2020 Projects Completed

2020 was a year! Everyone has their own thoughts on how things have been and every state was impacted differently depending on their governors, some good, some bad. It was a year in more ways than one. On the positive side, I have accomplished loads of quilty, sewing, knitting, and crocheting projects. I also finally caught up on my binding which I was way behind on for a multitude of reasons.

 January

January started off slow. I only completed 4 snack mats, but I made progress on other projects while subbing for a friend full days and half days until she was fully back on her feet. I also designed a block for a sampler quilt that I am doing with friends. 

 February

 February was a much better month for finishing things even though I was still subbing only this month I was doing the English Language Learners testing. I completed 3 - 5-minute runners, 1- 10-minute runner, a couple of counted-cross stitch UFOS, and hand-stitching the binding on my Triangle quilt. I also started a mystery quilt and a temperature quilt, which is a long term project, and cut out a couple of 3-yard quilts.

 March

 I finished binding the Pajama Party Quilt and finished quilting and binding Bryce's Brew's wall hanging.

April 

 I made 116 masks, finished quilting and piecing my minke snuggle quilt, and one kid snack mat.

 

May 

 I finished hand-stitching the binding on my 8 pointed star quilt, On the Road Again (dolphins) quilt, Blue Debbie Caffery Mystery quilt, Buggy Barn Stars quilt, my Fall Tree Mystery quilt, and my Lady Bug quilt. I was busy binding this month and for several more months. 

 June 

 I finished binding my Crazy Hearts Quilt and made a new corn bag for me as my old one had several leaks and was dropping corn around the house. I also made a totebag as a gift for Christmas via zoom class. It was fun to make and I plan to make another in the future.

 July 

 I finished binding my red Saturday Sampler, which is king-size.  I also bound my braid quilt, my granny square quilt made 15 more masks, and finished binding my king size Log Cabin quilt which I had custom quilted by Shirley Jackson of Murray, Kentucky. I included a picture of the back so you can see the absolutely gorgeous quilting she did.

August 

 I was busy in August I made a sunflower mug rug, a cow tote bag, a salt and pepper tote bag, a hot cocoa 5-minute table runner, and  felted a blue wool knitted bag. I was on a binding roll. I hand-stitched the binding on my Water's of Kauai, which I call Alaskan Ice quilt; Bryce's Lizard Quilt; my red, white, and blue stars swap quilt; my second baby quilt made for an ugly fabric challenge, and my second Shopping's Done wall hanging.  I also made 67 masks. 

 

 September 

 I made more masks and did the hand-stitching of the binding on several quilts. Daisy Days, which is hand appliqued took me several years just to finish the applique as I am very slow. Bali Jewels was a class I took via zoom this summer and was a gift for a friend who moved to Washington. Other quilts I finished binding this month include Something Fishy, Undercover in Chicago, a winter fabric quilt, The Quilting Room Mystery 1, March Winds, and my orphan block nine patches on point. 

 October

 I was really on a binding roll in October.  I hand-stitched the binding on my single granny square quilt, California Confusion, Pick Up Sticks, my QuiltMashUp Christmas swap quilt, the pink Saturday Sampler quilt, Cut to the Chase, Argyle Beauty 2, Northern Nights, and the Stack and Whack, labeled Covid-19 as it made me think of the pictures of the covid germs, which I donated to the Arctic Valley Ski Club auction. I also made two rag flannel quilts that my husband did the snipping of the seams on, a Monopoly tote bag, a Christmas gift bag, two black masks for my son for when he has to wear his uniform for AANG, and finished stitching my Live Simply, Love Truly, Laugh Freely counted x-stitch.  

November 

 I have been busy working on several knitting UFOs that I came across when going through some yarn. I finished a pink knit hat, a brown and rust knit hat, a purple and gray knit hat, and a reddish wool knit hat. I am donating the soft ones to chemo patients and the others to a shelter. I also made a Christmas snack mat. I attached binding to two quilts that I plan to do the hand-stitching on in December. I was also busy piecing blocks for a mystery that I will finish putting the rows together on in 2021.

