I finished it - once again

I think it might need a narrow cheddar border or maybe cheddar binding.

I've completed  the quilt top with the "Old Maid's Patience" blocks - again.  I took out all the gold squares and replaced them with cheddar squares.  That was really no fun at all.  But the finished product has turned out as I envisioned.  I'm naming it Colby after a little town I visited in Wisconsin that invented Colby Cheddar.

This is the way the blocks looked after the first finish.  It's nice enough but rather ho-hum.  I unpicked all the alternating squares, I can use that fabric with almost anything so it won't go to waste at all.

Doesn't look like the same blocks, does it?

Here are the bright perky blocks with the new indigo alternating squares.  The cheddar fabric really reflects the light and shows up much brighter than it really is in both photos of the quilt.

Here are the rather drab previous blocks.  It was really a lot of work to unpick everything but I'm so happy I did.  Now instead of a "that's nice" quilt it's become a "look at me" quilt.

The basket block

I finished quilting the three bottom blocks of the 'Baskets, Berries, and Leaves pattern by Jan Patek.  You can see the full quilt on my sidebar.

This block shows the true colors of the background fabrics.

The personalized block

 I used the Lilac Hill fabric line on this quilt.  And speaking of lilacs, I couldn't help but include a few pictures of one of my bushes.

The Painted Lady Butterflies are migrating.  I've only see this one other time and that was when we lived in Colorado over 20 yrs. ago.  So, this is pretty special.

The Colby quilt top is the 9th UFO finish out of 16 since last August.  It's amazing what you can do when you put your mind to it.  Now, that being said. . . I have finished 9 UFOs but 8 of them are still in the quilting queue.  Only one of them is actually a completed quilt.  But, I'm counting it as progress none the less.

This is the next UFO out of hiding.  This is for you Janet - ha!  Originally I was going to make a bed sized quilt.  But, I've decided now to make it the size of my kitchen table.  It didn't really photograph well, maybe it's shy.

Robin

This post was delayed and since writing it I have finished quilting 3 more of the blocks.  It's a slow go but it's because it has been cold in the basement where my quilting frames are.   Now it's quite comfortable with the hotter outside temps.  I'll be down there a lot, I'm sure.

Done and Done

I finished the the little quilt for my sister-in-law.  It needed to be repaired in a number of places.  If it were my own I might have replaced some of the hexagons but instead I just lightly mended the places so they wouldn't fray.  I'm going to advise that this quilt just be used for display purposes.  If it got real dirty it wouldn't make it through the washer and I'm not sure my sister-in-law would want to take the time or know how to delicately wash it in the bathtub.  She's careful, just doesn't have any experience with something like this.  And, she doesn't sew at all.

The maker made some interesting borders.  The two long borders are the same zig-zag but the top and bottom have been treated different from each other as you can see in the picture.  I'm not sure how the original maker was going to do the binding but the edges were so frayed that I had to just even them up and do a smooth binding.

It's done and now I can tune to the regularly scheduled program (of doing my own projects).
Robin

Last minute project

My sister-in-law asked me a year ago if I would finish this quilt for her.  A person she knows was going through her mother's things and didn't want the unfinished quilts.  She was going to throw them out or give them to Goodwill.  She didn't have any use for them and didn't value them at all.

My sister-in-law talked her out of this one.

When I first saw it I noticed it had been stitched in "Big Stitch" and thought it wouldn't take much to finish it.  So, I agreed to do it.

Well. . . my sister-in-law is coming next week for the reunion and I realized I hadn't done a thing to the quilt.  I hadn't even taken it out of the bag since it was shown to me last year.  GASP!!!

I got it out Monday and began quilting.  Much to my surprise, I wasn't just finishing up a quilt that was mostly quilted - I was finishing up a top that just got started with the quilting.  I have been quilting about 5 hours a day to try and finish it.  I've only got 11 more rosettes to go and then the binding.  I think it's do-able, she won't be here till next Thursday.

Wish me luck,
Robin

WINNER OF THE GIVEAWAY

The winner of the May 5th giveaway is Patty who said;

"Put me in please. I have fallen in a big way for crayon tint embroidery and would love this pattern."

I'll send it out right away.

Robin

Giveaway

It would make me so happy if someone wanted these things.

Calendula Patterdrip's Cottage pattern by Crabapple Hill.  The pattern sells for $24-27.00.

The pattern calls for 20 skeins -of Cosmo "Seasons" Embroidery Floss #8041.  I have 18 full and 2 partial skeins.  This would cost $34.00 if you bought it online.

The pattern calls for brown Pima Pens.

And I even have a very fat white crayon to go in the mix for use with this pattern.

This is an example of one of the blocks tinted with crayon and embroidered.

This is  two more blocks from My Life's a Stitch Blog.  You'll have to search Deb's blog for this particular post.  She does lovely work.

If you are interested in winning this giveaway please leave a comment.  I will choose a winner next Friday the 3rd of May.  If you are a no reply blogger please include your email address so I can contact you.

I was mentally reviewing my list of UFOs last night and came to the realization that I probably would never make this cute fancy quilt.  I have only made the top row of crows so I have not invested much time or energy in this project.  It's time to pass it along to someone who will enjoy it.

That will bring my UFO list down to "8" and I've only got two more blocks to replace the cheddar squares within so I can soon put them together for another completed UFO.

Whoopie!!!

Robin