12/31/16

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

~~~


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

~~~


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

~~~


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
~~~


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
~~~

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
~~~


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
Lori Kennedy at The Inbox Jaunt
started 10/11/16 and finished 11/17/16
20 x 20 inches
~~~


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
~~~


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.

15 comments:

beaquilter said...

These are great, I recognized most of them but not the vintage kitchen one. All of them are great, 2 a month is great :) happy new years!

Quilting Tangent said...

Wonderful quilt show!

Nancy said...

Impressive collection. You completed a lot of projects.

DeeDee said...

Fantastic quilts. My heart softened when I saw Maggie's Pawtrait. I found you on Quilterblogs.com and I started following you on Feedly about the time that Smitty was having such a hard time with her. Your blog is definitely my favorite that I've discovered. Thanks for sharing your quilting life. Happy new year!

gpc said...

What an amazing showing -- very impressive, indeed. Happy New Year, Barb.

Kate said...

Wow, an amazing set of finishes. I really love the Pawtraits of the kitties and your beach scene. It would be hard to pick one favorite, all of your quilts this year turned out beautifully. Wishing you a very happy New Year and enjoyment of all the changes it will bring.

Vroomans' Quilts said...

Oh, my - a one woman quilt show! You had a very successful year indeed. Happy New Year

Angie in SoCal said...

Love your one woman show. The variety is fantastic. I really like your Quilt Barn Trail.

Kristin said...

Wow, that's some major talent! I especially loved your pawtraits...

Ann said...

Thanks for the review. You have some really lovely pieces. Wishing you and yours a healthy, happy New Year.

Andra Gayle said...

I love your Vintage Kitchen quilt and all of your cat portraits. It looks like you have been doing some amazing free motion quilting too!

piecefulwendy said...

Love them all! Happy New Year!

quiltzyx said...

Terrific trunk show for 2016!

Brown Family said...

It is impressive when you see 24 completed projects, 2 a month. And that does not count slow stitching and work in progress!

Michele said...

You had a great year and whatever this new one brings I'm sure you'll have fun with it.