December 

I finished crocheting several other hats this month as well. December I finished hand-stitching down the binding on the Mystery that I started in February from the Quilted Cow. I also finished the latest Quilted Cow mystery blocks and made crocheted several more hats to donate. I finished the binding on the Mickey Mouse quilt, and two Dream Big wall hangings and pieced a small quilt that I need to quilt and bind. I also made a snack mat for a gift, and several bowl cozies for gifts as well. Lastly I put the finishing touches on the totebag I made as gift in June. My husband teaches jewelry at one of our local high schools and he made me etched brass sand dollars to add to the bag.

I worked on piecing several projects this year that will be moved forward in 2021 and finished a few tops that will be quilted in 2021 also. I am looking forward to spending more time quilting, sewing, quilting, knitting and crocheting, as well as doing other crafts and art journaling in 2021, now that I am all caught up on my binding. I am also hoping to post more frequently in 2021.

Early June Update on Quilting Progress

I worked on finishing my Granny Square quilt. It will make a nice baby quilt. I added three inner borders on the Granny Square and an outer border. It has been mailed off to the quilter.

I worked on piecing the rows for my Argyle Quilt. These blocks were left over from a quilt I made my niece Lauren several years ago and were just waiting to made into a top.  I still need to finish this one and figure out a border for it, but I have moved the quilt forward which is always the goal.

I also finished the top I was making using my leftover 9 patches from a past quilt. I set them on point, added sashing, and set them on point and did a narrow inner border, along with another border of the white and a wider outer border of the sashing fabric which I love. This is also mailed off to the quilter.

I included a few other quilts in the box for her to quilt for me and have put the pictures below.  We enjoyed our cruise and are now busy packing up the living room so that my husband can strip the popcorn ceiling, then we will paint. While he is busy stripping the ceiling I plan to hide in my sewing room and work on moving other projects forward, as I am not helping him with that part of the project.

Memorial Day Update

This week I spent time working on things around the house, like getting my living room ready to pack up as we are planning to strip the popcorn ceiling and paint starting next month.  I also spent one day at the quilt shop sewing with a friend who was up from the lower 48 to take care of her house and visit her son and daughter-in-law. She lives in Oregon, maintains a home in Alaska, and travels the lower 48 in her motor home spending time in Arizona and Florida each year.

I am also working on booking hotels for my son and me for this August when we drive down from Alaska to the lower 48. He is moving down to attend grad school.

As I posted on Friday, I finished the second memory quilt top and quite a few blocks for my Gypsy Wife quilt, so I moved on to a few other projects. On Friday I pressed four quilt tops to send to my wonderful quilter.

I pieced the backing for one quilt and added borders to my Buggy Barn Hearts bed runner.

I also found/purchased sashing and borders for a couple of other quilts and started putting them together.
I started with these 9-patch blocks that I had set on point. They were left over from another project and sitting in my UFO orphans box.

I picked a bright pink to sash them. I discovered in the process that the blocks were not all the same size so I set them on point again and trimmed them all to 13.25".

 Then I sashed them and set them on point.

I like how the quilt has turned out and need to find a backing so I can add this one to the box of tops I am sending my quilter.

I am deciding if I want to add borders or just finish it as is. Currently, it is about 40" square. I am debating if I want to add an inner border of pink and an outer border of the white or just a pink border.

I plan to use my time this week to make a few more blocks for my Gypsy Wife quilt and to move some other projects forward, including binding a few more quilts. I will be offline for a couple of weeks and unable to do any quilting, but I will try and get some hand work done during that time. I will post an update again next week before I go offline.

What I’ve Accomplished This Past Two Weeks

This past week I have been busy finishing the second memory quilt top.

I’ve also been busy working on my Gypsy Wife Quilt blocks and have made several more blocks to use as fillers. I still have some larger blocks to make as I am enlarging the quilt, then I can begin putting my top together as I plan to vary the layout of the blocks some and am still thinking about the layout.

I’m having fun with this quilt, choosing from my scraps left from other projects, and Fat Quarters that I had laying around. This is a great quilt for playing with color and design ideas. I have made several changes to the setting blocks and added a few blocks to the quilt that were ones I liked, I only eliminated one block front he quilt as I did not like the design. I may still go back and add it in before I layout the top. I plan to make extras of a couple of other blocks that I really liked in different color ways of course as this will help me with enlarging the quilt.

Stay tuned for more progress on the Gypsy Wife and I would love to read your comments on my colors and block choices.

Have a wonderful quilt week!