Looking Back 2013 - Part 2

Thanks for all your feedback from Part 1! It's so much fun looking back and even more so when others join in! So 13 quilts for the first half of 2013. On to the second half...

The quilt started the day the book arrived at my doorstep ~ "Dwell" from Simply Retro
The coolest machine quilting of the year ~ Big Star {get a closer look at the quilting here}
Winner for the best appliqué of the year {and only appliqué of the year} ~ Flowering Vine by Denyse Schmidt
The quilt that left me starstruck when Heather Bailey "liked" it on Instagram ~ Color Wheel for my budding artist granddaughter, Elyse
My Charm Pack quilt of the year ~ Nine-Patch/Snowball using "Happy Go Lucky"

My very first paper-pieced quilt {ever} ~ Lone Starburst in Field Study

My Garden Fence quilt of the year {my 3rd total} ~ also know as Garden Lattice from Simply Modern Christmas
Truly a winner ~ my St Louis Modern Quilt Guild Ohio Star challenge quilt

The most challenging quilt to design ~ Flying Geese, blocks made by my Redbird Bee friends

The quilt with the most Y-seams {like every single one} ~ Bangles from Hand Quilted With Love
The quilt made with the ruler designed by one of the funniest, nicest and most generous designers in the industry {oh, and talented too} ~ Tumbler aka Crumbler

The quilt that made me break my 2013 resolution not to join any quilt-alongs ~ Round and Round
The quilt made with fabric {Florence} bought on a whim ~ On A Whim
The top that sat the longest unquilted {maybe the whole year?} ~ Superstar from The Practical Guide to Patchwork
My mini of the year ~ Mini "Skirted" from Simply Modern Christmas

Thanks so much to all of you for traveling this road with me! You know I read many of your blogs and enjoy all of your comments. You truly are an inspiration to me and I appreciate your encouraging words. Thank you!

And I'm not done yet! My head has been spinning with new quilts and ideas for 2014. I'll be back soon to share some of those. Until then Happy New Year and I can't tell you how much I look forward to hanging out with you here again next year!

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Looking Back 2013 ~ Part 1

Tis the season. The time to look back and reflect on the past year. Here are my quilts from 2013~

The largest single block of the year at 61" x 63" ~ Courthouse Steps
The cuddliest quilt ~ AMH Flannel Hexagons, backed in voile with no batting
The "friendliest" quilt for 2013 ~ my Redbird Bee quilt

The quilt that's been repeated the most ~ Starburst
The biggest stretch of a traditional design ~ oversize Trip Off the World
The most excited I was about a fabric line this year ~ Dilly Dally in Flea Market Fancy

The quilt that made me smile the most ~ Big Hugs Little Kisses for my new baby grandson, Sam
My biggest {permanent} goof of the year ~ Candy Necklace

My biggest stash buster for 2013 ~ modern Log Cabin
My favorite quilt to make {by far} ~ Marcelle Medallion

The quilt whose fabrics have been in my stash the longest ~ Hourglass with pieces from every Amy Butler collection

The most unplanned quilt ~ Nine Block Sampler designed and created one block at a time
The biggest Starburst ~ I added extra rows for a lap size quilt!

I'll be back in a day or two to finish up the year!!

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Fresh

I have one more quilt to share for 2013! This is Fresh from the book Simply Retro...

The color palette came from an Art Gallery collection called Reminisce and per usual I added some stash fabrics. I so love the colors and the scrappiness.

Whoops! I cut too many triangles and they ended up in a strip on the back with the floral from Reminisce and the hexagon print from Simply Style.

I had this one longarm quilted and the quilting is perfect - just beautiful. There are feathers in the star points and a curvy geometric pattern in the white. A really nice density... creating a lovely drape.

Last night we got to sleep under it. And we woke up refreshed and happy. So I guess it's a working quilt!

