Sunday, September 1, 2013

August NewFO's, UFO's & Finishes!

August was a busy month, sewing wise.  I guess it was to make up for the lack of progress earlier in the summer. 

I finished the embroidery on 3 more Harry Potter, The Project of Doom blocks.

Handbook of Do-It-Yourself Broom Care

Nature's Nobility A Wizarding Genealogy & Numerology & Gramatica


Sonnets of a Sorcerer & The Standard Book of Spells (Grades 1-6) by Miranda Goshawk

Unfogging the Future by Cassandra Vablotsky
I also made a commision baby quilt.

flannel & Minkee baby quilt
I finished 7 preemie quilts for my small quilt guilds philanthropy project (these go to the local hospitals NICU).







I also started moving in to my youngest son's bedroom, and turning it into my new (shared) sewing space.

This has already been re-arranged again

Hubby bought me some 1" thick insulation boards yesterday, so that I can have some design walls. 
2 3'x7' foam insulation boards

one board is covered now
I have to piece the fabric for the second board.  It will be finished  soon.  Not bad for fabric I found at the thrift store this week for a whopping $2 total. 

I also made a few sets of Bow Tie blocks for a block exchange.  These blocks have to be made on a treadle or hand crank sewing machine. 

1925 Singer 99 hand crank
post WWII Japanese treadle (Victor)
extra blocks, since I ran out of the above colors before I had enough blocks
I also cleaned 3 different vintage sewing machines this month. 

1951 Singer 301A
post WWII Japanese 3/4 size 'Challenge'
1925 Singer 66
How unusual for me, all three of these machines have motors, and all three will keep their motors (at least for now).  The Singer 66 may become a hand crank in the future.  I bought it so that I'd have a machine ready to sell, if I'm asked. 

I also finished my string quilt top for Quilts of Valor. 

Quilts of Valor string quilt top
While looking for a piece of fabric (still haven't found that piece of fabric) I found some UFO's that I'd started for Quilts of Valor, but, hadn't gotten finished.  A while back (like 2+ years ago)  I found several BOM's from Joann Fabrics at the local thrift store.  I grabbed several of them to put together to make some quilt tops for Quilts of Valor.  I'd managed to get all the blocks put together, and even had some of the rows put together, but, all of it got put away and never finished.  There is a very limited amount of space at the sew-ins, and I needed lots of room to lay these pieces out so that I could finish them.  Well, they are finished now.

1st quilt top

2nd quilt top

up close of a block

up close of another block
Joann's block of the month, using what blocks I could find (and NO applique blocks)
Also while hunting for that elusive fabric, I found 2 more Quilts of Valor projects that needed some finishing.  One had all the 4 patch units stitched, it just needed to be sewn together. 

4 patch Quilts of Valor
The last quilt top for Quilts of Valor is using up some 'extra' blocks someone had turned in.  Rita had some rail fence blocks that she didn't think we could use.   She thought they were too 'girly' for a Quilts of Valor quilt.  I took the blocks, came up with a design, bought some black print fabric and....

rail fence Quilts of Valor top

up close of some of the rail fence blocks
I don't think this looks 'girly' at all now.  This is still too small, so, I'm adding a border to it.

tan fabric will be the border
The borders will be added, and all of these tops will be turned in at the next Quilts of Valor sew-in on Tuesday.  Woohoo! 

Don't expect this much to get stitched next month!

I'm linking up with Barbara over at Cat Patches for the 2013 NewFO Challenge.  I'm also linking up with Sarah over at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.  I'll also be linking up with Richard and Tanya Quilts

Oh My!  It's September already!!!  Where has this year gone???  I haven't even started Christmas gifts yet.  Oh No!


17 comments:

  1. Wow - you DID get a lot done!!! Way to go girlfriend! I am in love with your owl - he looks real!!!

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  2. Busy, busy, busy! Everything looks great! You will LOVE your design wall. I thought I would like one but I love mine. So much easier than using a bed or floor. ~Jeanne

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  3. The new space must be the reason for all the lovely productivity. Way to go !!

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  4. What an amazing lot of stuff got done! I love the owl and am looking forward to seeing how that quilt goes together.

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  5. Busy busy bee there Cheryl. I haven't done that much this year! Good going!
    Hugs

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  6. You've been busy!!! I love your HP blocks. Embroidering the titles is a whole lot of work, but I think it makes the quilt so much more interesting. Keep it up!

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  7. My goodness, you have been very productive!

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  8. You have really been one busy lady this month! Love all the QOV quilts and your Harry Potter blocks are just adorable!

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  9. Your quilts of Valor look great! What a nice way to show support for the people who keep us safe :)
    I'm really excited to see all your HP blocks put together, they all look like so much fun to do!
    I have my hand crank Singer running but the tension is off. The fabric actually curls up behind the foot. I need to play with that some more, maybe I can fix that.
    How do you get an accurate 1/4 inch seam with your hand crank? Do you have a 1/4 inch foot?

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  10. My Goodness....you have been so productive. Quilt tops...ALL...so nice and the preemie quilts are adorable. The bowtie blocks make me want to make some, too...as well as the rail fence ones which are great for scraps. I'm back to sewing some and Christmas is on my mind as well. First though, a friend and I are going to do the October Chicken Farm Show. You should come and join us.
    Sue

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  11. Wow! You've gotten a lot of sewing done . . . and everything looks wonderful! The Harry Potter quilt is going to be incredible!

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  12. Awesome Projects! I have been wanting to make preemie quilts. What is the standard size?

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  13. Busy lady. Love your new quilt. You have been very busy!

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  14. All of your projects are wonderful! I am so jealous of your sewing space and I love all of your machines! How neat!

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  15. You really do have a lot going on! Everything looks great. I know you will enjoy your sewing room.

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  16. Oooooooooooooooooooo I LOVE all of your vintage machines as well as all of those quilts of valor! You sure are prolific!

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