Well, I have been talking a lot about getting WIPs and UFOs organized and prioritized. I’ve made my lists and now it is time for me to walk the walk and actually get some of these projects finished and out of my project bins and off the design wall.
I spent some time over the weekend finishing up the blocks for Cali & Co, the year long sew-along I did with Coriander Quilts (Cory Yoder). I had three more blocks to finish, check. I had 17 lattice strips to make, check. Now it is time to lay out the blocks and lattices and get them sewed together.
The problem with that is my large design wall is still full of Halloween Figs blocks, and I need to free it up to finish Cali & Co. Clearly, I am at a stopping point until I get those Fig Tree Halloween blocks together and off that design wall.
Today is the day that is going to happen. I have one last applique block to make for Halloween Figs, and it is a big old thing. 15 inches square with lots of pieces. My bias stems are made, my Heat and Bond applique pieces all traced, and my fabric prepped. I have watched a couple of machine applique videos on YouTube to refresh my memory and I am going to get that last block done today. The quilt top is sewn together in sections and most of those are already together, so this top is SO CLOSE to being together. There is a complicated pieced border that needs to be made, but I will have the top together enough that I can put it away until late summer when I really will complete the top. I tell you, those Fig Tree projects really take it out of me. I am taking a break from those for a while!
Check back tomorrow and see how I did!
19 Responses
I will be thinking of you, today and tomorrow as I am finishing blocks on a quilt. I started this one at a workshop in October.
I have to relearn how I did the blocks, which is an utter annoyance. BUT, I am glad I did not finish it all on one go last fall.
I stopped, because the quilt was boring to me. I kept thinking – this quilt NEEDS something. Circles? Partially circles? I finally settled on giant flowers.
I am using the blocks as a pieced background for an appliqué quilt. I can no longer appliqué. My daughter volunteered to do the handwork.
My technique – on a heavily appliquéd quilt – I will finish the top and have it quilted. I will have my binder bind it. Then we will do the appliqué. Then it will go back to the long-armer, and she will reload it and add detail stitches on top the appliqué.
This is a large wall hanging, smaller than a twin.
My daughter is currently doing a similar quilt she pieced a hexi, is having it quilted, going to appliqué on top, send it back to the long-armer.
I am happy to report that I finished the center of the Halloween Figs top. It still needs borders, but I need to put this thing away for a while! I am looking forward to finishing up two more WIPs and moving on to a couple of new projects!
Good luck getting the Halloween Fig off your design wall. Sometimes the design wall is the bottleneck and that’s when I go off the rails and start something else, 😂.
I did it! That thing still needs borders but I am putting it away for a while. It has been on the wall and in my face for too long!
I love your New Year momentum, Nicole! Keep it going!!
One WIP down, two more to go and then I can start a couple new projects!
I’m so glad you posted your blocks for Corey Yoder’s BOM. My blocks are pieced using all Kim Diehl fabric. I wasn’t “sold” on the finishing, thinking add’l strips would make the top even busier than it is. I do like yours so maybe I’ll try it!
Today is my birthday and I’m going to spend the day in my sewing room!!!
Were you the reader who mentioned not liking the setting and wondering if I had any other ideas? I kind of liked the pieced lattices and had the fabric already cut out, so I started making them up. It was super easy and I find I like the way they look a lot! That is a very colorful quilt.
Happy birthday Gloria!
Wishing you well in your intentions for getting the Fig Tree quilt to a stopping point so you can get the Cali and Co blocks up, arrange them, and sew! How glorious that will be!
Hugs!
I did it! Fig Tree Halloween is together, all but borders and is going to be put away for a while. Tomorrow I will tackle Cali and Co and see how I do.
I wanted to thank you and all your commenters who responded when Dennis was going to get his cataracts done. It inspired me finally to get to the eye doctor about my own cataracts. I had been seeing halos around the moon and then around headlights and tail lights for months for months. It had gotten to the points that I didn’t like going out at night. At surgery time, the doctor was surprised by how bad my cataracts were. They didn’t look that bad from the eye check.
The difference is so amazing! I can only describe it as though I have just washed my dirty windshield after a dust storm. I just didn’t know how yellowed whites had gotten. Even the blue light on my scale is so beautiful now.
Of course, that is just the beginning. I had to get a hair cut because I realized how gray my hair had gotten. I am trying a new make up, too. This is like a row of dominoes falling over. One thing leads to another. I no longer need bifocals! For some things I don’t even need reader lens. It is all so amazing!
Thank you all!
Donna, thank you for sharing your incredible story! Isn’t it amazing how much clearer your vision is once those cataracts are removed? I likened it to looking through a dirty yellow curtain. Once it was gone, I was amazed at how bright and sparkly everything was. I am so happy for you that the surgery was such a success. The readers on this blog are so supportive, aren’t they?
Donna, congratulations on your cataract surgery! I had mine done two years ago & I’m still surprised at the great results! I’ve raved about seeing blue squares on my bedspread that I had never noticed before! It’s an easy procedure that makes so much difference once you’ve taken the plunge!
I love the bright happy colors you used for Cali & Co.! You’re on your way to making those goals reality. I’m looking forward to seeing that final Halloween Figs block when it’s finished!
It took me six hours to make that applique block today, but it’s done!
You are inspiring me! I’m an easy touch when a shiny new project offering pops up in a favorite quilt shop but now have at least a budding plan for two finishes!
I got the Halloween Figs top together today. It still needs a border, but I need to put it away for a few months. Next up is Cali & Co, then the Erica Arndt sew along I did. I am waiting for more border fabric on that one, but I should have it by next week. Then my most critical WIPs will be out of the way and I can move on! I am a sucker for the new shiny project too.
Can’t wait to see both of them done!
Great job getting the Halloween Fig top done. I have a Fig Tree kit I purchased a couple years ago that I need to start!! Can’t wait to see your quilts.