Time to See All Those 2018 Finishes Together in One Post

Some years there are more finishes than others. The last two years have been especially good ones for bumping the oldest quilts off the list . It's often difficult to want to work on the oldy moldy quilt projects, but they never get any easier to work on by just ignoring them!

2018 Finishes

It's always great fun to slip a baby quilt or two into the mix and have a fast finish. And this year I even made an oversize doll quilt {hmm... is that actually a baby quilt too?}

2018 Finishes

As usual, I kept my hand quilting hoop busy all throughout the year {both of them, if you want to know the truth of it!}. It's become an oh-so-important part of my quilting journey and I can't even imagine life without that little bit of stitching time late in the evenings. Those peaceful, meditative hand quilting minutes have become something I unabashedly crave at times. It positively grounds me in the best way possible and dare I say, nourishes me as well.

2018 Finishes

The program used to group my picture collages didn't have a good 4-picture setting, so I put my Quilty 365 in two different groupings. It's been on our bed for quite awhile now. I adore waking up to it and then later in the day, snuggling back into bed with it once again. Move over husband dear, I got a good quilt now. lol  Sometimes I think that all my quilting years have led up to this one quilt, in terms of making a quilt that resonates on almost every single level.

2018 Finishes

Overall, I'm not sure how much these quilts represent 'me' as a whole--the way I've mixed up the old quilting projects with the new. It's something that I always find very interesting though, these end of the year quilt reviews. You pop over to someones page and in one click, get to see an entire lineup of the years finishes! What fascinates me the most, is the quilting voice that is always so immediately apparent! There's rarely any doubt whose quilt page you're viewing and that's the very best thing about this time of year. I bet most of us could look at any of these picture groupings and immediately tell what quilter made each of those quilts. Love that!

So now with the details: 2018 found me ending the year with 19 finishes again! That kind of suprised me as it didn't feel like so many. Yep, I was on a finishing mission once again. Trying to get some of those very old, not-as-interesting quilt tops out of my hair.*whew! It was very, extremely, tedious at times, I kid you not. Crossing my fingers things won't get quite that bogged down ever again! Want some year end statistics? I do like to keep track just for curiosities sake.

• 1 Doll quilt
• 2 Baby quilts
• 1 Comfort quilt
• 7 Lap quilts
• 8 Bed-sized quilts
• 6 quilts were completely hand quilted
• 9 quilts were a mix of machine and hand quilting
• 4 quilts were completely machine quilted

By the end of the year I had also given away 17 quilts, a mixture of new and old quilts. That was a little nerve-wracking at times. My family lives in dread that they'll wake up one morning and all our quilts will have been given away! hehe  One was given for a church raffle, for helping to make money to buy their building. Still waiting to see who winds up with that one as I do like to keep track of where my quilts end up!

Lots of ideas for the next year. Stacks of fabric that have been simmering on the counters for months and months and need a little bit of attention. Mostly I just intend to quilt the things that I find interesting without getting too far into the weeds with those pesky squirrels! There are 5 or 6 open-ended quilt projects that will hopefully get wrapped up and around and around we go. I loved diving into the orphan blocks totes and intend to try that some more of that. Adhoc. Improv. is definitely still a happening thing and umm..., there is a scrap bin monster that just has to be addressed soon. No ifs ands or buts about it! Taking up way too much room over there in the corner of my quilt room.*sigh Oh, and don't forget about those oh-so-tempting QAL's popping up all over blogland. Probably gonna join in on with the Unconventional & Unexpected one and also, Lori's String Quiltalong. Sounds like a good start to me!

Just Thinking Out Loud

I can't believe I'm staying up late to write this post, but here they are. All five of the quilts that I ended up putting in the NCW Quilt Show. I'll post later next week with pics of other quilts that caught my eye.

