Let's put a bow on it!

 Hello all, and welcome to my 2023 year-end roundup! This is, as always, inspired by Cheryl at Meadow Mist Designs. If you are new here, welcome! If you've been following along this year, many thanks. I'm extremely grateful that you've hung around through all the drama this year. It has been the best of times and the worst of times, in the sewing room and out. A health crisis, a family crisis, and a brand new roof that leaked all made this year extra challenging, but there was also a lot of happiness and some fun quilty stuff. Come on along as we take a look back. . .

(Clicking on the captions will take you to that post.)

 

Scraps all day

 

2023 was quite challenging, but I did manage to finish up 17 quilts, including one I haven't shown off yet, along with 6 tops, a whole bunch of blocks, and a number of other quilty projects, like table toppers and bags or hot pads. My biggest accomplishment, though, is that I now have four (four!) empty project boxes. Nobody tell the fabric or we all know what will happen! Other than that, here are some of the high points from the year:

 

Most comforting quilt

Comfort twice over

 

I made this quilt top in a very sad time for me, and this year it got quilted up and given to the sister of a friend of mine. This is from the Solstice Sampler, a project run for several years now by Amber at Alderwood Studio. (Pattern for the whole sampler no longer available, sadly.) This was such a good project, and my friend's sister loves the quilt. A comforting win all around!

Most creative project

Neighborhood table

 

Earlier this year, Sandra at mmmquilts offered her yearly quilt along, with an original pattern for a neighborhood of fun houses, along with trees and all kind of other things. (You can get the pattern HERE.) I looked at the pattern and didn't see a quilt but a series of fun placemats. I made six different house placemats from Sandra's pattern and we used them all summer. They held up really well and were a nice cheerful spot every day.

Most satisfying finish

Another dose of mercy

 

For the past several years Gail and friends at Quilting Gail have run the Stay at Home Round Robin, where you make a round robin quilt for yourself instead of passing it around. (Information about this year's round robin is HERE.) For the 2023 project, I challenged myself to use up a bag of coordinating scraps I had saved, and I did that. I also used up a panel I had had for a long time, finished the top, quilted and bound it, and donated the quilt to a palliative care unit. All inside of about 6 months! I am so, so happy with how this whole thing turned out.

 

I also donated a few other quilts to palliative care this year: 

 

Positively grateful, Black and blue and quilted, too

Happiest finish

Fast, fun, and bright

Baby quilts are always really happy, bright, and fun to make. This year I made a bunch of them, but this simple little quilt was one of the happiest. It didn't take long, but I gave it to an administrative assistant at work who has been very, very good to all of us for her first grandchild. She was over the moon, and later sent me a picture of the baby on the quilt. Can you get much happier than that? 

There were also a couple other bright happy baby quilts this year:

 

Jazzing up January, Beauty for a small person

The puzzle finish

 

Puzzle on the front, party on the back

 

Last year I made a quilt top to clean out my green scrap bin, and this year I quilted it with my walking foot and finished it off. This might be my favorite finish from this year just for the backing:

 

It really is a party on the back! I donated this quilt to Quilty Hugs, and I hope someone is enjoying it right now. 

 

There were, of course, many other projects, but these were among the best for this past year. It makes me feel pretty good to look back, because I was convinced that I had finished almost nothing amidst all the issues here this year.

 

Coming in 2024!

 

Quilting is my hobby, not my job, and I've learned that making goals for quilting just stresses me out and makes me tense. So I have no real goals! This year I cleaned out a lot of things (four empty project boxes!) and I guess I'll continue with that. If I cleaned everything out, though, what would I do?  I did sign up for the Dot to Dot Free Motion Quilting Challenge at Quilting is my Therapy (unbelievably, this is free!), and I'll probably make another round robin quilt, and some more baby quilts, but otherwise I just want some fun and relaxation and a respite from the rest of my hectic life.

Blue times two

This brings 2023 to a close for me! Let's wrap it up nicely and put a bow on it, and turn toward a healthier and happier new year. Here's wishing you full bobbins, unbreakable thread, even stitches, and a new year filled with peace and joy. See you when the future gets here, everyone!

 

Linking up with Cheryl's Best of 2023 linky party and maybe a few others, too.

Snowflakes

 Hi everyone! How are you doing? Friends, the last two weeks have been horrendous. Hellish, even. The less said about them, the better! I have had exactly zero time to sew anything or even think about sewing anything, but I finally escaped to the sewing room and finished something up while the roofers were banging away upstairs. Have you had a roof replaced? Good golly, the noise and the mess! And let's not even talk about the cost. . .

 

The less said the better, right? While I was taking refuge from the roofing and seriously wondering if I could nap on the cutting table, I was looking through the closet and saw today's project hanging with the other tops. Before we get to the story, here is the finished project:

 

 

Okay, it's cuter than I thought it would be. Cross hatching does work wonders, doesn't it? This is a 2-inch cross hatch, which is the perfect size for a small piece. The quilt is straight, I swear, but the edges look a little wavy in the picture because I used a wool batting, which never lies as flat as cotton. It's nice and puffy for a good texture, though.

I really don't know how old this project is. I got the blocks from somewhere at least 10 years ago, probably more. I put them together into a top a couple of years ago, and there it has hung in the closet ever since. I had so many ideas for quilting it up. It has high contrast, which for me meant quilting the darker colors separately from the white. So many ideas, none of which came to fruition. So the question when I saw it hanging there was "do I let this hang here for another winter, or do I just suck it up and finish it any way that works?" The answer was pretty obvious.

 

I grabbed a leftover piece of backing that's a map of Paris, which is awesome, a piece of leftover wool batting, and a pale blue thread and went for the cross hatch. It's easy and meditative, and since this piece was so small, about 36 inches square, it went quick. I bound it in a piece of blue that doesn't match the other blues, but after a decade, does it really matter?

As I feared, the lighter thread, which really does mostly blend all over, stands out like neon on the solid dark blue and shows every wobble. I could rip out those stitches and redo them, but I think we all know I'm not that kind of quilter, right? This is one of the reasons I used wool batting. After I wash it, I'm sure it will shrink up enough that the mistakes will just fade into the quilty crinkliness. (Is that a word?)

Hey look--it's the Eiffel Tower!

 

I'm going to use this as a winter table topper since it's more 'winter' than 'Christmas.' Honestly, though, it's just a relief to see it as a finished piece and not hanging in the closet, mocking me. It's not perfect, but I know the hubs or a four year old is going to spill gravy or ketchup on it, so it's perfectly okay with me. 

Everyone have a wonderful week! Mine is definitely looking up, as we are finishing finals and I'll be done by Friday. Okay, I'll get the grades in on Monday. Tuesday at the latest. Really. My incentive is Christmas cookies. I think that'll work, don't you?

Sharing at Finished or not Friday, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Brag About Your Beauties, and the Patchwork and Quilts linkup at Quilting, Patchwork, Applique.

Positively grateful

 Hi everyone! Well, here we are, post-Thanksgiving and heading fast for December. Does this surprise anyone else? We had a lovely, relaxed holiday with tons of good food, even though my granddaughter demanded ketchup for her turkey, and video chats with everyone after dinner. The day after Thanksgiving I ate some pie and then got a screaming migraine that lasted two days. So, you know, bad with the good.

I planned to finish up photographing today's quilts on Friday but was busy moaning in a dark room, so today is the day! These are the two quilts I made for the Positivity quilt along from our friends Preeti and Bernie. I am really happy with how they turned out, even though the quilt along ended on Labor Day and I'm really behind. Oh well! Take a look at these lovelies:

They are very different, but kind of the same, and I'm so pleased with both of them. Let's talk about them one at a time, shall we?

I was going for neutral on both of these quilts and I'm not sure I achieved it, but the hubs was quite appreciative of the green quilt. I had to put those plants in pots, you know? It added a little zing to a quilt that was essentially two colors. If you look closely, you'll see that I used the same fabric as the pots for the binding.

 

 

I quilted the green quilt in a 2-inch cross hatch using a green-brown thread. I thought it might be too dark, but it was perfect. About a quarter of the way through it occurred to me that 2 inches was a little small for the cross hatch and I could have gone bigger (and therefore faster) but I was committed so I finished it that way. It might be a little close, but I think it turned out well.

The fall leaf/ neutral quilt was super simple, just straight(ish) lines across the quilt. It was fast and satisfying. In the picture it looks like there are a few wrinkles, but I promise there are no tucks. One thing with straight lines -- when you get close to the ends of the quilt, things start to wrinkle up, no matter how well you've basted. I ended up hand basting the ends to keep it all flat. It was tedious but it worked. I bound it in a nice fall-like golden brown.

For the green quilt I used a green leaf batik backing, which looks great. The neutral quilt was more difficult, but I managed to find enough of a cream print for the back. I think it contrasts nicely with the front but still blends well.

And then finally, here they are, all in their just-washed crinkly goodness:

These two are now packed up and ready for a postal pickup to go on their way to the palliative care unit at Mercy Hospital. I'm glad to have contributed a tiny bit to someone's comfort, and I'm extra pleased that I managed to get them both completed before the end of the year. Yay me!

Hope everyone has a wonderful week. If you feel a headache coming on, I highly recommend lying down on a nice comfy piece of furniture with something nice to drink. It could get you through the week! See you in December!

Sharing at Finished or not Friday, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Brag About Your Beauties, and the Patchwork and Quilts linkup at Quilting, Patchwork, Applique.

Last of the stars

 Hi all! How have you been? I have been very, very busy. I know, who could've guessed, what with the end of the year (or at least the semester) in sight? I did manage to finish off my niece's quilt, which turned out great, but I think she should see it first, don't you? Oh, and did you realize that Thanksgiving is next week? Yikes!

Before all the panic-cooking sets in, here are the final four stars for my RSC quilt this year. I'm a little behind, but my intentions are good, and the stars are pretty. Have a look:

 

As you can see, there are more leaves. I've decided to just let them be. It's a losing battle, and they'll break down. But let's talk about these stars! Aren't they cute?

I had cut the fabrics for the last two aqua stars, so I stitched those up and I'm pretty pleased with them. I *love* the aqua one in the picture above. I also added another yellow star because I like yellow and it adds a little more sparkle. The yellow is yet another Ohio Star variation, but it's different from all the others.

My one disappointment with the stars project is that I didn't make a true Lemoyne Star. The two above are kind of approximations of a Lemoyne Star. I don't really know what happened there. I tried one way back at the beginning but totally messed it up, and then I'm pretty sure I messed up the paper pieced version, too. Maybe I'll give it one more go and replace one of the stars I don't like. They're not all winners, after all.

For the sashing, I decided on this Riley Blake fabric called Blossom, which I still have just enough of. I've used it a couple of times and I really wish I had more of it. It makes such nice backgrounds and sashing, and I'm pretty sure it's going to make a great complement to all the colors in the stars.

That's pretty much all I accomplished after I finished my niece's gift. I also made some flannel blankets for her and a bunch of other stuff. I made sure to get some beauty shots, though, so once she gets her gift I will show it off to you all. It was an adventure!

So, happy weekend, everyone. I hope you get some rest and relaxation before the big holiday. I'll leave you with what might be the best nature picture I've ever taken. My son came to visit from Maine, and I took this while waiting for him in the cell phone lot (of all places!):

Finally-- Cathy, if you're reading this, we are all thinking of you! Best wishes!

 

Sharing at soscrappy for RSC23