Monday, February 12, 2018

Green Fish and UFOs

The green fish has been quilted and has its facing and sleeve done. The collaged background of irregular shapes was more challenging than the geometric shapes on the yellow fish, but still interesting and enjoyable. I'll show the yellow one again below the green one.
Green Carp, 24" x 18"

Yellow Carp, 22" x 17"

My guild usually has a challenge each year. Since this is quilt show year, we didn't want to take on a huge project that might pose a hardship added to the work and preparations relating to the show. So this year's challenge involves UFOs (quilterspeak for unfinished objects) and is designed to give us all a push to finish projects as well as to encourage us to use our fabrics instead of buying, buying, buying--translate hoarding.
The plan is this: we list six UFOs in number order and describe the degree of completion as of January 1, 2018. Numbers will be drawn, and the UFO corresponding to that number will be due in two months. We can earn fat quarters by bringing the finished work in on time. If all six projects are finished, our name goes into the hat for a $100 prize. How interesting to go through closets and shelves to come across these forgotten pieces! My oldest one is a half-done mystery quilt begun 23 years ago in 1994. As I recall, the instructions were confusing and inaccurate, and when I came to the step admitting some early mistakes, I gave up on it. However, there is too much fabric and time invested to discard it, so it went on my list. I just hope its number is several months away. There are several nearly finished pieces and even some that I choose NOT to finish. And that's okay. Maybe they were learning tools along the way but no longer hold my interest.
I'll report back on the UFO progress.

5 comments:

tierneycreates said...

The fishes are amazing! Queen of collage! Good luck on the guild UFO challenge! I tried to do one of those once and let's just say I did not end up being even close to eligible for the drawing :-)

Jenny K. Lyon said...

Your fish are really well done Martha, just beautiful! That kind of a guild challenge sounds like fun.

Martha Ginn said...

Thanks for the kind words, Tierney and Jenny! I'm pleased to show the finished fishes. Interestingly, I have listed both fish pieces as two of my UFOs that were begun before January 1. They were both about ready for finishing; other UFOs will take some work, but it is good to have an incentive to go ahead and get those done!

Naomi said...

Very nice!! Love the fish! I haven't tried fabric collage yet. Looks fun.
Great idea for a guild challenge!! What guild are you with?
Thank you for responding to my MQA FB post 🤗

Martha Ginn said...

Thanks, Naomi. My guild is Pine Belt Quilters in Hattiesburg. See our website at www.pinebeltquilters.com. Our 17th Biennial Fiber Art & Quilt Show is coming up October 5-6, 2018.