Finishes - 2021!

 Wow, I had NO IDEA how many projects I finished in 2021 until I gathered them together and counted them!  I guess those little short sewing sessions added up to many completed quilts and other items! Note, some of these have not been blogged about yet, their stories will follow.  Here we go:

Oh Christmas Trees - table runner made for my niece, Collin. I drew Collin's name in our Secret Santa drawing this year.

I didn't make this awesome album quilt, but I re-bound it for my niece Collin, and her husband, Austin.  It is a well-loved quilt, made maybe in the 70s, it felt like silk working with it! I ripped off the original binding and added a fresh, new bias binding of muslin.  Ready for lots more snuggling!

I made a couple of Christmas pillow covers to add a little more Christmas fun to my holiday decor! 

One more little star pillow!

Sweet Baby Rose - made super quick for my coworker's new baby.  Rose made an early arrival so I quickly made this of saved extra equilateral triangles from another project. I love how the quilt gets so soft and crinkly after washing.

Hugs for Deb - finished quilt top, I never got a photo of the finished quilt! I tied the quilt to keep it super soft and fluffy.  This was a gift for a special friend who need a big hug. 

Rocky Mountain Love - baby quilt for little Owen (son of Cara K.) who lives in Colorado.  

Sweet Little Hearts - dolly quilt for my granddaughter, Kate, to celebrate her first birthday.  I have started a tradition of gifting each grandchild with a baby quilt when they are born, and a matching dolly quilt when they turn 1.

Sweet Little Hearts - dolly quilt for little Henry's first birthday. 

Siddhi Quilt - started in Sujata Shaw's online class from 2020, finished early in 2021.

Another project worked on this past year was going back and adding labels to all of my quilts.  I'm almost done with that.

So that's my year 2021 in review!  I know we all have busy schedules.  I work full time and also teach piano lessons to about 15 students each week.  It's important to me to fit quilting into my schedule.  I just love it, it feeds something inside me and makes me so happy!

Quilt top finished, Hannah's birthday

Quilt top finished!  Simple design, 6" squares, in a streak of lightning setting.  All those Kaffe fabrics in the quilt are so gorgeous.

I got inspired when it came time to make Hannah's birthday cake this year!  I had seen Molly Yeh on Girl Meets Farm make a Barbie cake, and this is my version.  The cake and frosting were both delicious - lots of butter and cream cheese, what's not to like?  But it was difficult to frost the cut edges of the cake.  Oh well, the sprinkles helped, and Hannah loved it!

Happy birthday, Hannah!

Hannah and her little man, Henry, so handsome!

 

Happy first finishes - 2021

One plus to being cooped up at home is - more time for sewing!  On the first of the year, which is also my birthday, I cleaned up and cleared out my sewing studio!  I organized everything (which involved a quick trip to the dollar store for more clear plastic boxes), and took stock of all my UFO's (unfinished objects, or projects).  I made a list of all of my UFOs, and also listed projects not yet started but planned for this year.  I won't mention how many projects are on those lists!!!

First completed quilt for 2021 - Siddhi Quilt, started in an online class with Sujata Shah a few months ago.  Sujata is an excellent quilter and teacher, and just a beautiful person, too.  Scott and I were honored to meet her about 5 years ago.  
This is a small quilt, hand stitched with perle cotton.  You start at the OUTSIDE edges, and work your way around, adding pieces as you go.  The stitching goes through all three layers - backing, thin batting, and top pieces.  You just cut your pieces with a scissors, folding under the edges with your fingers.  No iron or rotary cutter needed.  I really love how it turned out, and have another one started already. 

This is a doll quilt called Happy Little Star for my grandson, Henry's, first birthday, which is coming up in April.  This is a small version of his baby quilt.  A truly unusual feature for me is the fact that this quilt is done way before the event!  I am usually finishing projects at the last possible minute!

This quilt, Happy Little Hearts, is a doll quilt for my granddaughter's Kate first birthday, coming up in May.  Yet another quilt done ahead of schedule!  This is a smaller version of her baby quilt.  I had fun with the free-motion quilting in the borders.  

 

Oh My Happy Star

Oh My Happy Star delivered!  It's a good thing, because baby Henry arrived 15 days early!  Quilt was done in time for them to use when bringing Henry home from the hospital. 
The quilt had a long journey to its completion!  Once the muse finally spoke to me, it was easy:

Simple squares and half square triangles in bright, fun prints plus pure white Kona make for a sweet and simple baby quilt.  At the time of its making, we didn't know the gender of the baby, but I did know the nursery design and color scheme (gray, white, and bright colorful accents).  But it didn't start this way. 

My first idea was pinwheels - bright happy scraps, leftover from another quilt I made for Hannah and Danny (parents of the baby to be).  I spent LOTS of time making this, pressing seams open, picking fabrics carefully, figuring out the math to add the sawteeth borders (ugh).  And after I got it all "done", I hated it.  Hated. It. It was just TOO TOO  - too bright, too big, too scrappy.  So while thinking of another baby quilt idea, I ripped apart the pinwheels. 

I trimmed down the pinwheels to a smaller size, added white sashing and soft gray cornerstones. Aahhh.  

I added some simple white borders, and this top is done.  This quilt will go to another baby someday.  But in the meantime, this quilt is hanging on a hanger, awaiting quilting.  

Baby quilt idea #2 for Hannah's baby.  I used a simple color scheme of gray, white, aqua, and peach, and cut lots of 60 degree triangles.  Nice and simple, and I loved the result.  For about a day.  Then - I started rethinking it.  I thought it was too scrappy for Hannah, and not modern enough for her taste.  

Triangle quilt, take two - nope!  this is not it either.  All of the pieces are in a box, and will work for another baby quilt someday, but not this one.  Thankfully, the muse spoke to me, and I ended up with Oh My Happy Star.  I think I finally made the quilt, start to finish, in less than a week - including free-motion quilting.   I work full-time, and teach 18 piano students a week.  

Baby Henry's homecoming day!  I think they both look super cute. I love that Hannah is using the quilt, and not just hanging it on the wall, or storing it away in a drawer. 

Oh My Happy Star at home in Henry's adorable nursery. 

Sweet dreams, Henry!