In the quilting world, UFO’s are UnFinished Objects.
I have a lot of them.
Like dozens.
So, when my friend Bobbie at The Geeky Bobbin challenged me to join her in UFOvember, I eagerly jumped at the motivation to get a few of these projects moved out of UFO status.
From Bobbie:
Welcome to UFOvember! Over the next 30 days, I invite you to join me in examining our crafty orphans and deciding whether to Resume work on them as planned, Rework them with a Plan B, or Rehome them to another crafter, who can joyfully get them across the finish line.
Welcome to UFOvember
Since my UFO pile is so…let’s just say substantial, and since Christmas is only 7 shopping weekends away, I decided to focus my UFOvember on completing Christmas quilts.
Christmas at the Ranch
First up: a repeating pattern with my favorite block, the traditional, log cabin.
I started this project back on November 8th of 2018 with grand plans to have it pieced, quilted, bound, photographed, washed, and ready to take to Texas by Christmas that year.
I was obviously overthinking my efficiency, and you already know how those intentions turned out!
In my defense, however, I was off to a great start:
I selected my fabrics: a gorgeous, rusty red poinsettia print for the center square and six logs consisting of one wintery, pinecone print, a deep green solid (that is actually an old set of napkins that I bought at Goodwill), a two-tone green gingham, and three lights that pick up the pinks, reds, and tans in the poinsettia print.
I had a limited amount of the solid green fabric, so I was only able to make 24 of the log cabins:
But…I want this quilt to be queen-sized so I need some really great border fabrics to finish out the height and width necessary.
And that is where this project came to a grinding halt!
It wasn’t until July 2019, when I was browsing my LQS (that’s “local quilt shop” for my non-fabric-hoarding friends), that these two additional fabrics caught my eye. The pink/red/coral/salmon shade is quite luscious, and the brown tone-on-tone print pulls the dark brown out of the pinecones and pops off the light fabrics really well.
I think this border combination is going to frame the log cabins perfectly and make this quilt a beautiful, holiday treasure!
Moda Bakeshop Countdown to Christmas 2018
Second in line: Moda Fabrics’ annual blog site sampler from their Christmas quilt-along a couple of years ago.
These blocks are very special to me!
The daily challenge format introduced me to fun, new techniques, and the kind, supportive comments I received on my photos of them gave me the courage to launch my quilt business.
I absolutely love the fabrics I used throughout; they are a vast collection of scraps, leftover yardage, and treasured fat quarters in Christmas and winter prints, gorgeous greens, swarthy reds, frosty whites, and stunning silvers and grays.
This stash is priceless as many of the fabrics have been passed down to me by my mom and my Grandma Syble from myriad holiday projects that span decades of years.
I completed 17 blocks before we left home to visit family that Christmas, so I have 8 blocks left to piece.
Then I’ll be ready to put the topper together, sandwich with batting and backing, and get this charmer on Lucielle (my long arm).
I can’t wait to see this one done.
Quilt Fiction Club Holiday Swap 2020
Week three’s project: a random, yet festive and fabulous, group of 10″ squares obtained through my online swap group.
My husband often teases me about how my social media feeds are gradually being taken over by quilts, quilts, and more quilts!
I don’t see a problem with that.
One of my favorite Facebook groups is the Quilt Fiction Club Swaps.
It is a derivative of the QuiltFiction Group by quilter and author Francis O’Roark Dowell. I aspire to be a quilter and author, so this is right up my alley!
The Quiltfiction Club is the place for listeners of the Quiltfiction podcast to share their quilts and quilt stories, to talk about the Friendship Album stories, and to discuss other books as well. We also talk about quilt history, domestic life and pie.
About the QuiltFiction Club
I love it!
I came across QuiltFiction when I was researching my idea to pair a book club and an online quilt guild into Ashli’s Book 2 Quilt Club. The waitlist for my club opened just yesterday – for my birthday 🎉 – and we begin our first project on December 1st.
If, like me, you love great books and beautiful quilts, this is the club for you!
Members of the QuiltFiction group created a subgroup to swap fabrics…and it’s awesome.
I joined the swap group on August 12th this year, and I’ve already participated in two swaps. The first was fall fabrics, and the most recent was a Christmas and Hanukkah theme.
I am very excited by all the fabulous squares I received – they are unique and merry and bright.
I am planning to use Eleanor Burns’ “Piece of Cake” pattern on this set,
I used that pattern on another Christmas quilt a few years ago and have had many compliments on it in our guest room each December. For this fabric pull, I took the easy way out with two sets of Moda’s Juniper Berry Layer Cakes by Basic Gray.
It was one of those quilts that just keeps getting larger and larger as you go. By the time I felt like it was complete, my double had turned into a king. It’s the largest quilt I’ve made to date.
This one is so pretty that I have to keep a close eye on it when my mom is over…she seems to have an inordinate amount of interest in where else (read: in her home) it might look nice!
I have a feeling that my swap squares will turn out equally fabulous.
Storytelling Tees #2: The Traditional Log Cabin
Storytelling Tees® are my signature style of combining t-shirts with traditional block patterns to create one-of-a-kind quilts that celebrate treasured memories.
These began as my go-to pattern for creating quilt gifts over the years.
Quilt #7: Baby Buck 
Quilt #19: Deacon Jennings 
Quilt #20: TU Uncorcked 
Quilt #22: Klay Hogan 
Quilt #23: Avery Jean 
Quilt #24: Lane Matthew
Then I began sharing the concept as a quilt guild lecture. Which developed into a workshop.
Through Quilt 2 End ALZ, Inc. (my nonprofit to connect quilters with the fight to end Alzheimer’s disease) I launched Storytelling Tees #1: The Christmas Star a few months ago as a complimentary pattern for the Christmas in July Pattern Parade Blog Hop (I dare you to say that five times, fast).
Since then, it has been downloaded hundreds of times.
Now, I am preparing to teach an online Zoom class to launch Storytelling Tees #2: The Traditional Log Cabin with an adorable set of gray Snoopy and Charlie Brown Christmas t-shirts.
My fabric pull for the log cabins include a nice, spicy red for the heart of the square and six incredible greens for the logs.
I really think this one is going to be fun!
If you’d like to know when the class is open for registration, please sign up here to quilt with me.
AWARE 2020
Well, friends, that is one quilt each week throughout the month of November…in the midst of football season…and with my big AWARE lunch event next week (which you are all invited to attend via Zoom)…
Oh, and I am also posting a favorite family recipe each day leading up to Thanksgiving…we know how to eat around here, so you should definitely check those out!
I am nothing if not ambitious and optimistic.
To keep myself on my quilting track, I’ll post pictures of my progress on Instagram using #ufovember
Luckily, I’m not doing this alone!
UFOvember Blog Hop
Each day this month, Bobbie has lined up a different quilter to share their UFOvember story as well as their strategy. Here is list of my quilting friends who are participating; they are all very talented, so I am really excited to see their quilts.
“Thanks for being a virtual accountability partner – stay safe and happy sewing!
With love and hugs,
Ashli
Leave a Reply