquiltproject.com/

So I printed out the instructions from the website and last night I pulled out my scrap and strings containers and made my first Heart Strings block

I think I need to go get a new template to help me cut them correctly but not bad for my first one!!!

The group has a challenge this year to make either 24 or 48 blocks enough to make a small or large quilt.  Thinking about trying it myself as it did not take that long and was a fun distraction from other projects!!!



Our Christmas Miracle...

In January when we went to take apart our Christmas Tree, I found a bird's nest sitting in the branches !!!  It had held on through being cut down, loaded onto a big truck, shipped to Palatine, Illinois, driven home on the top of my husband's car and then setup in our house.

I have been trying to figure out if this is some kind of sign... but nothing has come to me.  My husband pulled the nest from the tree before it went into the garbage and I am trying to think of something fun to do with it. Any ideas would be welcome.....

Just wanted to share the wonder of God's nature.... it is beautiful and yet simple ... small and yet has me overwhelmed with the miracle.....

2012 UFO #5 - Done !!

Finished up the binding and added my label today to 2012 UFO #5

This is my successful Jelly Roll Quilt.  I did not use a Jelly Roll but cut two WOF strips from each of 20 materials in my stash.  Scary to think how many more of these I could make with the fabric in my closet !!!

Second picture shows the pieced backing that I decided to make.  As stated before, I have become a big fan of piecing the backing  - it seems to make better use of the fabric and makes the back somewhat as interesting as the front

This quilt is going to be given away as a baby gift so hopefully will be well used and loved.

2012 UFO Progress already !!!

I finished sewing together the second of my Diamond Patch quilts for our new guest room on Saturday afternoon and then yesterday got the backing and binding materials done.  Here are pictures of both quilts with their backing material.  I decided to put a horizontal band using 5" squares and 2" pieces from the quilt top - I love making backings with different bands of fabric - it makes the backing as fun as the top. 
Some of the fabrics are the same between the two quilts - such as the border fabric - but I had to dig through my stash when I decided to make the second quilt.  Luckily I still have fabric that I inherited from my mom and I have no problem adding to the stash myself!!!!

Quilt #1

Quilt #2

Took these pictures on the beds that they will eventually be used on.  Now all I have to do is box them up and send them out to the long-arm quilter.  Can hardly wait to get them back!!!