2024-the Year of the Finish #2

My phrase for last year was 'the Year of the Finish'

It went reasonably well, 27 craft projects completed. I only started one quilt (which meant so many added to the list! ). 

I am continuing the theme this year, focusing on getting quilt tops together, so at least I know where I'm at and I won't be overwhelmed by tubs of projects. 

Here are some I completed last year. 

This puzzle quilt was on my bed during the winter. I made it from leftovers from another one, pictured below. Using a neutral as an alternate block made assembly much easier. 

I finished this little table topper chess board from precut 2 1/2" squares. 

This was a housewarming gift for a friend. I love the pieced backing, lots of orphans and offcut backing strips. 

This 100" square quilt was my granddaughters first big girl quilt. Made from 2" strips. She insists there must be another like it somewhere in the world! We play I Spy with it. 

I made and yarn bombed lots of jellyfish, they are mindless TV projects. 

I love this decaying harbour, it has so much character. 

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I am still ironing strips and assembling crumb quilt squares, made form over 10 years of bits and pieces.  

I KEEP FINDING MORE!

All the orphans and scraps will make lovely crumb quilts, which I would love to use as backing. 

I am trimming to 10" squares. 

It's definitely something I should have been working on regularly, instead of stuffing the strips into tubs! 

This weeks audiobook is a free Librivox reading of Anna Karenina, on Youtube

Say hello, I'll drop by your blog xx

Charity quilts

At the moment I'm working on 40 lap quilts for an old folks care home. I have had a lot of stuff hoarded for charity quilts but lacked the enthusiasm to do more than one every six weeks or so. Now I have a definite goal as there are 40 residents.  

Most of the flimsies are done, I finished webbing these tops and putting on scrappy  borders today. I cut the borders at 2 1/4", same as the binding. I love a scrappy binding! 

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A sample batch of 6 have been delivered, including these .

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I bound these two this week

There was a hiccup with this one, I cut the backing tooo small, so some orphan blocks came in handy! 

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These broken dishes blocks are my leader enders, cut from 2" strips 

I have been doing these for months now and have quite a stack, the aim is a queen size! 

Linus quilt bound

Boyish quilt for Project Linus UK finally bound and ready! 

Orphan blocks, Bonnies Garlic Knots variation.  

I intended to make a quilt for me, but I didn't like the bright white, too much contrast for my taste. 

The colours are brighter in sunny weather, it has been dull here for days, sewing weather.

Busy year, but still sewing!

Thank goodness for sewing, its got me through a tough year! 

 I have logged my finishes on the 'finish' tab.

This is a little of what's been happening in the last couple of weeks: 

I have so much scrap yarn-this is my busy bag project, blanket squares for Project Linus

There are about 200 done, clipped into sets of 10, not enough to start making blankets yet as the colours are too varied. 

The next batch  of scraps  is ready for use. I have my mums yarn stash that was used for Linus blankets now, I have to use it somehow. It is impossible for me to sit and watch TV with nothing in my hands so it will be knitted up eventually. I even took my bag to an open air theatre event: there were some strange looks, mostly as I was watching the play, not my knitting!  I would have been too self conscious to knit in public a few years ago, now it has to be done. Idle hands and all that...…... 

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I made 64 railroad tracks blocks from my 2 1/2" strip stash. I had lots of muddy neutrals that were not moving from the stash, which I paired with darker shades. the blocks came out really well,, I will be keeping this one for me! 

There are lots of other blocks made with the leftover cuts from this project, more of that in the next post. 

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Leader~ender blocks are coming along, broken dishes made from the 2" string bin.

I cut  up a lot of fabric that would never go into a design of mine normally, use it or bin it! 

Also some four patches from 2" strings. I have enough of these for a queen sized quilt now.

I need to browse some designs that include random four patches for inspiration.

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This is the second sandwich I have quilted this week.  The pattern is Bonnies Garlic Knots, from 2" strips. I loved the pattern, but using the white sheeting for a background was too stark for my taste with the dark 'knots', so this is one for Project Linus, boy themed with rhinos. I find that many of the Linus quilts I make end up a bit girly, so I went with these little grey tough guys for a border. 

The binding wont be sewn down for a bit, I like to do that in batches in the cooler weather. 

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This little darling came into the family on Valentines Day

I am going to be looking after Ellen one or two days a week. 

She already has too may blankets! 

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Roundup

 

I made a big push to complete the 1" square king size. 

I decided to border it in black and white.

When your  1 1/2" finished leader ender triangles look enormous........................!

I only have ONE border to sew on and the top is done. 

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I ironed a bit more of the stash of strings, but got bored before I trimmed them, it can wait for a wet winter afternoon

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I put together a few blocks for ocean waves, as the dump draw for sewn hsts was full

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I had a week sitting two dogs and two cats. I didn't get many hexies done, as you can see, all four thought I was there to provide a lap!   Love those four though! 

Progress is good, just have the edges to square off now.  

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Not much progress on the gansey inspired jacket, though I have started on a sleeve

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I finished a seaweed scarf for a gift

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I finished grandpuppy Archie's blankie made from shirt parts and batting scraps, double thick, quickly quilted. 

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 Two more placemats bound and borders sewn to two garlic knots Linus quilts

Thats it!

More exhumations

I tackled another tub of unidentifieds.........

33 blocks left from Sisters Square Dance top (not yet quilted).

Sisters Square Dance

May be enough for a lap quilt?

77 moth blocks from Moth in a Window. Oh dear.  

I made 3 small charity quilts from the leftover blocks that had sashings on as well! All not yet quilted.

 

Kiss in the Corner

Six of these at 12 1/2" square from Kiss in the Corner. plus one crib charity quilt......and ..........

45 of these three patches!  

And stupidly I did not take a picture of the  finished hand quilted Kiss in the Corner before I gave it away! 

I found the strips I had pieced for Bow Ties and put them together today: I only needed 7 of the 10 I made to complete the bed topper at 66 x 84". 

I am happy with it at this size with no borders (it's for ME!).  616 bows and 3, 696 pieces!

But. 

I have enough left to make an even bigger quilt!

Recent excavations have brought my issue into focus, I don't plan properly and end up with too much stuff made!  

Meanwhile, more box kites-

these are so ugly I truly love them, no one else that has seen them does, another one for me!

I also made the decision on the filler triangles for the next leader and ender, Garlic Knots, at the bottom of the picture. I thought I had the perfect fabric, but it was really UGLY when I tried it out!  Then I found this blue and white, enough variation not to be a solid but it has movement.  Because I used white sheeting as the background, whichever way I laid out the blocks there was a glaring  white area in that corner, it needed something. Problem solved.

I am going to shelve this now it has been kitted up and decisions are made and use the bow ties I found as leader-enders with the box kite project, to get the second top put together!

There are going to be so many huge quilts to try and stuff under the tiny space of  my Bernina this winter, I probably wont need to put the heating on  as I will be swamped in them for weeks as I wrestle them through!

Good job I bought two full rolls of batting! 

I am going to count the quilts that have to be machine quilted next week......

Linking for quilterinthecloset.blogspot.co.uk Building blocks Tuesday
and
WIP Wednesday  http://www.freshlypieced.com