Scrappy Tulips

First of all, I went with a quiet but clearer mind this year. No 'comparison is the thief of joy' type of thoughts, 'not gonna nitpick the details', just a solid determination to enjoy. I'm a confident but filled with insecurities sort of gal and quilt shows can be difficult. The reason to do this is because nothing beats going to a quilt show and being inspired. By little ideas or big ones. Wonderful color and out of the box thinking. A saturation of the senses that is almost impossible to get strictly from pictures on the Net {especially when you're dealing with a camera-handicapped person like me!}.

Vintage Red

No ribbons this year which inexplicably made it all so much better. Wacko that I am, it was refreshing to know that none of my quilts stood out over any of the other ones I brought.*sigh  It's hard when people play favorites with our quilts! Scrappy Tulips {the first pic} almost didn't make the cut. The colors don't play nice in some lighting and it worried me. Turns out it was the one that absolutely shown under the lights at the quilt show. Totally melted my heart and I went back and stared at it several times. It looked sort of old timey, but sweet. Really, really sweet and dreamy. Why weren't more people staring at this quilt? lol

Vintage Red was one that I emphatically was not going to enter. Turns out I just couldn't resist seeing how it would look hanging up where I could see it full on. Oh my, did I love turning the corner and seeing that one. Totally vintage vibe going on which just made me smile so big. I totally nailed this idea! And well, I went ahead and looked at some of the other sewing details in others quilts. Uh huh. Maybe my mistakes aren't quite as horrible and blatantly obvious as I thought. Might have to rethink that one.

Quilty 365

I got a little jolt seeing Quilty 365 hanging up for the first time. That quiet looking stitching around every other block is a secret weapon. Can't see it in this pic at all, but all my concern over there not being enough stitching in this quilt were totally put to rest. I really, really loved seeing this one hanging out for others to peruse. I wished so hard it would have been where I could have stood back a long ways and looked at it from different distances. The colors/values do the dance thing. They really do. It wasn't just my imagination or wishful thinking.

Sunburst

I think Sunburst was in the poorest lighting overall. Yes, it's the brand new finish and looks so much better in proper lighting. I'll give it a post all its own next week so you can see how good the Baptist Fan stitching looks and sigh with me over the sweet look to it. Am I on a sweet kick? It seems to be so. There are lurking questions about this quilt, things I might have done different, but overall, it was a good one to umm, not compare to others. Not quite as complex as it appeared all the while I was hand sewing it. Funny how time and 'distance' change our perspectives.

Hills and Valleys

And Hills and Valleys was the other one that I wiffle, waffled about entering into the show. Turns out the lighting was fine for it, just not for me, the picture taker. Mostly I just wanted to look at the texture of this quilt in a hanging up presentation. Great idea as I just stood in front and sort of soaked it all in. Honestly, I'm super happy with this quilt, and yes, it looks tremendously better in person. It's kind of crazy that this quilt was made by me. 5 years ago, this wasn't in my wheelhouse at all--something to feel very good about today as I considered my growth as a quilter.

Don't worry if you're scratching your head over my enthusiasm, I can't see you and won't get my feelings hurt a bit. The thing I learned today is that I am completely, unabashedly making the sort of quilts that make my heart go pitter patter. Sometimes I worry at some of the squirrels that crop up, but a lot of these tangents lead to wonderful surprises and fabulous interpretations--things we might never have explored if we stick to the plan.  Every single time I turned the corner and saw one of my quilts, it was like 'Well, hello old friend'. Makes the effort and anxiety totally worthwhile. It's so good to get validation once in awhile that we do have a style, a look, or even a muse that is personal and custom fitted to us. And you know what?

This year being in the minority with that sort of thing didn't even bother me one little bit. So my quilts are softer, more simplistic, scrappy and naive looking. So what! I enjoyed the entire quilt show! All those sharp looking, fancy machine quilted quilts just got a different part of my attention. Maybe I'm finally reaching adulthood in my quilting journey? Please don't answer that. Thanks to NCW Quilty Guild for being so welcoming! I'll probably be back next year with another stack....

