In a continuing effort to finish UFOs, I recently came across a bag full of these units.

The problem was that I couldn’t remember what they were for. A mystery quilt seemed to ring a bell, so after poking around the web, I decided maybe they’d been intended for a Bonnie Hunter mystery, probably the first one, called Orange Crush. I’m not sure why I would have completed Step 2, when it seems I didn’t complete any of the other steps. I guess that’s part of the mystery.

So I looked through Bonnie’s steps and decided on a color scheme of sorts and started sewing. I made these:

And I made these:

I wanted to incorporate these yummy poison greens:

The blocks started coming together. There are two sets of blocks. One set looks like this on point:

Up to now, I’ve been happy. I love the way the indigo blues play with the poison greens, and I love the accent of bubblegum pink.

The other set of blocks looks like this on point:

I don’t like these quite as much, but I have high hopes for putting them all together. Except that when I put them together, I didn’t like the effect at all!

So what would happen if I set the blue/green blocks straight?

Or what would happen if I set the yellow blocks straight?

At this point I’m letting it all percolate. I’m not sure they’re exciting enough when separated, but I don’t like them all together either. So in a fit of creative rebellion, I put them all aside and made these funky doodads.

They’re cut freehand and they’re weird but I think they have potential. Or maybe they’ll become part of a guild program called “Miserable Failures.” I’ll keep you posted on both fronts. If you have suggestions for any of these projects, I’d love to hear them.

I started working on another UFO last week, in pursuit of my goal to retire 12 UFOs this year. It’s a top I pieced from Denyse Schmidt’s first line of fabrics called Flea Market Fancy for FreeSpirit. It can hardly even be called a quilt design: it’s just squares set with sashes and corner posts. Here is the recipe:

You need big squares cut 9.5″ x 9.5″

You need small squares cut 3.5″ x 3.5″

You need rectangles cut 3.5″ x 9.5″

Join them as shown below.

I created a “fake” border by making all the perimeter patches dark. I like this effect a lot and will do it again sometime.

I only auditioned one border fabric, because it was so funky and unpredictable that I just had to use it.  It’s a FreeSpirit from about five years ago, designed for a line by Terrie Hancock Mangat called Fiesta. The print is called Pie Party. Isn’t that fun?

The people in the border are just wonderful!

So are the dogs!

I didn’t want to lose the craziness of the scene, so I cut the borders 11″ wide. I like this! Even though I had several yards of the fabric (off a clearance table), I had to piece the top and bottom border strips; I also needed to add corner posts.

In some ways I think this is hideous. But I also love it because it is so weird. Have you made a hideous/funky quilt? We’d love to see it.

Now to think up some off-the-wall quilting designs and calm down the edges with a simple binding fabric. I’ll keep you posted.

I made some big changes in my life last year, so when 2009 rolled around, I set some major goals for myself. One of them is to complete at least 12 UFOs (that’s quilter lingo for UnFinished Objects). It will barely make a dent, but it will be a start. You have to eat the elephant one bite at a time. 

I finished a little 12″ x 15″ wall quilt this week. It will be gifted to my cousin’s daughter in Nebraska for graduation. It’s called “Happy.”

I painted the fabric with Jacquard paints, then stamped over the paint, did some simple thread painting and beaded a bit. I referred back to Quiltmaker’s May/June ‘08 issue for simple beading instructions. I also love C&T’s All-in-One Beading Buddy, which by the way is greatly on sale.

It feels great to move some projects into the finished pile. I am loving it!