Possibly My Oldest UFO Finally Finished!

So this is possibly my oldest UFO; I bought the fabric at Hawaiian Fabric in Oahu on my honeymoon in 2004 (or shortly thereafter online- I honestly forget, but it was from them at hawaiianfabric.com if not in their store). Anyway I didn't use a pattern but I didn't want to cut that gorgeous flamingo print in the center so I just made a big square out of it and bordered it a few times until it seemed big enough.

It finished at around 60x60 inches. I thought it was too big to ram through my old sewing machine, which had about a 6-inch harp. About three months ago I bought a new machine, a Janome 9450, at a steep discount; this machine has a much larger harp, maybe 11 inches.

I used Dream Green Bottle Batting, my favorite batting, and quilting it was a breeze. Honestly, a breeze. I did simple wavy lines, some echoing and some beaded-curtain style, across the quilt. It took about a week.

I can honestly say I love it. I can't believe it's done. So far my cats have been hogging it but I hope to enjoy some good snuggle time under it soon.

It's just so great to have it finished. I feel like getting a 15 year old quilt top off the UFO pile and onto my lap is such a victory.

Kitties to Stitch and Quilt Double Irish Chain

So I finally got this top pieced. I embroidered the 12 blocks from Nancy Martin's book Kitties to Stitch and Quilt over the course of 2018 and then a couple of weeks ago I decided I should set the blocks in a Double Irish Chain pattern.

The redwork blocks themselves finish at 6 inches; the pieced blocks finish at 10 inches. I did not use a pattern but it's pretty easy to figure out and you just use 2 1/2 inch squares and 6 1/2 x 2 1/2 white strips.

I used a combination of jelly roll strips and fat quarters to strip-piece as much as I could. It was fun and pretty easy to do. And it finishes into something like a throw size, around 50x50 when all is said and done.

Most likely I will machine quilt it sometime in the next few months. I plan on spending the rest of the month quilting and finishing various projects. I'll keep you posted!