Our Virtual UFO Meeting

The situation isn't getting any better in our world. However, here's something that we need to be extremely thankful for. We have the internet, we have smart devices, we have EASY ways to stay in touch. We should NEVER take that for granted. Data limits have been waived. Imagine if we had to self-isolate and really, truly be "isolated".

Trust me, I'm not happy about it, but there's no sense worrying about any of it. It just means that I may, at last, have a chance to catch up (HA - HA - HA  - even I chuckle at that thought). BUT - -you have to admit that I now have the "to be quilted" piles under control. They are getting smaller - maybe not super fast, but they are getting smaller and you know what? Progress forward - that's all that counts.

So with the wonders of the internet, the UFO group was able to meet. Here's the homework that each person completed.

Susan's goal was to complete two blocks for her Farm Girl Vintage quilt. The first one is Grandpa's truck. That block is so adorable and do you see the sheep in the back of the truck?? I LOVE it. It's a 12" block in case you're wondering. This may have come from the second book - I know it's not in the first book.

Grandpa's truck block

The second block was the horse block. This is also a 12" block. Thank goodness because there are a lot of pieces in that block!!!!

Way to go Susan!!!!! 

Susan's second block - the horse

Shoot - I have to list these in the order they appear in my book or I'll be totally mixed up and god forbid that someone didn't get their homework done!!!

Oh, shoot - you have to turn sideways to see this one. Dede was supposed to put the pieced border on her Rosewood Cottage quilt and it looks like she added the final border as well. Well done Dede!!!! It looks amazing - I absolutely love the colorway of this quilt. The colorway is very unusual and I'm sure it wasn't easy to find matching fabrics.

Borders on the Rosewood Cottage quilt

Sorry for the photos - I just saved them as they came in and some of them are sideways and not cropped!  Jane got her Kaleidoscope quilt top together. This was a UFO that had been hanging around for a long, long time and the top is together. All that remains is to get it quilted!!! Way to go Jane!! She must feel absolutely thrilled to get that done and her son might still like the colors! Jane sewed this while she was at a retreat a couple of weeks ago.

Jane's Kaleidoscope quilt

She also had to get another quilt top together. I don't think she was supposed to get the entire top together - but she had to work on the blocks and the sashing. Mission accomplished!!!

Jane's wonky star quilt

I don't have a picture of Linda's homework, but she did finish the applique on her spool quilt. Then she made a valiant attempt at the curved piecing on the blocks for the Pickle Dish quilt. After much frustration, she pulled out another UFO and worked on that. I'm going to accept this. If there's a good reason why it doesn't work - I'm OK with that. Her new project is a string quilt.

String quilt that Linda's working on

Hey - I remember this quilt. I love that little pop of color. And Linda? - You and I are going to have a wee lesson on curved seams. They are super easy (I know - for me, they are super easy) and together, we will concur those nasty things.

Here's my quilt top - FINISHED. This is the first $10 quilt that we ever did at the Hobby Horse. It's HUGE - I think it's about 94" by 111" or some ridiculous thing like that. The first border (the yellow one) was easy to put on. It was the next one that was a pain. I had sewn all the little sections together so the borders were in one piece (for each side). Some of them were a wee bit too long which I guess is better than too short.

Pieceful Year

I had to make a second seam in several places (which you can't notice) to make the borders shorter -  until they fit properly. And now the top is done!! I dug through the fabrics in the backing stash and found a bolt that was almost large enough. I had to dig out two other pieces of fabric to make it large enough. It's partially assembled. But that wasn't part of my commitment. I hope to get it completed today.

I have a question about the fabric I have set aside for the binding. I have loads of that dark green in the outer border. It's a yard dyed fabric. Will it hold up for the binding???  Oh heck - why not play with fire and just go for it!!

I even had help as I was taking my picture. Anything soft on the floor is like a magnet to Murphy. Look at that face  - how can you discipline that face?

My model

Sharon's goal was to get seven trees sewn along the top of the block for her 2000 Piecemaker's Calendar quilt. Can you see how fiddly those trees are?? Great job Sharon! You're getting close to getting this quilt done - it's going to happen and you're going to be so relieved!!!

Sharon's block from the 2000 Piecemaker's Calendar quilt

Ronda is paper piecing a wall hanging and her goal was to get 6 more sections pieced. And there are the 6 pieces. OK - I want her to start sewing this quilt together! But she still has loads of little bits to make before she is done this project. It's getting done - that's all we care about!

Ronda's paper pieced project

Lynne's goal was to make four more cat blocks. I can't remember how many she had made before but here are her cat blocks. These are adorable and they have an embroidered (quilted) background. The cats are from Lunchbox Quilts, but she essentially made up the blocks using a variety of sources for patterns. Awesome job Lynne!!!!

Lynne's cat blocks

At last - Laura has completed all the wedges for her PRISM squared quilt!! They look absolutely amazing! I can't wait to see the entire quilt together. Way to go Laura - I know it was a long slog to get those done and only a few more seams and you'll have a very colorful circle!!!

Laura's wedges for PRISM squared

Elaine's goal for this month was to dig out her Snowman Collector quilt and take inventory of what needed to be done. She made huge leaps and bounds by getting part of the quilt top sewn together.

