Weekly UFO Report

As predicted, I don't have any UFO progress to report this week. Between the new selvage projects, closet cleaning, and making Quilt, Craft and Stuff Sale preparations, I just didn't make time for UFO's. I think I may need another one of Terry's "Get It Done or else" pep talks!

Stuff?

The Mountain Laurel Quilt Guild is having its first ever Quilt, Craft and Stuff Sale this coming Saturday, so for the past week I have been going through my sewing room trying to find things that I am willing to part with. Trust me, the keep pile is much bigger than the sell pile, but I still found quite a bit to take to the sale. My husband laughed when I told him that I was cleaning out and that my sewing room closet was never cleaner. For some reason he thinks that I'm going to come home from the sale with more than what I took and that the "stuff" part of the sale will be when I try and STUFF it all into the closet! He may be right.

One Thing Leads To Another

If an occasional diversion keeps us fresh, what does two diversions do? I borrowed the book Bits and Pieces from a friend not long ago and fell in love with the Plaid Coins quilt pattern (along with several others in the book). I made note of the pattern and set it aside, but seeing the Chinese Coin selvage quilt on the Selvage Blog reminded me of the other coin quilt pattern and then when I came across these pink and brown selvages in my stash...well one thing led to another. Something tells me that two diversions means that I'm not going to have any UFO progress to report this week.

Sidetracked By Selvages

I think selvages can sidetrack me faster than anything! Saturday morning I saw a little Chinese Coins selvage quilt that was made by Krista Hennebury of Poppyprint featured on the Selvage Blog. I tried telling myself that I had enough projects going on and UFO's to finish, but I couldn't resist and by Saturday night I was sewing a few selvages together for my own Mini Chinese Coins selvage quilt. After all, it's just a small wall hanging. It won't take long to finish. It will just be a minor diversion...right?

I Love Barn Quilts!

I think every barn should have a quilt block on it! Seriously, doesn't having a quilt block painted on the doors of this barn give it a little more character and pizazz? This barn is located directly across the road from Sew What? Fabric Shoppe in Addison, New York. Sew What? Fabric Shoppe is a small shop, but it is filled with a wonderful assortment of quilting fabrics and supplies. If you are in the area, it's well worth the drive out Country Route 119 just to have a look at the barn, but make sure you stop in and do a little fabric shopping while you are there too!

A Day Of Quilty Fun in NY!

Early yesterday morning a couple of friends and I headed north towards the Finger Lakes of New York to attend the Lake to Lake Quilt Guild's bi-annual quilt show. We spent the morning looking at a wonderful display of quilts and shopping at the vendor's booths. After the show we decided that it would be fun to shop our way home. We made stops at Material Rewards, Sew Pieceful, Sew What? Fabric Shoppe and Corning Stitch Works. We even found time for a quick side trip to the Addison Historical Society to see a small display of antique quilts. What a wonderful relaxing way it was to spend the day!

Spring To Finish

Jacquie at Tallgrass Prairie Studio is having a Spring to Finish Challenge. The rules are simple, you decide what you want to work on and then do your best to achieve your goal before the end of May. Jacquie said that just writing the words "spring to finish" gave her the kick in the pants she needed to get motivated. After a week of absolutely no progress on my UFO's, I'm hoping that this challenge will help motivate me too. I would like to say that I am going to finish all of my UFO's by the end of May, but that is probably a bit ambitious, so how about if I say that I will do my best to put a big dent in the pile?

Earth Day 2010

I Won!

Dena at Threads To Fabric held a giveaway not long ago to celebrate her 100th post and guess who was the lucky winner? The package that arrived in my mailbox yesterday contained 3 1/2 yards of assorted bright pink prints as well as two spools of matching variegated thread and a beautiful embroidered hand towel that just happens to match my kitchen perfectly! What a wonderful surprise! Thanks again, Dena!

After School Project

A couple times a week I pick my two oldest granddaughters (ages 6 and 9) up from school and they stay with me until their daddy picks them up after he gets done with work. Usually our afternoons are filled with homework and there isn't much time left for anything else once that is done, but the past couple of weeks they haven't had any homework because of school wide testing. The girls were playing in my scrap basket and I suggested that we could make a quilt with the scraps. They quickly pulled the brightest fabrics from the scrap basket, decided on the String Diamonds pattern from MaryQuilts.com and got to work. After just a few short afternoons we have half of the blocks for the quilt done. Unfortunately the testing is over and now we're back to doing homework after school, so our progress will probably slow down OR maybe this project will motivate the girls to get their homework done in record time so they can sew some more!

Walking Among The Wildflowers

Yesterday was a bit chilly compared to some of the extra warm spring days that we have had lately, but it was still a nice day for a walk in the woods. Violets, Red Trillium and Dutchman's Breeches were all in full bloom adding beautiful colors everywhere we looked! It was truly breathtaking! It certainly has been a magnificent spring here in northern Pennsylvania!

Fun With Flannel

One of our favorite things to do during the summer is to take the top off our Jeep and tour the back roads through the state forest near our home. All too often it gets dark and turns chilly before we get home and I can't tell you how many times I have wished that I had a quilt along to wrap up in. Problem solved! I mentioned yesterday that I have been cleaning out the closet in my sewing room and I have been finding all kinds of treasures that I had forgotten about. One of those treasures was a stack of flannels that I won from Rene' Creates last December. I added a few flannels of my own to the mix, then used a quick disappearing nine-patch pattern, quilted it with a fast meander, added a scrappy binding and I now have a warm snugly Jeep quilt!

