Recap of 2017

Quilting terms to know before reading this blog post:

• Stash--fabric that is leftover from other projects or fabric that is bought without any particular project in mind.
• Fabric in limbo--fabric that was bought for a particular project or quilt that has not been made yet. This fabric is  stored until the project is started.
• UFO--unfinished object. More specifically, this is a quilt or project that is only partially complete. More work has to be done for the UFO to be finished.
• Design wall--a place where quilters put fabric to arrange quilt pieces, compare colors, or organize completed quilt blocks. Design walls are usually made of felt, flannel, or other types of fabric that will allow cotton fabric to stick to it without pins or other fasteners.

Toward the end of each year, I like to look back at sewing and quilting projects that I completed during the previous twelve months. Another year of sewing and quilting projects is almost complete, so I am ready to review my 2017 projects. Before I continue with my year end review, I must say that my goal for 2017 was to use much of the fabric in my stash and/or my fabric in limbo. Let's see how successful I was in that endeavor.

The year began with a few small quilts. I made a tea themed quilt which used my favorite technique--paper piecing. View an earlier blog post here to see details about this quilt. This first quilt of the year did not use any of my stash fabric. I decided I wanted to use the tea cup paper pieced pattern, so I visited a fabric store to find tea themed fabric.

My next few quilts of the year were made from stash fabric that had been in a drawer for a year or so. I bought the fabric at a favorite quilt store of mine in a little town called Burnsville about 45 minutes from my home. Unfortunately, that special quilt shop has now closed. At the time, I could not resist the muted reds, taupes, and greens of one fabric line and the bright primary colors of the French Country fabrics. I wasn't sure at the time how I would use these fabrics, but it's part of the fun to pore over quilt pattern books to find the perfect pattern for specific fabrics. All of these fabrics ended up as table runners or as a table topper. 

 

Using additional fabric in my stash led to this more modern quilt featuring bright colors accented with black and white. I'll have to say that even though I started this quilt early in the year, I still only have the top of the quilt pieced. The batting, backing, and binding of the quilt have yet to be completed. Even though I enjoy piecing the top of quilts more than doing the actual quilting, I still enjoy the satisfaction of completing an entire quilt. Therefore, I rarely have UFO's around my house. I probably will not finish this quilt before the end of the year, so it will be my only UFO of 2017. You can see this partially completed quilt below on my design wall.

I took a break in my quilting for most of the summer as my husband had major surgery. His recuperation became my first priority. However, toward the end of the summer I began to sew items for a fall craft show in which I would be a vendor. This was a terrific way to use fabric from my stash. I made multiples of fabric bowls, wine totes, bird seed totes, inspirational throw pillows, and more. It was good to see my stash dwindle, but I found that I would rather work on individual quilts than multiples of small items. 

As I open the doors to my fabric storage chest, I notice a real difference in my fabric stash. In addition to all the projects I made using my stash, I also donated some of it to a quilt shop in a neighboring county. The shop made special pillows for hospice patients so my stash fabric was put to good use.

I reached my 2017 goal of using fabric in my stash, but what about that fabric in limbo--fabric I bought for a specific pattern or purpose? Well, using my fabric in limbo is a goal for 2018! Stay tuned to see how I reach this quilting goal for the new year.

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Recap for 2016

Projects Large and Small for 2016

(No payment or compensation of any kind has been received for books. patterns, fabric names, or companies mentioned in this post. All writing/opinions are my own.)

One of the things I most enjoy is making gifts from fabric. At the beginning of each year, I begin to think about the special events that will happen throughout the year. And then I have fun thinking about what I might create to celebrate a certain event. This past year brought two retirements. First, my husband retired at the end of June from United Way. He worked there for over 19 years. It was certainly a time to celebrate. Then, in December, my dear friend and former colleague, Debbie, retired from public education. Her retirement was exactly one year after my own retirement, and I wanted to commemorate her years in education in a special way.

For my husband's retirement, I wanted to make a quilt that would honor his service to United Way and the community. I decided to make a t-shirt quilt from United Way t-shirts. With the assistance of some of his colleagues, I acquired the t-shirts, and then my dear friend and fellow quilter, Judy, taught me how to stabilize the t-shirts before sewing them into the quilt. This would be my first t-shirt quilt. 

For Debbie's retirement, I decided to make four mini-quilts--one for each season. I had taken a course in paper piecing, a technique in quilting where the stitching is done on paper with the fabric underneath. The quilter can't really see the fabric or the resulting pattern until the block is completed. I know that sounds crazy--a little like Ginger Rogers doing the same dance as Fred Astaire but backwards and in high heels! However, paper piecing is very precise and lots of fun. I found several patterns for 12" quilts using the paper piecing technique in the book, Little Gems: 15 Paper-Pieced Miniature Quilts by Connie Kauffmann. I altered several of the patterns to "fit" the fabric I had chosen. Through making these mini-quilts, I learned that I really enjoy making small quilts and that I absolutely love paper piecing. Debbie and her handy husband designed and built a quilt hanger for these four mini-quilts. Visit Debbie's blog here to view their lovely display of these quilts.

Winterscape

Spring Tranquility

Summer Blooms

Autumn Days

Another large project for 2016 was a football quilt for my son-in-law. He is an avid LSU football fan, and when I saw a quilt pattern using football blocks in a quilt shop early in the year, I knew right away that a football quilt would be his Christmas gift from me. LSU colors are purple and yellow so after finding brown and white fabric for the footballs, I looked for a variety of yellow and purple fabrics for the rest of the quilt.

Quilt pattern: Touchdown by Cluck Cluck Sew patterns

It is so much fun to sew for my five year old grandson! A friend of mine, Mimi, who is a creative genius, suggested that I make a pillowcase for my grandson to commemorate each holiday for a year. I finished that project a couple of years ago, but when I visit my grandson and we end up in a fabric store (Of course, we end up in a fabric store; I love fabric!), he will find fabric he likes (usually with a superhero theme), and he'll say, "Grandma, would you make me something from this fabric?" Now, how can a grandma resist that request? My main fabric gift to him this year was an advent calendar that I made from a fabric panel. I sewed pockets to the panel where I could hide small treats for the month of December.

Dear Santa Advent Calendar fabric panel by Studio E fabrics

Then there were the smaller projects for my grandson: a tooth fairy pillow and a padded Spiderman tote bag to protect his tablet as he carries it around.

I made a fabric basket for one of my daughters. I filled it with small gifts for Christmas, and hopefully she will be able to use it to hold other things in her home throughout the year.
  

For my younger daughter, I made a couple of pillowcases from medallion fabrics since she seems to like this type of fabric shown below.

So these are some of my sewing and quilting projects for 2016. What will I make in 2017? Stay tuned to find out!

Do you like to give or receive handmade gifts? Please leave a comment and share your experiences.