Quilts of 2013

This year went by so quickly.  I am happy with the quilts I finished this year... even if I am closing out the year with 8 lingering projects to finish in 2014.  But lets not talk about those, I just want to look back the progress I made! 

Kept it

 Kept it

 Gave it away

 Kept it

 Kept it

 Kept it

 Gave these away

Gave it away 

Gave it away 

Gave it away 

Gave it away

 Gave it away

Kept it 

Kept it 

Gave this away

Kept it

Kept it 

Gave this away

Gave this away

Gave this away

Gave this away

So of the twenty four quilts I finished this year(two aren't pictured) I gave away fifteen and kept nine.  I think that is a decent ratio.  I know so many quilt friends that never keep a quilt.  I think I would get frustrated and quit quilting in that case.  

It was a good year, and  I'm really excited about a few things in the year to come.  

Hope you have a Happy New Year!

The Baby that Beat the Quilt

 This was the last secret baby quilt my online sewing friends and I made.  Actually it was the first, because we did them in order of due dates. Sewing friend April had her baby Christmas Day.  The secret baby quilt we made is out for delivery today.  

My sister in law Rebecca assembled the blocks we sent her.  She was gearing up to quilt it and her machine became ill and had to be admitted to the repair shop.  So since I had finished my Christmas sewing and secret sewing I offered to quilt and bind it.  She send it to me and it arrived last Thursday. UPS delivered it at 7:20 pm and I happen to be doing nothing so I hopped behind the Juki and quilted it right away.  The hubs and I wanted to watch a couple episodes of Breaking Bad and by midnight Friday I had finished hand sewing the binding.  Have I ever mentioned I work really well under pressure.  I got the quilt in the mail the next day.  Michigan however got slammed with some weather and mail has been taking way longer than normal so the quilt didn't arrive before the Christmas baby.  

Rebecca assembled these fun blocks.  I think its really interesting how much lighter the first set of boy blocks were.  I think they look really fun together.  I didn't photograph any of the individual blocks because I was racing to the post office, but I can tell you who made what.  

Starting at 12 o'clock- Dresden by Kristen

the log cabin to the right, Melissa made

the star at 3 o'clock was my block contribution

the zig-zag in the bottom right corner was by Eva

the dresden at 6 o'clock was Rebecca's block

the log cabin in the bottom left corner was made by Julie

the star at 9 o'clock was Erica's

the zig-zag in the top left was Bri's block

and Lisa once again made the postage stamp block in the middle!

My sister in law made a handy chart as the label and attached it in the patch-worked backing. 

It is an adorable quilt and I've seen a photo of the baby and he is adorable as well.  I think they will be well suited for each other.

As a side note, when my sister in law was getting ready to quilt this puppy she decided to try spray basting.... and since she ended up sending it to me, I ended up trying a spray basted quilt.  My thoughts are that it worked really nicely.  I think if I were to spray baste I would make sure I was going to quilt it right away because after being folded to be mailed I had to work hard to make sure I quilted the folds smooth and not let things pucker up.  So I don't think it would be good to spray baste, fold it up and wait to work on it.  

 It was delightful to not stop to remove pins though for sure.  I'm not sure how large a quilt I would try it on, but for smaller quilts it's ideal.  I did notice though that I had a crazy crusty lint thing stuck to the needle.  I've never had that happen before so I'm pretty sure it must have been the adhesive.  I did have trouble with the thread breaking off which is odd because I use that brand of thread all the time and never have breakage.  I'm not sure if it was the spray basting that could have caused it, or perhaps the batting since she used a blend.  Either way, I'd try spray basting in the future. 

A Christmas Snowball Quilt and Other Gifted Things

 Since Christmas gifts have been gifted I want to share this pretty snowball quilt I made for my in-laws for Christmas.  I just love Basic Grey's Christmas lines.  I made a Figgy Pudding quilt years ago and it's still cherished. So when I saw the Aspen Frost fabric I needed to buy some and make a pretty project with it. 

 I did a simple snowball with a sashing to set the balls apart.  The border, binding and backing were from my local store but I think they suit the quilt nicely.  

I made a couple of flannel blankets for those baby nieces.

I had a couple of extra snowballs laying around so I whipped up a table runner for another family that I really wanted to gift something homemade.  

And some potholders and placemats rounded out the Christmas sewing projects this year. 

It was a great year for sewing.  I'm hoping to make a little more progress with my wips before the new year.  But I still feel happy with what I've managed to get done.

A Valentine Kiss

Yesterday I pulled out this quilt top which just needed the borders attached and to be finished.  Since I've been shaken up by the number of quilts I have going I decided to really try to get this wall hanging done.  And I did. 

It feels really great to have this project finished after starting it eleven months ago.

Between getting the Tigers Squares and this Valentine's kiss quilt finished yesterday I felt really bad ass.  Of course I needed more Motrin and Icy Hot at bedtime....

