Two HST Quilts

Because I am already set up for quilting,  I decided to see what I have to layer up the HST quilt that is on my wall.  I have this 4 blocks wide by 6 blocks long section sewed together.  I am going to quilt it in sections.

I have 12 more blocks made that I will sew into 2 strips for either side to complete the pattern. I am going to add the borders to those 2 strips and quilt them in 2 sections for right and left sides. I am thinking about making 8 more blocks for the bottom of the quilt and adding a border to that and quilt that as a section, Can you tell I am making this up as I go along? I have a plan for using this quilt so It may not have borders on all 4 sides.















When I pulled out the basket with batting in it I found another HST flimsy that is in 3 sections all ready to be layered up and quilted in sections. It is a similar layout but the individual HST's are 4 inches finished instead of 3 1/2 inches.










These are  4 block sections showing the pattern of the 2 quilts.
The one on the top is what I came across yesterday. A 4 block section is larger by 4 inches; I am not sure what I will do about borderers for it. I will finish both of them and they can be used in the extra bedroom.

I need to decide on backs for these two so I am going to clean up the sewing room and look through some of the hiding places to see what other UFO's are lurking. I need to make a list of thing that need to be finished or given away and then get it done in some sort of organized way.

Maybe I should make a rule "NO NEW PROJECTS UNTIL ALL THE OLD ONES ARE DONE OR GONE.  I wonder if I could stick to it. Over 15 years ago  I finished all my UFO's when I wouldn't let myself start anything new until I had made/finished 7 Log cabin Christmas quilts for my family. It was a year long project and when I got bored with making log cabin blocks I worked on something that was waiting to be finished.

Hmmmmm.

Once Again - My Big UFO

I was showing a friend the handquilted "QUILT THAT WILL NEVER BE FINISHED". I opened it on my bed to show it and I left it there to be put away later.  When I looked at it I realized, for the second or third time, that most of the blocks that are within the border are finished.







This is one block with  sashing on the left. Everything was quilted in the ditch and there are concentric circles in the center of the block and 3 overlapping circles in the sashing rectangle to the left of the block.










This narrow strip is one sashing strip and the 4 patch cornerstones on the right and left. This is one that has not been quilted.


This is a secondary pattern that emerged when 4 sashing strips  come together at the cornerstone.















Four blocks with one secondary block.


There are five blocks and 6 or 7 sashing strips with cornerstones still to be quilted. Even with my arthritic hands I think this is doable. If I get that much finished I will quilt the border by machine. I know, absolutely, it will not matter at all to the person to whom I promised this quilt in 2001.







This quilt is from the first year I was in the "Friendship" block exchange group and I requested 2 twelve inch blocks from everyone and asked that all of the pieces in the block be a different fabric.
There are 25 colored patches and I think 20 neutral prints. That was a pretty bold request for someone new to the group. I may have also added that I would be happy for any left over scraps for the sashings.  In my defense, I did ask the shop owner where we met if she thought it was OK to request that block. She said (direct quote) "Sure".

I knew I would not want to piece 25 blocks but I proceeded to start to hand quilt  every single seam in the ditch and the circles and X's  in the 4 patches. I started and stopped quilting a few times and each time I started again, it was for a shorter period with longer stretches between. Now, 15 years later, I find any kind of hand sewing to be "not much fun". However the end is in sight and I am going to give it another try.

WIP's and UFO's

I am making a list of projects that need to be finished. Amandajean at Crazy Mom Quilts had a post about counting her WIP's. I used to have a list of my projects that needed to be finished;  I kept it up to date and it helped me keep up with finishing them. Somewhere along the line I stopped keeping track; I'm not sure why.
So.........  here is my new list.

#1.  King size quilt which I am hand quilting. I started it in 2001 when I joined the Friendship block swap group and I requested 2 blocks from everyone. The pattern I used was called Quilters Fortune but I don't have it anymore and I don't remember anything else.  This has been on my list forever and I am not optimistic about ever finishing. If you want to know more about this you can read it here.






#2. This triple 4 patch is my second oldest. This is the 3rd triple 4 patch I've made and The Friendship group made some of the blocks for this one too. I  had the blocks for a while before they  became a flimsy in January 2014.

#3.  I acquired this beauty in June 2014. When I admired this Hidden Wells quilt that Lynn made, she gave it to me.  At first, I was reluctant to take it but I really like it and so I thanked her and I accepted it!  

#4. This is the HST quilt I started in February this year. I was waiting for the weather to clear so I could get out to fabric shop for a wedding gift quilt. All the fabrics are from my scrap stash. I thought It was a flimsy but it is not wide enough for the length that it is so I need to make at least another 12 blocks.


#5. is a round robin flimsy about 40 inches square; it has been around for,several years (no photo).

#6 Is the baby quilt I am machine quilting and I am happy to have found a home for it when it is done.

I am not counting the 500 plus HST's that I made from cut away connector corners. I may give up and throw them all away before I get them all pressed and trimmed to size (1.25 inches).

I am not counting my box of odd blocks either.  That is just a collection of leftover blocks from quilts I made or demo blocks that I used for teaching. It is just a collection with no plan at present. It might become a work in progress someday but without a plan it is just a collection.

My "Parts Department" box was not counted either. It is a collection also but I made these blocks with a kind of purpose in mind...... sort of. When the Basement Divas had one of our challenges we had to use elements from a couple of books. One of the books was "Collaborative Quilts" by Gwen Marston and Freddy Moran. I made a lot of  blocks using their guidelines for "parts department" blocks to use in either collaborative quilts or improvisational quilts. Since I have no specific plan the box of blocks does not qualify (in my mind) as a WIP.

So... my list is not very impressive and for that I am grateful.

I have a feeling my list may also not be complete, not so grateful for that.