Finished UFO's for August

It's been since August 7 since I posted anything! I have missed you all, but I've been busy getting some UFO's finished for Kelly's Charming Girls Quilt Club and for Kim's Finish it for August. The deadline is today...August 31.

In my last post I showed you two quilts that I would try to get finished for this month for the Charming Girls Quilt Club, and I told you I was going away for a few days on a quilting retreat at a friend's lake house.

Here I am sewing on my Thimbleberries Harvest Time Quilt with my Bernina 1530 on my Sew Ezi Table with my coffee on one side and diet coke on the other. I am set and ready to sew!

This was my view.


To be honest, Terry was sewing facing me, but, had she not been there, this would have been my view. Every once in a while I had to let out a squeal (and made some people jump). It felt so good to get away and sew with friends.

Sewing from 8:00am until midnight, or later, is something I never get to do at home. If I did I wouldn't have any UFO's, and I would be able to finish projects like these that have been sitting on my UFO shelves for a few years.

Ta da!!!
Harvest Time designed by Lynette Jensen of Thimbleberries.

Happy Hour designed by Terry Atkinson

Wait there's more!!!

I also finished this quilt that I was making for someone for her 50th birthday.
Trip Around the World

I had sewn all of it's sections together, and, for some odd reason, put it away in a drawer to finish a few days later. When I went to work on the quilt again one of the rows was missing. I looked everywhere for that row. Then her birthday passed, so I gave up. One day (a few years later) it occurred to me that maybe the row had fallen behind the drawer. So, my son, with his really long arms and fingers, reached in behind the drawer and pulled out the row! Yay!!! The person is long past 50, but maybe if I don't tell her it was for her 50th birthday she'll still enjoy it as a Christmas present. UFO's with a past...I have a lot of them!

Here's another one I finished.

Turning 20 made with Jo Morton fabrics.

It, too, has a past, but I'll spare you the details. It's embarrassing.

I also sewed blocks together for a future UFO finish.

I had all of the little sections sewn; I just needed to sew the sections together. Maybe this will be a UFO project to finish for September. I'll think about it.

Part of being in the Charming Girls Quilt Club is that Kelly tags us around the 15th of the month to share ideas and tips with each other. This month she wanted to know three things:
1. Share your favorite quilting or sewing tip. I try my best to keep my quilting/sewing ready for the next time I can sew. It doesn't always work out that way (all depending on if the kids need me, I run downstairs, and don't go back to the sewing room), but I do try.

2. Share your best tip for managing time for effectively. If I knew all the answers about time management I wouldn't have UFO's, I would blog every day, and my home would look like the pages of Southern Living Magazine. Well, for me #1 and #2 go together. Before I started writing this post I jotted down a few things. My few things ended up being a few pages long. To keep this post from being too long I tried to condense my ideas about this subject, and what I saw was that time management, for me, is always changing all depending on how busy my life is. There have been times I could sew for many hours a day, and there have been times that I didn't touch the sewing machine for months. For me, quilting and sewing are what make me happy inside, so I try to get some sort of sewing/quilting done every few days. Every day would be perfect, but it sometimes doesn't work out that way. Nancy wrote a little booklet called "10, 20, 30 Minutes to Sew". You would be surprised at how much you can get done in little snippets of time. If you follow my tip in #1, then you can sew a couple of seams in 10 minutes, press some blocks in 20 minutes, or square up a stack of half squares in 30 minutes. It doesn't seem like much, but over time you'll be amazed at how much you get finished.

3. If you could go anywhere in the world where would you go? In the 5th grade I did a report on Switzerland. I have wanted to go there ever since then. The closest I ever came to being anywhere like that (with tons of snow) was when I lived in DuBois, PA in the snow belt, sitting in the Ski Lodge(Swiss Chalet) watching skiers on the ski slopes while I drank hot chocolate (Swiss Miss).

I finished putting the binding on these two quilts.

"Just Can't Cut It" by All Washed Up Quilts


I made pillows for my daughter's couch


and a wreath for her front door.

I know this isn't a quilt, but it is something I have needed to finish. I'm not great at making wreaths, but I thought this one turned out cute. It was supposed to be finished when I made her this for her front porch a year and a half ago.

I was so excited that I got so much done while on my retreat that as soon as I came home I unpacked everything and put it away. Then I started rearranging my sewing room. I'm still working on it so I'll show you as soon as it's finished.

Have a great Monday!

Amanda