Quilting Again

This morning was all about errands -- drop off the bag to the thrift store that's been in the cupboard for months, get groceries, get my calendar. On my way out to the car, this little guy was sitting in the tree having his morning snack.

I don't think he really wanted to be my model. He was in a better location before I got the camera out. He and his apple disappeared further up the tree a few moments later.
After errands, I watched the Tournament of Roses Parade and put the decorations away. This is near the beginning of the Parade (I missed the first few minutes)

This is near the end. I had my lunch while watching the tail end of the parade.


Then downstairs to work on laundry and the guild BOM from last year (2009 / 10). Its Quilting with Laura by Linda Halpin. I got stuck on the second last block --- Doves in the window and printed it out for paper piecing. Last night I sewed the last of the little pieces and tried to trim them for sewing the sections together. Trimmed on a sewing line instead of the cutting line for one piece so had to try that segment again. Its still not entirely right but its well enough. Also got the last block finished and can now start sewing the top together.

This is one of 45 UFOs on my spreadsheet. Over Christmas we spent some time going through Mom's quilts and UFOs. A recurring question from Dad was "how many do you have?" "Do you have this many on the go?". So when I got home, I found a spreadsheet I had started a few years ago and updated it. The spreadsheet lists the Start Date and Completion Date for each project as well as columns for the state -- Piecing, Applique, Assemble Top, Borders, Make Binding, Baste, Quilt, Bind, Embellishment, Label & Sleeve, Finished Size, Notes. I ended up with 45 started things (including two of Mom's that I brought home to finish but not the other two I have my eye on). Karen has given me strict instructions to
1. Get all my UFOs into boxes with all fabric and instructions.
2. Identify all completed tops and get bindings together for them (If the fabric isn't with the top its in a box with the UFOs for the most part)
3. STOP STARTING NEW THINGS AND FINISH OFF WHATS ON THE GO.
As an obedinet older sister, I naturally signed up for a quilting class on Saturday.

I'm working on two of the UFOs. I'll have to spend some time figuring out which ones I want to work on this year. Once the guild bom is a completed top, I'll probably concentrate on getting some of the sandwiched ones quilted.

This is one of the UFOs that Mom had and I've brought home to work on. Its called Friends on Chelsea Lane. The smaller block needs some embrodiery. The larger block has two flowers left to finish and leaves to add as well as the embrodiery. Since the photos were taken, I've finished stitching the two flowers down and have the leaves ready to add. This one may go to work as a lunch time project.

It was fun to be stitching. I haven't done much more than the $10 quilt class the last little while. It was good to spend the afternoon stitching.