Just Plugging Along

Apparently it's a good time for taking a blogging break, the dog days of summer and all that. I am so tempted, but keep having one more thing I want to blog about first! I feel like I've been working in very 'slow mo'. Homebody that I am, traveling every other weekend starts to feel very emotionally draining. Especially the extra long days of driving where an eight hour drive unexpectedly takes ten or more hours.*ugghh...

Improv. Wheels getting a little hand quilting done...

Why is it that family always has a good reason for filling up our vehicles coming and going. Oh, you'll be in close vicinity, why don't you just go pick up some exercise equipment for me as a favor? And all of a sudden our leisurely trip is taking a detour straight through a traffic packed Portland, Oregon on the way home, instead of being able to skirt the edges like we normally do. That's when I get my hand work bag out and start stitching like a crazy woman. Deep breaths Audrey! Coming from a town of minus 700 people, traffic in places like Portland and Seattle make me a wee bit stressed.

Laundry and other assorted necessary, {but time consuming} chores pile up quickly of late, and of course quilting often gets shoved way onto the back burner at the least provocation. It seems that all the quilting getting accomplished here is with the quilt in the hoop or maybe a little bit of applique. Grab and go kind of stuff. I was so excited and looking forward to working on Improv. Wheels, but now it's feeling a little flat. The time spent with the hoop has been really broken up and something feels weird about the quilt now. Makes me compare it to what having a brown eyed child after having a passel of blue eyed children would feel like. Oh, it's definitely all mine, but still, I'm having to reconnect every single time I pick the hoop back up! It's probably just the normal chaos of winding down the end of summer.  I'll feel better after a good week or two of normal quilting routine.

On a side note, take a look at this gorgeous quilt below! A reader of my blog, Denise St. Sauveur, said that she unofficially followed along with Quilty 365 and then looky, looky what she did with the border! This is the flower block from my Vintage Red quilt just finished up this Summer. Oh my goodness, what a seriously creative streak this gal has. Wish she had a blog to see other work,  'cuz I love this so much!

A quilt made by Denise!

I am, as always, amazed and humbled when someone finds creative inspiration from anything on my blog. It's such a boost to open our email and find a picture like this or a note that says 'thank you' for sharing our quilting journeys in such a public way. Completely made my day. Thank YOU Denise!, for so generously sharing your lovely quilt and allowing me to post a picture showing this wonderful creation with other readers too. It's how we're all inspired, day after day, seeing different quilt ideas merge, blend and grow. I would have never come up with this on my own, but now want to make my own Vintage Red border in a brand new quilt project! Ooh, but there's just never enough time for all the ideas is there?

Finally Getting Quilty 365 Finished!

My quilty 365 quilt is finished. Yay for me! Completely hand quilted of course, how could I do otherwise with this particular quilt? It's become a favorite of favorites, representing a year in the life of my long-lived quilting journey. This project was started in October of 2015 and early the next month I invited others to join me in the fun.

The center of Quilty 365

Some eagerly jumped right in and others waited for the new year to start. It was a roller coaster sort of project, but always intriguing to imagine the end result. So many different options when we all considered layout!

A year long journey!

There were so many gorgeous and super unique quilts made from this prompt that it just blew our minds. Creativity should never be surprising, but somehow most of us never expected the many and varied variations. How could such a simple idea explode into so many different interpretations? Too, I was always sort of bemused that as many quilters choosing to play along as did. Many dropped out as the linkup continued on, but there were a few determined gals who made it all the way to the quilt top stage! {And others who finished later or broke it down into smaller blocks and finished more than one!} A dedicated year long project is hard to maintain....

So glad to see the value changes...

My circles started out as offerings from the overflowing scrap bin, but later on, moved into more snazzy choices from the stash totes. There are a few repeats when it comes to the scrap bin circles, but nothing very obvious. Basically, the scrap bin got booooring so it was time to try something different. And then later, I realized that I absolutely adored the scrappy circles, even more so than the solid fabric ones. Huh. How's that for being obstinate....

