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

Cottage Baskets Quilt DONE!!!

Quote for the Day:

"I’m writing my book in fifth person, so 
every sentence starts out with: 

'I heard from this guy who told somebody …' "

~Demetri Martin

I actually finished this quilt about 10 days ago but just didn't have time photograph it and write the blog post, so here it is now!

Back in 2011, Andy & I attended the estate auction of a quilter and I got a lot of fabric, kits, etc. In one of the totes were these blocks that were pieced but not joined into a top, yet.  Last November I pulled out the blocks and joined them into a top, loaded it into my hand-quilting frame and started quilting them with "big-stitch" quilting using 3 strands of embroidery floss.  

Here is the finished quilt...

I had 2 blocks left over so I used one and hand-wrote the label info on it...

Loretta

What I've Been Working On...

A couple of weeks ago I began piecing this flower quilt.  The pattern is named "Cottage Blossoms" and is by Lella Boutique.

As you can see, the top is finished but I will put it away for the holidays.  In January, I will bring it out, sandwich it, and machine quilt it on my Juki TL2000Qi.  I don't know if I will piece a backing for it or buy wide backing fabric for it.  I have TONS of yardage that I purchased specifically to make pieced backings, so I'm leaning towards doing that to use up some of my stash.

While piecing the flower quilt, I made these 12 crumb blocks as my "leader/enders".  They are 6.5" square.  (Crumbs are the little pieces of leftover fabric that are too small to be cut into usable strips after you are done making a quilt.)

I have a whole bunch more that I made previously, so I'll add these to them.  I'm thinking of adding star points and making them into star blocks...these crumb blocks would be the center of the stars.

Here's a close-up of the blocks so you can see the variety of fabrics that went into them.  (If you have received a quilt from me, you may see some of the leftover fabrics in these blocks!)

Making those blocks really didn't make a dent in my "crumbs" stash.  (These are 2 of my 3 crumbs boxes.)

Meanwhile, I'm continuing to "big stitch" quilt on the "Pastel Baskets" quilt that is in my frame.

Andy & I have broached the subject of sectioning off a portion of the basement and turning it into a sewing room for me.  Two and a half years ago we moved my sewing room into the "master bedroom" and we took one of the two smaller bedrooms for our bedroom.  However, I really have "outgrown" the master bedroom.  One of the issues with my current sewing room is that there are 2 windows, a door, and a fireplace that take up room/wall space, thus biting into the "usable" space.  If we build a room in the basement there would only be the door into it to take a "bite" out of the usable room, so not only would the room be slightly bigger, it would have more usable space, thus making it more functional.   

We have just started discussing it and it would take some work to get it up and running, so don't everybody hold your breath right just yet.

Loretta

New Hand Quilting Project...

I usually have at least two projects going on at any one time...I try to have one quilt top that I am piecing (or getting ready for piecing) and I like to always have a quilt top in my hand quilting frame.  That way I get to choose which project I want to work on when I'm in my quilting room.  Sometimes I'm too tired to focus on piecing but hand quilting doesn't require thought...I just sit and "zen out" while hand quilting.

Yesterday I posted about the new project that I'm going to start piecing soon.  I need to pull the fabrics for that one from my stash and get them cut up...I'll probably do that this weekend.

As for the hand quilting project, I had finished the quilt that was in my frame last weekend so last night I loaded a new top into the frame.

Remember this one?  Cottage Rose baskets...

I put the first stitches in it today and am trying something new..."Big Stitch" quilting...

Big stitch quilting is done with thicker thread...usually perle cotton size 8...and a larger needle.  The idea is to have the stitches show and give "character" to the quilt instead of the very small stitches that can't be easily seen.  It is woefully difficult to find perle cotton thread in our area, so I decided to use crochet cotton in a size 10 (very slightly thinner than perle cotton 8).  I originally bought some embroidery thread and was going to use 2 strands, which would equal size 12 thread, but then decided to try this crochet thread instead.  If I had a thread chart to use to choose colors, I could have purchased the perle cotton online...but it is very difficult to match colors on a computer because they don't show "true" on a monitor.   Just look at the difference in colors between those three pics of the same quilt.  

I was hesitant to try the big stitch quilting but it is really fun, goes quickly, and gives the quilt a totally different "look"!  I definitely will be doing this technique again!

Loretta