UFO for 2012

I'm out of town for my birthday (tomorrow) so I'm doing this list off the top of my head. I will add the rest of the 12 UFOs when I get home. I have until January 1, right?

My UFO quilts for Judy Laquadara's challenge are:
#1 12 Days of Xmas. This was on my last year's list and I really need to finish it. It's the Nancy Halvorson quilt with her fabrics. I collect 12 days of Xmas stuff so I had to make this quilt. The top is finished and the back is made so all I have to do is quilt it.

#2 Henreitta Whiskers
This was a 2011 online BOM by Anne Sutton of Bunny Hill Designs. Her adorable animal characters  are irresistable and I encourage you to check out her website.

#3 is The Big Easy, a mystery quilt by Linda Ballard I started in 2009. I love this quilt top and all I need to do is quilt it. (Hate to admit this was also in my 2011 UFO list)

#4 would be my Ferris Wheel top. I started this
making these traditional blocks at least 5 years ago with 30s fabrics. The block is pretty intricate and takes a long time to make so I made about 15 of them and put them away. I discovered them a last year, made a bunch more and added this "hankie" border. It's been worth all the time it took and now I need to make a back and quilt it!

#5 Anteitum. This quilt was made in a Linda Ballard mystery retreat in McCloud, CA in June.I actually changed the configuration of the blocks as they were to be set on point with 12" snowball blocks in between. Since I don't like a lot of "empty space" to quilt in I decided to set them better this way and I just love it. Again, top and back are finished all I need to do is quilt it.

 #6 is my Orca Bay Mystery by Bonnie Hunter started just before Thanksgiving! I  haven't even finished all the clues yet but I know I want to finish this quilt ASAP! The pink and green blocks on the scale here are parts of it.

#7 is a project (as of this writing) I haven't started yet: A quilt for my daughter and her wife who are in escrow with their first house and have requested a "black and white and Tiffany Blue" quilt for the back of their couch. I knew this pattern (Happy Hour) wold be perfect for it.

















#8 is another project I hadn't started yet: for my daughter's best friend who's expecting her 3rd baby in February. I made quilts for her first two and she says they cannot go to sleep without their special "binkies". (If I had a quilt for myself with Minkie on the back like I made theirs, I'd probably feel the same way!) I've purchased a Mother Goose panel that's supposed to be made into a book that I plan to cut apart and put pinwheels as sashing. If Judy picks #8 first, I will be happy!                                                   

                                                              

                                                          

                                                                        

                              

By the Skin of My Teeth

Last week was a busy one for me: we had guests 3 of 4 nights and gave a party for 35 people. I was so afraid my Bonnie Hunter Mystery clue #4 was not going to get finished before clue #5 was posted! I'd been so good at completing clues 1-3 by Tuesday of their respective weeks and I was bound and determined not to fall behind. (Besides, I'm absolutely LOVING this process!

Happy to say, I completed all 64 of the 5 1/2" strip squares by Thursday night. Just to be different, I took my photo on our kitchen scale and as you can see, clue #2 (pink) and #4 (green) weigh 13.6 ounces together. Of course, the clue #4 blocks still have the paper on them but it's only tissue-thin yellow pages paper which I plan to pull off by the time this posts on Judy Laquadara's Design Wall Monday.

I'm timing how long it takes me to complete each clue and #4 took me 6 hours and 15 minutes (including taking the paper off the back) bringing the total for all 4 clues to 35 3/4 hours.

As for Clue #5: Since I'm going to be out of town Tuesday through late Thursday, I knew I had to finish this clue by today! And. . . I did it! 5 hours and all 350 are done! I'm also keeping track of the number of pieces are in this quilt. To date, I count 3,392 pieces in mine! Can't wait 'til Friday!