Hi Quilting Friends,
Welcome back! It is UFO time again. I’ve been doing well with my goal of getting at least one unfinished project done each quarter. You can read about my First Quarter and Second Quarter finishes, if you like.
I had a little trouble getting started with this quarter’s UFO. I sent my sewing machine to the sewing machine spa for a tune-up and cleaning on July 8, and then I didn’t get her back until August 30. I REALLY missed her, although Susan kindly loaned me her “spare” machine so I could get some things done. Her machine is very nice, but we couldn’t find the walking foot so I wasn’t comfortable trying to machine quilt with it. Now that “Nina” is home again, we’ve been having some quilty fun together. And here it is!
Project #3:
I’ve had the top of this little wall hanging ready to finish for several years now. The pattern is “Midnight Clear” by McKenna Ryan. I’ve made several other projects with her patterns, and I enjoy the easy raw-edge applique technique. The fabrics that I used are a selection of batiks that I had collected for the quilt, along with a nice hand-dyed fabric for the wolves’ bodies.
This was a fairly fast finish! All I needed to do was to layer the backing, batting, and top, and then stitch around the edges of the applique pieces with a straight stitch using clear nylon thread. I like to use the open toe applique foot when I do this, so I can see where I’m going next. After the appliques were all stitched down, I did a bit of “stitch in the ditch” around the inner border. I thought about doing some free-motion machine quilting in the outer border, but it didn’t seem to need anything else so I left it alone.
Someone (Points to self) didn’t set aside the fabric that had been purchased for binding, and then she used it for another project. (Smacks forehead with open hand) The original plan was to use the lighter lavender from the inner border as a binding. My husband suggested that the quilt would look perfect with a narrow black frame around it, so I used solid black fabric to make a narrow binding. Ta-da! Here’s the finished wall hanging! It isn’t hanging on the wall yet, but I’ve found the perfect spot in our guest room for it.
Believe it or not, I have only one small UFO to finish up for the 4th quarter. The rest of my UFO projects are at least full-sized quilts (my last count was four big quilt tops), so they will wait for a while longer. Small projects usually work best for me during the school year when I’m busy at work. Here’s my upcoming project, a dragonfly wall quilt:
Thanks for joining me today! Do you have a UFO that you’d like to finish? I’d love to hear all about it, so leave a comment here.
Happy quilting,
Sharon
Ms P Designs USA 
What a beautiful Ryan project! She’s a great designer, and your colors and execution with this are beautiful. Your husband is a keeper, too, since he gives such great advice. =)
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Thanks Susan! I found two more McKenna Ryan patterns that I purchased & haven’t made (yet) when I was organizing my storage area, so I hope to eventually get those made as well. I do like her designs, a lot.
And yes, my husband is a keeper. We’ll celebrate our 37th anniversary next week, and I plan to renew his contract for at least another year. ;o)
Sharon
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