It's the Thought That Counts

I got another UFQ finished up. This quilt is called 'sticks and stones'. Very simple and so very fast to put together. I used old fabrics (obviously) and went with an americana look. I put a classic, but ugly red fabric with little bears and abc's on the back and it became a baby quilt for a little boy of a friend of ours. Once again, I'm a big believer in the mantra 'It's the thought that counts!' I machine quilted in in a grid, which is pretty much all I ever do on the machine. I don't hand quilt very many baby quilts because they tend to get a lot of use (wear and tear, stains, excessive washing etc.). I want people to feel like they can USE the quilt and if it's not completely gorgeous, it often becomes a bed quilt or something to be dragged around--who cares if it gets tattered? I sometimes wonder what people Really think when they receive one of my quilts for a gift.blerk! Is this all the better she can do? hehe Maybe, you just never know....

The Magic Formula

I have been busy trying to finish up a few UFQ's this last week. It is almost as much fun to have a quilt top completed as it is to have the entire quilt done and finished.:) Mostly it's just busy work because these quilts are very basic, but there are times that I just feel the need to do some piecing (spend some very mindless time at the sewing machine dontcha know?). It does seems to clear the fog away from my easily short circuited brain, especially when I'm doing scrappy stuff that doesn't require any extra thought exertions--my fav. lol! I've been trying to figure out the best formula for my scrap quilts for a long, long time. Is it best to work by percentages? Range from light to dark? Have tone on tones, plaids, thru big print fabrics? What is the magic formula? Please! I desperately need to know! hehehe Honestly, the last couple of years I think I've regressed and I'm not sure why. I think I get to much medium fabrics, too many fabrics from the same line of fabric and altogether I get too prissy and matchy-matchy. Yeah, I'm gloomy about it right now, but I think I may be starting to find my way back again. Maybe. Fingers crossed!!!

Give It Away Fast

Terrible picture I know. This is a lap quilt I made for my brother about 5? years ago, well, sewed the top together at least. I made it out of fabric that family/friends had given away and a very little bit of my stash--no new fabrics at all so a bit of a challenge to myself. I even played around with some green Toile, a popular fabric choice at the time--don't ask me what I was thinking. My intention was to give each one of my (nine in all!) siblings a quilt I have made before I die.:) I'm doing pretty good too, because after this one I only have one sibling left to make a quilt for. Soooo, back to THIS mediocre quilt. It's to be a Christmas present and all I have left to do is pick threads and sew on a label, if I even want to do that.lol! I will quickly admit that this is not my best work. Pinwheels seem to be always and forever beyond my control when it comes to getting points to match up. AND, to be honest, time and experience are not really helping me out in that area to date.blerk! Also, I hand quilt virtually everything now and I just could not bring myself to expend the massive amount of time and energy required to hand quilt this particular quilt. It is what it is. A fast and easy lap quilt in nice, cozy colors--nothing extra special or 'heirloom' quality about it at all.:) Should I be embarrassed about even giving it away as a gift? My pride says yes! absolutely!! My practical side wants me to put on my game face and give it away fast, no qualifiers or justifications included.*wink That's the problem with UFO's. They always have to come out of the closet and haunt you....

UFO's

I have so many UFO's that I should be breaking out into hives. The other day I pulled a very oldy moldy project out and tried to toss it--just heave it into the trash and be done with it. For old times sake I laid out everything that was finished and tried to view it with my fresh "more experienced" eyes. Ooooh, bad idea. I decided that maybe it wasn't completely unsalvageable and I should go ahead and try to redeem it. Grrrrr.... Why do I do this to myself? I have a hard time letting go and I always tell myself to honor the creativity that inspired the project. Uh huh. So fine if I would have finished it five years ago, but I've moved on and it's just an albatross now (that will make a great utility quilt for my camper). lol