2016 (Quilt) Year in Review...

Quote for the Day:

"Make this year so amazing that last year gets jealous!"

~author unknown

Thought I'd do a "year in review" about the quilts I've made/finished in 2016...mainly to refresh my own memory!  I know that I should have done this post before the 5th of January...but...well...you know...whatever...

It looks like my first completion was the quilt I made for my sister, Bev..."Cottage Blossoms"

My sister is so adorable that I'm going to post two pictures of her quilt so you can see her with it, too!  😊

The second completion was the "Ugly Quilt"...this was a quilt top that was in a bag of quilt tops that was given to me by a friend...I think they had been made by her mom who had passed away.  Anyway, this one had soooooooooooooo many issues (stains, not laying flat, wide seam allowances, raveling fabric, etc., etc., etc.) that I was going to toss it...actually had it hovering over the trash can...when I decided to sandwich it and use it for "practice" while I took online free-motion quilting classes.  It is now a good utility quilt...something to take to the park, game, camping, etc.  It is warm and has been quilted to within an inch of its life...so feel free to abuse it!  LOL

Completion #3...Alex's 3 year birthday quilt..." 'I Spy'/Bug Jar Quilt"...

#4...I finished hand-quilting the "Cottage Rose Baskets" quilt....my first time doing big-stitch quilting...

Probably the one I am most proud of because not only did I design it using EQ7, it was the one that I was most adventurous with and most satisfied with when it came to the free-motion quilting... Completion #5:  "Christmas Stars" made for my son and daughter-in-law...

And last, but not least was Completion #6...."Oh Christmas Tree".  This quilt was actually started about 3 years ago, but I didn't work on the hand-quilting very often, so it was languishing on the UFO list.  I decided to pop it into my hand-quilting frame and had it done in no time... just in time to be hung on the wall.  It was our one and only Christmas tree this year...

This year I have pieced quilt blocks for other projects that I am currently working on, made quilt blocks for our WV Quilt of Valor group, and even ALMOST completed a quilt (I finished up the second half of the binding on January 1st...so unfortunately, it doesn't "count" for 2017!)...but the six listed here are the COMPLETIONS for 2016.

Loretta

Christmas Stars Quilt...

When Paul & Trinity were here for Thanksgiving, I gifted them with the Christmas quilt that she had "hinted" for last year!  :D

I named it "Christmas Stars".  I designed it myself on EQ7, made it scrappy, and free-motion quilted it on my Juki TL 2000Qi...

99" x 99"

in the making...

The middle border was done with 4 different free-handed Christmas tree designs...but for some reason, I don't have a picture of the 4th design.  

The outer border was done in free-handed feathers...my first ever without using a stencil!!!  I'm pretty happy with them!!  :)

I had fun making it and they were quite pleased with it...so all-in-all...it went well!!!  


Loretta

More Quilting Going On...

I've been making more selvage blocks over the last couple of weeks, but instead of making them so scrappy as I had started out, I decided I wanted a more "controlled scrappy" look.  I decided to use a blue calico and a white-on-white for the star points and background.  The center of the stars are the scrappy blocks made with the selvages.  

The blue and white fabrics are from my stash, so no wallets were harmed in the making of these blocks!  :D

I have 27 blocks finished right now and many, many, many more selvage centers that still to have star points added to them.  The blocks are 8" finished.  I don't know how big the quilt will be...but basically, it will be as big as I have blocks for when I'm done!  I have used all the selvages with wording/number/dots from my selvage basket.  The only selvages I have left now are the ones that have no white at all or only plain white with fabric, but no words, numbers, or dots.  I plan on using all of those selvages to try my hand at fabric-covered clothesline bowls.  


My "Christmas Stars" quilt is sandwiched and ready for me to start machine quilting on it.  I have to figure out if I'm going to try some sort of design in the body of it or just do meandering in the body and then a design in the borders.  Still thinking on these things...waiting for the quilt to speak to me and tell me what it wants!  :D

Loretta

My Current Quilt Projects...

All of the Christmas fabrics start showing up in quilt stores in July.  There's a reason for this!  If you're gonna get a quilt made in time for Christmas, you've gotta start EARLY!!!

I actually started this wall hanging quilt about 3 years ago...at the beginning of December...not a good idea!  LOL  It was a panel that I saw on display at the LQS and I had to have it!  I started out handquilting it in my small, portable Q-Snap frame...taking it to guild meetings, etc., and working on it there.   It wasn't getting done very fast, OBVIOUSLY...so after I finished the Baskets quilt that was in my floor frame, I decided to put this one in the floor frame and finish it.  It is getting done a lot quicker now and will be ready to hang this Christmas season!

My current piecing project is also a Christmas quilt...this time a queen-sized quilt.  Last Christmas my daughter-in-law said she'd like a Christmas quilt, so I designed one in EQ7 for her...

It's coming along nicely!  All of the green/white blocks are pieced and squared up.  I'm currently piecing the star blocks and am about 1/3rd of the way done with them.  

When we were in Tennessee in June, we went to the Mt. Juliet Farmisan Market because our daughter had a booth there selling her glass bird feeders.   Across from her booth Crittenden Custom Creations had a booth set up and I went over to investigate.   Bill Crittenden makes hand-turned pens so I asked him if he had ever made any seam rippers.  He acknowledged that he had never done one before but was anxious to make one and took my order.  I received it about a week ago and am sooooooo impressed with it!  It is beautiful!!!

The handle is carved from a rectangled block of dyed plywood!  It is double-ended.  You pull out the metal end, turn it around and push the rounded piece back into the hole in the end to get this...

The end on the left is bigger...more for coarse cloth like denim or canvas.  The end on the right is finer and more for lightweight fabrics, like quilter's cotton.  I love the feel of it in my hand...it is very well balanced...like a nice writing instrument.  I haven't had any seams that needed ripped out since receiving it, but I'm sure that will all come to a screeching halt when I start joining my blocks on the Christmas quilt!  (Joining the blocks to make a top is ALWAYS where I make my mistakes!!!)  


Loretta