Get It Done UFO Challenge January Number Is...

 Number 5!

It's time to get started on those UFO Lists ~ The number to work on for the month of January is #5.  

You can read about the details of our Get It Done UFO Challenge at This Blog Post, and you can jump in any time.  It's all about having fun, and getting some of those quilts finished :) 

In the last post I showed my personal 2016 UFO list (12 of my UFO's at least), and my #5 is to finish my Pat Sloan "Farmer's Market" quilt...So Full Disclosure: Here is the state my "Farmer's Market" is in at the moment.  As you can see I have several blocks to finish adding the applique to, and then doing all the blanket stitching, adding any outer borders I decide to add, then quilting and binding.  Will I get it finished this month?  ...I'm not sure, with all I'm working on with customer quilts and my website in flux right now (Don't get me started...I could write a book)...But I do know I'll be getting some work done on it, and I'll let you know how things progress by the end of the month :)

Don't forget, if you get your #5 finished by January 31st, bring it in and show us and your name will go in the  drawing for our nice monthly prize! Even if you don't get it completely finished ~ Get it at least to a quilt top, and come in to the shop and show us, and we'll give you a coupon for a discount to purchase your batting and backing fabrics :)

And to inspire you and get you in the Finishing mood, here are a few finishes that our Renter, Pat Scully quilted up on our HQ machines yesterday...

She was on a roll and finshed the quilting on Four kid quilts for the Southern Comforter's Guild to be donated to the Georgetown Pediatric unit.  She kicked these dino quilts out three at at time!  All they need now is some binding :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

PS ~ As I mentioned briefly above, our website is currently in flux as we switch to a new provider.  Please be patient as more content gets loaded and tweeked, and we work through all the bugginess.  If you have any questions, or want to sign up for a class, call our shop at (410)381-0695. 

2016 UFO Challenge Prep

I love this time of year!  The New Year is upon us ~ a fresh slate, new energy, looking forward, a great time to take stock, and set some goals in action. 

As a quilter, I have a few UFO's (A Stack of Un-finished Objects), and pieced tops to be quilted.  I'm a "Starter"...I admit it...I love to pick fabrics, and start a new project ~ that's my favorite part of quilting.  I used to be a "Finisher" too, but about twelve years ago I started working in a quilt shop, and that hampered my Finishing Powers.  Don't get me wrong, I do finish a lot of projects, just not as many as I start.  There are just so many wonderful projects that come to my attention and inspire me to start them :)

...But I do love to hold up a Finished Quilt, and announce, "It's Done!"

...So to help in that endeavor, we've decided to have some fun at the shop in 2016 and get some quilts  finished at the same time!  

We're having a Get It Done UFO Challenge!  Let's have some fun and get some quilts finished at the same time...

If you want to play along, here's what to do and how it works: 
 

1. Make a list numbered 1 to 12, and beside each number write the name and short description of a UFO or project that you'd like to finish in 2016.  

2. Turn a copy of your list in to us at Spring Water Designs by January 5th.  Include your name, email and phone number on the list.  You can bring your list in to the shop, or email it to us at springwaterdesigns@gmail.com  It's that easy! (If you miss the Jan. 5th deadline, you can still turn a list in throughout the year by the 5th of the month to jump in and play starting that month.)

3. Each month, around the end of the first full week, we will choose a random number between 1 and 12 and announce it on our Facebook Page and post it in the shop ~ and that number will correspond to a project on your list that you will work on completing. 

4. If you get that month's project finished, bring it in and show it to us (or snap a photo and email that to us, or post it to our Facebook Page), and you'll be entered in our monthly Get It Done Drawing for some nice prizes!

Note: even if you don't get the entire quilt finished and bound, if you turn that month's unfinished parts into a quilt top, still bring it in to the shop, and you'll receive a coupon for a discount to purchase your backing fabric and batting :)

The above list is mine.  I'm posting it for an example of a list ~ some are tops that just need to be quilted and bound, and some are full projects that are currently just pieces that want to be quilts someday :)  
...I know I'll get some of them finished...but no pressure, my goal is just some fun Quilty Finishes in 2016!  

Enjoy the day!

~ Dawn 

UFO Challenging

I'm participating in an UFO Challenge with my Sit & Stitch group and this month's number is #4.  Well back when I made my list, I decided #4 should be to sew my Swap Blocks together into a top (this is from a swap that I was doing with my Sewing Buddies last Fall)...however to do this, I need to have finished my Swap Blocks right?!

