Hand-Me-Down UFOs

Lately a very common statement I hear at the shop and with quilting friends is that either A) they need to use up their stash, or B) they want to finish UFOs before getting anything new. I've even tried to commit to those ideas too, with medium style success.

But even with a lot of determination, we look at our old projects with mixed emotions. Sometimes we see them with renewed vigor and get back on track ...but then other times... we look at those unfinished projects and just groan and shove it back to the back of the bin. And if we reeeeeeally never want to see the project again, we "donate" it to family or friends who sew and who we hope will finish them so we don't have to!

Well, in the past few months lots in my life and in the lives of my family and friends has changed - people have moved, gotten ill, had surgery...all that great life event stuff. So as folks cleaned out their sewing rooms and revisited those UFOs, I ended up taking a handful of them and I'm glad I did! They may have hated them, but I sure don't. Some of them are sets of completed blocks, and others are close to finished.

Here are a few of them. Looks like I've got my work cut out for me!

This one is an old project of Mom's that she started when I was...a toddler? It's definitely from the early 90s and it was one she utterly detested. So instead of her scrapping the blocks, she gave them to me to do whatever with...so I made it. All I added were the borders:

   
 This one is another from Mom. She just decided she was never going to get to again and again, instead of roundcanning it, she gave it to me to finish. Really all that needs done is stitching the applique down:

And this one a customer brought in for me. She just wasn't happy with where it was going, had run out of fabric and was just not inspired to ever work on it ever again. As luck would have it, another customer completely unrelated to the one that gave me the quilt to finish, gave me the very same fabric the other quilter had run out of - 6 1/2 yards to boot!

So if you really hate one of your UFOs, you might just find it a home with someone else! Not me though...looks like I've got plenty to keep me out of trouble :)

What a weekend. Thank God it's Tippy Tuesday!

Well that had to be one of the top 5 worst weekends ever. for those that know all ready, Mom is doing fine now and she's moving forward with cardiologists to determine what needs to be done, if anything. For those that don't, Mom had a medical emergency on Thursday and is now doing fine, but wont be in the store much the next few weeks. Until then, y'all are stuck with Debi and I! :-)

Now, on to cheerier things...it's Tippy Tuesday!

* We all know what a hassle bias binding can be, so whenever you've got enough extra that you could use for another quilt, wrap it gently around a toilet paper tube. Be careful not to stretch it. But that way, it's flat so no need to iron it, gently wrapped so it won't get stretched badly or caught on anything, and it's easy to find and to store.

* If you need a little bit of stabilizer, but don't have any on hand....head to the laundry room and use a USED dryer sheet instead! The fabric softener has all ready dried away, so the sheet is thinner, easier to take out and won't leave any residue on your fabric.

* Personally, I'm not a pre-washer of my fabric simply because I prefer the look of the quilt after it gets quilted, then washed and dried, but this is a great tip anyway and has saved my bacon more than once. Shout Color Catchers are AWESOME. When you wash your fabric/quilt for the first time, dye may come out of your fabric especially if the fabric is a lower quality (think Wal-Mart, JoAnn's), and that dye run-off is just about guaranteed to ruin your fabric and anything else you wash with it. toss in a Color Catcher or two and voila! The dye has run off, but nothing gets stained.

* Orphan/extra blocks make for cute pillows! Add fabric to attain the desired size, choose a back and there you have it!

* Just like with medical sharps, thought for different reasons, used needles, rotary blades and pins can be dangerous to just throw away on their own. For pins and needles, use an old, empty medicine bottle. punch a hole in the lid large enough to fit the pin heads through, and super glue the lid to the bottle. Pins and needles aren't too likely to spill out if dropped, and curious kids won't be able to open the bottle. As for rotary blades, keep an old rotary blade case and mark an "X" or "OLD" on it in permanent marker. That way, the old blades are still contained, and you know that case is not full of new blades.

* Save leftover batting that is at least 9.5" x 9.5" because it can still be used for potholders! You will still want the thermal material in there too, so you don't burn yourself while using them, but that batting helps insulate further.