UFO Progress

I've got my work cut out for me this year, since I'm participating in 2 UFO challenges (Patchwork Times and Patchwork Penguin). I was really lucky that both of the projects chosen for this month were small and relatively easy to complete. For Patchwork Times, #6 was chosen and here's the finished product.

To finish this project, I had sew the blocks together (all blocks had been pieced, but only a few had been sewn together), join the rows, quilt, and bind. I quilted this very simply. I free-motion quilted around the stars and then quilted through the center of the blue area to connect the stars. I then quilted along a couple of the zig zags in the red and cream pieces. I'm really pleased with the outcome. Jack thinks it looks very Naval, and I have to say that I agree. He had a good idea for if I decided to make another one of these. I should get the rating of a Navy veteran and include it somewhere on the quilt. Uh, Dad was a Navy vet and I'm thinking I would love to make one with his information.

For Patchwork Penguin's #3, I had to finish Sadie's quilt.(The poor child is almost 5 months old and still doesn't have her quilt!) All that needed done was the quilting and binding. Here's the finished project.

To quilt this, I stitched in the ditch around the stars and also stitched a star in the center star area. I then quilted the spiderwebs in 1" increments. I LOVE how this turned out. The best part is that I used Nite Lite Extra Glow thread from Superior Threads for the entire top, and a variegated thread for the back (Cabash #826, Rainbows by Superior Threads). I wish I could show you the glowing quilt but alas, I'm camera-challenged and can't get it to work. It really is awesome!

I'm excited to have finished both challenge projects so early in the month. I seriously doubt that'll happen too many times during these challenges, but a girl can dream, right?

Now I'm off to piece my 4 remaining New York Beauty blocks for Glacier Star. Well, maybe I'll look around and see what else might tickle my fancy. Afterall, I have until January 21st until we meet again for the class. :-)