I hope you have some fun sewing today and that your year is wonderful!
Happy New Year!
Author: JayeL
Quiltmaker who enjoys writing and frozen chocolate covered bananas.
2018 Year in Review
Number of 2018 Blog Posts: 348
Number of yards of fabric used this year: 191.32 (84. 32 net)
Quilt Projects
- BAM Color Round Robin – finished 10/10/2018
- En Provence Quilt – finished 3/22/2018
- Fabric of the Year 2016 – finished 5/11/2018
- Mostly Manor Lozenge Quilt -finished 1/1/2018
- Octagon 9 Patch – finished 10/9/2018
- Planned Improv – finished 3/2018
- Sealife Quilt-let – finished
- Ta Dots & Stripes – finished 3/2018
- Triple Star – finished 4/2018
Finished 2018 Non-Quilt Projects
- YM’s hat – finished and sent
- Classmate Bag for Swap – finished 11/24/2018
- Cowl – finished and presented
- EPP Travel pouch gift
- Flapper Apron for me – finished
- Hansel and Gretel dolls and accessories for my little niece.
- Le Cafe pillowcase for my sister for Christmas
- Merit Hexie pillow cover – finished 4/4/2018
- Roadtrip Bag – finished 3/2018
- My new Sew Together Bag – finished 3/18/2018
- SIL #3’s Sew Together Bag – finished 3/23/2018
- SIL #2’s Sew Together Bag – finished 3/20/2018
- Sewing Machine Mat – finished 5/25/2018
- Superhero(ine) Apron – finished 3/25/2018
- Thanksgiving Tablemat – finished 10/4/2018
- Tool Tote – finished 8/5/2018
- Undercover Maker Mat – finished 10/30/2018
- Walking Foot WOW pillow cover – finished 3/24/2018
- Zip Away Organizer – finished 3/31/2018
I always want to do more, but am pretty pleased with what I have accomplished.
All 2018 Donation Quilts
I really enjoyed writing last year’s post on all the donation quilts I made. It was fun to look back at the variety of projects and collaborations.
Tim quilted this Terrain quilt. SIL and I started it at the retreat.
I finished the Mostly Manor HST quilt and gave it to Tim to quilt right at the beginning of February.
After finishing a few quilts early in the year, I some of the ends left from trimming. I found a piece of Bonnie & Camille taupe and used it to make this third Ends Donation Quilt. It really is a quick way to make a donation quilt, assuming you have a large enough piece of background. I like the effect, too.
There was enough of the taupe left as well as plenty of ends, so I made another one.
I decided that I would donate the quilt top from the Libs Elliott class to the guild’s efforts. I gave it in at the April meeting and didn’t provide a back or anything. Very lazy, but someone else will deal with it.
This is another Ends donation quilt
I made a spiky block out of the blue-green 16 patches I made last year, which I, then, turned into a small quilt.
I made these blocks and Joelle made a few more blocks and the quilt.
This is the second Spiky Stars donation quilt.
Cyndi did a great job quilting and binding the Ends n.4 donation quilt. I love the binding she chose.
Ends Donation top n.5
Dots Donation top
Red & Turquoise Column Donation top
I didn’t make the blocks for this quilt. Peggy brought the kits. Someone else made the blocks and someone else will quilt it. I just put the blocks together.
I put together another Ends donation (n.6) top and back made from the Octagon 9 Patch trimmings.
This is a good effort. 14 donation tops is a number of which I can be proud.
All 2018 Donation Blocks
Last year’s post was a great wrap-up, so I decided to do it again. While you have seen all the blocks I have made throughout the year, it is nice to have them all in one place. Not all of them ended up in a quilt that I made or even one quilt. My blocks ended up in a lot of guild quilts and that makes me happy.
Total: 115 donation blocks
Gift Post #3: Le Cafe Pillowcase
I made some Le Cafe pillowcases for my sister awhile ago. In October, I was rummaging through the fabric on my ironing board and I found some more Le Cafe fabric. I didn’t remember why I didn’t use these the first time around, but I decided to make her one more pillowcase for Christmas this year. I made it really fast and it looks good.
There isn’t as much contrast with this one as with the others, but it is still nice looking.
Gift Post #2: Sewing Machine Mat
You might remember this mat from back in May?
I gave it to Gerre for Christmas so she can use it for retreats. I sent it to her the week before I went to Portland. I made her wait until Christmas to open it, though I really had no control. She told me she really likes it and that makes me happy.
Sadly, the photo (above) is the best photo I have of the mat. I’ll try and take a better one when I see it at Sew Day.
Gift Post #1: Apron n.1
I made this apron back in September. I couldn’t show it because it was a gift for one of my SILs.
I cut 5 aprons out at Sew Day. You know I love to cut things out on Sew Day. I cut it out in August and thought it would be hard to get them sewn for Christmas. Over Labor Day, instead of making the binding and sleeve for the Aqua-Red Sampler, I finished one of the aprons.
I was so pleased that I got one done. One down four to go.
I used the Flapper Apron pattern I bought in Portland with Amanda. I like this bias pattern and the fact that a person can make it with one yard of fabric. I make mine with a yard and a quarter, because a yard and a quarter folds into a square and it is always good to have a little extra. 😉
All of them will be two sided. These fabrics don’t necessarily go together, but it is hard to find something that goes with Cal fabric. I decided to make a two sided apron that had two personalities. When wearing it people won’t really see the other side from the front. Of course, other people will see the other fabric on the ties.
More Juggling Balls
I finally got one whole juggling ball to the point where I can stuff it close it.
I didn’t use the same method of basting I use with the half hexies. I only basted through the fabric, not through the paper. This was recommended by the All Points Patchwork author, Diane Gilleland. It doesn’t feel as secure to me, but so far so good.