...So I first set out to get those Swap Block finished ~ Mary & Starlyn: I have your blocks ready for you...finally :)

...Then when I started arranging them up on the design wall, I patted myself on the back for noticing that this block was wrong (Notice in the photo above that the top right 4-patch unit is rotated wrong).  So I did a little un-sewing, then re-sewing and I fixed it... Then...

...I sewed all the blocks into rows, and then the rows together...and only Then did I spot another one. ~ Do you see it?

Yep, there it is.  Another 4-patch unit is rotated wrong on that brown block...Don't you hate it when that happens!  Well, there is a bright side ~ I spotted it before I layered it and quilted it all up :)

So like any good quilter, I quit for the night, and started auditioning borders instead.  The repair will wait until later.

By the way, let me know if you spot any more!

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

October UFO/WIP Wednesday All Rolled Into One Project

My UFO Challenge project for the month of October was to take my Walk in the Moonlight quilt to the next level by finishing all the blanket stitching.  (I started this quilt several years ago when I was hosting the Sloanies Club at the quilt shop where I worked, so it's also my WIP Wednesday project.)

 ...so this week I've been blanket stitching...

 ...and blanket stitching...

...until ~ Taa Daa!  All blanket stitching is now finished and tonight I'm piecing the backing, and putting all on the pile of "To Be Quilted" projects! (Well, one of the piles)

(The Walk in the Moonlight quilt is a Pat Sloan design, and the pattern can be found in her Learn to Applique with Pat Sloan book published by Leisure Arts.) 

Check out more October UFO projects at Judy's Patchwork Times Blog. The UFO number for November is #9 ~ On my list that is to piece the blocks for the Jo Morton Warm Wishes quilt that I started a while back.  If I can fit that in this month it could be finished just in time for Christmas decorating :)

And you can check out other WIP Wednesday projects from my friends on the Quiltsy Team.  Lots of Inspiration today!

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

PS ~ A little note about my Hurricane sewing on Monday.  We did lose our electric for a while, so I switched to knitting by oil lamp, but we got our power back up yesterday.  We were very lucky, our only damage from Sandy's gusts were downed tree branches that we have to pick up all over the yard.  Thanks to everyone for all the well wishes and prayers that were sent our way, please keep our neighbors in your thoughts and prayers, there are so many with damage.   

Some Hurricane Sewing

 

What a difference a day can make.  We spent the weekend enjoying the Autumn leaves, but today Hurricane Sandy is bearing down here.  We still have our electric, so I'm getting some machine sewing done while I can.
 

These are some felt Baptism Banners that I needed to make up for my church that I finished up (I had a couple to make with the names and dates for children who were already baptized before I took on the job).   

 ...and I'm making up some extras that will be all ready to have the names added when needed.

 And blanket stitching on this month's UFO Challenge project.

Almost finished, as long as we don't lose the power, I should get it finished in October ~ and then there is always my knitting and hand applique :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn 

A Timely UFO

Popping in this holiday weekend to show my finished UFO Challenge piece for August.  I finished quilting and binding my Harvest Moon quilt top.  It's a pattern by Pat Sloan and can be found in her Folksy Favorites book.

Now it's for sale Here in my Etsy Shop...and on to the September UFO project :)

Have a Happy and Safe Labor Day Weekend!
~ Dawn

I Have a Friday Finish!

It's been kind of quiet here on the blog lately.  I have been sewing a lot, but not on anything that I can blog about right now.  But yesterday I took a little break and went to a Guild Summer Sew In day, and I started on my UFO Challenge piece for July. 

My #3 for the UFO Challenge for the month was to sew together my swap blocks for this quilt, and today I finished the top! I made the blocks with my friends Mary & Starlyn, and we swapped them so we got a nice variety of fabrics for the scrappy look. 

The quilt pattern is called High Cotton designed by Kim Diehl, and it's the cover quilt on her book called Simple Comforts (A book I highly recommend by the way).  So now that I've moved it from the unfinished-project pile of bins to the un-quilted pile of tops, I'm really sparked to tackle that pile :)  Can you relate ~ How many piles do you have going in your sewing space? 

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Quilts in the Garden

I've only missed getting one of my monthly UFO Challenge projects finished so far this year, and that was the month of April.  Well now I've remedied that, and I'm happy to have my mini Jo Baskets quilt from one of my Jo Morton Clubs finished...even if it is a little late :)

I've never done any ruler work when machine quilting so I decided to play with some rulers when quilting this one.  I used these two HQ Handi Gadgets, the Versa Tool and the mini scallop ruler.  (They are thicker than regular rotary cutting rulers to work with the hopping foot of my HQ Sweet 16.)

