Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Out of the Closet

Yesterday I met a good friend I haven't seen in a long while. After a brisk 5 mile walk she came over to the house. Between lots of vigorous conversation I showed her some of the projects I've been working on. It was kind of like that magic trick where the magician keeps pulling scarfs out of the hat one after another and you can't imagine where they are all coming from. Well, it was a bit like that with the projects that I pulled from my closet, one, then another, and another...Cynthia looked at me and said matter of factly, "you like to work on lots of projects simultaneously." I looked at the stack of projects and thought to myself, it's time to tackle some of these again. Some haven't been out of the closet in months! One of them I've even forgotten what I had in mind for the pieces I cut out. YIKES! As much as I want to start on AmandaJean's quilt-a-long, I have to get some of these done or at least make a little progress. I'm going to dedicate the rest of this week to progress on UFO's. If I start the quilt-a-long this weekend, maybe I can get caught up. I'm two behind!
So here's the first bit of progress.
I worked on the Radio Flyer quilt last night. Got the borders on and I'm tickled with how it looks. I appreciate all the advice I got from fellow bloggers on this one. At one point I was ready to rip it apart. I added an inner red border and the outer border is a combo of the cream and the Olivia dots. I think it adds to the whimsical feeling of the quilt. I'm now trying to decide whether to add the large black ricrack between the blocks. I'm leaning to yes. I forget who made that suggestion, but I think it was brilliant! I just have to piece the back and then decide on the quilting. The back is the little radio flyer wagon flannel blanket and some black and cream flannel print. This quilt has grown much bigger than I planned. Oh well, I'm loving it again. Yippee!

27 comments:

Thriftin and Craftin said...

LOVE LOVE LOVE this quilt. The name of it is precious as well. Thanks for stopping by my blog, and leaving such kind words (as usual!) I was reading about your sailboat experience. Exhausting I'm sure! Have a great day!

Anonymous said...

This quilt is great--and the rick-rack; what a nice touch!

Tanguera said...

Hard to tell without seeing the effect of the rickrack from a distance. I like the visual appeal of the quilt. If you decide to add the rickrack, maybe stitch on the rickrack first, then quilt around the wavy edges when you quilt. Always amazes me what can be found lurking. I call my UFO's WIVSP (works in very slow progress) so I don't feel so guilty.

qusic said...

black, white, red and rickrack what a gorgeous combo, I love very much what I see. Hope you are better now with your allergies, get well soon!

QuiltedSimple said...

I like the rick-rack on it - actually, I just love that quilt in general. Get caught up so you can do the Quilt-A-Long.

Kris

tess said...

I'm glad I'm not the only one who does "too many" projects at once....

Sequana said...

It was Sequana the brilliant. *L*

I'm the one who mentioned black ric rac. I love using that trim on lots of stuff. It always looks so "clean."

Darcie said...

LOVE the ricrack!!! That would make a great embellishment/design element.

I had to giggle at your friend's comment. Cute!

Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson said...

I like the rick rack too but would wait and sew it on while quilting, killing 2 birds with one stone.

But......I have to say I like it without the rick rack too. This is where you would like to have 2 quilts one each way.

Jody Sanders said...

I love this quilt. And I love the rick rack!

Dana said...

Oh, I absolutely love it!

Amanda Jean said...

the ric rac is a great idea. it's fun to get a peek at that quilt again. it's looking wonderful. I am glad that YOU are loving it again, too.

and you go ahead and be a lots of projects girl and hold your head high. there is no shame in that!!! (i am good at enabling others at that which I am also guilty of.)

Meg said...

I LOOOOVE this quilt, you did such amazing work. The pleated beauty bag was pretty easy once I got my head around it. I'd be happy to send you the directions, it was really satisfying to make it. Other question - are you all going to doing a virtual quilting bee on common threads?

Levin said...

i really, really, really love this quilt. i think the black ric rac looks absolutely fabulous too. you're lucky i live in australia - i'd be working out ways to steal this quilt otherwise. mind you - i think i really like nearly all (if not all) your quilts.
l
x

Anonymous said...

Oh what a lovely quilt top, love the colours you've used, and the ric rac will add such a lovely touch to it.

Kathleen said...

Love the rick rack but was wondering after your other experience how colourfast it is? Especially as you have so much white there. I know you have the colour catch tissues but it would worry me...maybe you tested a small bit first. I too am a great one for too many projects on the go and it leads to me getting quite overwhelmed, so have cut way back on buying supplies until I get a few things finished and am not buying anything for new projects. Do you know a fellow quilter confessed to me that she is in credit card debt to the tune of $32000 ...mostly from her quilting habit....and I was wondering how she could afford to get so many professionally quilted. It has become a really expensive hobby and the retailers and businesses attached are in it to make a profit...hence the price of kits of the month these days.

Dawn said...

Your work is always so gorgeous and so well-thought-out that I aspire to be a quilter just like you.

But it's reeeeally nice to know you have a bunch of WIPs in your closet just waiting to be completed!

Stacy said...

Jacquie, Wow, I go away for a few weeks and look at all you got done! I had such a great time catching up with you. I can just see you guys all nervous there with the boat!
This quilt has become so special. It is so unique and so fun to look at. I think it looks great as is, but the ric-rac might be that extra touch.
I loved your virtual quilt show. I am not a big purple lover myself but the one you made is gorgeous. You know, it looks to me just like a lilac bush. Some of my best memories growing up are lined with lilac bushes, and that quilt brings those memories back to the surface! And the tea cups...!!! I could go on and on. I hope you enjoyed/are enjoying your country time. As I get older I am learning how precious times like that are. Love Stacy

Peg - Happy In Quilting said...

Jackie.....I just love it, what a fantastic job you have done, you must be so very pleased with it...

Kieny The Dutchlady said...

I love how that quilt is turning out!

Lisa said...

Jacquie! I just love how that looks!!!

Rebekah said...

loving the black, white and red log cabin! I have got to get the log cabin bug out of my system and make one with some of my scraps!

susan said...

oh wow!!! i really like this one. great job and the rickrack is a nice touch

A Spoonful Of Sugar said...

What a great quilt - it looks so effective in the red, black and white pallette. The ric rac adds a nice finish to it.

Anonymous said...

OMG! I L-O-V-E this quilt!!
It is so beautiful!!

Nicole
the pink painted giraffe

Jodi Nelson said...

what a wonderful quilt! I absolutely love it!k

Anonymous said...

I can't BELIEVE how great this quilt looks!! I'm glad my simple observation served as motivation for you. I'm amazed by your talent and creativity. So as not to sabatoge your efforts to finish up all your current projects, I'll wait before putting in a request for a quilt of my own!! Once you get back on schedule, we're also overdue for another walk!!