The next step is to remove the papers, turn it inside out and stuff it.
As mentioned, I had to take all of the papers out before I left Portland, because the ball, as shown right, would have certainly been squished. I’d like to use those papers again.
Handwork Week
As you may have noticed, I have spent a lot of time this week talking about handwork. That’s because I have been doing handwork. I had to drive to Portland (1468 miles there and back) at sort of the last minute to be with the YM while he had a second surgery on his ankle. I’ll spare you the close-up of the stitches and previous scar.
I did a few things while I was there, but no major sightseeing or anything. I spent a lot of time sitting around while he slept and making sure he had enough to eat. I did manage to visit a couple of my favorite quilt stores- one in Portland and one in Ferndale.
I have been to Pioneer Quilts and Stitch before. I was able to visit both because I grabbed the opportunities when they presented themselves. I really like both of those stores. Pioneer Quilts has a wide selection of fabrics, but they also have the biggest selection of wool felt and patterns to go with the wool felt that I ever seen. I don’t need any more handwork projects, but I couldn’t resist these eggs. Aren’t they fantastic?
Most of my gifts were finished and you will see them in the next few days after they are opened. Anything I had planned to do this week, the DH had to take care of: gift purchases, wrapping, shopping for dessert ingredients, tidying, etc. It is kind of nice to sit around. I feel a bit guilty, because I feel like I should be doing something. He did a great job and finished up some of the shopping, etc. yesterday.
I have been listening to books and podcasts while I drive and sit around. I got caught up on the QuiltFiction podcast. I am really appreciative of the sensitive way Frances is handling major themes such as race and independent women. I am seriously behind on other podcasts, because all I seem to do is listen to books. Recently I have finished all the books in a series. The author has several series that are related to the main series, which is really interesting. I am all about character development, so these multiple series, with their overlapping characters give me more of an opportunity to’ engage’ with the characters. I recommend:
- New York Dead by Stuart Woods – this is the first in the Stone Barrington series. I actually read one in the middle of the series. I thought I would go back and just read the first one, but I ended up reading the entire series. Not every book in the series is great, but they are not too obviously formulaic and are very entertaining. This particular book is very good.
- Smooth Operator by Stuart Woods
- The Money Shot by Stuart Woods
None of these are great literature, but if you are looking for escapist entertainment, these are your books.
By the time you read this, I should be home and will have to dive into pie making.
Pentagon Juggling Balls
I am absurdly pleased with how these halves came out. Some parts of sewing them into a 3D shape were not easy, but not too difficult either.
As mentioned, I used a mini-charm pack so the backs don’t look as tidy as my half hexies do. I don’t care. I am using pretty supplies I have. I also had no time to pick out fabric and cut small pieces, so the mini-charm pack worked well.
New Scarf
“New” is a little bit of an exaggeration. I have been working on it on and off since I was in Sisters. I finally got it right and am much happier with the result.
As is my process, I have already ripped the piece out several times. I finally realized that I didn’t like the weave. I was at my first knitting circle (local shop allows people to come in and free-knit once a week) and I talked to some of the ladies about it. I asked about going down a needle size or two. One said to knit a swatch. Since I don’t usually knit with a pattern, I have never knitted a swatch. I decided to do it with one needle size down. I wasn’t sure what to expect and ended up really liking the result.
Now that I have made some progress, I think this was a good choice. I always use the suggested needle size on the yarn wrapper. It worked okay this time; just not for me.
I also reduced the number of cast-on stitches, which I also think was a good choice. The image above shows the two bits of knitting. The top piece is the first piece I worked on using size 5 needles with 50 stitches cast on. The bottom piece is the piece on which I am working now. I cast on 45 stitches and am using size 4 needles.
Aside from the size, because of the differences in cast on stitches, I don’t see a difference in the weave of the fabric. I noticed that the top piece was much looser (more holes) as I was working on it. Seeing them together makes me wonder if the change was worth the effort.
I am not sure what I was expecting, but it is surprising how well the smaller needles work. I love the small needles.
Pentagon Balls
After writing the recent EPP book review, I saw my DH trying to teach my niece to juggle. Since then DH has started to practice juggling again. He used to be able to juggle pins with a friend. He doesn’t have many hobbies, so I am glad he is doing this.
All Points Patchwork has a pattern/guidelines for EPP balls using pentagon shaped papers. I bought some pentagon papers, grabbed a mini-charm pack and decided to start on some juggling balls for my niece. I plan to put some Beanie Baby pellets inside when I stuff them in order to give them a little weight.
I plan to make a bag for storage. I’d love to have them done by Christmas, but that is a little ambitious. We’ll see.
Paper Wreaths with Friends
I spent a happy evening with friends, catching up and solving the world’s problems. As an added bonus one of them wanted to learn to make paper wreaths. She had found another tutorial (not mine!) and brought paper.
I love making these paper wreaths as they look so impressive. I want to enter another in the fair, but the large one has been entered twice. The judges commented that they had seen it before. Thus, I decided to make a series of small ones. Either I will make a mobile or some kind of wall sculpture. Not sure yet.
It was fun to work with my friends, share paper and tools as well as give them the tips and tricks I have learned.
Last FOTY 2018?
This particular grouping looks really nice together – the attraction of a fabric line, I suppose.
My quiltmaking supplies and tools are put away while I care for the YM, so this may be the last group of patches for FOTY 2018. There are still a few days until the end of the year, so we will see.
Last Spiky 16 Patch
It’s the last one for this quilt. I will make these again, though I may need to vary my colors. I can’t say I am sick of turquoise, but I might be in this pattern.