I used the straight edge of the Mini Scallop ruler to do the stitch in the ditch work.  Once I got going I found it pretty easy to just hold the ruler in place and move the quilt along with the ruler, keeping the hopping foot along the straight edge of the ruler.  The Versa Tool has a straight edge too, but the Mini Scallop ruler has a little longer of a straight edge, without it being too long to handle. 

Both of these rulers have a stop on the end so that I don't run off the edge of the ruler, and the little line on the stop helps to line up the ruler with the seam line automatically allowing for the width of the hopping foot so that my stitching is right in the ditch.
 

Then after marking a center line with chalk, I used the concave curved edge of the Versa Tool to quilt  these little leafy shapes.  It moved along pretty quickly once I got the hang of placing the ruler about 1/4" away from the line to allow for the width of the hopping foot.  (I do recommend a little practice on a scrap piece before starting any machine quilting project.)

I do this shape a lot when machine quilting, but this tool allowed me to make them so symmetrical.

Then I played with the same kind of shape on the little baskets. 

It was a beautiful day out today so after I did some weeding I couldn't resist a little photo shoot in the garden ...

Don't you just love the look of quilts in the garden ~ this one just may have to hang here on the back gate on pretty days just to make me smile :) 

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Another UFO Finished :)

My May project for the UFO Challenge is finished!   May's challenge number was #2.

Number 2 on my list was to bind (and thus finish) my Spring quilt that was from a past Thimbleberries Club that I taught at the quilt shop where I used to work.  In the spirit of full disclosure, I'm hand binding it and there are a few pins still around the edge ~ but it will be finished tonight.  I just wanted to go ahead and get this picture snapped :)

The beautiful quilting was already done for me a while back by a good friend of mine, Sheri Thompson of Pieceful Completion. 

...And the quilt has just been waiting patiently in the wings for me to get to the binding.

I'm really enjoying the UFO Challenge.  It gives me a real reason to pull these unfinished projects out and get them finished and on a bed :)

The UFO Challenge number for June is #12:  Now I'll pull out my blue/white Winding Ways quilt top and figure out how I want to quilt it :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Joy ~ Another UFO Finish!

I got my March UFO finished, and there is still 2 hours left in the month of March ~ How's that for cutting it close :)

Here's my Snowbound quilt all quilted and bound.  (Excuse the pictures, it's late here.)  This pattern was a free BOM given out on Anne Sutton's Bunny Hill Blog in 2010 I think. She had offered more blocks than this, but I had decided to stop at five snowmen blocks.  My March UFO challenge was to get it quilted, but I went ahead and put a sleeve and binding on it while I was at it...

so it's Finished!

I took a couple of pictures earlier today of the quilting.  This is the first official quilt that I've quilted on my HQ Sweet 16.  I definitely have room to improve, but I had a good time playing with the quilting.  (I had started doing some of the quilting in the ditch on my Bernina the other day before the UPS man delivered my HQ, then as soon as I got the chance, I finished the quilting with my new HQ.)

This is a portion of the back so you can see the quilting a little better.  I'm having a lot of fun experimenting with the HQ, and am pulling a bunch more UFO's out of the closet to baste up :)

Hop on over to Patchwork Times Blog and see some of the other UFO Challenge projects getting completed.  The magic number for April is #10, which on my list is to quilt my Jo Morton Mini Baskets quilt, so if life doesn't get in my way, there's more quilting in store for me this month!

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

I'm Not Late, February's Just too Short

I've come to the conclusion that I really do need 30 to 31 days in a month to get to everything I need to get done, and it turns out that February is no exception!  With that in mind, here is my UFO Challenge project for February...a little late, but finished... 

The February challenge was to complete #1 on my list, and that was to finally put the binding on this Christmas quilt that I've had finished and quilted for quite some time now.

My good buddy Mary Nielsen of Keep Me In Quilts did the wonderful quilting job on it, a long time ago, and now it's finally finished :)

The quilt pattern is called I Believe and it's a Pat Sloan design.  Our Sloanie's Club had completed this pattern together one section at a time when I worked at the quilt shop.  It was lots of fun to make and choose fabrics for, and I have great memories associated with this quilt :)

Now on to the next UFO challenge for March which is #8 ~ To quilt my cute little Snowman quilt.  I'm going to have lots of fun holiday quilts to pull out for this coming Christmas!

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn