2018 UFO Challenge Review

My biggest goal this year was to finish one of my large cross-stitch projects. ("QS Red Hearts" is finished!) I also began working full time at a job I truly enjoy. As a result, my list of UFOs (unfinished objects) for the 2018 American Patchwork & Quilting UFO Challenge did not get much of my crafty time. That being said, I am happy with the progress that was made this year.

Click any photo for a larger view.

The photo above shows the 12 UFOs I selected to work on in 2018. You may find more photos and details in this post, shared last December.

UFO Progress in 2018:

1. "LOVE" Wall Quilt featuring blocks from the 2014 Crazy Quilting International Hearts Round Robin Blocks: I removed the basting seams from all 6 blocks and purchased a hanger from Ackfeld Manufacturing. (I am not affiliated, I just like their wire hangers.)

2. "Hearts Askew" Quilt: No progress.

3. Some embellishments were added to my pink Oregon State University messenger bag. I tried to work my Take A Stitch Tuesday (TAST) stitches onto the panels for this bag. 

4. Assemble OSU Messenger Bag: Not yet! Needed to finish #3.

5. Embellish and Make a Purse with Crazy Quilt Journal Project (CQJP) 2014 December Block: No progress.

6. Fully Finish "The land is not inherited" Cross-stitch: No progress.

7. Embellish & Sew Christmas Stocking: No progress.

8. Quilt, Label & Bind CQI Winter/Christmas Wall Quilt: No progress.

9. Finish "Red Barn" Wall Quilt: Borders were added, as seen in this post.

10. Complete The City Stitcher Quilt Collection #9 Our Country Home - Pattern by Janet Miller: No progress.

11. Create CQI Snowball Wall Quilt: No progress.

12. Fix CQJP 2013 April Tote Bag: Completed  and donated to a fund raiser in January 2018, as seen in this post.






One UFO was completed and progress was made on three others. That is more progress than I would have made without this challenge, so it feels successful to me!

My 2019 UFO List will be shared in tomorrow's post. 
Thank you for visiting! - Renee


Additional Information:
More details about the American Patchwork & Quilting UFO Challenge may be found here.

Search social media for #APQResolution to see what others have shared through the APQ UFO Challenge.

Take a Stitch Tuesday (TAST) is a personal challenge to learn a stitch a week. Sharon B. of Pintangle.com will begin a new round of TAST on Tuesday, January 1st. You may learn more about it here.

The Crazy Quilt Journal Project (CQJP) is a personal challenge to create one crazy quilt block a month, measuring at least 8-inches square. Registration for CQJP 2019 closes on December 31st. You may learn more here.

Crazy Quilting International (CQI) is a group that meets on Facebook. You may learn more about round robins on the CQI blog here, and find the Facebook group here.

March 2018 UFO Progress

In February, project #9 was selected for the 2018 American Patchwork & Quilting UFO Challenge. 

On my list, that was "Red Barn" by England Design Studios. (I am not affiliated. The link is added for easy reference.) I had no idea what paper piecing was before beginning this wall quilt. I purchased my pattern at a JoAnn Fabric store. While sewing the borders on, I noticed a few mistakes and set it aside. That was at least a decade ago...

This month, I finally finished sewing the borders onto the quilt. (See the first photo.) Now, I just need to quilt it, add a hanging sleeve, add a label and bind it.

January's UFO was finished. (See the link to the Crazy Quilted Swan Tote below.)

My March UFO is embellishing my crazy quilted messenger bag. Progress is slow on that one.

Thank you for visiting!
Renee

Links to Related Posts:
2018 UFO Challenge List
Crazy Quilted Swan Tote

Crazy Quilted Swan Tote Bag

This crazy quilted tote bag is my first finish of the year!

I am so excited to have it finished. This weekend, it will be raffled off at a Dessert Theater by my son's drama team to help raise funds for their annual trip to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland.

It is not perfect, but it is original! Of course, there is also a matching tissue cover case.

This project became a UFO (unfinished object) back in December of 2015. As a relative novice, I accidentally sewed the handles on wrong. Of course, I did not notice until it was turned right side out and the lining had been sewn shut.

After debating with myself, I opted to replace the blue straps with white webbing. (On the bags I have made for myself, I found the webbing has held up much better over time.)

Here is a close up of the pocket. You may see the post shared when the block was embellished here. And the post where I shared my oops with the straps is here.

If you follow my blog regularly, you may recall this was #12 on my 2018 American Patchwork & Quilting UFO Challenge. 

One project is drawn each month and #12 was selected for January. You may find more about the challenge here. 

My UFO list posted with photos may be found here.

Thank you so much for visiting! I hope you all have a wonderful week.
-Renee

2018 UFO Challenge List

American Patchwork & Quilting is hosting another UFO (unfinished object) challenge in 2018. This will be their 4th year and my 2nd year participating.

This is a great motivator to finish some UFOs. The list does not have to be quilt projects. Other crafts qualify!

You may find the directions to participate and a link to print out a chart to make your list of 12 UFOs at allpeoplequilt.com HERE. 

The Facebook Group for the challenge may be found HERE.

Below are photos of the UFOs I plan to work on in 2018. (You may click on any picture for a larger image.)

Note: January's project was revealed early and it will be #12.

1. Make my "Love" Wall Quilt from the CQI Hearts Round Robin. See the embellished blocks returned to me here and the "E" embellished last year here. The blocks need to be sewn into a wall quilt.

2. Complete the "Hearts Askew" quilt from the book Hearts Aplenty by Lynda Milligan and Nancy Smith. I need to sew the heart appliques in place, add a second border, quilt, label and bind the quilt.

3. Finish embellishing blocks for my pink Oregon State University messenger bag. Previous posts about this project may be found here.

4. Sew the pink Oregon State University messenger bag. The bag is based on the messenger bag design with Butterick pattern B4147. I traced the pattern pieces onto muslin and pieced them for a crazy quilt.

5. Embellish December CQJP 2014 block and make a purse with it. 

6. Fully finish this cross-stitch. I no longer have the book, but believe it is a Janlynn Counted Cross Stitch pattern. I finished stitching it more than 13 years ago and it has been safely tucked away. At the moment, I think it will become a pillow.

7. Finish hand quilting, label and bind my CQI Winter/Christmas wall quilt. You may see the embellished blocks that were returned to me here and the block I embellished here. Each snowflake takes about 10 minutes. I need to finish quilting it with snowflakes, label and bind it.

8. Embellish this block and make a Christmas stocking.

9. "Red Barn" by England Design Studios was paper pieced 10 or 11 years ago. One little section in the mountains needs to be fixed (a raw edge made it to the front of the piece - so it became a UFO.) Then, I need to finish adding the red and blue borders, quilt, label and bind it. Now that I have discovered my passion for embroidery, it might need a bit more embellishment, too!

10. This quilt was started at least a decade ago. This is the design I followed for my very 1st quilt and the idea of having to applique the vines on this one resulted in another UFO. I plan to embroider the vines, finish the applique and other embroidery, sew on the borders (most of which are pieced already), quilt, label and bind it. This one will be a Christmas gift in 2018.

11. Create a wall quilt with these crazy quilted snowman "snowballs" I received through CQI swaps. You may see them all better here.

12. Fix this tote bag. I finished embellishing the block in 2013 (as seen here.) In December of 2015, I created this tote bag, but sewed the handles on wrong (that post is here.) I need to rip the seams, correct the handles, and reassemble the bag.

#12 is the project selected for January 2018. 

If I manage to complete all of these, I am not sure I will have a full list in 2019. We shall see how it goes. Every bit of progress is closer to a finish.

Thank you for visiting!
Renee

Related blog posts:
UFO Challenge 2017 - My List
UFO Challenge 2017 Review



In case you are wondering...
CQI = Crazy Quilting International - This group originally met on Yahoo, but is now an active on Facebook as the Crazy Quilt International group. You may find it here.

CQJP = Crazy Quilt Journal Project - This is a personal challenge to complete a crazy quilt block each month that is at least 8" x 8" in size. Sign ups are open for 2018 until December 31st. Learn more here.


This is Day 28 of the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge hosted by www.muppin.com. Learn more and find other participating blogs here.