Yet more BOMs...

I once made a calendar holder with a place for a quilt block on top from an old Quiltmaker's magazine, think maybe in the late 1990s, and as a result, I  made a block a month for a very long time so have a huge collection of unfinished blocks.

My last post focused on the smaller, older block sets, while the ones in this entry are more recent (in my world) and hopefully are big enough to turn into lap sized quilts that I might actually use.


The first blocks were part of another year long BOM class at a local quilt shop that is no longer in business, where I believe each month you received the pattern and fabric for a block for a minimal fee and also had a class on how to make each block. Don't have a record of when these blocks were made, though, as usual.

The larger batik blocks on my design wall were also made in a year long class at the old Flying Geese quilt shop, I believe in 2010, so it was very appropriate that all these blocks were made from various flying geese quilt patterns. The smaller batik blocks were from an exchange I did with friends who had once exchanged traditional Dear Jane blocks, using the same traditional patterns with very non traditional fabric. I think the sets of blocks work quite well together, though, and should make a nice lap quilt once I add some black sashing in between the blocks.

Below is another BOM from the Flying Geese quilt shop, I think in 2011, but this time you were given enough fabric each month to make two Civil War repro blocks using the same pattern each time. I think I have enough of that fabric left to make 18 more blocks, so this might even end up being a quilt that is big enough for a bed, esp. if I add borders. These blocks were hand pieced, though, and since I'd kind of like to keep doing that, it may be quite some time before this is ready to be put on a bed!

These blocks look much better in person than they do in this photo, all from a BOM book that I purchased at a local quilt show, in 2008 when I was started to get interested in less traditional quilt blocks, and each month you used a different technique to make a different block, so this project was a lot of fun. I actually made all 12 of these blocks in the book plus bought the fabric to go in between them, but think it was the end of the bolt so I didn't have quite enough fabric to set the blocks the way the book instructed, adn that is probably why they are still unfinished. Might try doing something different, though, to get these blocks out of a box and on a bed/couch.

Hard as it is to believe, I still have MORE calendar holder blocks in my stash, so may get them out eventually, too, but this is depressing enough already, makes me feel like it will be impossible to ever finish them, but hopefully if I stick to the 20 minute a day plan, I'll at least make SOME progress in Feb.2015, once I figure out what I want to work on first...         

UFOs continued...

 I put a bunch of my UFO blocks up on my design wall yesterday so I (and anyone else who read my blog!) could see what I was faced with, but I will divide those photos into two posts since I'm not sure how many I can add at one time, even four may be too much.

The first set were blocks that I hand appliqued in a year long Block of the Month class (only completed four month's worth) in 1992, in addition to the tulip block which I machine appliqued in a class with Harriet Hargrave much more recently.

I'm not sure when I pieced these crazy quilt blocks but since they each have an embroidery design in the center for the various months of the year, it must have been around 2005 since I think that's when I got my embroidery machine.

I don't recall where I got the patterns for these paper pieced crystal blocks, but paper piecing hasn't been popular for all that long, so perhaps these weren't made too long ago either. I do recall them being a ton of work, though, in fact, I should photograph the back of one with its paper still attached so you can see just how many pieces each block contains.

I think I have the magazine where I got the pattern for these stained glass paper pieced blocks in the box with the rest of the fabrics for this project, so I might be able to come up with a date for them, but they also were a lot of work, as are most paper pieced projects.

I am not sure I will do much with blocks like this that won't make anything larger than a wall hanging since I already have plenty of stuff to hang on my walls, but most of these blocks are too pretty to remain stuck in boxes, so hopefully I will put them up on the wall eventually, as actual quilts rather than just blocks put on my design wall for a photo.

The beginning of the DaGMT project...

Never done two posts in one day, was hard enough doing one a month for the 2014 Make a Garment a Month challenge, but since my first challenge for 2015, the DaGMT, only lasts for one month, I'll have to write here more than once in Feb.!

The first step I have to take in my attempt to finally complete some of my quilt UFOs is to go through my things and make a list of just what needs to be finished, so I brought one of the sweater boxes where I store some of my UFOs (once thought having them out in plain site would help, but that obviously did not work) downstairs from my sewing room and plan to look at it this evening.

From a quick glance, though, I can see that there is part of one of the Craftsy Block of the Month classes I started working on a while ago as well as the fabric and instructions for a repro Block of the Month class that I began in a local quilt shop that no longer exists, and I think there is more under that. Boy, do I ever have my work cut out for me...

Third Annual DaGMT event

"I, Sue Mc, owner of too many UFOs and/or more fabric than I can hope to use up in my lifetime, am joining Quilting Hottie Haven's third annual DaGMT event, and pledge to quilt for at least 20 minutes every day of the month of February, 2015. 

In doing so, I hope to complete some of the quilts (have lost track of how many, but that list is first thing on my agenda!) that have been languishing in boxes for far too long, and I think Beth Helfter is brilliant for coming up with this concept and inspiring me to join."

More info  http://www.evapaigequiltdesigns.blogspot.com/p/drop-and-give-me-twenty-2014-is-almost.html