2016 Quilty Year in Review

On this last day of the year, it seems like a good idea to check in with the old white board and see how much progress I've made taming my list of unfinished projects. When I started the year, I had 21 WIPs. As of today, there are 15...a net loss of 6. Not a bad showing for a busy year of quilting, canning, cooking, and cats. Altogether 24 quilts were finished by year's end. If that math doesn't add up, it's because I started and finished some smaller quilts within the same year. (A girl's gotta start a new project every now and then, right?) So with that in mind, here's a listing of the quilts I completed in 2016:

Quilting Snowladies

embroidery designs by Carol L. Steffensen

 of Chickadee Hollow Designs

60 x 80 inches

hand embroidered, machine quilted

started 2/12/13 and finished 1/14/16

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Be Mine

for the Let's Book It challenge

a table runner from Little Bits of This & That (free pattern)

quilt as you go project

started 2/22/16 and finished 2/25/16

16 x 38 inches

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Samson

11 x 14 wall hanging

pattern by June Jaeger

started 9/26/15 and finished 3/5/16

a "make and take" project from a class taught by

June Jaeger at the Northwest Quilting Expo

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Pawtrait of Maggie 

(sniff...we sure hated to lose this little sweety)

9 x 12 wall hanging

from an image

started 3/3/16 and finished 3/7/16

fusible applique, thread painting, and free motion quilted

~~~

My Vintage Kitchen

a wall hanging, 22 x 13.5 inches

pattern by Jennifer Reynolds of Jenny of Elefantz

started 1/19/15 and finished 3/10/16

hand embroidered, traditional piecing

free motion quilted on my domestic sewing machine

~~~

Four Fabric Forest II

a wall hanging, 13.5 x 23 inches

from a class taught by Lisa Crnich

based on the technique of Ruth McDowell

started 12/6/15 and completed 3/23/16

freezer paper template piecing

free motion quilted on my domestic sewing machine

~~~

Mom Cats

a doll quilt from the book, Cat's Meow, by Janet Kime

started 4/22/14 and completed 3/31/16

25 x 27 inches

 The aprons are made from 

my grandmother's vintage handkerchiefs

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Endless Pawsibilities (front and back)

a mini quilt for Another Little Quilt Swap 10

made 4/13-14/16

12 x 12 inches

traditional piecing, machine quilted

~~~

Sweet Tweets

a table runner inspired by the book, Skinny Quilts & Tablerunners II

started 3/28/16 and finished 4/23/16

14.5 x 42 inches

traditional piecing, machine quilted

~~~

Yard Art

started 11/8/12 and finished 5/31/16

"Flamingos in Paradise" pattern by Carol Burniston

fusible applique and free motion quilted

56 x 64

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Live, Love, Teach

a retirement quilt for a friend

blocks designs were submitted by family, friends, students, and colleagues

and then rendered into fabric quilt blocks

started 1/28/15 and finished 6/20/16

fusible applique, hand embroidery, straight line quilting

56 x 54

~~~

Pawtrait of Scooter

a pay-it-forward gift

created 6/21-26/16

fusible applique, free motion thread painting and machine quilted

8.5 x 12 inches

~~~

Seating for Two

created as a project for a "Designing from Nature" class

Ruth McDowell's technique as taught by Ann Shaw

a wall-hanging, 38 x 47

started 4/28/16 an completed 7/23/16

traditional piecing and free motion quilted

~~~

Pawtrait of Sadie

for the Pets on Quilts show

a mini quilt 11 x 13 inches

started 8/3/16 and completed 8/8/16

fusible applique and free motion quilted

~~~

Baby Birds

free pattern from Studio E Designs

started 6/28/16 and finished 8/27/16

a gift for the grandchild of my cousin

48 x 48 inches

traditional piecing, fusible applique, free motion quilting

~~~

Written in Thread

a wallhanging, pattern by Bareroots Designs

started 10/10/15 and finished 9/22/16

hand embroidery, traditional piecing, and free motion quilted

22 x 28 inches

~~~

Stitch Sampler

a free motion quilting stitch sampler

a stitch-along for the

Sit Down Free Motion Quilters Facebook Group

started 6/9/16 and finished 9/23/16

22 x 22 inches

~~~

Cats of a Different Color

2015 Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilt

started 2/5/15 and finished 10/27/16

from the pattern by the late Pam Bono

50 x 65 inches

free motion quilting on my mid-arm machine

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Pumpkin Patch

designed by Julie Weaver, featured in Quilter's World, September, 2016

started 9/4/16 and finished 11/13/16

a table topper 28 x 28 inches

traditional piecing and free motion quilted on my mid-arm machine

~~~

Happy Village

from the book "Happy Villages" by Karen Eckmeier

started 11/5/16 and finished 11/20/16

16 x 16, collage-style piecing

free motion quilted on my domestic sewing machine

~~~

Sunflower Sampler

a free motion quilting sampler created by

Lori Kennedy at The Inbox Jaunt

started 10/11/16 and finished 11/17/16

20 x 20 inches

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Poinsettia Sampler

another free motion quilting sampler created by

Lori Kennedy at The Inbox Jaunt

started 11/28/16 and finished 12/2/16

22 x 22 inches

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Quilt Barn Trail

started May 18, 2011 from my own photograph

finished December 4, 2016

machine applique, free motion machine embroidery

and free motion machine quilting

~~~

Gingerbread Square

pattern by Meg Hawkey of Crabapple Hill Studios

started 12/26/14 and finished 12/20/16

69 x 69

hand embroidery, free motion quilting

~~~

Not a bad showing for the year. I'm hopeful I can get my list paired down even more in 2017, but with Mike retiring at the end of April, and a big trip planned in September, I'm not expecting to have as much time for sewing as I have in previous years. This is a good thing since the new year is bringing exciting and long-anticipated changes to our lives. With that in mind, I'm revisiting how (and whether) I set goals for myself in 2017, and I'll say more about that in tomorrow's post. 

I hope you've enjoyed this little trunk show today. We don't really have plans for New Year's Eve, and I expect we'll be in bed sleeping when the clock hits midnight. I'm wishing you a safe and peaceful year in 2017.