Another One Bites The Dust!

I have been working at cleaning and organizing the closet in my sewing room and during the process I found this little wall hanging in the bottom of a bag. I started it way back, when I thought that I was going to be a hand quilter, so it was all hand quilted and only needed a binding. I don't know why I never finished it! Anyway, I put a binding on it this week and hung it up in my sewing room. Another UFO bites the dust!

Did you work on your UFO this week?

More Information

I received some questions about the Quilted Corners of Wyalusing Barn Quilt Tour and thought I would share the answers here with everyone.

Wyalusing is a small town of about 600 people located in Bradford County, Pennsylvania on Rt. 6.

Maps for the Quilted Corners of Wyalusing Barn Quilt Tour are being printed and will be available after May 1, 2010 at all public barn quilt sites that are open for business. There will also be maps available in an outside box at the Chamber offices, 121 Main Street, Wyalusing.

Unfortunately, I have another commitment on May 1st, so I won't be able to attend the kick off, but you can bet that I will be taking the tour on my own one day very soon!

Blanket Report

Back in January I purchased a stack of fleece on sale with the plan of making it all into blankets for Project Linus. I'm happy to report that I just finished the last blanket from that batch of fleece and 12 more blankets have been donated to Project Linus! Hmm....I guess this means that it's time to go fleece shopping again.

The Quilted Corners Of Wyalusing, PA

May 1, 2010 will be the kick off for the Quilted Corners of Wyalusing Barn Quilt tour. There will be vendors, antique tractors and quilts galore. A bus will be giving tours all day along the barn quilt loops. For more information visit www.wyalusing.net

Matching Pillow Shams

One thing that I found when assembling the blocks of my oldest UFO was that my 1/4 inch seam allowance has become a lot more accurate over the last 6 years! Several of the blocks were so far off in size that there was no way I could work them into the quilt. I couldn't bring myself to throw irregular blocks away or put them back into the closet to remain a UFO, so I decided to use them to make a matching set of pillow shams!

Flower Power

It certainly has been a glorious spring here on the east coast! Above average temperatures and lots of sun mixed with just the right amount of rain has everything blooming in a riot of color. Unfortunately with all of the beauty comes massive amounts of pollen, which can make this time of year pretty miserable for those of us who suffer from seasonal allergies. I believe that I'll be admiring the beautiful blooms from my sewing room window this weekend...with a box of tissues close at hand!

Six Years In The Making

It has taken six years to put this quilt top together, but my oldest UFO is finally ready to be quilted!

Did you work on your UFO this week?

Glazed Pineapple Cookies

These soft cake like cookies were one of my grandma's specialties.

Glazed Pineapple Cookies

1/2 cup shortening
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple (reserve 2 tablespoons of the juice for glaze)
2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt

Pineapple Glaze

1 cup confectioners sugar
2 tablespoons pineapple juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, cream together shortening and brown sugar. Add the egg, beat well, then stir in vanilla and pineapple with juice. (Reserve 2 tablespoons of the juice for glaze.) Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and stir into the creamed mixture. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto cookie sheet and bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove cookies to racks to cool.

To glaze cookies, mix 1 cup of confectioners sugar with the 2 tablespoons of reserved pineapple juice in a small bowl. Dip tops of cooled cookies into the glaze. Allow glaze to set up before storing in an airtight container.

Spring Break

My kids and grandkids all spent spring break together at the beach in North Carolina. Before they left, I made all of the grandkids hooded beach towels for their Easter gifts. I was able to whip of five of these towels in just a couple of hours using this great tutorial from Little Birdie Secrets. They really turned out cute and I'm sure they will get a lot of use at the beach and pool!

A Learning Experience

Things I learned while quilting this quilt:

I do not like solid backing fabrics! Can you say "boring"?

Peeky borders add a nice touch to a quilt, but they are not easy to quilt around! I stitched my hopping foot into the flange not once, not twice, but three times on this quilt!

Following a stencil line is not nearly as easy as some people make it look!

A contrasting thread color may not be the best choice when trying a new quilting design. Every stutter and hesitation is magnified with contrasting thread!

Practice, practice, practice!

This quilt will be donated to Project Linus and I know it will be loved...even with all of its imperfections!

No Longer A UFO!

What was once a UFO is now a finished quilt...right down to the last binding stitch! Yessirree, I can cross this one off the UFO list because it is 100% DONE!

Happy Easter!

Top It Off

The finished tops are really piling up around here! It's time to measure out some batting and backings, so I can do some quilting and finish some of these projects for good!

Did You Work On Your UFO This Week?

It wasn't easy, especially with so many of you telling me that I deserved to start a new project, (What happened to "get it done or else"?) but I did it! I avoided the temptation of starting a new project with the patterns that I brought home from the quilt show and put the second thangles top together instead! I'm glad that I didn't listen, because it feels great to finally have this top together!

Did you work on your UFO this week?

Happy April Fools' Day

What better way to celebrate April Fools' Day than with crazy quilts?