Wednesday, May 20, 2020

A Happy Surprise

and a few other surprises

While I'm sewing curves on the Glorified 9-Patch (NOT!), I'll break away to give you a look at  a couple of the Hs in my UFO boxes.


First up is Happy Surprise, designed by Jo and Kelli Kramer/Jo's Country Junction in 2018 (I think).  I was immediately intrigued by how it goes together, so I did a rough sketch and made a plan.  I started with a jelly roll of Grunge.


I made a few HSTs and even made my version of a test block.  (I have no idea if it bears any resemblance to the pattern!)


I lacked the confidence to continue, though, because I hadn't bought the AP&Q magazine it appeared in.  Well, happy surprise, Jo recently reprised the project on her blog and I was able to snag a photo of the project (which I can't show without permission).  So I pulled out the box and it appears I have made well over 300 HSTs!


Rather than make the number required in the pattern, I'm just going to use what I have and hopefully it will be enough for a nice lap quilt.  Stitching HSTs together will be my leader/ender project for the foreseeable future.

An Unhappy Surprise -- What wasn't in that stack of boxes above reappeared in a burst of cleaning up yesterday -- Hopkins Square from Judy Hopkin's 501 Rotary-Cut Quilt Blocks.  This is the block I used in my Magical Mystery last year.  My mystery has you make four blocks from a pair of fat quarters.  Well, this muddy version is a prime example of what NOT to use!


I hate to throw all that effort away.  I think I will use each set of 4 blocks as the center of a baby quilt.  I will survey my stash options to see if I have something that will not only liven up these blocks, but will give a dash of youthfulness.

Another happy surprise - I have all my boxes back in alphabetical order so it should be a lot easier for me to continue working through the alphabet.


Another unhappy surprise - my work table is missing!

There's a table under there somewhere!
And I'll close with another Happy Surprise - the Knockout roses that I thought were lost last year are blooming big time!

Knockout Rose (I don't remember the variety)

9 comments:

  1. those are all projects started in those stacked up alphabetical order? Wow

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  2. You've been on quite the roller coaster in your sewing room today, Libby!! Best of luck on whichever project you decide to tackle next.

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  3. That is a pretty sight of all of the boxes stacked in alphabetical order. I guess what keeps me from doing the alphabetical thing is that most of my projects really don't have names.

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  4. How nice to open a box and find so many finished parts. Where did you get your boxes? I like that they are clear. You are sure on a roll!!

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    1. Boxes are in the scrapbooking aisle at JoAnn. At 12x12, they just fit the Itso cubbies that I got at Target (unfortunately no longer available). Most cubbies are only 11".

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  5. No shortage of enticing projects to work on! I like your idea to repurpose the mystery blocks that didn't work. And I love your storage system!!!

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  6. Enjoying these posts very much, Libby. I'm liking all these projects and find your take on them very interesting reading. Love the alphabetical storage idea.

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  7. I bet you could find some fun border fabric to add to your magical mystery blocks so that they could become quilts for kids! I love the project with the HSTs from Jo's Country Junction. Glad you were able to find the pattern!

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  8. Thanks for showing the storage trays in their cabinets -- gives me an idea of how you arrange things.....Nice to pull out a UFO and find out that it's farther along than you thought.....I won a Knockout Rose at the garden club's garden tour last year. I don't know if it will come back this year or not....

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