Small UFO Finish ~ An Ugly Duckling?

 Back in 2012, yellow and gray took the quilting world by storm. Weak-willed and utterly clueless about my quilting style, I dove headfirst into the trend, scooping up bargain yellow and gray fabrics for an upcoming HST BOM (half square triangle block of the month). If my memory serves me right, these prints are all Walmart fabrics, while the white-on-white background came from Joann's.

By month five of the BOM, I realized I got hooked on the yellow and gray trend because I adore yellow, but gray? Not so much. No offense if gray is your jam! For me, colors radiate a vibe, an energy. Sure, we could dive into what the experts say about how colors influence people, but honestly, I think they sometimes miss the mark. If they were right, this gray and yellow fabric wouldn’t make some of you feel all cheerful while leaving me feeling, well, bleh.

I may not be head over heels for this quilt, but she does have her redeeming qualities. That bold, dark gray star block in the center, steals the show and mercifully distracts from the chaotic floral explosion in the background. Honestly, the floral print was a "let's get rid of this because I can't stand it" kind of deal.

The other blocks seem to vanish into the floral background, but honestly, I think it’s more like they’re playing a fun game of hide-and-seek!

The big scraps of fabric became the perfect quilt backing, because scrappy backings are just the best, aren't they?  In the last few years, I've leaned towards wide backing fabrics.  Sure, they save time, but wow, talk about being as exciting as plain toast!

When it came time to make the label, I knew I wanted it to stand out against the backing, this quilt needed a cheerful little touch of sunshine. I remembered using the yellow print in my Bow Tie quilt but couldn’t recall if I had any left.  A quick dive into the fabric scraps and YIPPEE a bright pop of color for the label!

The label was kept simple. At the time, I just wanted this "ugly duckling" done so I could move on to something more appealing. Naming her didn’t seem important, but now I regret that decision. Every quilt is beautiful in its own way. She has her charm and will surely be cherished by someone. As I write this post, a few cheerful names come to mind. Maybe I should handwrite a name? What do you think? 

The dark gray binding was the perfect finishing touch for this quilt. My usual choice for bindings is a stripe, gingham, or plaid, but any of those would have created total chaos on this quilt. The dark binding provides a spot for the eye to rest, slows down the design, and makes it feel less busy.

Usually, fabric scraps go straight into my scrap bins, but not this time. I'll keep the dark gray used for the binding, but the rest are set aside to create a small donation quilt. Another positive for fabrics I don't love!

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UFO Quilt Finish ~ Snow Kissed Star

Another UFO bites the dust...Yippee! For this small quilt (56 x 56), I kept the quilting as simple as possible. Sure, free motion quilting would’ve been faster, but the modern vibe of this quilt was practically begging for some straight line quilting instead.

Adding the striped binding bumped up the overall look as well.   

The backing is pieced with some of the fabric used to make the star.

And my go to inkjet printed label framed with scraps from the star.

Now that the basics are covered, let's dive into quilt history. The pattern is on the front of this magazine, absolutely stunning, isn't it?  That’s the kind of quilt I’d happily quilt to death, so cheerful and vibrant!

I know where the pattern came from, but when did this quilt adventure actually begin? A blog search for "Snow Kissed Star" revealed just one clue, a lonely reference from 2016.  In this blog post it was a UFO.   Psst..they released the pattern as free, click here to grab the PDF.

 At that point, the blocks were finished and ready to be sewn into a quilt top, which I managed to do. However, there was no record of how long it had been a UFO. It was tucked away again and stayed a UFO quilt until last week when I finally pulled it out of the stash.

 I searched through all my blog posts from 2011 to 2016 and found no additional information about this quilt. 

Why did I make the Snow Kissed Star quilt in black and white? And why do I have so much black fabric when I don't even like it? The quick answers: my youngest son wanted a black and white quilt. We went shopping, he chose all these fabrics, I made the quilt, and ended up with a ton of scraps.

I was looking for a quick and simple quilt project to use up some fabric scraps. Snow Kissed Star seemed like the perfect choice. The plan was to give him the quilt because he loved the fabrics.

There's no mention on my blog of the first quilt I made for him. However, as I carefully combed through each blog post, searching for any trace of either quilt, I stumbled upon a picture with a small glimpse of the original black and white quilt I created for him. It was in Podunk Pretties blog post #4, all the way back in 2011!

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Blue Skies ~Quilt Finish

 Last week I hit a bit of a quilting rut, I lost my "quilty mojo".  The secret to reviving that mojo is a quick quilt finish. Nothing like good a dose of dopamine, the feel-good hormone, to stitch your spirits back together!  That's right, accomplishing goals and finishing projects releases dopamine.  I had a little chat with myself: "Should we start a new project, tackle one of those quilt tops gathering dust, or finally finish a smaller UFO quilt?" As you can see, the nine patch quilt from earlier this month won the debate.

The quilt blocks had been stored in the order they were to be sewn, so all I had to do was open the box and start sewing.  To speed things up, the quilting was kept minimal, no overachieving here! Even without chasing a dopamine rush, I would have quilted it just the same. This 58 x 58 quilt is destined to become a cozy couch quilt or a snuggle quilt for a child.  Heavy quilting isn't cuddly or cozy.

For the quilt backing, I used the remaining yardage of the Paisley Denim fabrics in my stash, scraps from the quilt top, and a blue print from Hobby Lobby to create a border and make it large enough. I adore how those quilt block scraps add a touch of quirky personality to the back of the quilt.

