Saturday, January 2, 2016

The Secret to finishing UFO's!! November quilts too!

November was a crazy busy month for me.  I finished up a year long UFO program with the local guild and it consumed way, way, way more time than I had planned.  But it was fun and I managed to finish 5 of my 6 registered UFO's and my 6th UFO is out of it's hiding place and I hope to finish it soon! 

It was a fun program, the final month I provided everyone with the key to getting those UFO's completed!  Would you like to see?  Okay, here you go....



Yep, I carried those little containers for three months shaking them at every meeting.  I also had the ladies shaking them various times during the meeting and then they all got to open them at the same time! 

In the beginning of the challenge I had taken photo's of everyone with their UFO  and then another photo at the end of the challenge with the finished quilt. When you registered your UFO in the beginning I charged you $2 and a fatquarter, I felt everyone needed to feel vested to have incentive to finish their projects. For the program I put both photos along with an "explanation" (excuse) they gave me for the UFO not being completed, this was done on the computer using Power Point.  We had monthly prizes for those who brought their completed UFO's to the meetings and then more prizes along with the super stash of fatquarters at the end.  It was a fun night, but tons of work for me!  Here's what's on the inside and the secret to completing those UFO's.


That's it.
Following these three little words you can finish up all of those UFO's haunting you and hiding in your secret hiding places.

  Until I run out, I will be including these little gems with the quilts as I return them to their owners.  Limit one per person.  I had tons of fun with these and thought I'd drag it out a bit on the blog. 

You throw in my quilting retreat, Thanksgiving, a commission quilt and it didn't leave much time for quilting.  NEXT year I'm planning this month just a little bit better...whew!!

Here's the November quilts..... 

Alison's quilt.  Alison is not a quilter so I took the amazing fabric squares that she collected from her family members and together we made this outstanding memory quilt for her parent's 50th wedding anniversary.  Some of the blocks were so creative and very artistic!  Here's the quilt....




What a very, very cool quilt this loving family did for Margaret & Mike.  I did light custom work on Alison's quilt, again, I don't think I'm cut out for the custom or semi-custom work.  whew...

Carol made this adorable baby quilt for her new granddaughter!  The fabrics are beautiful and I know the quilt is going to be a treasure for years to come.  We had to go with a modern heart design, and it finished up beautifully!


(lighting issues on this one, it's much prettier than it appears in the photo, sorry!!)

Cathy brought me this cute little log cabin quilt. Log cabin blocks can be so versatile in their designs. She decided to go with a quilting design that would add just a touch of texture.  Good job!!



Deb's quilt is a memory quilt constructed from men's shirts.  I love the way she used the lighter fabric for the design element.  I believe this was a Christmas gift for a special friend.  It is (or was) going to be extra special gift!



Stars seemed to be the theme of Donna's quilt.  With the stars in the sashing and the stars in the border fabrics the quilt just called for a star quilting design.  LOVE the way this one quilted!!  And yep, another Christmas quilt.



Dorothy in WA is burning through her scraps!! She is on a mission and doing a fabulous job!  Love seeing what she can work into a quilt, here's her latest.



OH MY GOODNESS!!
I could hardly wait to work with this fabulous quilt!!  Everything about this one is perfect!  Being a Nancy Drew fan of many, many, many years this quilt just has to be one of my favorites.  Gabriel made this quilt for her daughter.  Take a moment to see the photo's up close, the fabric is amazing!!  AND!!!  SweetDreams had the most perfect quilting design, check it out see of you can find the Nancy Drew silhouette, book, looking glass and the question mark in the machine stitching!




Laura whipped up this quick quilt as a gift for a special friend.  I'm always partial to blue quilts, but thought the grays and creamy colors did a great job of balancing out the color palette. 



Leslie made this cool quilt, was so surprised when I took the photo.  The colors blended wonderfully but you really don't see the design of this quilt until you take a step back.  Leslie decided to keep the quilting fun and went with a paw print quilting design.



Linda made these two little quilts for a friend,  I believe she was going to be a new grandma.  Can't go wrong using the soft pastels, fun fabrics and cute design.  This always equates to wonderful little quilts.  Good job, Linda!!




Pat had me quilt up this pretty little table runner.  We used a simple circle flower design and scaled back the size of the quilting.  Finished up pretty nicely if I don't say so.  Another project out of Pat's UFO pile!!



A few more table runners came my way via Rita.  Planning for Christmas gifts we got these quilted up and ready for the bindings.  Each one was for a special friend.  I tried to keep the quilting as individual as the runner. Interesting how the same table runner pattern looks so differently by using different fabrics.







That's it for November!  Just about finished with the December photographs, so check back soon!!

As always more photo's of these great quilts can be seen at my other blog...


Have a wonderful day,
thanks for checking on me,
hugs,

joanne

love to hear what you've got to say...

6 comments:

lisa said...

Regina (and I) made a Nancy Drew quilt too, and my aunt who now long-arms used the same pattern to quilt it with! I will have to take a pic of Regi and the quilt (and our Nancy Drew books! we are on #8 right now, I read a chapter a night to her) and post on facebook.

I have a lot of UFO's and not a lot of time. There are a few I started knowing they would be taken out, make a block or two, and set aside for a while again. I love them and want to finish but they are long-term ones.

Thanks for sharing!
Lisa

margaret said...

so many quilts completed it was certainly a quilty month in November

Anonymous said...

These are all beautiful and meaningful quilts but the 50th anniversary quilt is just amazing - so much love! Good job Joanne, at helping it to come together so well!

JudyCinNC said...

Hi Joanne - can't even imagine how many you completed in December. Great idea you had about the guild UFO challenge - and I am sure everyone had a good time with it. I have six quilts left from the UFO closet to send to you and I will hopefully get some backings for them as soon as I can. Having knee surgery January 11th, so it will take me awhile. Keep your head above water little lady. Hugs from Judy C

KathyinMN said...

The 50th anniversary quilt is sensational. Love all the table runners too. So different for being the same pattern.

KathyinMN said...

Oh-love the UFO idea!