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Monday, October 8, 2012

I'm Rona and I have a UFO problem

UFO Sundays on the Free Motion Quilting Project

I definitely have a UFO problem. I was pretty disappointed that I didn't finish my gecko for the show next month and so I've managed to create yet another unfinished project! I spent the rest of Saturday feeling very sorry for myself.

But this is a new day (Monday in New Zealand but I'll pretend that it's Sunday). I decided to list all my projects; quilting, sewing and art. It came to 30 projects! One of them is a handbag for which I've already been paid. It has priority.

When I looked at my list, quite a few of them are community quilts. Some of them are ones that can sit on the back burner but others are making me feel very guilty. This one in particular is one that I need to finish. My question is what do I do with the light blue star? I've quilted ferns on all the dark blues squares and I don't want to quilt so densely on the star (polyester batting so dense quilting not necessary) but the star needs to be seen. Help Leah!!


In other news, this little baby came home with me today. It has a 600cc engine and should halve my fuel costs!


I have to publicly thank my fan club/mutual appreciation group from Northland. You girls are the best and keep me going. I don't always comment on all your fantastic work but I do appreciate it. Have a look at these very productive women.

I met Monika when she did a screenprinting play day.
Ms Lottie and Suz couldn't make it that day. I hope you are all coming to Auckland Festival of Quilts. I'm on the EFTPOS machine on Saturday from 12 noon and Sunday from 2:30. Please say hello.


7 comments:

  1. I can't help with your FMQ question but I love your new car! I also struggle with feeling guilty over having too many UFOs (way more than 30) but I'm determined to dig out one by one... and stop making more. Good luck!

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  2. If you densely quilt the center block and leave the star points unquilted or ditch stitched, that may give enough definition the the points to make them pop out from the dark blue another option is using contrasting thread rather than matching thread. Hope that gives you some ideas :)

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  3. You could do a loose echo quilt inside the star - making it a bit loopy or flame like so that it's not just a boring old echo - and also very quick and forgiving. What a funny wee car - I imagine it is really easy to park! Not something we would see much of in Northland with our atrocious roads. And thanks for the lovely mention - us quilting girls need to stick together (and we might just catch up at the festival - have to wait and see!)

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  4. You're such a hoot, but here we go "I am Monika and I definitely have a UFO problem, too!". It's such a shame that we have to go to work to pay for our quilting, isn't it?
    I will watch the quilting suggestions with interest, I have one quilt - albeit oficially finished - with similar unquilted stars that have been bugging me for a long time - but doing sth. about it would mean I admit to another UFO - arrrggghhhh!
    I'll make a list of what I need to work on today, making a list makes me feel better - probably not the length of the list though...
    Thanks so much for the mention, and I'm putting the Quilt Show in my diary straight away :-) xoxo

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  5. Hi from Northland!! I think a couple of echo lines an inch or so apart inside the star might do it. (and I'm not telling how many UFO's I have, it's embarrassing)
    I'll be at the show - hope to see you there.

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  6. I love the quilting you did in all the blue spaces. I think if I wanted to have the star pop out as a feature, I think I'd run a quilting line 1/4 inch inside the star all the way around. You could echo that if you wanted, maybe at different intervals for interest and to make it lighter than the other quilting.

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  7. I agree that a stitch-in-the-ditch or echo line will make the stars pop but I'm hopeless at both of those. I can't do straight lines! The ferns pretty much act that a stitch-in-the-ditch being so dense. If the stars were a little smaller, I would just leave them but I feel that it needs a little more quilting to keep that batting secure. This will be a community quilt, probably going to a kid in care, so it needs to be able to go through a washing machine.

    I was thinking of something like the suggestion Suz made, a flame-like star, perhaps around a wonky circle. I can't decide between a small circle (more star like) or a large circle (more like a Mexican sun plaque). I have a few other things to do before I tackle this one so I'll let those ideas percolate.

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