2022 Yearly Review

I generally don't get around to wrapping up a year until at least a week into the new year, so I am attempting to be more proactive this time around. Shall we take a walk through the quilting highlights of 2022 together?

January was spent in Florida, so actual sewing was extremely limited. I took some things to work on, but did very little. This one little quilt is all that was made start-to-finish, and it has been quilted since, so it really is finished!

 

In February, I got down to some serious sewing business. Not only did I make a colorful baby quilt and Temecula Baskets, I also long-armed a couple of things! In looking back, I am rather impressed by my productivity.

One-year-old Emery makes regular use of her colorful quilt, and my basket quilt is still folded over a hanger in the closet.  

In addition to the quilt tops, I made progress on the long arm with the baby quilt pictured above, and a quilt top from years earlier.

March through December, I stepped up and stayed focused on quilt tops and long arming. The enjoyment of so much sewing has made the year one of the best yet.

The page dedicated to this year's finishes outlines all the particulars, if you care to investigate. There is another page dedicated to quilts that have been long armed, and I've separated the finishes by year.

As I look back on the year's accomplishments, a few quilts are worth singling out; finishing them has really given me quite a bit of satisfaction. First, my goal to make Lyn Wilder's pattern called Lil' Orphan Scrappy with my stash of William Morris fabrics. It was a gargantuan project, and many years in the planning. It came together beautifully, and once I figure out what to back it with, I will quilt it.

Making a red and white Double Irish Chain was one quilt that I was also proud to make. The red I used came from fabric that was in my grandmother's quilt things that I now have. It is the cheapest of fabrics, and this quilt will NEVER be able to laundered, as the red will just bleed like crazy all over that white. I plan to add a label that says as much.

And the last quilt I will highlight is Great Granny Squared. I used fabrics that are bright and cheerful, and it will be gorgeous once quilted.

I mustn't finish a review of the year without including some major progress with the Tin Lizzie long arm machine. I continue to grow in confidence with the machine and goals for the new year will definitely involve much more long arming. Even with the occasional catastrophe with the dreaded "eyelashes" have all been, in the long run, useful in teaching me valuable lessons.

Quilting all the Special Kay quilts was a special goal to meet, as well as a sweet baby quilt for our darling Catherine.

Now, that mention a bit ago about next year's goals presents a project that I continue to work on. Hopefully, I won't be so long in finalizing it as I was this past January.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

 

Last Quilt of the Year

As we close out 2022, I find myself attempting to finish one last quilt top. As of Tuesday, I thought it was done, but the more I think on it, the more I want it to be just a bit bigger.

So I am adding one more row wide.

This means I need to make 13 more blocks - 6 with red and 7 without.The blocks are 9-patches and it will take no time at all to crank them out.

Currently, the quilt is 13 blocks long and 11 blocks wide. With 6" blocks, this comes to 78" x 66". With one more column of blocks, I'd end up with a 78" x 72" quilt, and that would suit our queen bed much better.

Now, here's the catch - which isn't really a catch at all. I'd been using all the scraps I could from the big zip-lock bag of 2.5" squares I had after our exchange. I am left with only a tiny stack of very light neutrals, and I will need more variety than that. Click here to read about our exchange and to see the bag when it was full.

You know why there is no catch, right? I have mountains of scraps of my own! Just take a look at this little tub of ready-to-go 2.5" squares.

Sorting through this will be fun; revisiting old projects and sorting out those bits that are of a reproduction-style design. Then, cut, sew, snip, stitch, and voila! Thirteen additional 9-patches ready to add.

My self-imposed goal is to have this completed before the end of the year. 

It is definitely doable.

To see my inspiration for this quilt and the very beginning, click here.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Holiday Mish-Mash

Such a plethora of diverse activities have been going on around here. Instead of building a short post attempting to bring them all together somehow, let's just go with the idea that the "deadline" of Christmas brings all manner of little tasks that need doing, and somehow we get them all done. And we manage to include some down time, fun time and memories.

We did some cat-sitting this past week for DD Erin and her husband Jeff while they were away at his parents' for Christmas. These two, Betty and Rocky, have been quite entertaining. They also love lap time naps, and I have been toasty warm in these recent frigid days thanks to the kitties.

I mended a pair of expensive gloves for SIL Jeff. It was a small tear from wool to leather, and I fixed with a needle and sturdy black thread.

Mom asked me to reattach this "silky" binding to a used baby blanket. With so many new babies in our family this year, I wasn't sure which child this was going to, but I did my best. These little buggers are not easy. On the upside, though, I did get to play around some with decorative stitches on my Bernina. If you don't inspect too closely, it's a passable job. 

And it ended up that it was to go to my niece Abby who was the original owner of this baby blanket; now it will be used for her 5-month old, Boone. Sweet.

On Christmas Day, DH and DD Emma and I attended the family gathering at my sister's house. What a houseful of babies and little people! The dynamics have certainly changed for us all!

Christmas Night and yesterday morning, I accomplished a 500-piece puzzle of the Amalfi Coast. Ahhh, such a pretty place. We've recorded a bunch of holiday movies, so those were playing while I puzzled. Gotta' multi-task!

I have done a bit of stitching. I have made more than enough of these 9-patches, so let the top construction begin! I am eager to show you how great it looks.

Not quite ready to take down the tree just yet. I enjoy a quiet morning with coffee in my new mug - thank you, Sharon, for the gift! It holds a lot!!

Today the kitties go home, which means we get to see Cate this afternoon! DD Erin send this sweet photo this morning of the happy girl. Looks like she's a morning person!

Tomorrow morning I will have a special breakfast get together with some of the Frankfort girls, and then maybe the rest of the day can be devoted to stitching on those 9-patches. 

I hope you have had some pleasant tasks to keep your heart singing through these blessed days of Christmas!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will to men.

 

From my home and my little spot on the world wide web to your humble abode, I wish you the merriest Christmas ever. 

May the peace that Christ brings be at the very heart of your Christmas.

Christmas Eve

The big day is almost here! It seems like a good time to share some of my Christmas quilts - quilt tops, mostly.

Red and White Ohio Star

 

Roman Holiday Table Topper

Eventide made with Roman Holiday

Winter Lily

Red and White Sampler

Stars and Stepping Stones

Red and White Double Irish Chain

You can see that if it's red and white, then I consider it a Christmas quilt. Ah, so I do. 

Perhaps by next Christmas, a few of these flimsies will be quilted? I really ought to make that a goal for next year.

Have a lovely, peaceful, and calm Christmas Eve evening.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Cate's Quilt

 Baby Cate has a new quilt, and this one is staying at Grandma Jayne's house. 

Last Saturday, our daughters, granddaughter and son-in-law were here for a day of Christmas celebrating. One of our gifts to Cate was the pink single Irish Chain quilt that I recently finished up.

Erin immediately spread it out on the floor for Cate to have some time to stretch. 

Here's a full picture of the quilt, from a few weeks ago when I was finishing off the binding.

It's the sweetest little quilt. Perfectly simple in its 9-patch design. Nothing showy in its composition - just two-color blocks placed on point with setting triangles of the darker color serving as a border. Here's a post about binding the quilt. Here's a post about making the quilt - clear back in August.

Baby Cate has two granny-made quilts at her house, and now one here at ours. Finished quilts. In various stages of completion and possibly more than a few incubating in my head are several more. She will definitely not go wanting for a quilt.

Now for a weather update - the snow started last night about 10pm.Windy and absolutely frigid this morning:  -8 degrees,  25 mph winds; feels like -35. Those were the numbers when I checked at around 8am. I didn't go out to measure, but it looks like we have around 4 inches of snow. 

I am grateful for a warm house with electricity and internet, a full fridge AND a sewing machine upstairs waiting on me!

Perfect quilting weather, don't you think?

Happy Quilting, Friends!

 

Sharon's Turn

Getting our schedules to coincide has been challenging through all the hustle-bustle of the season, but Sharon and I did manage to carve out some time for a sewing day last week - and Sharon quilted on the long arm machine!

And not just one quilt -  she did two!

First, she quilted up this very cheery sunflower quilt which will be gifted to a family member for Christmas. Here are some additional pics of it.

When the sunflower quilt came off the machine, she was ready to load quilt number two. This is a flannel quilt featuring a familiar cartoon character. These are simply 6.5-inch squares sewn together in alternating order. I've never quilted a flannel quilt on my machine before, but this worked out fine...mostly. We did have some issues with tension, and it required a quick second visit the next day to finish it off. 

Sharon plans to give this quilt to her young grandson, who is a big Baby Yoda fan.

These pictures don't appear to be quilted, so apparently I took them prior to loading it on the machine. I suppose we were so preoccupied with figuring out our tension woes, and then getting it done that we didn't think to take a picture of the finished quilting. Sharon did an interesting vertical wavy line design on this, and with the geometric checkerboard look, the quilting is very effective.

So, I will be adding these two quilts to the long arm list - for record keeping purposes.

I've been reminding Sharon to get those bindings on! Sharon, are they done, yet? *smile*

Have you finished your Christmas sewing? The big day is almost here!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Mondo Bag

Missing so many days of posting was not my plan, but alas, the days lately have been full-to-brimming with Christmas preparations, parties and Baby Cate.

And very little time sewing or quilting.

 I can now reveal one gift that has been given. We Frankfort Girls had our Christmas gathering last Friday with a lovely breakfast at a quaint primitive cabin in town, and later our gift exchange at Sheryll's festive home. Sheryll's husband Bill took our picture.

In a recent post, I mentioned some secret sewing I'd been doing. No longer a secret, I was making a Mondo Bag for Becky. As the months passed since we drew names, I overheard Becky say she'd love to have a Mondo Bag. And since I happened to have a spare pattern, as well as a healthy stash of 2.50-inch squares, this was a no-brainer!

The squares I used were all Becky's! We had a 2.5-inch square exchange earlier and as luck would have it, I got Becky's - what a coincidence! I stitched up a Mondo Bag for Becky with squares acquired from Becky.

 

By my calculations, this makes the 4th Mondo Bag I've made over the years. Besides one for myself, each of my daughters have one, and now Becky. When we had our family Christmas celebration here on Saturday, Emma actually used her Mondo Bag to carry gifts.

 Click here to see my first MB, and you can also read about my making the second and third.

Hopefully, I can get back to more regular posting now that the busiest of my holiday obligations are completed. I have been sewing at last and have a few more things to share.

Happy Quilting, Friends!