Saturday, March 26, 2011

march UFO done

I had yesterday off, so I decided it was time to get out the March UFO.  I'm very glad I worked ahead on this one, though maybe if I hadn't, I wouldn't have put it off so long.


The UFO journey began here, last fall.  A trip to an absolutely awesome quilt shop about an hour from home.  They had tons of awesome fabrics and books and patterns, it was hard to restrain myself, but from the moment I saw Bliss online, I knew I wanted some!


I had some time off from work a while back and dug in.  The blocks are deceptively labor intensive.  They require four borders of each print = four seams.  Plus trimming.  Guess this is just another case of me falling in love with a pattern before I dissect it well enough to realize how many pieces it has!  (Nothing worth having is easy, right?)  I made a good dent, then had to move on to other things for a while.


Then in December, Judy announced her UFO challenge and this quilt went on the list.  #1 in fact.  Since the numbers are chosen randomly, this quilt didn't get to go first.  But the number that was chosen first was a pretty easy project and I had time, so I worked ahead.


I got to the point where I had a top (no borders), and stopped there.  I don't much care for long seams, the setting "triangles" at the edges needed trimming to become triangles and I justified my stopping with the knowledge that this quilt's number would come up before the end of the year, so it would be finished.


Well, this month #1 came up.  So I auditioned inner borders and then ignored it for a while longer.  (Everyone really liked the red, but one comment led me to go with the white: it keeps in tradition with the modern style of the prints and quilt design.)  I do not like long seams (I think I may have mentioned that before - like a few dozen times!) and there were points to (try to) match along the way and things are on the bias.  And I have a few other projects in the works - projects with actual due dates.  (I'm really good at procrastinating!)


But yesterday I had the day off work and decided it was time to pull this back out of its box and finish the top (my definition of UFO finished for this challenge).  The month is almost over and I wasn't going to get a much better chance to work uninterrupted.  If you can consider 5 cats and a hubby also with the day off uninterrupted.  (I work well under pressure of deadlines.)

The borders look a little ripply because they are.  I measured and pinned and everything seemed to be going along just fine until I tried to lay it out flat.  For now, they're going to stay this way (mostly because I don't have the desire to rip it all out, but also because it's just going to end up Mt. St. ToBeFinishedSomeday and there's no hurry), but eventually I will fix it.

Of course, no photo is complete without a cat in it.  :)

I also made binding so when I quilt this baby, that fiddly part is already done.  I think it was Judy, of the UFO challenge, who taught me to cut and make binding when you're working on the top.  (Awesome idea!)  Now if I can just figure out a way to keep me from procrastinating sewing the binding half on that is done by hand...

Now it's back to the wedding quilt.  A little at the time to keep my sanity.  (Remember when I told you it was something like 880 pieces?  Seems I'm no good at math; turns out it's 1440 pieces!  I'm glad I figured that out AFTER I'd cut everything and sewn a lot of those pieces to each other.)

I hope you're all having a wonderful weekend.  It's goergous outside, but at noon it was 32F.  Just at freezing.  Where is my spring?

Happy quilting,
Katie

17 comments:

Liriopia said...

That quilt really turned out pretty! You're math impaired, like me, LOL? I never quite cut out enough and have learned to keep the fabric hanging over a rod until I am done. Works pretty good but, I only have one cat and he is not allowed in my space!

Liri

Beth said...

Still love that quilt.Love how you distributed the colors in the diamonds. We have that pattern at the shop and I avoided it, although I like it. Sometimes I think about the work involved and sometimes I just grab it and run.
One of my dogs knows when I say don't walk on the quilt and she will detour. The other one just walks right to the middle and plops down.

a good yarn said...

It's fabulous! I love the colours and block shape...and that cute kitty in the corner. Fantastic work! Ann :-)

Unknown said...

Progress is progress;) I like the white border you put in it;) Keep up the good work on those UFO's;)
Happy Quilting!!

JudyCinNC said...

Like you, I love the Bliss fabrics. Wonderful pattern for them. May have to look up that pattern. You have a beautiful quilt finish. Judy C

pcflamingo said...

At first I thought that was an applique black cat you added to the quilt! My cat Tigger always likes to sit on my quilts when I'm trying to take a picture. Must be a cat thing.

Donna~~ said...

Nice finish! (I thought it was an applique cat for a bit too--thought you were very artsy!) Your quilt top turned out lovely! I hate the long seams too--I forever measure and measure and am afraid to cut them. I try to use the fold in half method, but even then I can mess it up, so the borders is often when a quick project decides to go UFO for me.

AnnieO said...

Very pretty use of Bliss! And I like cats on my quilts :) Good work getting this to the top stage. Too funny, Mt. St. ToBeFinished!

Dionne said...

Congratulations! What a great finish, and it looks beautiful. I really, really like how it turned out! Sadly I'm only 2 for 3 (March let me down). Looking forward to seeing what you finish in April!
Cheers,
Dionne

A Left-Handed Quilter said...

Katie - I just found your blog. (Thanks for leaving a comment on mine!) I really like your quilt - very pretty! Good job on all of those diamonds!

As far as your borders go - I did a post a couple of weeks ago on how I do mine - check it out - might work for you. (Hint - I don't measure my borders.) And right now I'm working on one about how I do my bindings - so stay tuned - you never know - it could help.
^..^

Barb in Mi said...

Congratulation on a great finish! It's beautiful!

BetsyE said...

Nice job finishing! I also thought you had a cat applique on the quilt - funny! They just have to be in the middle of it all, don't they!?

Marg said...

I love that you used Bliss in this quilt top, it's stunning. You must be pleased with the result even if the borders are not quite perfect.
I have two cats who come running as soon as they see a quilt and a camera!

The Quilting Elf said...

What cat? I thought I saw a quilt inspector! It's a lovely top - just right for sitting on ...

Beth@IHaveANotion.com said...

It's a beautiful quilt... well the pattern does have a lot of piecing!!!! In the thumbnail, it looks like the cat is an applique... and I like it!

Quilter Kathy said...

Very pretty quilt top! Don't you hate it when you go to all that trouble for the borders and they ripple?!?
Just how big is Mt. St. ToBeQuiltedSomeday?!?!

Alycia~Quiltygirl said...

That turned out great! I love those fabrics as well.