The taming of the UFOs

It has been another good month for finishing up some UFOs.  Of course there are plenty more where these came from, but thanks to Sew Its Finished, with Wendy and Dawn, I have been very pleased to conquer some of that growing pile of UFOs.

This scarecrow cushion was started by my daughter when she was still at school - just a few years ago (plus a few more).  She did a wonderful job of the applique, and had almost finished it before handing it on to me to finish.  I found it when I was cleaning out a fabric box recently, so finished it off.  I think he is a cute scarecrow.

 The front stitchery on my folder is one I had traced out from the pattern Daisy Street.  (I made the whole quilt but had changed to doing it on a dark navy background, so had this block as an orphan).  I drew up and embroidered the house on the spine - just because.  The trim and fabrics are all ones that have been in my stash for too many years, and it was time for them to be used.

 I so much enjoyed working on these hearts.  This was from early 1997.  I can remember this well, as I used to take the hearts and my threads to the hospital where my Dad was spending the last weeks of his life.  He had moved up to stay with us for the last 9 months of his life as he needed care, and could no longer live on his own.  By this stage he was blind, so he didnt know I was sitting with him on his little hospital balcony stitching away while he chatted.  I had stitched the hearts on the background, and quilted it, so it just needed the wide binding on it.  I put it in a box and left it there for all those years.  It holds lots of memories for me.

 I also wonder how come I could do such neat little bullion roses then, because I cant seem to do them so well now.  I have also forgotten how I did the silk ribbon roses - will have to look it up.  This also has lots of french knots and beads on it, and is in such delicate colours.  I am hoping to find a spot in our bedroom to hang it.

 This Nancy Halvorsen panel was a gift from a friend some years ago.  I had put on the outside border, then left it.  Each year Christmas seemed to come around too quickly and I wouldnt have time to finish it.  This year, thanks to 1 Christmas Item a Month, with Narelle, I have been working on these things much earlier in the year, and  so it is finished and ready to hang.

This one is hand quilted in the panel part, and the writing around the border is free motion quilted after being traced on.  It is also a hard one to get the colours right in a photo - I have tried all conditions, and it just doesnt come out right.