2011 In Review

2011 has been an amazing year in my crafting journey. I have considered myself a quilter since I finished my first quilt, but this past year, quilting has evolved from a fun hobby to a way to reduce stress, express my creativity and renew my spirit. Thank you for joining me as I continue to explore all that quilting has to offer.

Lessons Learned in 2011

·         I do not like working with templates.

·         When in doubt, start small.

·         Don’t bite off more than you can chew.

2011 Not Quite Quilts

·         Blue Pillows

·         Drawstring Bags

·         Mother’s Day Gift Bags

·         Veggie Goodie Bags

·         Floralgraphix Pillows

·         Unicorn Pillowcase

·         Forest Friends Embroidery

·         Hexagon Mug Rug

·         Christmas Gift Bags

2011 Quilts

·         Yellow Brick Road Baby Quilt #1

·         Yellow Brick Road Baby Quilt #2

·         Aqua and Red Table Topper

·         Batik Quilt

·         Evergreen Flurry Table Topper

·         Peppermint Flurry Table Topper

·         Candy Cane Flurry Table Topper

·         Buttermint Flurry Table Topper

·         Kitty Kaleidoscope Quilt

2012 Goals

·         Learn to free motion quilt

·         Finish this year’s Christmas gift bags before Christmas Eve

·         Finish WIPs from 2011

o   2011 Memory Quilt

o   2012 Memory Quilt

o   Between the Cats

o   Blueberry Pie

o   Call Me Crazy

o   Color Book

o   Scrappy Green

o   Scrappy Nine-Patch

o   Surprise table topper for my mom

o   Surprise table topper for myself

o   Valentine’s Day Quilt

o   Warm/Cool Quilt Along

Happy New Year!
UPDATE: Linking up with Fresh Sewing Day at Lily's Quilts.

Eighteenth Finish of 2011: Kitty Kaleidoscope Quilt

Oh. My. Gosh. At one point, I thought I would never finish this quilt and look! I completed it just in time for it to be my final finish of 2011! I can hardly believe it! What a great way to end 2011.

When I first heard about Don’t Call Me Betsy’s Kaleidoscope Quilt Along in June 2011, little did I know that it would be one of my biggest quilting challenges to date. The pattern was stunning and I was super excited about my first Quilt Along. After rummaging in my stash, I decided to make a twin-sized quilt in blues and purples for my daughter’s Big Girl Bed. (Although right now it’s more like mommy’s Unplanned Nap Bed, since my daughter isn’t ready for her Big Girl Bed yet.) Anyways, I had my heart set on making a bed-sized quilt in my daughter’s colors. I procrastinated starting because I had never used templates before. Thankfully, my mom loaned me her templates once she was done with the cutting. It was then that I learned an important lesson: I do not like working with templates. In fact, I loathe it. Nevertheless, I plodded through the cutting and finally made it to the piecing stage. By that point, I had read that people were having trouble getting their blocks to lie flat. Luckily, my quilting motto is “if you can’t do it, fudge it.” I pinned and pressed and sewed and didn’t worry too much about the piecing being perfect. As a result, the quilt top came together pretty well. I started machine quilting it in October, but then set it aside while I focused on Christmas presents. After Christmas, I put every possible moment of leisure time into finishing this quilt. Don't ask me what time I went to bed last night.

I am extremely pleased with how this quilt turned out. It may not have been my favorite quilt to make, but it challenged me and still came out lovely. I especially like the color combination, the unexpected designs the quilting made, and the binding. The fabric for this quilt is a smattering of Paris Cats, some Kona solids, a couple of my favorite Lizzy House prints, and some other random prints.

Seventeenth Finish of 2011: Christmas Gift Bags

Last year, I decided to wrap as many Christmas gifts as I could in fabric bags. In addition to minimizing wrapping paper waste, fabric bags are fun, personal and make any gift extra special. This year, I made over a dozen bags, but forgot to take pictures of most of them before I gave them away. For the most part, I used Flurry fabric and my version of Pink Penguin’s drawstring bag tutorial. Sadly, I’ve made so many of these bags that I tired of them early on in the holiday season and as a result, stayed up late Christmas Eve to finish the last few. One of my goals for 2012 is to finish all my Christmas gift bags before Christmas Eve. I started working on these bags in October, so next year I’ll have to start earlier than that!

