More UFOs!! My Quilt Stash Continues to Grow!!

Two Saturdays each month I take a quilting class on Kadena Air Base. Barbie Knickerbocker is the instructor, and we just get together and have a great time! Today I used my class time to catch up on some of my recently finished quilts...

The project for this month was a Cat Quilt -- I made mine last week. I wasn't sure if I really wanted to do this one because I'm not overly fond of cats... but then I had an idea!! I had just received some fabric that I wanted to use in a quilt for my former sister-in-law, Elaine... (Don't tell her!! It's supposed to be a surprise!!) According to Rebecca, she's been decorating with "zori"...


I have to admit, I LOVE the way this one turned out! It's still a UFO, though!


Another quilt that's nearly finished is one that's very special to me. In August, I decided to make a quilt using some fall colors... and Barbie helped me to decide on a maple leaf quilt. I started the quilt that evening. The next week, just before I was heading to Barbie's to quilt, my sister called with news that my Dad had just died. So this quilt is dedicated to my Dad... it's so appropriate, I think... one of my favorite memories from childhood is our yearly trips to Burton, Ohio, to get maple syrup. And then... eating that maple syrup on my Dad's special French toast!! YUMMY!!

An Asian Anniversary Quilt...

I have a very dear cyber-friend who has loved my quilts since I started making them. As his wedding anniversary approached, I agreed to make a quilt for an anniversary present for his wife... He said he liked "minimalist Japanese prints"... so I think I found just the right fabric! See what YOU think!! :)

Quilt Washing Day

This is an essay/poem my sister, Barbara Mease, wrote.... I didn't understand then; but now I do!

Quilt Washing Day

Today's the day to wash the quilts
Oh joy, I thought it would never be time
I haven't dared to think, to plan, to plot
Or I would have begun, right then and there.

The day is right
sun's out
wind's up
And thankfully the humidity's low

The lines are stretched, clean and taut
High enough not to drag
Not so high I can't reach.

The washing's a burden, no fun at all,
But then the art begins.
Each quilt is carried, heavy and wet
To the line that awaits it, steady and set.

I stand back in awe
of the beauty they make.
The reds and the greens and the blues intermingled
With yellows and browns and rust.

Some are quite plain, utility quilts
Others the result of turmoil and pain.
Each has a story, when standing alone
Together they're a gallery, beautiful to behold.

I imagine a neighbor, or even a stranger
Must pause as she drives by and catches a sight
Surely she is blessed and awed by their vision
Surely she feels the warmth coming from them.

Dry now, they are folded, returned to the house.

My UFO's -- the unfinished quilts just keep on coming!

I've been told by people whom I trust to know this stuff, that the sign of a true quilter is that she will have LOTS of UFO's (UnFinishedObjects!)! If that's the case, I am truly a quilter!!

Now... unlike my friend -- another Jan -- I really DO like to finish them! But my favorite part is making the quilt tops, so I imagine I'll always have a few stacked up waiting for someone to help me with the layering... and then the quilting... and then that dreaded hand-sewn binding!!

Right now I have a whole bunch of UFOs... and during the last typhoon, when I should have been finishing some, I was just overcome with the urge to piece another one... I wonder if there's a 12-Step process for quilters??

Here's some of my current UFO's...

Amy's Quilt

Around the Twist -- Cranes and Kanji

My Typhoon Shanshan quilt

A paper-pieced Christmas Tree

My first radiant star -- his was FUN!!

There's a couple more, but I don't have pix of them yet... :)

Amy's quilt is quite purple!

When I asked my daughter Amy if she would like a quilt, she was excited. Her graduation quilt from her Aunt Barb was destroyed in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Her only criteria -- she loves purple and she didn't want a white background color... No problems... I seldom use much white in my quilts!!

I had really already made another quilt for her -- a radiant star that I'll write about later -- but when I showed her both pictures, she liked this one better. I'm not surprised!

This is a rail fence pattern -- simple to piece...

Here's a little detail...

This one still needs to be layered and quilted. Once it's finished, I'll post a picture of Amy with her new quilt! But right now this one is in my UFO stack!! :)

Rebecca loves pierrots and masks - so a Mardi Gras quilt is just the thing!

I can't make quilts for some of my kids and not for others, of course! Rebecca was next on the quilt list... we talked about possible fabrics and I had some things in mind. But then I went to Sanzo's (yes, there ARE other fabric stores here, but they have such GREAT fabric!!), and found some MardiGras fabric -- and I just KNEW that it was going to be perfect for Rebecca's quilt. We had already decided that I would make her quilt using obi bow blocks. So Barbie taught me how to make those blocks with her amazing technique.... and they were SO easy!! What a fun quilt to do!!

Rebecca's quilt is bright bright bright -- and she loves it!!

David's Quilt -- a "manly" design!

David showed mild interest in Nathan's quilt -- and initially declined my offer to make one for him. He finally allowed that he wouldn't mind a quilt, as long as it wasn't "too gay"... Upon further questioning, I began to understand that Nathan's quilt was too colorful and too "busy" for David.... Our next class was going to be an Around the Twist quilt. It combines a twist block with a snowball block and only requires three fabrics. I decided that might be a good option for David's quilt if I could find some fabric that would feel right for him.

Once again, Sanzo's fabric shop had just what I needed. See what you think!!

I really like the backing fabric, too! It's called Haiku Cat...

I think he LIKES it!!