As we head into the holiday week, I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas. I hope your week is filled with friends, family, presents, good food and many blessings. As always thank you for visiting my little space on the web. I'll be back after Christmas with a 2013 wrap-up and plans for the new year. All the best!!

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Round and Round

I'm finding Instagram quite addictive. It's just so simple to connect with other quilters, see what they're working on and share ideas. The problem is that it makes you want to make every beautiful quilt that you see! The Round and Round quilt-along was a perfect example.

I was intrigued by this pattern and wanted to try it when it was first released. One of those sitting in the back of your mind {along with many others}. When Camille announced she was hosting a quilt-along, I was in. I chose a background other than my usual white - a minty, aqua-y, blue/green solid from Moda Bella called Breeze. I really love this color...

For the quilting, I tried concentric circles for the first time. I've done swirls before, but wanted to try this look where the swirls look like they're sitting on top of one another. Armed with Angela Walter's book by my side, I gave it a go. Definitely time-consuming, but very doable!

The backing is that nice blue/green dot from Scrumptious and I love how the Metro Circles in navy set off the quilt as binding.

I thought this would be my final finish for 2013, but I should get one more binding on. So hopefully one more before heading into the list for 2014. {And maybe a little wrap-up post of all my quilts from 2013?}...

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Superstar

My second to last quilt finish for the year! This quilt is Superstar, pattern in The Practical Guide to Patchwork by Elizabeth Hartman.

I can't even remember when I started this one. I've been working on it here and there for the past year I'm sure. Then it sat as a top for months. I really couldn't come up with a way to quilt it.

And some things just need to evolve. The one block with the gray background... that was a spur of the moment addition. Oh, and the green too. Added that in when I made the last 3 blocks.

As it turned out the quilting couldn't have been easier! I used my walking foot and sewed organic {not straight} lines. Man, did that go quick! And finally the perfect diagonal stripe binding.

One more coming for sure... and I may eek in one more binding. We'll see!

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A new WIP for WIP Wednesday

How about a sneak peek of what I've been up to? There's been some new fabric sitting in the sewing studio - taunting me as I work to compete my to-do list for 2013. And I couldn't resist any longer...

I was a lucky girl and picked up the only bundle of "Color Me Happy" by Vanessa Christenson that my local quilt shop owners brought home from Market. The prints are beautiful and I've combined some of them with some stash fabric in a blue/green color combo...

The block is from a pattern by Fig Tree & Co. called Nutmeg Stars...

I enlarged it a bit and mine is a little over 13"...

They've been super fun to make...

Linking up today with WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced!

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On A Whim

As I mentioned in my WIP Wednesday post, I'm trying to start 2014 with a clean quilting slate. Three tops to quilt - one down.

On A Whim is a great pattern from Thimbleblossoms. And it was the perfect quilt to make when I bought a FQ bundle of Denyse Schmidt's Florence line on a whim {you know, one of those impulse buys!}. There are some beautiful versions of On A Whim out there in cyberspace! And here's mine...

The solid is a Moda Bella - Dusty Jade - and seems to blend perfectly with Florence.

This is a big quilt for me... 72" x 87". Since there was such contrast in the fabrics, going from white to that dark charcoal gray, I really wanted custom quilting with plenty of thread color changes.

So despite the size, I decided to quilt it myself, all free-motion and I'm super pleased at the way it turned out! I started with the white areas, just going back and forth to fill in the space. I came up with this design for the colored portions of the block that I was able to quilt in one continuous line. I thought of doing feathers in the on-point solid square, but thought it may look too traditional, and ended up with squiggly lines giving it tons of texture.

The back is a pretty Florence print that echoes the jade green solid.

My husband has claimed this quilt because of the size. His napping quilt is probably 15 years old, so I think he's due!

Mmmm... maybe I should start more quilts on a whim!

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WIP Wednesday

Today I'm guest hosting at Freshly Pieced! I've been a busy sewer, between holiday projects and finishing up some 2013 projects! Visit Freshly Pieced WIP Wednesday to see what I've been up to!

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