august ufo finished

Only 9 days late, I have finally finished my UFO for August.

It started with something like this:

Some fabric bought on a whim.  Then a puzzle to figure out what to make with it.  Then the discovery that I hadn't bought enough of the white and all efforts to find more failed.  The replacement didn't match and there wasn't enough of that either.

So it became a UFO.

It was supposed to be the quilt that went on the bed in our guest room.  I was going to decorate around it.

That was 2005.

So last December, Judy L had us make a UFO list and this made the cut.  The whole quilt.  Queen size.  42 blocks.  Plus sashing.  And borders.

Somewhere between 2005 and December 2011, I cut some strips.  I wish I hadn't.  I might have had enough of the white if I could have used the no-waste method for flying geese.  Hindsight...

So in early August, I dragged it out and forced myself to work on it.

Then I got the flu.  The respiratory kind.  And it kicked my butt for about a week.

By then I'd gotten good at procrastinating and the project and was here:

(Have I mentioned that I get lots of help with my quilting projects?)

Eventually I realized I needed to get going on it and needed to just force myself into my sewing room.  The hubby's new work schedule (which isn't that new any more, so I really shouldn't be using it as an excuse any more) has him up when I get home, then leaving about the time I wind down at night.  I love seeing him and eating dinner with him, but I don't like that what used to be my productive evening time (while he slept) is gone.

So I sucked it up and started sewing...

 

I pushed through the holiday weekend, trying to get the top done to show off at my quilt group on Thursday evening.  The first Thursday of the month is UFO night and we can show off a finished UFO - a whole separate thing than the show-and-tell that happens every week.

I had the rows together and sashing for between rows cut, but not sewn.

A marathon sewing session Saturday night got me here:

And I ran out of black to do outer borders/sashing.  So I switched to solid black.  That I had in the stash (so yay for stash reduction too!).

Maybe I was motivated by the quilt show I went to on Saturday?  (Sorry, no photos.  I just plain forgot, but I went with 5 friends from my quilt group and ran into about 7 more while we were there, so I was not only busy seeing the quilts and shopping, but chatting with friends.  I will try to remember to show off my purchases soon.)

Maybe it was the invitation to the baby shower in about a month that I haven't even started the baby quilt for?  (Yeah, that's more likely.)

So today, after a few errands and visiting the local fair-type celebration to eat junkfood off a truck, I tackled the borders.

...and wrangled cats...

(what mom? this isn't for me?)

And finally have a rather large queen-size quilt top!  It's not perfect.  I hate flying geese and their many pointy points.  But it's done and I'm okay if a few geese have clipped wings.

The hubby grumbled as I pulled him away from football to hold up a quilt that's too large for him to actually hold up, but it's done!  And I even cut and pressed the binding!

So the official info:

Pattern: Toad in a Puddle

From the book "Quilts from the Quilt Maker's Gift"

Finished size 94x106 (I think)

Now I have no excuse not to be working on the baby quilt.  So I'm baking peanut butter cookies.  (Hey, the hubby asked...)  And blogging...

The September UFO has been erased from my memory so I could finish this and the two baby quilts.  My quilt group has a quilty Saturday once a month and for the first time since I've joined, I'll be able to attend this coming weekend.  I'm so excited, but not sure how much work gets done there, but I'm hopeful.  I hear it's more about eating and gabbing...either way, I'm sure to have fun.

Happy quilting!

Katie

PS The guest room still looks kinda like Laura Ashley had a bad day (thank you previous owners)...no redecorating preceded the quilt and I doubt the quilt will end up in that room as the hubby has taken it over - he doesn't like the cats in his bed...