Saturday, February 18, 2012

Simplicity



Found a new quilt pattern this weekend that somehow 
jumped to the head of my "to do" list.
It is just in the preliminary stages of becoming a quilt
but will hopefully be completed in a few days.
Simplicity is defined as "the state or quality of being simple".
That seems to sum things up pretty well.


May you always Sew in Peace!

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Save a UFO Finalist!


Been wracking my brain all day trying to remember if I've ever
won anything of value in a contest before. 
Hmmm.... nothing seems to come to mind except a poster contest
at my elementary school when I was in the fifth grade. 
Now that I think about it, 
I believe the prize was a whopping three dollars.

Perhaps one reason I do not "win" prizes, is that I do not enter many contests.
Hmmm... yes that may have something to do with my odds of winning prizes.



Well anyway, 
I stuck my neck out on a limb the other day and entered my 
Homeward Bound quilt in the 
"Quilting is Murder - Save a UFO Challenge" 
sponsored by Quilting Gallery.
Participants were asked to save a UFO (unfinished project) 
from certain death by completing the project and then sharing the details of their story.
I'm happy to say I am one of the lucky finalists!!!



The winner will receive this newly designed Bernette 25 computerized sewing machine!
It features 155 stitch patterns, speed control, needle stop up/down function,
 stitch memory, 8 standard presser feet, and much more! 
Sweet!


Now this is the point where I need your help.
The winner of this contest is selected by popular vote
(which makes me a little nervous).
If you click on the link below
 it will take you to the 
website where you can view all the lovely projects and cast your vote.
Voting will close at midnight on Sunday, February 19th!

Thanks so much for your help!

Friday, February 10, 2012

Homeward Bound




Behind every unfinished quilt is a story waiting to be told.
The blocks for this UFO came from a block-of-the-month 
at a local quilt shop and have been sitting
 in the same box for about ten years.


The entire block-of-the-month program was a frustration.
Since the directions were poorly written,  
the blocks ended up as varying sizes.
I also hated the mixture of fabrics the shop owner selected.
In an attempt to salvage the project, 
as an inexperienced quilter I sewed narrow borders 
on several of the blocks to try to even them up.
The result was a whole bunch of ugly!


So at this point, 
not only did I hate the fabrics
but there was no unifying pattern to tie the blocks together.


My older and wiser self decided 
 it was time to conquer this UFO!
The first thing I did was tear off many of the narrow borders 
and re-frame each block in navy to tie all the blocks together.
Each block was then squared up to 12" to hide all the varying sizes.
Ah! That's much better!


To complete the top, a two inch strip of Kona snow was used for sashing
and a narrow, scrappy border was added in the outer border.
Finished size of the top is 62" x 75".



Here is a close up of a few of my favorite blocks.


This former unwanted and unloved UFO 
is now moving on to bigger and better things!
It has been lovingly named "Homeward Bound"
and will be donated to the Quilts of Valor organization. 
Special thanks to Alycia who has generously volunteered to 
machine quilt this!

Do you have any UFO's waiting to be finished?

Linking up with:

 May you always Sew in Peace!