UFO collection day

 Ah, December. It's that time of year when I depress myself by tracking down all of my UFOs and cataloging them.  I do this with more or less focus every year -sometimes I make progress, other years I just make more UFOs :)  This year, I am making 3 versions of Bonnie Hunter's mystery, so that already adds to the works in progress list.  Here's where they stand as of today:

 

So, this year, here is where things stand as of December 29.  55 quilts, oh boy.  Maybe I can make a dent and avoid starting too many new ones this year.

Works in progress (need piecing)

1. Cat OBW
2. Crimson Poppy (Judy Niemeyer) 
3. McKenna Ryan farmyard
4. Buttfly OBW - fix it
5. Bonnie Hunter 2025 -  Lupine and Laughter
6. Bonnie Hunter 2025 -  Fire and Ice
7. Bonnie Hunter 2025 -  Mini
8. 1" squares (leader/ender project) - Jan 2024 
9. Owl (Cole's Quilts)
10. Northern lights & mountains
11. blue/white One Block Wonder
12. Jacobs Ladder 2021
13. Snowman BOM (2014)
14. Gardener's Alphabet (2013?) 
15. Cathedral Window
16. Apple core
17. Ombre geese
18. Owl embroidery (not started)
19. Passacaglia - 2023
20. Thread painting - 2019 
21. Straights of Mackinac - April 2025 

 

Items to be quilted

1.  Angela Walters background fills'
2. Pink spinning stars #2
3. Charity - diamond quilt
4.  $3.33 quilt (CQA quilt along 2023)
5.  Reflections of the north
6. A Star is Born
7. Charity -strippy quilt
8. Charity- Apple core x2
9. Charity - flannel
10. Charity - log cabin
11. Red strings
12. Fruit boxes (Meadow Mist mystery quilt? )
13. quilty -  M50 mystery
14. Charity - 4-patch red
15. window quilts x2
16. Baby Indigo way
17. Baby OBW stripes
18. Charity triangles
19.  Symmetry 
20. 3D blocks
21. Wing & A Prayer lap
22. Diamond Chain
23. quilties - transparency
24. Slow and steady
25. Northern Lights
26. Winding Ways
27. Edge of 17
28. Houses
29. Recipes
30. Good fortune leftovers
31. Rainbow cats
32.  Northern Animals (xmas)
33. Bonnie Hunter Old Town 1&2 - Nov 2024  - ready for quilting

 

Items to be bound

1. Circle Pop 

Four-at-a-time half hourglass blocks

 I've already posted how to make quick hour glass blocks here.  These are great, but if you are trying to nest seams, or are using more than 2 colours, that process results in blocks which are mirror images and/or with seams that spin in opposite directions. I recently came across a method for making 4-at-a-time half-hourglass blocks, which are all identical, removing the mirror image problem. This process will let you make identical blocks, with up to 4 different colours, with no worries about reversed blocks.

 First, cut 4 squares of fabric - one for each quadrant of your hourglass - which are 1 1/2" larger than your FINISHED size for your block in your quilt.

1. 
   layer 2 fabrics which will be side-by-side in your block. Looking clockwise on your finished block, put the first one on top.  Draw 2 diagonal lines on the top block. 
2. Now, going clockwise from those diagonals, in each quadrant mark a sewing line from the edge of the block to the center.  (See diagram below.  Dotted line is my sewing lines)
3. 
   Now, starting a one corner, sew on your sewing line to the center, stitch along the center, then out the opposite sewing line to the edge.  Repeat for the other 2 sewing lines.



4. 
   Cut the block into 4 sections along your original diagonal lines


5. 
   Open up and press to the top fabric. You will have 4 identical sections as shown here
6.  Repeat with your other 2 colours, being sure to layer them the same way (colour that sits the farthest couter-clockwise on top). 
7. 
   Now you can sew 2 half-hourglass pieces together to make your block. All of your blocks will be identical, with no mirror imaged sections. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An Oldie

 I started this quilt at a workshop with Krista Hennebury back in 2017. She came to our local modern guild and presented her "Speed Date with Improv" workshop. This top was my result, after playing at the workshop and then heading home to put it all together into a somewhat pleasing arrangement.  And then it sat.

And sat.

And now, 9 years later, it is QUILTED! 

You can see a few things changed after the original photo was taken.  But the finished top has been hanging in my closet for years.  Matching backing & binding was easy, even 9 years later, because Kona White is pretty standard.   It came out of the closet this week to play with some new thread.

A study in red, white & black, I did a lot of ruler work

A bit of free motion

And some fancy feathers for a bit of variety.