UFO of the Week #2

I probably should have called this weekly series something other than “of the Week” because I’ve already proven I can’t get my posts out on a weekly schedule. I’ll keep trying, I’ve got plenty more UFOs to write about!

One of my younger UFOs, this one is only 11 months old. But it did get put aside in favor of other projects, which is all it takes to become an UnFinished Object around here. My usual definition is if it goes in a bin, it’s a UFO. If it stays out on my sewing table or on the design wall it’s still a WIP even if I’m working on something else. The grey area is items that get tucked here and there without making it into a bin. And scraps are not UFOs until sewn together and then set aside, like this set. In February of last year they looked like this: 

I started by sewing scraps together, whatever fit. As the chunks got bigger I started aiming for rectangular shapes, and when I ran out of scraps I trimmed them all up with 90º corners. I should note that I wasn’t truly out of scraps. No quilter is ever out of scraps. Just working with scraps generates more scraps. But I’d used up the ones I could readily get my hands on and was ready to work on another project.

Last week I pulled them out, after a little bit of a search during which I found two other sets of scrap blocks, and added the dark framing strips. In true improv style, I cut a bunch of strips without calculating whether I had enough fabric, although I knew I might not and kept my strips narrow so I’d get more of them from my piece of fabric. They ranged from 1 inch to 1 1/2 inch.

Then I dove in and sewed on strips until I ran out of fabric. At that point I went in search of another fabric, and choose the same color but lighter and in a print. I decided one side lighter might look funny so I added an extra strip. Each block has 3 dark strips and 2 lighter strips framing the scrappy part. (Try not to drop that S when writing about your scrappy projects!) In hindsight, I could have left them with framing on just three sides, but I’d had a complete frame in mind at the time. 

Next I switched to light fabrics for the background. If I were sewing the entire top together I would have used the lights as broad sashing but I plan to quilt this one with a quilt-as-you-go method. Cutting 4 1/2 inch wide strips from as many light tan/golds as I could find, I sewed them onto all four sides.

My blocks are now nice and big, of varying sizes ranging from about 14 to 18 inches. Next up is layer and quilt – good fodder to practice my FMQ skills on. I’m leaning toward feathers.