Last October, I spent 3 days at my Guild's terrific retreat at Paradise Shores in Lake Holcomb, WI. On the second day, I had lunch with a group of members that I don't know all that well. We got to talking about UFO's and I began whining about the Underground Rail Road quilt that I'd begun as a block of the month back in 2004. I'd gotten stuck at how to quilt the sashings and borders and I put the thing away at that point. For some reason, I couldn't bring myself to open up that quilt and get it done, even though I eventually had a good idea on how to finish the quilting.
At that lunch, Cindy challenged me to finish the quilt in 6 months. We even bet $5.00 on it (Whoo Hoo! We're real high rollers! Watch out, Vegas!) Well, this challenge has been on my mind since than and when I'd finished my Christmas sewing, I took it out and gave it a good examination. I immediately liked how it looked on the guest bed and I also immediately got a new--and better--idea on how to finish the quilting. I sat down and in 3 days it was finished!
Right now,it's on my guest room bed and looks terrific! I even have a guest here sleeping under it this week!
Why oh, why did I let that UFO drag me down all these years! I love this quilt and, goodness knows, I can use an extra quilt in my house, so why did I procrastinate so long? I think that the longer I think about these UFO's the more difficult they become, but only in my mind.
I hope this is a lesson for me to go ahead and finish off those quilt tops I've got folded up on my shelf. I think there are 3 bed sized tops and I know I have 2 lap throws--if not more!
Anyway, here are some pix:
This is the design I quilted in the alternate blocks. I don't know why I used white thread on navy blue--apparently not thinking very clearly. If I was to do it today, I know I'd used a variety of colored threads for the quilting. I think when I started machine quilting, I didn't know one could use different colors on the same quilt--duh!!! Anyway, I think it came out pretty well and I'll keep it as the thought of picking it all out is crushing!
This is a shot of my favorite block in the quilt. I've forgotten the name of it, (maybe Carpenter's Wheel?) but I remember liking it when I pieced the blocks and I still like it a lot.
Today, I'm not working but I'm cooking instead. We're going to Milwaukee and Lake Mills this weekend and I made some yellow split pea soup to take to son Dan's house for lunch tomorrow . . .
. . . and a double batch of pasta sauce for tonight's dinner and extra to jar up and take to Dan's as well. I wish I could capture the aroma of this sauce and send it to you via the Internet! The whole house smells wonderful!
What are you cooking up for dinner tonight? Do you have plans for the weekend as well?
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