Pumpkin Applesauce Progress

I've made a little progress since my last post.

Pumpkin Peel wall hanging from the book, "Small Pieces, Spectacular Quilts".

I've begun appliqueing the arcs onto the background fabric. In the photo, the lower two arcs are done and I still need to do the upper ones. I see I'll have to redo a flat spot on the left arc! My mistakes are much more apparent on the solid background.

This will be a four block quilt. Each block measures 39 x 39" finished so, to me, its a huge block.

I have a lot of stitching to do on it before it can go to the machine quilter. There will be plenty of opportunity for that this weekend as we're expecting more winter weather - snow, ice, and rain depending on the temperatures.

I've also been binding my Criss Cross Applesauce quilt. Only one more side to go before I can share it as my latest UFO finish at our next guild meeting.

Last but not least, if anyone reading this is near Paducah, Kentucky, my Selvage Star of Bethlehem quilt is hanging in the National Quilt Museum as part of the Heart of America exhibit until mid March. I'm not able to go see it but perhaps you might be able to. Here's the link with a picture of my quilt!

Until next time, 

Mayleen

In Hot Water

In my last post, I mentioned the fabric bleed I'd noticed on the only UFO Pumpkin Peel block I'd finished. You can see it on the upper left outer arc, just above the sliver of maroon with gold dot fabric. When I looked closer, there were also other areas of bleed but this was the most noticeable.

I followed Vicki Welsh's advice, "Save My Bleeding Quilt!", and gave it a good soak in hot water and Dawn dishwashing detergent. Here's a link to her article.

Since it was only one block, I soaked it for about 6 hours in my kitchen sink adding hot water and a liberal amount of Dawn dishwashing detergent. I used small plates to hold the block below the water's surface.

Here's what it looked like after it dried overnight. If you look in the lower left hand corner at shirting fabric to the left of the maroon with gold dot fabric, you'll see the bleed is gone!

I'm finally finished piecing all of the arcs and the next step is removing the paper foundation before I stitch them together. This pattern is in the book, "Small Pieces, Spectacular Quilts" by Mary Elizabeth Kinch and Biz Storms.

Guess who's home from the machine quilter? We're expecting good binding weather this weekend (snow and cold temperatures) so that's my plan!

Until next time,

Mayleen

Trip Around the Prairie

Its been a long week but I've managed to get my latest UFO, Trip Around the Prairie, to almost completion stage!

The "only" things left to do:

Tack down the outer two rows of Prairie Points because when they flop in or down, I think they're distorting the borders and make and sew on a sleeve and label.

Some vital statistics:

There are 24 rounds of Prairie Points for a total of 1248, if I counted correctly!

It measures 36" x 37.5" and weighs approximately 3 pounds.

I won't have much time to stitch this week but I'm still hoping to start on my next UFO finish, Pumpkin Peel, very soon!

Until next time,

Mayleen

UFO Busting!

Time for some UFO Busting calculations!

# of projects in process as of January 1 - 34 

# of projects completed - 1

# of new projects started - 0

# of UFO's trashed - 0

(I don't think I've ever actually trashed a project. I pass them on or donate to Goodwill.)

# of projects in process as of January 31 - 33

It doesn't seem like I made much progress but any progress is more than what would have happened if I hadn't joined the UFO challenge. If I can average one finish a month, I'll be very happy!

Finish #1 - My selvage Streak of Lightning quilt, Flash!

It needed binding and I added a sleeve. As soon as I've finished four quilts, I'll print out labels and add one to it.

 I finished piecing Criss Cross Applesauce and its at the machine quilter in line to be quilted. I won't get it back until early March. I learned quite a while ago not to try to machine quilt anything larger than a medium sized wall hanging on my domestic machine.

Instead of trashing my Target UFO blocks, I took them apart and am making this "Trip Around the Prairie" wall hanging. In this photo, I'm trying to figure out the last 5 or 6 rounds of color. I know I need a lighter value color but my stash is limited in choices.

 

This will be the next UFO I work on. Its "Pumpkin Peel" from the book, Small Pieces, Spectacular Quilts, by Mary Elizabeth Kinch and Biz Storms. I don't know when it got wet but there's a little bleeding going on so I'm going to try soaking it in hot water and Dawn dishwashing liquid. I hope its not ruined.

Until next time, Mayleen