Sixteenth Finish of 2011: Buttermint Flurry Table Runner

If you read A Quilter’s Table, then you have already seen the table runner that I gave my mom for Christmas. From the beginning, I knew I wanted hers to be mostly green. I struggled to fit in other Flurry fabrics that I had left from the jelly roll, but none of them seemed quite right. In the end, I cut up a coordinating fat quarter in solid white. My mom likes modern quilts, so I knew she would appreciate the simplicity of solid white. I started this quilt in December 2011 and finished it on December 23, 2011, just in time for Christmas!

Thanks for your patience while I posted four similar projects in a row. You won’t see this pattern again for awhile. I have fabric set aside to make a blue and green version for myself, but I need to take a break and do something fresh and new first.

For those who are unfamiliar with the word “Buttermint,” it is a yummy mint cookie that is a family favorite for Christmas baking.

Fifteenth Finish of 2011: Candy Cane Flurry Table Runner

When I decided to make coordinating table runners as Christmas gifts (see Evergreen Flurry and Peppermint Flurry for the first two), I wanted to use the same pattern (Box Lunch Table Runner from On a Roll Again) and same fabric line (Flurry by Kate Spain), but still make four unique quilts. As I used up the jelly roll I had bought for this purpose, it became more challenging to decide on a design I liked. Luckily, after much mixing and matching of fabrics, I settled on a red-and-white-ish candy cane theme for my mother-in-law’s table runner. Again, this pattern lends itself better to more scrappiness than this, but I am very happy with the final product. I especially like the diagonal quilting, just like a candy cane!

Candy Cane Flurry was begun and finished in December 2011.

Fourteenth Finish of 2011: Peppermint Flurry Table Runner

After finishing the Evergreen Flurry Table Runner, I was anxious to start on the next Christmas present, which was for my grandmother. I knew I wanted to use the poinsettia/bird fabric, as my grandma likes poinsettias and birds remind her of my late grandfather.

With this table runner, I learned that this pattern (Box Lunch Table Runner from On a Roll Again) works best with a variety of fabrics. I spent a lot of time rearranging the blocks because they were too similar for the design I had envisioned. One evening, late at night, I threw up my hands in frustration and went with a different arrangement altogether. The next morning, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I really liked the end result. Luckily, my grandmother did, too.

Peppermint Flurry was started and completed in November 2011.

Thirteenth Finish of 2011: Evergreen Flurry Table Runner

When I finished the Two Weeks’ Notice table runner, I knew that I wanted to use the same pattern for Christmas presents for the four other women in my family. It took me awhile to find the right fabric, but find it I did: Flurry by Kate Spain. I bought a jelly roll and some coordinating solids as soon as it was released, but didn’t get started until October.

I had such fun dividing up the jelly roll strips for each table runner. The first one I tackled was for my husband’s grandmother, whose favorite color is green. The piecing went quickly, but I stalled when I realized that I had to get more basting pins in order to baste it. Once it was basted, I machine quilted it in a dense crosshatch pattern and finished it in early November. I am really pleased with the results.

Twelfth Finish of 2011: Hexagon Mug Rug

I can’t seem to get enough of English paper pieced hexagons. I haven’t made a large project with them yet, but the small projects just keep on coming. Whenever I make hexies, I make more than I need for that particular project. I had quite a few left over from a hexagon pillow I made earlier this year, so it seemed natural to make a mug rug. I pieced the top a while ago, but only recently finished it. I gave it to my mom, who liked it. This is my first mug rug, and it's just big enough for a cup of espresso.

