What a Year!

Oh my chiquita bananas! This may actually be the best Thank Goodness It’s Finished Friday of the entire year! This is my last TGIFF of my first year of quilting. Tomorrow will be my one year blogiversary, so it is only fitting that today I spend TGIFF looking back at the nine quilts I finished. Um, hold up. Yes, I said hold the freak up. Nine?! When did that happen? Somewhere in between the last three hundred and sixty-five days is when. I don’t know how I actually got that business done, except to say, I have been hot to trot and ready to go sew!

Quilt One – Walking on Sunshine

I made this quilt for Grandma Sparkles as a complete surprise! She thought I was making a quilt for a friend until this showed up on her doorstep. I heard rumors there were tears, and she snuggles underneath it every night. It was also the quilt that taught me basic sewing and cutting skills, and well, got me all hung up about the whole shebang (<–lyrical reference).

Quilt Two – Um, Okay

This was the quilt I was actually making for that friend I told Grandma Sparkles about. Except, my friend thought I was making it for Grandma Sparkles. Oh, I am snea-kay like that! Said friend, LacyJ, is a pink and yellow fiend, so this was right up her alley. It’a queen size, and I straight line quilted it myself–my shoulders hurt just thinking about it! I used the yellow scraps from the first quilt, so I was a scrap queen even then! You’ll also notice there’s some pink broken herringbone fabric from Violet Craft’s Madrona Road line. My quilting history is all coming full circle, isn’t it?

Quilt Three – Rainbow Baby

My third quilt was my first baby quilt. It was also the first time I used a jelly-roll precut, which is American Jane’s Pezzy Print line. You’ll notice this is also my first exploration of rainbows in quilts, but not the first time in life! Heavens, no! This was assembled, quilted, and bound in two days. 

Quilt Four – Collecting Memories

Collecting Memories was technically the first quilt I started, but it was the fourth finish. I made this quilt with Grandma Sparkles: she sewed, while I designed, selected fabric, ironed, and sliced it all up. I titled it Collecting Memories because I purposefully set about to have a shared experience with Grandma Sparkles that I could cherish forever. Serendipitously, it turned out to resemble the pensieve from Harry Potter, which is also used to collect memories. What an ironic accident. I pretty much keep this quilt on my bed year round. Wouldn’t you?

Quilt Five – Tender Heart

This was the first mini-quilt I made and I used my String Piecing Without a Foundation tutorial. I was exploring more negative space in quilts, especially to balance out the business of all those patterned strings. At the time I was obsessed with baby blue and blood orange, and a mini-quilt was a great way to get that out of my system. I did abstract, triple-straight-line quilting, that didn’t turn out completely perfect, but served as a learning moment.

Quilt Six – Rainbow Herringbone 01

Doesn’t this look familiar? Rainbow Herringbone 01 was a product of my first experience in a quilting bee. That pink block in the bottom right corner was my contribution, and my bee mates sent in the rest. I asked for each person to contribute a block in their designated colour, so I could create a rainbow version. You’ll see this is the first instance of my GFB (glitter flecked binding: trademark-copyright-patent-pending-you-know-you-want-this). It was also at this time I started exploring the layout options for the blocks, and my blog started getting some major attention.

Quilt Seven – Rainbow Herringbone 02

Yeah, and then I made version two and the whole Internets died. This also featured blocks contributed by my bee mates, and my contribution is that icy blue block on the middle left. For the size of this quilt, I think this layout option was more successful than the first. The layout doesn’t compete against the rainbow colours. For both Rainbow Herringbone 01 and 02, I did outline quilting around each herringbone bar, which I think was highly effective. Both these quilts led me to host the #MSBHQAL as well as want to continue the love affair with the block.

Quilt Eight – Bartering for Flowers

Bartering for Flowers is responsible for my year of continued sewing. I made this quilt for my mother-in-law, who in exchange has allowed me to use her fancy-shmancy Pfaff sewing machine. It is a disappearing nine-patch pattern, consisting of fabrics my MIL and I chose together. (When worlds collide!) This is the first quilt I sent away to have long-arm quilted, and I was thrilled to see the results! While not what I would traditionally consider my aesthetic, Bartering for Flowers has completely grown on me.

Quilt Nine – Road to Cronulla

Road to Cronulla was made as a birthday present for a dear friend. It uses the Road to Tennessee block, and the Vintage Modern line of fabric. This was the second quilt I had professionally long-arm quilted, and even more than before, I think this is my preferred method for quilting. I love the boldness of this quilt, while also maintaining a traditional aesthetic. I also discovered my preferred way of machine binding by making this quilt. I’m still learning with each fabulous finish.

What a fruit basket of a year! I see such variety, but logical progress in the quilts I made. The amount I learned, in both the technical skill and design process has left even Grandma Sparkles spellbound, and she is a goddamn expert! I never knew I wanted to be a crazy quilt lady, but sign me up, gimme the name badge and stamp it on my forehead! My friends and work colleagues think I’m all sorts of crazy (undoubtedly true), but when I look back at the year and see what I’ve made, I couldn’t be any more satisfied. Next? More? Yes? Bring. it. on.