Re-whipping some WIPs

Along with last weekend's cleaning/tidy frenzy, I pulled out one UFO and un-buried a WIP from the bottom of the "current" box.  (How current does that make it, then?  I think it might have passed from WIP to UFO while it was composting in that box.)

Anyhow, my eye was on the end-of-month project report: would I have anything to report as "complete" for this month?  It's a bit disheartening to feel like all those old projects are still sitting around in their unfinished state (and I just went out and bought fabric--oh wait, it's for the t-shirt quilt, a project that was started in 2011).

Eeyore - immune to enthusiasm.

UFO

Here's an older project that can't be too hard to finish: sew cuffs onto sweatshirt.  Cuffs are already cut out and pinned in place.  They are faux chenille, but that effect won't show up until the garment has been washed.  A ribbed cuff will go on after that, made from the original waist ribbing.  How hard can it be?  How much time can it take?  How much will I procrastinate, since it means changing thread color and needle size on my machine?

and WIP

The big WIP excavation was on my Wallhanging with Words.  All the letters are complete, but not sewn together into words.  From my experience completing a single word, I know there's lots of little steps in there.  Good contrast with the larger projects, where a single step can seem to take forever.

So, I'm trying a new approach with the letters: using them as leaders and enders.

Here are some of the wallhanging letter pieces (in turquoise), along with larger BOTM blocks (in red/black/pink) that are getting framing/sashing strips.  When I am finished chain-piecing a pile of the BOTM blocks, ready to take them to the ironing area and pin on the next strip, I use a single step on my letter block as the end of the chain, leaving it in the machine after sewing its seam.

I'm not doing a very good job of describing the process, but I learned about it from this book. Bonnie K. Hunter talks about the technique in detail on her blog, with lots of examples of quilts she has made using it. (I even think she has a book entitled Leaders and Enders.)


So I am re-whipping this WIP.  Glad to be making a bit of progress as I work on finishing the BOTM baby quilts.