I'm going to need to take it easy for a few days so my back can recover.  It's hard to sit idle though since I still have EIGHT wips left.  For reals.  I've decided my goal will be to get everything done to atleast a top asap.  Then throughout the winter and early spring hopefully I can budget backings and finish them up at a manageable rate.  

Here is my list of projects....

 My cuzco top is done and the backing is even sewn together.  Perhaps I'll baste and quilt it when my back is feeling better. 

 My Happy Go Lucky top is also finished and I have the backing purchased already.  I need to piece the backing together and get a move on with this quilt also.  I really want to send this quilt away to my long arm girl though. 

 I call this project my plums quilt, and I have several blocks assembled, with a lot more blocks left to sew. 

Same story different quilt.  I think I have 5 of these blocks sewn... and 20 more... ugg. 

 My virtual quilting bee sampler just needs to be set in squares and have the sashing added to create the top.  I started working on this today.    

My postage stamp project, which I started in early 2011, is the project that might still be a wip all year.   I just don't think I can make myself work on it.  

Not photoed is a quick layer cake quilt that I just need to sew rows together to finish the top, and a baby quilt top which just needs backing and to be finished.  So I feel confident about about 6 of the 8 projects..... I'm hoping I can get the tops assembled by the end of January... But in January I'm starting a new quilt... 

By the way, if you were adding them up.... there is one other quilt not mentioned, I finished it yesterday but it is a birthday gift so I won't be able to share until March!

A Finish

The last time I mentioned this quilt it was green and hot.  Polar opposites to today, as I finished this quilt.

 After getting about 1/3 of this quilting done in August I literally stuffed this quilt somewhere so I couldn't see it.  On purpose.  I wasn't having fun doing the quilting.   This quilt, which I've nicknamed tiger squares, was making me bitter and grumpy.

The nickname came from the navy and orange colors reminding me of the Detroit Tigers. 

 But that is besides the point.  The point is I wasn't sure how I could get myself to finish the quilting, but with a mere week before the new year, I am starting to look at my current projects and wish they could be done so I can feel a little lighter in the WIPs. Last night I made a list and found I had ELEVEN quilts in progress.  Seriously.  

So after I made the list I loaded some bobbins and finished quilting this tiger squares quilt.  And I will tell you it was rough, I had to Icy Hot my back and take some Motrin last night before bed.  Now I clearly remember why I put this quilt aside, the quilting was backbreaking.  Much more than the normal shoulder tension I might get from regular stippling.  

 Well, anyways.  I quilted it last night, and added the binding today after church.  I feel so pleased to have this quilt done.  Even if I did start it last spring, and finished it on a snowy wintry day. 

And now my Tiger's fan will have a manly- long enough quilt to favor.  

Yet Another Baby Quilt

I have made so many baby quilts this year!  No joke, I made those two secret baby quilts, quilted and bound a third secret baby quilt, made baby quilts last spring for my sister, and the hub's sister when they were expecting.... And here is the finished quilt I made for the new baby Qs, my cousin Erin is due in January.  Our sewing group made her one of the secret baby quilts, but since I am close with Erin, and I made the big sister a quilt, I wanted to make the new baby a quilt from me also.   

It is a simple pretty baby quilt.  I used a favorite pattern, gorgeous fabric from my favorite fabric designers, and I truly hope the new baby Q's will enjoy it.  

A New Favorite

 When I started this quilt for my cousin Jessica, I knew the fabrics were pretty, and it would probably end up looking nice.  

But, I had no idea how stunning it would turn out.  

It is a beautiful quilt.  I'm very pleased with the pattern and my work. 

This was a super fast quilt.  It took me one week from cutting to completion.  

When Jess and I were planning the quilt I told her I would pick a binding out once the top was done, but near the end of the top assembly I thought I should do a pieced binding with the leftover turquoise and coral prints.  I'm so in love with this binding!  Sometimes I'm a genius!

The Other Secret Quilt

Finally I can share the other secret baby quilt that I had been working on recently.  The mailman had me sweating a bit, as it took a couple of extra days, but finally it has been gifted and the secrets are over.  Thank goodness because I'm not so great with secrets. 

 This quilt was made for the baby my cousin Erin is expecting in January.  Our sewing group only made one girl quilt, and even though it's bright, it's just so much softer than the boy quilts.  The tan sashing makes me happy, but the quilt gets a jolt of girlishness with the pink border.  I just love the effect.

As for the blocks, here are the close up views.   

This is a star block made by Erica.

This star block was made by Rebecca.

This dresden I put together.

Jamie made this dresden block.

Erin's close friend Julie made this block.

This log cabin was made by Melissa

Briana made this zig-zag

This zig-zag was Eva's

and finally, Lisa made the postage stamp.

 For the backing I decided on a large scale floral print in girly colors, it isn't very childish, but I tend to do that when I make baby quilts, I'm not sure why.

We really hope the expecting mama will enjoy this quilt and her new baby too of course!