So here's the thing...

I've got some new photo processing software on my computer now, but it is so far forward from my old software that it's going to take some time to learn.  If I'm lucky, I will upload a picture of my latest fnished quilt and it will appear below:

It worked!  This is the quilt I just finished, called "Coral Reef".  I had the center portion finished for  last Christmas, and I gave it to my husband to let him decide if he wanted it as a wall-hanging or as a lap quilt.  He decided on lap quilt, so I expanded it in length and finally got it turned into a quilt.

Machine quilting is probably my least favorite part of quilting, but it has to be done in order to finsh a quilt, so I've had to find a way to make it work.  I quilted a diagonal line of straight stitching across all the squares and into the borders, but I skipped over the fish scenes.  Later, I went back with some variegated thread and did a wavy stitch across the fish to try and suggest some motion of the water.  Hopefully you can see the curved stitching in the photo below.

It's so nice to have this lap quilt all finished and ready to use.  Less than a year has gone by  since I gave it to my husband, so I'm not officially late yet, right?   Isn't there some kind of extended "statute of giving" for quilters?  No?  Well, we should start one.

A Tale of a Whale

I’ve made progress on the first UFO on my list.

First, a little background: This quilt began as a fabric panel of an undersea scene, called Coral Reef. I selected various parts of the fabric to highlight and fussy cut them. Then I added narrow borders to each scene, and surrounded them with simple 2 inch squares of “ocean-ey” fabric.



I wanted the effect to be like you were looking into an aquarium. I showed what the original wall hanging looked like in my last post.









Here’s what the Coral Reef quilt top looks like now:

I added another row of checkerboard squares to the top and bottom, and expanded the navy blue sashing to contain them. Then I added an additional 3 inch border all the way around the top. I It’s not the wall-hanging size I had originally planned, but that’s how it goes. Sometimes quilts take on a life of their own. What used to be a 46 inch square top, now measures 54 X 74.

I didn’t have a piece of fabric big enough for a backing for this sea monster, so I ended up creating one by piecing what I had leftover from the front. Here’s what the back looks like:

(You didn’t really think I could go much longer without posting a picture of Toby, did you?)

I’m pretty happy to get going again on this quilt. Now it’s time to get out the big table and start basting.

3 UFO's for the Challenge

As I mentioned in my previous post, I've joined a UFO Challenge over at Finn's blog.  The challenge is open ended so that each quilter chooses how many projects she/he wants to finish before New Year's Eve.  I've committed myself to 3 projects, but there is one ambitious lady who has given herself the task of finishing 19!  I'll be rooting for her.

Here are the 3 projects I've decided on.  The first is my "Coral Reef" quilt:

Anyone who was reading my blog last year might remember this quilt top that I gave  to my husband for Christmas.  It started out as a wallhanging, but it had gotten so large in the process of designing it, that it was practially lap quilt size.  I waited until my husband opened it on Christmas morning to ask him if he would prefer a lap quilt, and he said that would be nice. (To his credit, he said a wallhanging would be nice too.)

I think it's time to get this top turned into a real quilt don't you?  Hopefully in time for THIS Christmas.



My second project will be to finish this quilt:

This is a twin size quilt that I am making for my daughter's boyfriend, who is a martial arts instructor.  He's currently in China right now, studying and training.  I'd like to have this one done to give him for Christmas when he returns.
 
The pattern is called "Ring Around". Right now it is pieced into four subsections which I plan to quilt separately, and then sew together afterwards, sort of a very large "quilt-as-you-go" project.

I'm waffling a bit on which project to choose as my third one, but I've settled on this one:

This green and purple Card Trick quilt top is intended to be a couch quilt for our family room.  I finished the top a long while ago, and later, in a burst of guilt-driven motivation to get it quilted I got it pin basted and ready to machine quilt, and that is how it has been for almost a year now.  (I know!)

I need to get this one actually quilted before the basting pins rust, or the couch wears out and it won't match anymore. 

So, thank you Finn, for hosting this UFO Challenge, and Good Luck to everyone else who is participating.  I hope to get all 3 of these tops quilted, and out there being used and loved, instead of sitting on top of the fabric stash.