Finished UFO’s – Table Runner and Bed Quilt

The table runner that I started on January 2, 2012 is finally finished.  Sometimes it is not just the larger and more complex projects that sit as UFO’s for a very long time.

2014_Feb 20_Poppy Table Runner-Optimized

Here I am at our Guild meting last night showing my completed table runner.Show and Share - February 19, 2014 (15)

We have a UFO Completion Contest at our Quilt Guild this year.  Although I took this completed table runner for show and tell last night, it doesn’t count towards the UFO Completion Contest as your UFO has to be from before 2012.  Because I started this project on January 2, 2012, I am just outside the time period for the contest.

I did show another project at Guild this month that does qualify for the UFO Completion Contest though.  I finally took “Plum Dotty” for show and tell at the Guild.  Plum Dotty was finished to the partial flimsy stage on July 5, 2011.  I say partial flimsy stage because after I had this one together, I put it on the bed and decided that it needed some more blocks to make it wider.  Adding just a few more blocks to make it wider proved to be a challenge because I had run out of the black and white and white and black dot fabrics.  After getting some help from a friend in Oregon who helped source out more fabric for me, I was able to add the extra blocks.  The quilt top then sat for a long time until I had time to quilt and bind it.  I finished Plum Dotty on September 12, 2013, just in time to show at the Fall Fair in our town on September 13 and 14, 2013.

Here is Plum Dotty on the bed.  This is a perfect quilt for winter – not only does it brighten the room at an often dreary time of year, but it is heavy with the extra foundation for the blocks and the flannel back.

2013_Sep 12_Plum Dotty_Finished-OptimizedHere I am at our Guild meeting last night talking about Plum Dotty during Show and Share.

 

Show and Share - February 19, 2014 (17)I wish I could say that finishing these two projects has caught me up to date with my UFO’s, but sadly it barely scratches the surface.

 

 

Early Birthday Gifts

My mom’s birthday isn’t until March 14.  However, I delivered her birthday presents to her when I visited Arizona earlier this month.  Postage to mail anything is expensive, let alone mailing something internationally.  Why wait and mail it when I could deliver it in person?

In the fall of 2011, my husband and I went on a tour to Utah and New Mexico with my parents.  When we were in the gift shop at Bryce Canyon, my mom and I spotted some cute fabric postcards that depicted the early days at Bryce Canyon.  We both bought a set.  I still have mine sitting in the plastic bag that they came in, but for my Mom’s birthday, I put her’s together into this wall hanging, “Trip to Bryce Canyon”.  I included photos of the four of us that were taken on the rim of Bryce Canyon on Sept 26, 2011 as part of the label on the back.

2014_Jan9_Trip to Bryce Canyon_Birthday Gift for Mom (3)A closeup of the blocks:

2014_Jan9_Trip to Bryce Canyon_Birthday Gift for Mom (1)

 

 

The second project that I finished for my Mom’s birthday was a toilet tank topper.  (Say that really fast a few times!  LOL)  When the two of us went on a quilt shop hop a couple of years ago, we found these kits to make the cutest little table runners.  The shop was selling them as toilet tank toppers and they work perfectly for that!2014_Jan_04_Toilet Tank Topper_Mom 4 2014_Jan_04_Toilet Tank Topper_Mom 3This time, I have my project finished too.  And because I have never shown it before, here is my toilet tank topper.

2014_Jan_04_Toilet Tank Topper_Norma 3These are cute little projects that make up in a day from a few scraps left from a larger project.  I have saved the pattern so that I can make some more of these in the future.

 

 

 

Late for This Year, Early for Next Year!

Valentine’s Day may be long past, but I only just took the last stitches on my Valentine’s Day quilt this weekend.  Late for this year – early for next year!

I took this picture on an angle to show the quilting.  The finished size of this wall hanging is 45.5″ x 53″.  The quilting design is Swirls.  

This is a table runner made from St. Patrick’s Day fabric sent to me from my FAB pal, Pam.  Pam sent the fabric to me back in 2008.  I made the flimsy right away, I only did the quilting this weekend.  I took the last stitches in the binding tonight.  There seems to be a theme here–late for this year, early for next year.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

This is a picture of my Mom, taken last Wednesday on her birthday.  I can’t tell you how old she is, but I can tell you it was a milestone birthday and she doesn’t look her age!  The flowers were from my brother and his family.  I wanted to get both the flowers and my Mom in the same picture so Mom crouched down behind the kitchen counter for the picture.



Our weather has not been very spring-like.  The only flowers that will survive right now are flowers inside the house.  I made my Mom this daffodil table runner and matching hot pad.  On my Mom’s birthday, she got to see the table runner as a flimsy.  I finished the quilting today and delivered it to her today as a finished table runner. 

The table runner finishes at 17″ x 43.5″.  The pattern is,  “#144 – It’s Fast, It’s Easy” by Canadian designer Ursula Riegel of Designs to Share With You.  http://www.designstoshare.com/patterns/index.php5

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Merry Christmas!

This year was a very special Christmas for our family.  All 12 of the members of my family were able to celebrate together on Christmas Day!  We did have to wait for two members of my family to get off work before we could eat our turkey dinner, but the important thing was that we were all able to be together.

To commemorate this occasion, we took a picture.  Well, actually, we took several pictures!  It took some time to get all 12 people to be looking the same way, not be talking, etc.  We were a bit challenged because of limited space in our living room, but we managed to get a decent picture in the end.
Pictured, standing in the back row, left to right:  my husband, myself, my son, my son’s finance, my daughter’s fiance, my daughter, my nephew, and my brother.  Sitting in the front row, left to right:  my niece, my dad, my mom, and my sister-in-law.
Years ago, (I am not sure how many exactly, let’s just say many years ago) my mom and I were at a local quilt show.  My mom spotted a table runner that she just loved.  She purchased the kit and I brought it home.  I pieced the top right away and then the project sat on the shelf….for years.  While going through some things in my studio before Christmas, I came across the unfinished table runner.  I decided I would finally quilt the runner and then surprise my mother with the finished product in her stocking at Christmas.  My mom was surprised when she opened up the runner–truth be told, it has been so long since she purchased the runner, she likely forgot that it existed!
I also came across a runner kit that I bought from the same shop during a shop hop one year–poppies instead of sunflowers.  My kit is still in the plastic.  *Sigh*  Maybe I will finish my table runner in 2012!