UFO Update

I haven't had a post this week because I have been very busy with garden produce and quilting, but it has been a fun week.  My new UFO sofa topper has had a lot of work done.  I did some rippping of FMQ, don't you just hate doing that but it had to be.  My color of thread that looks stunning on the black, didn't show at all on the greys so I ripped out the quilting and used a navy and all is well now.

I did some pine boughs in one square and when I was done, I realized I had just done thread painting and it was fun and looks great.  I have never tried thread painting and didn't practice this but I am not going to be over confident as the next time I try to do it, it will be a big flop.  Just a lucky day!  Here is a close up of the stitching.

 

My bare tree on the right is upside down and this was one of the blocks I had to redo.  I must thank those of you that left comments and suggestions.  I used each one and I am so pleased with how it is coming together.  Leah's UFO posts are just so great and I have never before had such responsive support.  Now, I am going to see what everyone else is up to this week.

UFO Drawings

I certainly appreciate all the feedback I received today and tonight I have done some drawing.  I made an exact size block and have drawn some leaves, etc. on it.  Those 2 blocks "square in a square" are the ones giving me problems.

Sorry it turned sideways.  The leaf vine is my border up each side.  I seem to loose the maple  and oak leaf every time I put something around them. The center squares aren't very big.  So I tried this:

I ignored the center square and filled the bigger square with a leaf.  I was also wondering about replacing the fern with either a dead tree or a pine tree.  What do you think?  I could maybe find a stitch to fill the maple and oak leaf similar to what I did with the plain leaf.  I appreciate any feedback you wish to offer. 

It's UFO Sunday

I can't believe it is Sunday again and time to pull out a new UFO.  I finished my 2 projects from last week but didn't take time tonight to do pictures so I'll post this on Linky Tuesday at Freemotion at the River.

This new item is a sofa topper that I started last fall.  I was planning to take it to my craft show but the amount of quilting didn't fit into the time slot I had to finish it.   The first picture is the overall quilt and please excuse the fold lines as this has been put away for a while. The colors aren't showing up that great but are done in black, greys, taupes.  It is made up of the same block turned different ways and then side borders.

Here is a closeup of one block.  I have done the leaf and my feather looks more like a leaf than a plume.  There are also some loopy loops and a narrow strip of ribbon quilting.
Here is my dilemma, what do I put in the borders around the squares?  Should I do leaf designs in all the areas?  I like the leaves I have done and may add a maple leaf in one of the squares.
When I get the quilting figured out for this one block, should I repeat the same quilting in all the blocks? The narrow strip on the side is a border that I was going to do leaves on a vine.
 

A Feather in my Bonnet

I have met this lovely lady Dora who is a fabulous quilter and we share a love for vintage machines and using our treadles for FMQ.  Dora made a wonderful tutorial here and I told her I wanted to give it a try so I did last night.  I started out by drawing out the design on paper, I always do it on paper first as it just helps my brain absorb it more.

Sorry about it turning on it's side.  The inside center is the trickiest for sure but with Dora's wonderful pictures, it was very easy to follow.  Then I moved on to the real thing.  I made up 2 sample blocks and I think my first attempt is the best.  I was being distracted trying to do the center better in the second sample and it ended up a lot more wobblier so it tells me I need some more practice before I enter this on any quilt.  If you go to Dora's blog, you will see her lovely quilt finished with all the beautiful plumes.  Thanks Dora for the great tutorial.

Annie was just excited to perform last night and is sitting ready for some more action

 

Leah Day's Quilt Along

How is the last summer holiday of the year going?  I hope you are enjoying family, sunshine and all the other wonderful things that come with summer.  We are already starting to see signs of fall, summer is so short for us in Canada.  I do certainly enjoy the fresh vegetables coming in and I have done some pail pickles, 10 big quarts of dills, today 2 batches of pie dough for our prairie apples and a batch of tomatoes sauce to use in cassrole dishes so it has been busy so far but I am thrilled to have some veggies for those cold winter months coming.

I am been sorta following Leah Day's Quilt Along all summer and trying many of her quilt designs.  It has certainly helped me improve my skills quite a bit.  Now, every Sunday is going to be UFO day and I sure can use this!  For this first week, I am pulling out this twister wreath that I made from a tutorial on the "Quilting Board".  I suddenly became ill and ended up with surgery so this got tossed to the UFO bin. 

I don't have a lot to finished it so I think it is a good first UFO finish.  I did micro stippling on all the white sections on my treadle.  That was a lot of fun. I have stitched 1/4" inside the twisters but need to do the pink ones and then the borders.  I plan a big rose/burgandy bow at the bottom of the wreath.

I have all the straight line quilting done on my string wall hanging.

 

And look at the stitching on the back.  I used different sized squares for the centers but the stitching almost makes you dizzy.

I really like the white/black sashing.  This is not my original design and for the life of me I can't find the gal who made this to give her full credit for a great wall hanging.  I am going to bind it in a black/white binding, a bit darker to frame the whole event.

I have spent more time than I should have on the "Back to School Blog Hop", any of you doing this?  While browsing around other blog sites I came across this darling Quilt Along called "Hello Sunshine".  I am just puttering with these right now but they are so darn cute it will be hard to leave them alone.  There is a new block each month and you can join in here.  Here is a sample of the blocks and my first sunshine.

I can't quite decide if I will make this into a quilt or a Quiet Book.