New Orleans House Project

Monday, December 31, 2018

The Last Stitches of 2018

Oh December!  How quickly you passed - and how gloomy has been your weather!  Between rain and fog, I feel like I haven't seen the sun all month!

December is always a busy month at my house.  My husband and youngest son both have December birthdays, so we have celebrations beyond the usual.  Stitching takes a back seat to everything else, at least until after Christmas.  I did manage to get the binding finished on two quilts, but stitching binding is not particularly blog-worthy!

After seeing multiple Christmas-themed Burgoyne Surrounded quilts (a Secret Santa Sew Along from Temecula Quilt Company), I was inspired to make a Christmas-y BS block of my own.  Most of the fabrics are vintage prints from the late 1990s - I was so happy to use them!  This will get included in my on-going Burgoyne Surrounded RSC quilt.

I also took some time to take stock of finished and unfinished projects, as well as new quilting ideas that are clamoring for attention.  More on that in a future post.

For the last quarter of 2018, it seemed all I blogged about was finishing stalled projects.  That focus on finishing helped me wrap up lots of quilts.  I need to go back and take pictures of some of these FOs - I'm hopeful we'll have a sunny day soon so I can go outside for a photo shoot.
  1. 1.  String Star Memory Quilt.  I used the Spring Clean quilt pattern to make a memory quilt using my late father's shirts and novelty fabrics that reflected his interests and hobbies.  The finished quilt measured 90 inches x 90 inches and was long-arm quilted by Diane D. Knott.  I finished up the binding about a week before Christmas and immediately shipped it off to my mom so she could open it on Christmas Day.
  2. A Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilt begun in 2016.  Also long-arm quilted by Diane Knott.  I finished hand stitching the binding and label yesterday; I also added a hanging sleeve.
  3. Feed Sack Bags - a tote bag pattern by Joanna Figueroa.
  4. Pensacola Sailboats.  Wall-hanging size quilt made with souvenir blocks from the Pensacola Quilters' Guild Show in 1993.  Hand quilted.
  5. Red, white, and blue scrappy 16-patch and pinwheels.  Started as a Rainbow Scrap Challenge project, inspired by a Bonnie Hunter pattern.  Gifted to my uncle, a U.S. Air Force veteran.
  6. Austen Family Album, a Barbara Brackman BOW dedicated to Jane Austen.  Long-arm quilted by Cindy Braiwick.  Another large quilt, 88 inches x 88 inches.  Also needs better pictures!
The focus on finishing also got me several completed quilt tops, which will move to the "Quilting Needed" queue for 2019.
  1. Tonganoxie Nine Patch.  The nine patch blocks were from a swap sponsored by Barb Vedder at Fun with Barb.  Barb's swap included a great tutorial on making speedy nine patch blocks.
  2. (Not) Modern Crosses.  A Rainbow Scrap Challenge project, inspired by a pattern in Modern Log Cabin Quilting.  My quilt is not modern because I used reproduction fabrics.
  3. The Cow Quilt.  An on-again, off-again project started years and years ago.  The top is finished, but I haven't begun to think about how to quilt it.
  4. Flutter Wheel.  Another Rainbow Scrap Challenge project.  
  5. Grandmother's Choice, a Barbara Brackman BOW in honor of the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution.
Maybe it's a good thing we have been having gloomy weather!  What better activity for a rainy day than binge-watching a new show, or listening to an audiobook while hand-stitching binding on a quilt?  All of these are in the pile of quilts needing binding.
  1. Windblown Wishes.  Inspired by a pattern from Diane D Knott's Scrap Quilt Secrets AND long-arm quilted by Diane!
  2. English Garden.  Pattern by Kaye England from the booklet Vintage Gathering.  Quilt started in a class with Kaye, 2005.
  3. Origami Bow-Ties.  3-D Bow-Tie pattern with machine-appliqued border.
  4. Rainbow Scrap Sampler 2014.

I'm sure the last day of the year will have some stitching opportunities - there are plenty of projects to choose from!  We don't do much to celebrate New Year's Eve - a fun meal and a bottle of champagne will suffice.  Our dogs hate the noise of fireworks, so we'll probably be up at midnight to try to calm them down.  Here's to lots of fun stitching in 2019!