OMG October-Finished

     My goal was go finish this Storm at Sea quilt top.  I was happy to have time to get it together AND finish it.  I admit, I finished it with quick and dirty quilting, but I just wanted it done.

     Now, on to the next OMG.  I'm going to get to the bottom of my pile soon. 

Linking To: Monday Making, Moving It Forward Monday, OMG, Midweek Makers, Can I get a Whoop Whoop,  Finish It Up Friday,

Día de Muertos Calavera

People started bringing their Dia de Muertos art work to my museum yesterday.  Members of the art's council, the high school art teacher, Ashley and I will hang the show on Wednesday and the show will start with a reception Friday evening.  It will be a fun way to kick off the Halloween weekend.

My sugar skull needs a name, any suggestions?

 I found this festive fabric for the back.  I used it for the binding too.  Just a little color around the black background.

Linking to:  Can I Get A Whoop, Whoop, Show Off Saturday,  Off The Wall Friday, Finish it up Friday , Oh Scrap, MCM, Moving It Forward Monday, Linky Tuesday, Sew Cute Tuesday, Midweek Makers, Let's Bee Social.

Calavera

What is a Calavera?  It is a Mexican word that that describes the representation of the human skull, which is most commonly done with sugar but also with clay.  The sugar skulls are decorated with icing and other materials.  Calavera or sugar skulls are produced for Day of the Dead (Dia de Muertos) celebrations in Mexico and the Catholic All Souls' Day.  The Day of the Dead is a time when families come together and honor family members who have died.  It is held on November 1st and 2nd.

This year,  our high school's art teacher is putting together a 'Day of the Dead' Art Show at the Clausen Memorial  Museum.  I am the director of the museum and want to join in the fun.  I decided to make a fabric sugar skull for the event.  I found a free, public coloring page on Pinterest and got to work picking out colors and cutting and fusing.  The skull is Michael Miller's Fairy Frost with silver glitter on white.  I like the effect.  I have more to do with quilting and embellishment but this is a start.

Linking to:  Finished or Not Friday, Off the Wall Friday, Can I Get A Whoop, Whoop, MCM, Monday Making, Handmade Monday,  Moving it Forward Monday, Show and Tell, Linky Tuesday, Midweek Makers, Let's Bee Social

OMG October

For my October OMG, I think I will try to finish this quilt top.  It seems a shame to spend so much time cutting around all of the little templates and attempting to sew all of the points together if I'm just going to stuff this project in a bag and hide it in a pile of unfinished quilt tops. 

Nearly 10 years ago, John Flynn came to our little town and taught a Storm At Sea class.  I made a lot of headway during the class and maybe even a few days after the class, but I guess I must have lost steam, and it looks like I lost interest in the home run stretch.  It's time to finish this!  Wish me luck!

Linking to:  OMG, MCM, Monday Making, Moving It Forward Monday, Sew Cute Tuesday, Midweek Makers, Linky Tuesday,  NTT,

3 Reasons to Finish UFO's

After a few years hiatus, I have returned to quilting in earnest.  I found this incredible link called One Monthly Goal-OMG, which has motivated me to dig into my UFO pile, which is filled with very old projects.  I have just completed my first OMG project and have learned a couple of lessons about UFO's along the way.

My one recommendation is to have a time limit for finishing a UFO-is it possible?  Here are 3 reasons you should consider this challenge.

1.  You may not be able to find the pattern for your project.  When I pulled this quilt out, I found that I didn't have the pattern.  Luckily I had put one of the blocks together so I could figure the pattern out.  It would have been a shame to throw away all of those neatly cut little pieces.

2.  You may not like the quilt or pattern when you decide to finish it.  Styles and colors change.  Something that was trendy and interesting 4 or 5 years ago may seem dated and uninteresting when you dig it out of your UFO pile.

3.  You may not be able to find fabrics you need to finish your quilt.  As we all know, fabrics go out of print and you may find yourself in a pickle when you are just short of the amount needed for the finish.

All three of these things happened with this quilt.  I was able to cobble together a small quilt from the fabrics that were cut out.  The fabrics are old enough to be out of print and the colors are a little dated too.  Luckily I LOVE anything blue so I can live with the colors.  The ideal binding would have been the pansy fabric but I didn't have enough.  I auditioned many different fabrics for the binding and this was the best I could do.  I don't love it but it works.

I am very happy to have this quilt finished.  I love the quilt pattern.  I love the blue.   The main thing is that it's done.  On to my next OMG project!

Linking to: OMG, MCM, Monday Making, Moving it Forward Monday, Linky Tuesday,Midweek Makers, Let's Bee Social, NTT Blog Archives, Finished or Not Friday, Finish it Up Friday, Can I Get A Whoop Whoop,