Category Archives: UFO Quilting

Dirty Dozen UFO Challenge

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When I was cleaning in the sewing room I realized how many UFOs I have.  I don’t mind the UFOs that I have.  So many were cut out over nap time when I was doing childcare.  Cutting out quilts was the thing I could do that was quiet while the kids were sleeping.  It made good use of my time…but now, I have quilts that are cut out that I need to be sewn.  It’s not a bad problem to have, but, it’s time.  They need to get sewn.

Mary at Country Threads is hosting a “Dirty Dozen UFO Challenge”.  Essentially you pick 12 unfinished projects and number them 1-12.  Each month she picks a number and that’s the project you finish.  Read more about it HERE is this blog post from Mary.  (Country Threads is currently down. They are hoping to be up soon)

I thought this would be a good way to tackle a few of my UFOs.  So I’m jumping in.  Here are my projects….

1-Virginia Bound:
This one is a top…sort of.  I have the center section done.

Virginia-Bound-Center-1
This is the original quilt….

Virginia-Bound-Center-3
But..when Kelli and I were in Moline for a quilt retreat with the Mississippi Valley Quilters years ago, I saw this one that someone else did….this… Continue reading →

Quilt Finish: Garage Sale Leftovers

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Check out my finished quilt…Yes…it looks like this morning’s quilt but it’s not.  This is the leftovers quilt so the colors and pattern are similar.  I actually like this less organized version much better.


This morning I told you about one of the quilts I worked on last week.  It was a garage sale UFO that I bought for $10.  Tonight I’m telling you about the leftovers from that project that were bagged up and sold for $8.  It’s the package to the far right.

GarageSale-7
When I bought the package I really wasn’t sure what was in it.  I really didn’t know that this was the leftovers from the blocks in the package on the left.  All I knew was that it was fabric and the colors were okay and it was a great start for a quilt at only $8.

Here are the pieces.

GarageSale-11
This morning’s quilt were blocks…

GarageSale-12
These were the what was left over after the blocks were cut…The original owner told me she made graduation quilts and this was her go to pattern.  I later found out it is an Atkinson Designs pattern.  I don’t remember which one.  This morning’s quilt was in a 5 x 6 layout.  I wanted to make this one bigger in a 6 x 6 layout.  So this was my plan….

Trim the sewn together strips.

Add random pieces of fabric to the blocks to bring them up to the 15″ x 15″ size.

Trim if needed to a 15″ x 15″ block.


…and that’s what I did.  You can see that the block above has two leftover strips sewn together and then a yellow random piece sewn to it.

Most blocks have two of the original leftover pieces in them but not all…some just have one piece.  This is what the flimsy looked like.


I trimmed the blocks on Wednesday afternoon when my power was out.  I sewed the random pieces to them on Wednesday night after the power was on.  Thursday morning I trimmed the blocks and sewed them into a top.  At noon on Thursday I ironed the completed quilt top.  That afternoon I loaded it onto the frame and quilted it.


That evening I bound it and had a finished quilt.  In reality it was about 24 hours from start to finish…including a good night’s sleep.

When it was a flimsy, I wasn’t really impressed with it.  After quilting it…I really liked it!!  Take a look at the next pictures and let me know what you think…. Continue reading →

That Flimsy Pile

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One of the things that I told you I wanted to work on and get caught up on is my flimsy pile.  I told you that WAY back at the beginning of the year…before cancer…before my husband died.  I had so hoped that I would catch that pile up and have no quilts in the stack by now.  That didn’t happen.


This is where quilt tops go to live until I get to quilting them.  I still want to get them caught up.

I started out okay this year.  I had two tops that were done that went straight to the quilting machine and one that was done from the pile. But then January 24th came and we found out Kramer had cancer.  From there…everything stopped in the quilting room except for Gannon’s baby quilt.

So this is what is there that needs attention…. Continue reading →

That UFO Cabinet…

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When I was cleaning my sewing room I went through the UFO cabinet.  Remember I was trying to “be real” about everything.  Was I really going to finish it and to be completely honest..What was even in there??  Ah…Did I really want to go through the cupboard…YES.

One side of the cabinet had some stitchy things.  At one point in my life I thought I was going to stitch everything….I really stitched nothing.  Ahhh…so do I keep it or not?  I ended up keeping what you see here.

I LOVED this piece.  I stitched it but then my thread bled when I soaked it.  AH…I tried to convince myself it wasn’t noticeable but looking at the picture, I think it is.  AH.  Maybe I should just get rid of it.  Opinions anyone?


Here’s a close up.


Surprise!!!  This is where my punch needle things have been hiding.  Hmmm.  Should I keep them.  YES.  I do like punch needle and in the past I’ve taken it with for something to do in the waiting room at the doctor’s office.  Plus I do love the look and it takes up little space.

This…it doesn’t bring me joy.  I did it in wool and here’s my confession…I don’t like wool stitched to cotton.  This project will likely get donated next time I go through my stuff.  This time I couldn’t part with it quite yet.

Hmm.  I’ve seen and loved this.  So much I bought the pattern and it set.  UGH.  I haven’t touched it so it’s not really a UFO is it?


This pincushion I have stitched except for the green stems.  That would be a quick project to finish up…

Now to the quilty UFOs… Continue reading →