It's been a hard month chez Aunt Marti, but Spring is coming (or Autumn, if you're in Australia!). If you're ready to get started on your April challenge, pull out UFO
With the best of intentions, I started out the month working on my Downton Abbey Mystery from
LoveBug Studios. I got all the blocks finished, and about half sewn together. Then Jelly Roll Party samples and shop samples and well, life, intervened! I haven't decided whether to keep on plugging away at it in March, or return it to its pizza box (unused pizza box!) and try again next year.
What do you do with unfinished UFOs?
Lucky for us, UFO Challengers did better than me finishing up their projects!
Nancy sent these three photos after I had gone to bed January 31 -- so I'm including them in the March Parade.
(It's OK to send your photos early in the month, I'll save them in the folder for next month's Parade.)
Look at this
pile of quilts Nancy's daughter quilted for her in January!
Nancy, does she accept quilts from others, or do you keep her too busy?
Nancy calls this one "Reflections." She says it's for her oldest daughter -- doesn't it remind you of sea glass?
And she made these cute coasters for a friend "who was having a bad day." How thoughtful! The tutorial came from
It's Just Sewing, 'Binding Free' coasters and hot pads.
Another Nancy -- Nancy A -- is another multiple-finisher. This one is a flannel baby quilt, all pieced and ready to quilt and bind. Love that border fabric, Nancy!
Here are the pillowcases Nancy made for her grandchildren. They're addictive, aren't they? (The pillowcases, I mean!)
Nancy made this beauty for her niece. She also made a set of matching pillowcases.
I'd love it if you'd tell us the pattern name in the comments, Nancy!
And here is another baby quilt, ready to "hand off!"
Sue has me all inspired to make a sewing machine cover! Isn't her's pretty?
Hey, I have some of that fabric! It's Lark, by Amy Butler!
Sue also made a great laptop bag -- very clever, Sue!
You can read all about these projects on Sue's Quilty Bits and Bobs,
here.
I always look forward to Sandi's "kwilts" each month. This month, it's Konstellation and Krown.
Here's what Sandi tells us about this bright beauty:
Konstellation and Krown is my 2016 February UFO. It is from the pattern Star and Crown that is by Path Speth. Pat is known for her use of 5" squares. From the pattern one could make any of the four sizes ranging from Wall to Queen. I chose to make it five sizes by eliminating the outside border on the Wall size. My finished project is 32 1/2" square. I plan to bind it with a solid blue fabric, probably on the darker side of the scrappy blues that are in the project. Konstellation and Krown is ALL from my stash...a wonderful project! You can read more about Konstellation and Krown in my blog, KwiltnKats, here. If you go to the right side bar and select the label Konstellation and Krown you can read all about the making of the project.
Nothing like a patriotic quilt!
And Sandi, I'm looking forward to meeting you "in person" when My Little Sailor transfers from Japan to San Diego this Fall!
Kerry used a tool I own but have never used (
don't we all do that?), the "Five and Dime" ruler from
Kansas Troubles Quilters.
This design uses a charm pack (5" squares) and a layer cake (10" squares). She reports the "nifty" ruler makes centering and cutting "a breeze." Kerry won the kit at her Guild's holiday party! You can read all about it at Kerry's Quilting,
here.
Susan-from-Australia sent us her photo of this gorgeous (incredibly gorgeous!) quilt.
Be sure to click on the photo to enlarge -- you'll want to see all the detail! Susan hasn't blogged about her quilt yet, she wants to show it to members of her guild first. But you'll be able to read all about it on her blog,
Susan's Sewing Space, later this month.
Goriajean wins the "oldest UFO" this month! These blocks are from the Western Washington Shop Hop 2005! I shouldn't laugh, because I have some of these blocks, too!
Thirty blocks is a lot of shops, Gloriajean!
Jennifer B is a newcomer to the UFO Challenge, but she is off with a bang! She tells me:
I'm using this whole year as "the year of the stash". As in, I'm not purchasing fabric, not even for borders or backing. The only purchases I'm allowing myself are batting (if my huge roll runs out) and thread. Everything else I have to make do. 2 months down so far and I'm feeling great about it.
#1 - Darth Vader. I outline quilted his mask in glow in the dark thread and did a stipple in the rest. It looks really neat at night.
#2 - Snowpeople Love: I've had this top for about a year, and finally, around to quilting and binding. I quilted snowflakes all around the snowmen and loose loops.
#3 - Hello Kitty: I put this top away right after my mother in law passed away 2 years ago Christmas Eve, and only just could work on it again. I was working on it when I got the phone call about her, and I had to tell my husband about his mom. So, this one had a lot of sadness for me. It took a while, but I finally realized that she'd want me to associate her with the laughter and awesome times we had. I finished it up right before Valentine's Day.
#4 - Bubbly: This one just sat as a top because I couldn't think of how to quilt it. The kiddo helped me quilt this one as well. It's backed with a bright green. Not a favorite color of mine, but kiddo picked it out, so we used it. It's bound in white.
On a sad note, the reason February was such a hard month. Elder Son's corgi, Oliver, died last weekend. Olly was a 4-H project and always a big hit with the show judges. In this 2002 photo, Justin is signalling "sit."
Oliver was the "worry corgi." After Justin left home, Olly stuck close to me. While I was gone to Texas last year, he could no longer climb the stairs, so he hung out in my basement sewing room.
He was a good dog.
Good work, everyone! I can't wait to see what you finish during March!
From the desk of your
