Quilts of 2014

I am really pleased with the change I've made with my WIP habit.  This year I finally got a handle on things, and have kept things in check!  No more lists of wips.  I have one or two TOPS, and it feels great!

That being said I did finish way too many quilts this year.  In 2015 I'll be single parenting for half of the year, so this won't happen again.

Here they are....

april showers wall hanging- gave it away

quilty fun christmas- kept it (but I'm thinking of giving it away because I don't need two december wall hangings...... do you want it?)

lions touchdown-kept it

 baby A quilt- gave it away

baby L quilt- gave it away

a picnic quilt- gave it away

blueberry sampler- gave it away

economy i-spy- gave it away

cuzco disappearing nine patch- gave it away

buttercup dresdens- gave it away

christmas queen- kept it

mystery bom- kept it

 frozen- gave it away

happy go lucky- kept it

happy go lucky wallhanging- kept it

herringbone- gave it away

honeysweet hourglass- gave it away

toddler i-spy- gave it away

juggling summer- kept it

a wedding gift- gave it away

a wedding gift- gave it away

low volume- kept it

honeysweet queen- kept it

postage stamp- gave it away

baby O quilt- gave it away

mod pop-kept it

marmalade- kept it

radiant star- kept it

scrumptious- kept it

baby S quilt- gave it away

space quilt- kept it

star spangled- kept it

spring quickie- gave it away

dresdens- gave it away

swoon- gave it away-

mini lions touchdown-kept it

Not shown here are three group baby quilts which I pieced the tops and finished.  Which brings my quilts for the year to a hefty thirty-nine.  Twenty three of them were gifted though, so at least I didn't hoard them all.  

Next year I have specific goals...ready

* make a cheddar snail trail

*  work on the snapshot BOM

* make my son a new twin quilt

* empty my scrap strips bin

The last goal is the most important.  I have a string quilt started, so I plan to finish that.  Also, I want to make a scrappy pineapple quilt, a scrappy double or triple Irish chain, and possibly a scrappy spiderweb quilt.  

Whatever it takes to bust that bin of scraps.
That might be an impossible mission I have set for 2015.

  

Swoon

 

I finished my swoon recently, but since our motherboard died unexpectedly I wasn't able to post photos.  Our new computer arrived on Christmas Eve so we slapped a bow on it and waited until this morning to crack it open and fire 'er up. 

 

 

I took photos on a very windy overcast day and they aren't great.  Now looking at this photo I really wish we had found time to re-stain the deck...... poo. Oh Well.

 

 

 

I bought these fabrics last summer while on a shopping trip with friends.  Cutting and assembly was lengthy.  By the time I had the blocks together I needed a break, so I set it aside for a little while.  Finally I had a burst of motivation to get it done and it was very quickly put together.

 

 

 

For the backing I picked a bright pink, and I went with a bold blue binding. 

I did simple straight line quilting which I love. 

The quilt is a gift for my sister.  I have it wrapped and ready to ship. 

 



Touchdown Lions

 The Hubs doesn't check my blog very often.... maybe nearly never.  Just in-case I wanted to wait to share this finished quilt until after Christmas.  We are going out of town so we opened some larger gifts early this year, including this quilt.  Now that it is gifted.... here it is.

Despite a slow start this quilt was easy to make, and almost fun as well.   

I must admit though.....

During especially bad seasons ( 2008) I have begged my husband not to wear Lions shirts in public.  He gets mocked.  Often.  It was embarrassing to be married to a loyal fan of such a terrible team.  I guess I am more of a fair-weather fan....but I'm not really a fan of anything besides men's Olympic swimming.  Anyhow..... I guess I appreciate his dedication and his unfailing support.  And now that the Lions don't suck as much, it's easier...... except for the back and forth juvenile shenanigans that go on between the hubs and our Bears fan of a neighbor across the street.

Making this quilt is a tribute to my husband's dedication and unfickleness (which is also helpful in marriage).

After finishing this quilt I was so relieved!  I went to my cabinet of wips and precuts intending to grab a charm pack and play around..... but I saw the bin of leftover pieces from this quilt.  Upon further investigation I realized I had TONs leftover and could probably make more footballs.  I ended up making 9 more footballs with the leftovers with only a couple of pieces needing to be cut from my plentiful fabric leftovers.  So right now I actually have a smaller version of this quilt in my machine being quilted.  I'm hoping to get it finished before Friday which will be the day spent packing our sleigh up for our trip east to the mitten.  If I get the small "two point conversion"(hardee-har-har-har  I'm hilarious right?) finished it will be my thirty-ninth for the year, and the absolute last of 2014.   I finished my Swoon (#thirty-eight) the other day and took photos but our motherboard died on our PC and blogging from a tablet isn't too fun.  When I get to my mom's this weekend I will share, and do an end of year quilt wrap up.  I LOVE thinking about it!

Leaving the Year WIP Free

Besides my scrappy string quilt this was the only project in my cabinet.  

Ran to get backing and binding early yesterday.(They had just opened)

Pieced the backing and basted it before lunch( The Hubs is the BEST basting partner)

Took 6 bobbins of quilting.(that is a lot for straight stitching)

Watched 7 episodes of Gilmore Girls.(I wanna be a gilmore girl)

Went through 2 fun sized bags of M&M and 4 Cinnamon Fire Jolly Ranchers.

(but made a healthy dinner)

It is now quilted.  

Binding is attached.(Booya!) 

Need to get a blue thread to close it.(Running to HoLo today after karate)

 Positive I will be getting this quilt FINISHED very soon! (will share good photos asap)

over and out

-T

Quilty Fun Christmas

 Last night I finished stitching the binding on this fun little quilt.

I hung it up immediately.  

Weeks ago Lori Holt started this quilt along, and I am so happy that I carved out time to sew along.  I really needed that.  I was having so much trouble finding time to sew with the new school year and the chaos of trips to Michigan.  

 The only thing that bugs me is that this star doesn't show up in photos of the whole quilt.  It's not fair.  

I picked up a snowman backing at HoLo then found out the tag was a snowman!  How perfect.  I love this sweet quilt.

Other Christmas sewing has been completed lately.  A couple of runners, a quilt or two, and this adorable pouch.

Now that I have wrapped up the Christmas tasks, I am working on a mini Lions quilt for the monster using the leftovers from the hubs' quilt.  It's not a surprise to the kiddo, but I have to work on it while my husband is at work or out of the house so I don't ruin the surprise of his quilt. 

 I've also set my sights on finishing up my Swoon quilt.  Hopefully I can get it done before the new year.  I managed to get the top fully assembled this afternoon, and will head to the fabric store tomorrow to find a backing and binding.  It would be so nice to get that wrapped up.  I finished a ton of 2013 WIPS this year and it would be great to start with a clean slate. 

**fingers crossed**