From the looks of it, she's got quite a bit sewn together. It's looking awesome.

Snowman Collector quilt

I have to laugh as I read some of the notes that came with the e-mails that I received. A few choice words but imagine the relief that everyone is going to feel once these projects are done. I know that some of these UFOs are OLD - very OLD. Thank god for the UFO group as these quilts are going to get done!

Diane T's goal for the month was to get this quilt quilted and bound. Ooops - another sideways photo. I should have taken them into the photo editor but I did not. Oh well. Anyway - I LOVE that binding. I wonder if it's one piece of fabric or did she make the binding from the leftovers in those blocks? I just went back and reread her e-mail. YES - she used the leftovers from the blocks to make that binding.  It looks awesome but she's crazy to have done all that work!!!! 

Diane's quilt is quilted and bound

Here's the other thing. Some of the people are doing things that they didn't want to do. Or that they weren't comfortable doing - like quilting a quilt. Or doing curved piecing when that was the reason the blocks got set aside in the first place. I think the group is doing amazing!! We all need to pat ourselves on the back!!


Liz had a lot of satin stitching to do. She had to stitch around all the edges of the pieces on these two blocks. I think this quilt is called Quilter's Garden by Amy Bradley.

Liz's two applique blocks

AND - she had to stitch around the rain boots as well. All these blocks are so adorable!! I LOVE them all.

The rain boot block

Shelly sent me her e-mail a long time ago and I had forgotten it. OK -- got the picture. Her goal was to assemble all these components. I think there were 116 in total. Looks like they are all done - great job Shelly!!!

Shelly's 116 components

I took this picture of Diane's homework so back to my phone to retrieve that one. Her goal was to get this tessellating cat quilt quilted and bound. It looks great Diane! She stitched in the ditch around all the cats. Yikes - I hope she did that free motion because otherwise, that was a lot of work!!!

Diane's tessellating cat quilt

And the last person (that means EVERYONE got their homework done!) is Katheleen whose goal was to finish embroidering the last two blocks for her Snow Days quilt. WOW - that was a LOT of work, but the blocks are done!!!  Way to go Katheleen!!!!!

Kathleen's' embroidered blocks

I did get the NEXT homework assignment from everyone, although I didn't always get a picture which is OK - that wasn't required. Katheleen is going to be working on some of the pieced blocks (as seen above) for the Snow Days quilt.

Diane has one more quilt to quilt and bind.

Diane's homework for the coming month

These are a set of placemats that Dede started a long time ago. Over 10 years to be exact. She's going to finish half of them (four of eight) for our next meeting. That means quilted and bound!!

Dede's placemats for her next homework assignment

This is Diane T's homework for next month. She's going to make a pillow from this embroidered block. The pillow form is next to the image of the peacock!! 

Diane's embroidered peacock

 This is a small project that Jane is committing to quilt 6 blocks for next month. 

Jane's quilt that she'll be quilting

And that's it for the virtual UFO meeting. While that wasn't as exciting as seeing the finished items in person, it's a good substitute. Again - we should all be extremely thankful that we can continue on in this manner. Hopefully, we'll have the "all clear" for next month.

I think everyone deserves a pat on the back for accomplishing stuff that has languished in the closet for years - in some cases - TWENTY years. It's our job to be responsible quilters and get some of this huge mess that we've created cleaned up. Our little group is making huge leaps and bounds and we should all be very proud of ourselves!!!

I hope that all of you are working on your UFOs and if you want me to post pictures, I'd be happy to do that. We could have a virtual quilt show - what's your UFO and what's the latest UFO that you've completed. Tell me the story and I'll share it here. It's not that I'm running out of things to say or show you - oh gosh - no - that'll never happen. It's just that it allows us to get to know each other a wee bit better!

Stuff is happening at my house and I'll share that with you tomorrow. I went for a walk in the rainy afternoon with the girls. There's only one bad thing about this and it started at the beginning of the year. They are now in the habit of getting an afternoon walk. They demand it! But it wasn't raining that hard and I put on my rainjacket and away I went. It really was quite pleasant and I'm glad I went. I did NOT sit in the gazebo when I got home!!!

I'm almost finished The Goldfinch. OK - so this took a totally different tack than I thought even possible. It's a sad story and with two hours left, I can only hope that it takes a positive spin. I just need to thank my lucky stars that I'm not and never was as messed up as this poor kid is. It's so sad and yes - I know it's only a story, but HEY - I bet there are a lot of people in the world like him. OK - maybe they didn't steal a painting, but still messed up!

BTW -- if you are stuck in close quarters with someone and you're going crazy, buy yourself a pair of headphones (NOT earbuds, but over the ear headphones). Glad to help out Linda!!!  They are the best thing ever. You can listen to your music, your audiobook, your podcasts or whatever and you will NOT disturb anyone. It's like being in your own little world. My headphones have a battery life of about 30 hours so I'm good to go!!! Do yourself a favor if you don't have a pair. You can buy online and have them shipped.

It's day two of my week for QUILTsocial. If you have an embroidery machine - you might want to check this out. It'll give you something to play with today.

On that note - it's time for our walk and I see the temperature is above zero. Yeah!!

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!