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.  

 

Cherish

I discovered a great blog yesterday - The Blue Hare, link here .

She (the blogger and quilter, Deborah) incorporated a wonderful poem called "Dust if You Must" into her beautiful quilt, entitled "Cherish" (taken from a word in the poem). I am including the words to the poem below, as it is a little hard to read all of it on the picture, at least for me. I contacted Deborah to ask permission to link to her quilt (always a good idea), and she was gracious in her response - as I am finding most quilters to be.

This is why I blog - finding beautiful blogs, quilts, and quilters, the world over. Deborah is from the U.K. Enjoy!

"Dust if You Must"

by Rose Milligan

Dust if you must, but wouldn't it better

To paint a picture, or write a letter;

Bake a cake, or plant a seed,

Ponder the difference between want and need.

Dust if you must, but there's not much time,

With rivers to swim, and mountains to climb;

Music to hear, and books to read,

Friends to cherish, and life to lead.

Dust if you must, but the world's out there,

With the sun in your eyes, the wind in your hair,

A flutter of snow, a shower of rain,

This day will not come around again.

Dust if you must, but bear in mind,

Old age will come, and it's not kind;

And when you go, and go you must,

You yourself will make more dust.

Christmas Projects Finally Posted - Almost Done!

This wasn't technically a Christmas present, but I wrapped it and sent it with the others. I have made graduation quilts for all of my nieces and nephews (we don't have a big family!), and this one is for my niece, Collin, who graduated from high school in Virginia in June of 2010. A little late, I know! I knew she liked pink, white, and black - but I had trouble working black into my design, so this is what I ended up with. The back is pieced with the leftover fabrics, and I even have a pieced binding. I used up all but a small basket of leftover strips in this quilt.

Here you can see the quilting detail. I did not quilt it myself - I sent it out for quilting, to a local long-arm quilter I have used in the past (she does not want her name given out). She does a beautiful job, and I was happily surprised with the results! I just sent her the quilt, and asked her to "play" in all of the borders, using variegated pink thread. When I asked her if she had that color of thread, she started laughing - "oh, you have no idea!" Apparently she collects thread like many of us quilters collect fabric.

I am happy with how this table runner finally turned out. It went through a few arrangements before I settled on this design. The blue and green strips were leftovers from another project, so I started with the pieced blocks. All of the other fabrics were from my stash. The backing is actually a black and white splashy modern print, and looks awesome with the lime green binding, making the runner reversible. This now lives with my brother and sister-in-law in Virginia.

Close-up of quilting detail. I had lots of fun quilting this. I saw the design on a quilt by Victoria at BumbleBeansInc. blog. I practiced by drawing on paper first, then went to the fabric. It is my new favorite all-over quilting design. It is fun and easy, and looks great.

Had to finish with a picture of my gorgeous puppy, Dora. She is growing at an amazing speed - she gained 4 pounds last week! She is our beautiful yellow lab, from Cricket Hollow Farm in Galva, Illinois. She is a sweet doggy, and we all just love her!