The binding was made from the scraps of the backing.  100% machine attached because it was quick, and I couldn't wait for the dopamine rush!

While taking this picture I was given a little extra hit of dopamine.  The quilting fairies were looking out for me on this day and knew just what I needed.  The label is almost perfectly centered in the quilting.  How nifty is that?

Then I noticed the errors on the label, but I didn't let it rob me of my dopamine rush.  This quilt is not my own unique design.  The inspiration quilt for using the UFO nine patches was Cranberry Chain quilt pattern by Laundry Basket Quilts.  And it's not July it's August...LOL!  

A fun little quirky fact about making this quilt, at least to me, is how I named it Blue Skies. The name came to mind simply because the blue and white quilt top reminded me of a summer sky with fluffy clouds and distant blue gray storm clouds. While quilting and listening to country music on YouTube Music, the song "Blue Skies" started playing about halfway through the quilting.  Call me crazy...I took it as a sign I chose the right project.  

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Yo-Yo ~ A Bucket List Quilt

 Most of us have a bucket list of quilts we dream of making someday, but let’s be honest, my quilty brain is like a squirrel on caffeine. This year’s mission to tackle UFOs has been surprisingly successful with seven finished.  Starting another long-term project probably isn’t the smartest move. Then again, if I don’t start them now, they'll just be on the list forever...so here we go!

A Yo-Yo quilt has been a lifelong dream of mine. I remember seeing one in a magazine as a child and imagining how wonderful it would be to have one on my bed. After years of collecting enough scrap fabric for some truly amazing scrappy quilts, the time has finally come to start creating the quilts I've always wanted. On August 16th, I officially began my Yo-Yo quilt (coverlet) journey, starting with the color pink.

It was so exciting to be working on the bucket list quilt. Take a close look at the image below.  See the crinkled circle?  That's trouble.  Heavily started fabric does not like being gathered around the edges, so I had to remove the stitching...BOOHOO.

 

What was I thinking?  I should have known this.  It would have been easier to hand wash larger pieces of fabric. All I could do was hand wash the circles. 

I was certain soaking the circles in a tub of water would help loosen the starch.  After an hour of soaking in a tub of cool water I carefully squeezed one circle a few times to help the fabric release the starch.  Then pressed it between two washcloths to dry it well enough for pressing.  After pressing, it was still stiff with starch!  

Plan B...use hot water for soaking...again the fabric was still stiff.  

Plan C... warm water, detergent, soak for an hour and ever so gently agitate by hand.  SUCCESS!  Albeit with some fraying but I now have workable circles.

To cut the circles I'm using these nesting longarm quilting rulers and a rotary cutter.  Cutting a 5 inch circle of fabric will make a 2.5 inch Yo-Yo.  Kind of big for a finished Yo-Yo and they would be impressively cute if cut smaller but let's be real, smaller Yo-Yo's means more work!  I'll be doing good to get the larger ones made in a reasonable amount of time...HAHA!

Most tutorials for Yo-Yo's tell you to turn the edge of the fabric by hand as you make each stitch.  I'm pre-turning the edges using Kay Buckley's Perfect Circles. 

I definitely think it's faster, at least for me. I tried the old fashioned way once years ago, and let's just say it was a complete disaster!  

Cutting the circles produced some odd shape scraps. I decided to cut the irregular shapes into usable squares.  1 inch, 1.5 inches, 2 inches, 2.5 inches and 3.5 inches.

The 1.5 inches squares were added to my long term Four Patch quilt box.  Which reminds me I should work on this soon so it doesn't become a UFO.  Again, I laugh, like I need to start a new project with so many boxes of projects.  Better to laugh about my crazy than to cry.

The rest were stored in this Charm pack storage box made by Art Bin.

It's temporary storage until I start producing more scraps squares from cutting for this project.

To make the yo-yos, I was using Lori Holt binding needles and Coats and Clark All-Purpose thread. Everything was going smoothly until I tried to bury the thread in the fabric...snap! The thread broke. That’s when I realized why most tutorials suggest hiding the thread tail in the folds of the fabric. But come on, a thread tail stuffed into a wrinkle could wiggle its way back out, right? I prefer my tails knotted, secured, and hidden deep inside the yo-yo, sealed with that satisfying little pop as the knot disappears forever into the fabric.

With just a few clicks and a day of waiting, I’ve got stronger thread and some impulsively purchased Milliners needles. Honestly, I couldn’t resist, John James needles are like the superheroes of hand stitching, always reliable and never letting me down. 

It's not that Lori needles are bad, I'm just a bit of a needle snob, I guess.  Milliners, also called hay needles or straw needles, are ideal for this project. Their extra-long design makes it easy to take more stitches at once. Below is a screenshot from the John James website. You can find the Needle Guide PDF here.

Some people swear by the Dritz Yo-Yo maker, but not me. I had one ages ago and tossed it straight into the trash. It took longer to make a Yo-Yo.  I’m fine with my stitches being a bit uneven. In the end, they all come together beautifully imperfect, just like me.

To create a 90 x 90 coverlet, I need over 2300 Yo-Yo's. My master plan is to make at least 10 Yo-Yo's a day while watching TV. If I stick to this ambitious schedule, I could have them all done in 230 days and ready to sew, theoretically finishing by this time next year. HA! Knowing how chaotic life gets around here, I'm giving myself a two-year deadline. So far, so good.  I started cutting on the 16th, made my first Yo-Yo on the 18th, and as of last night, I’ve got 73 finished. Looks like I’ll be doing some catch-up sewing tonight!

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