OMG February Finish

We've had crazy weather in Maine over the last couple weeks--snow, rain, ice, below zero temps, 40-degree temps. The daffodils are peeking out of the ground. Must be March or very nearly. Next Tuesday the high is supposed to be 54 degrees. Spring is coming.

My One Monthly Goal for February, Happy Trails, is finished. I could have finished it sooner except that my longarm gave me fits with thread breakage. Tension, tension, tension gives me fits! I powered through, got the quilt done, and I'll figure out the rest later.

The quilting was fun and easy to do (except for the thread breaks), a pantograph called Mimosa from Patricia Ritter.

I pieced the back with 6 large pieces of blues I wanted to use up. I've done this once or twice before; but by the time I get to preparing a backing, I'm usually in a hurry to finish the quilt, and I wind up buying a 108" wide back. It didn't take that long to piece this back and square it up, and it's an excellent way to use up stash, so I really should do this more often.

I totally rethought all the Blocks of the Month I wanted to start. Common sense prevailed, and I decided to focus on my UFO Challenge list for quilt group until the end of June. If I can keep up with that, then maybe there will be a few other little projects in between, lol.

To that end, I finished quilting the Missouri Two Step, which is on the list; and it's in the binding stage.

And this one, Nature Walk, is also on my UFO Challenge list. Got the blocks finished this month and started sewing the rows together. The rows are pieced vertically because not every intersection has a cornerstone. Just the first row is complete.

This was a kit I bought a couple of years ago after my granddaughter was born. I did most of the cutting and then it sat, which is fine. She's in a twin bed now and ready for this larger quilt. I so LOVE these fabrics! Finishing this one will be my goal for March. 

OMG for February and A Finish

Happy Trails is my One Monthly Goal for February, to finish the top, quilt and bind it.

To see what goals others have set for themselves, click here. Evidently the process has changed slightly, and you must click the InLinkz block at the end of the post to see all the entries.

I need 24 blocks for Happy Trails, then I'll sash them with cornerstones and add a border for a twin sized quilt. There are only two rounds of triangles around the center four patch, and I have the first round of triangles sewn to the remaining blocks. One more round and assembly of the top can commence.

I finished the Heat Wave quilt this evening. It has been a long time coming--one of my oldest UFOs--and I am very pleased it's finally finished. I hand dyed this 8-piece gradation of fabrics plus the background 20+ years ago and started this project with them. I barely had enough of the red to finish the project, so I wound up using a red batik for the binding. Looks just fine.

One of my friends quilted flames in all of the spiky pieces with a variegated thread and a simple meander of a sort in the background areas. It was exactly what I wanted, and she did a fantastic job.

The background is also hand dyed but not by me. Not nearly as bright as the front, but I've had this piece for years too and wanted to use it up.

Credit where credit is due: Heat Wave by Karen K Stone.