WIPs, PHDs, and some Finishes

Wow!  When I decided to let the blog go silent, I had NO intention of being gone for NINE MONTHS!!  As you can imagine, things just got in the way, and then something else, and pretty soon you are out of the habit.  Don’t think that means I haven’t been doing anything worth showing.  Not at all.  So let’s see what’s been happening.

Works in Progress (WIPs)

This is a quilt I am working on right now.  Pattern is by Elizabeth Hartman and the “critters” are all standard piecing – rectangles, squares, and half-square triangles – so it is going pretty fast.  I loved the owl eyes laid out on my ironing board!


Another quilt project (yes, I usually work on several projects at a time.  Can’t be getting bored, you know!) is this Stars & Hourglass.  I hope to get this one finished for Quilts of Valor next year.  The blocks are all done, just need to finish assembling rows.



This is a (crooked) shot of the first three blocks from The Farmer’s Wife 1930’s style – a Block of the Month from my local quilt shop.  Actually, it’s eight blocks every month, but they are small!  They’re also foundation paper-pieced, so tiny pieces are not tooooo stressful.



Annnnd. . . . here is the “test” block for a Stack ’n Whack project.  The fabric is something I inherited from my Mom.  I haven’t the least idea why she would have yards of Finding Nemo fabric, and I struggled to come up with a design to use it in.  Stay tuned to see how it works out.

Since I have a lot of fabric that was acquired without a project in mind, I’ve been trying to pick some interesting patterns and match them up with fabric for future reference.   Anytime I have all the fabric for a quilt, I make up these “kits.”  When I finish a quilt I just grab the next kit and start cutting.  Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to have made much of a dent in the stash!


One thing that does help in reducing stash, however, is cutting all my leftovers into 5” squares.  There are tons of patterns out there that start with a 5” square (Stars & Hourglass above is one) and you can see how fast they stack up. 

Projects Half-Done (P.H.D.s)

I classify these as a project that came to a stop and shows little signs of getting started back up.  Most of these were class or club projects and they are stuck in the state from the end of the class.  There may be no hope for these projects, but I’ve gathered them together so I can see what is what.


Here you can see two dolls and a row of doll heads.  Club projects waiting patiently for the grand finish.  Also some postcards – just need the backing or maybe a few more stitches – and a Stump work project that came to a halt when I realized I haven’t made enough flower petals!  The ribbon and lace to the side is actually a future project, but it’s also a club project so probably won’t make it to finished either!

Finished!

While it may appear that my working habits are in disarray, I have managed to finish a few things.  What else would I be doing instead of blogging?


I went to Florida again this spring and took another class from Deb Wood.  This Dryad was our project and the other students were people I knew from previous classes.  It was a wonderful week and I am feeling so much more confident in my sculpting skills.


This is Puck – that mischievous imp from A Midsummer’s Night Dream, among other stories.  I made his head a long time ago and you’ve probably seen it before,  I decided that it was time to test what I learned from all these classes.  I think he turned out pretty well!


You might recall I was working on an Alice in Wonderland quilt when I last blogged (more on the quilt in a moment).  My doll club did several shows this year and picked Wonderland as our theme.  My character was the caterpillar.  Fortunately Suzette Rugolo has done several patterns from the story so I did not have to start from scratch.  This doll is BIG!


This is the quilt made from patterns available on Fandominstitches.com.  I made it to hang behind our dolls displays at shows.  Yes, it was a lot of work, but since I was laid up with a broken foot there wasn’t much of anything else I could do!

There have been several quilt tops finished as well.  Some have even been quilted and bound – others still waiting to be quilted (I’ll have to photograph the pile of Waiting!)  Here are some of them, in no particular order.



And last – but definitely not least! - - - -

My contribution to our club charity project – One Million Pillowcases.  I made 28 and I think I can safely say I am a whizz at making pillowcases!

There you go – nine months neatly packaged in one post!  Now I am adding Blog to my ToDo list so maybe there will be more for you to see in shorter bursts.  At least I’ll try!