Eleventh Finish of 2011: Batik Quilt

Despite myself, I am really enjoying the Finish It Up! Challenge. Having two finishes in one week is rare for me. This quilt started out as a kit I received as a gift: Salt-Water Taffy by Amy Walsh/Blue Underground Studios, featuring Tonga Batiks by Timeless Treasures.

I liked the block pattern, but the placement wasn’t really doing it for me, so I changed it. I also took a few of the blocks and made a table runner for the same person that I gave this quilt to, since she loves batiks so much. I used yellow thread to machine quilt this project in a crosshatch pattern. Overall, I was pleased with the results. The recipient was even more pleased.

Tenth Finish of 2011: Aqua and Red Table Runner

Many moons ago, I made a present for a friend. I actually started this aqua and red table runner for her first, decided she needed blue pillows instead, and then decided she needed the table runner after all. The design was dictated by the scraps I had to start with: 2.5” strips of various aqua fabrics. I added some white and two different red polka dot fabrics. The quilting is a simple crosshatch done by machine. I am really happy with the end result. So happy, in fact, that it warrants linking to Fresh Sewing Day at Lily's Quilts.

Ninth Finish of 2011: Yellow Brick Road #2

This weekend I finished and gifted the second baby quilt that I made from the Yellow Brick Road pattern. I love both quilts for different reasons. Oddly enough, I think my favorite part of this quilt is the binding, which is Kona solid in Kiwi. It is such a bright, happy color! I love how it pops against the purple. I’m glad I have some left over to include in another project. Of course, the very best part of this quilt was giving it away. I’m happy that it will be used and loved by a friend’s baby.

Eighth Finish of 2011: Forest Friends Embroidery

I’m a rather domestic person in general, but while I was pregnant, my nesting urges took an unexpected turn. Suddenly, I wanted to embroider. At first, I didn't know what I wanted to embroider, just that I wanted to. I started poking around the interwebs and stumbled upon the Forest Friends transfers from Sublime Stitching. They were the perfect for our forest themed nursery. I ordered a kit, and then promised myself that I would start stitching them once I had completed all the thank you notes for the plethora of baby gifts we had received. I didn’t finish the thank you notes until the day I checked into the hospital, so I didn’t start working on these until after my baby was born. It actually took two long road trips for me to start and complete all three pieces. I added the Spanish word for each animal, for that personal touch. I’m very happy with how they turned out, but if I were to make them again, I would do two things differently. First, I would not use variegated thread. Second, I would frame them in embroidery hoops and not in picture frames. Now I just have to think of other things to embroider forest animals on.

Seventh Finish of 2011: Yellow Brick Road #1

Years ago my mom made a series of baby quilts using the Yellow Brick Road pattern from Atkinson Designs. I liked those quilts so much that I bought the pattern and held onto it for years. Recently I was inspired to make quilts for two special babies and decided to finally use this pattern. I finished the first quilt and now it is waiting to be gifted. This was the first quilt that I machine quilted! I love the bright colors. I had saved this fabric, something or other by Lakehouse, for ages and am happy about how well it worked with the pattern I chose. I especially like the fun gingham backing and binding, which is a more recent Lakehouse fabric.

Sixth Finish of 2011: Unicorn Pillowcase

A couple of weeks ago, I finished my unicorn pillowcase. This project was more about the process than the end result. I bought the unicorn transfers from Sublime Stitching. I intended the unicorns to be nostalgic and/or ironic and they turned out on the childish side instead. As such, this pillowcase ended up in the nursery instead of on my pillow. I really enjoyed stitching it, though. As I was working on it, I learned a new stitch (chain stitch) and relearned another one (French knot). Now I have to decide what pattern I want on my next pillowcase.

Fifth Finish of 2011: Floralgraphix Pillows

I don’t know why it took me so long to get up the courage to make pillows! After making a few, I find them to be quick and easy projects. For me, the most challenging part is making sure the cover fits the pillow form. For some reason, the pillows forms that I buy are not true to size.

After making a hexagon pillow for a friend, I knew I had to make one for myself. I’ve heard of people getting burnt out on English paper pieced hexagons, but this is my third (small) hexagon project and I still love them. To go with the hexagon pillow, I chose to make a plus pillow. I have long admired the plus quilts I have seen on the blogosphere, but have been intimidated by them. I thought that I couldn’t make one for myself since I don’t have a design wall where I can plan the fabric placement. I am very happy with how my pillow turned out, but am not sure that I would make a plus quilt, still due to the lack of design wall.

The fabric for both these fabrics is one of Jason Yenter’s Floralgraphix lines, for In the Beginning Fabrics, plus one Tula Pink fabric that coordinates well. My mom made me a diamond quilt and then gave me the scraps. It lives on the banister in our living room and I felt it needed a couple pillows to keep it company. I still have a ton of scraps left over, so maybe one day I will make a table runner to match.

Fourth Finish of 2011: Veggie Goodie Bags

My fourth finish of 2011 was completed just in the nick of time. Ever since I saw the Stitchin’ Bee Embroidery Kit from Sublime Stitching, I knew I had to throw an embroidery party. To make it extra-special, I made five goodie bags so that everyone could take their projects home in a nice little package. The fabric is Hoodie’s Collection for Blank Quilting and the pattern is my standard drawstring bag inspired by Pink Penguin. I finished them Thursday night and the party was on Saturday. I forgot to take a picture of the contents, unfortunately, but each bag held a hoop, needle, instructions and a pillowcase. The party was incredibly fun.

Third Finish of 2011: Mother’s Day Gift Bags

A while ago I was going through my stash and found this butterfly yardage, which was perfect for the Mother’s Day gift bags that I wanted to make. I paired it with Kona solids in Artichoke and Delft and made four of them, one for each of the extra-special mothers in my life. Special thanks to my mom who taught me how to sew and inspired my love of quilting.

Second Finish of 2011: Drawstring Bags

Sometimes when I’m working on bigger projects, I will throw in a small, quick project just so that I can feel the satisfaction of a finish. A while ago, I saw a tutorial for drawstring bags over at Pink Penguin and just had to make some. I made two patchwork bags from the tutorial and loved them. Then I got the bright idea to use drawstring bags instead of wrapping paper when giving gifts. Making patchwork bags would take too long, so I adapted the pattern to suit my needs. I use 2-3 fabrics for each bag, I make them a little bigger and I developed a different technique for the casing. I made a bunch for Christmas and was very pleased with them.

I bought the fabric for these bags while on a trip to visit extended family and made the bags within a month. For me, that’s a really quick turn-around for using up fabric. Sometimes I buy fabric for a specific project and it sits around for years. The bag on the right, made from Central Park fabric, has become my embroidery bag. The bag on the left, made from Sunkissed fabric, will be used to wrap a gift.

First Finish of 2011: Blue Pillows

My first finish of 2011 was a gift that I wanted to keep for myself. When one of my dearest friends moved into her own apartment, I wanted to make something for her new place. Like so many others, I love working with English paper pieced hexagons. I thought they would be the perfect project for my third trimester when I couldn’t use my sewing machine and could only sew by hand. I underestimated how time-consuming hexagons can be. I started the hexagon pillow in October of 2010, gave birth in November 2010 and didn’t finish the hexagon pillow until January 2011. The smaller pillow I started and finished in one day.

One reason I wanted to keep these pillows is that blue is my favorite color. Also, I used scraps from three different quilts, in addition to a fat quarter from my stash. One of my favorite things about quilting is using the same fabric in multiple projects. I love how quilts are connected that way. The scraps used in these pillows came from my first large quilt, the only wedding quilt I’ve made, and a quilt that I recently gifted to a co-worker. I still have some scraps let over, too!

Neither of these pillows is from a pattern. I just made it up as I went along. I ran into a little bit of trouble because the 14” and 16” pillow forms actually measured 13” and 15” respectively. Luckily I had added borders that were wide enough to trim down, so it buffed out. My mom let me use her sewing room and mad babysitting skills so that I could finish this project sooner rather than later. Thanks, Mom!