And the darker border....

Somewhere towards the end of the year, I took a month or so and started choosing greens and blues with a black background. Just for the comfort and serenity of working with greens and blues and also, to limit my choices. I love how that ended up being a focal point of the quilt, adding some excellent value and depth {plus a nifty border look{, but also, creating a space for the center to react to and glow. Don't you just love a good glow in a quilt?

Quilty 365 feels like a good finish!

Who knew my quilt could end up so very happy looking? If you look closely there are definitely circles that are very dull and dreary looking, no doubt representing a day that was quite glum. That was one thing I never worried excessively about, whether or not all the colors and fabrics would play nicely together at the end. Somehow I felt confident that it would end up looking the way it was meant to be. Warts and all, this is real life embedded deeply into my quilt! And yes, it was leap year, so there's actually 366 circles in all. The name 'Quilty 365' was never meant to say anything other than 'this is my quilty year'.

Vintage Red getting close to a finish....

Now I have another quilt {Vintage Red} with the binding sewn on by machine and ready for that final hand stitching. It will be the 8th finish of the year, which does feel pretty good.

Hey Grandma next up in the hoop!

 As all of you know, I can't bear for the hoop to be empty for long. After an annoying session of sandwiching and pinning last week, I'm finally looking down at 'Hey Grandma' in the hoop. I went ahead and stitched in the ditch {with my trusty Bernina} between all the blocks and now I'm coming back and doing some hand quilting around the applique.

A good place for hand stitching...

It's not nearly as exciting a quilt as the previous two, but it does have its own charm and whimsy. Working with color is always extremely fascinating to me, but as usual, using a predominance of greens continues to mystify. I just haven't found the secret of secrets yet. Must be why I keep giving all the quilts heavy on greens away! Once I finally get it right, you can believe that I will melt into a big 'ol squishy marshmallow--probably feel very proprietary and never, ever give that particular quilt away....

Trying to Move a Couple Quilt Tops Forward

Vintage Red is finally getting its turn in the quilting queue. I found time last Saturday to have my guys get the dining room table moved out of the way and then was able to get this thing sandwiched and pinned.

Vintage Red getting sandwiched and pinned

This quilt top has been waiting in the wings for about 2 years. I have wiffle waffled around about how to quilt it and now have made the decision to do both machine and hand quilting. Pinning took approximately forever, but hopefully, it will do the trick and puckering will not be a problem. And machine quilting a grid first will move the hand quilting along at a slightly faster pace as well. The newbie quilt tops ratio to finished quilts these days? Sadly slipping again.....

A full picture of the quilt top

The red fabric has been causing me a bit of anxiety as to the possibility of bleeding issues. I can't help but worry these days as I've had some bad luck. In looking back, I found the pertinent post where it shows that I had actually soaked the border fabric. What do you know? The question is, did I ever soak the red solid fabric the flowers are made out of?*sigh....  Don't think so. It was definitely washed, but soaked and tested thoroughly for bleeding issues, not likely.

Loving the vintage look of this one....

Oh well. What's done is done and for now, I'm so looking forward to adding some lovely perle cotton stitching to this. Just soaking in the sparky, fun loving vibes of my alien looking flower.

And a closer look....

I've also started playing around with the leftover cream quarter circles that I pulled out of the orphan block totes earlier this year. I adore this dotty cream and black fabric for some reason that is totally illogical. So of course I couldn't just throw these bits away after they were cut from the back of another quilt. At this point I have cut out 64- 7 1/2" mixed print background squares and sewn {by machine} all the cream quarter circles onto the tops. Just a raw edge sort of stitching as I fully intend to do some applique work to cover, similar to what you see being auditioned there in the picture. Too bad that gold and pink print is just a scrap from the overflowing corner scrap basket. It could have found a lovely home with this quilt! Right about now I'd say this is the one quilt project that is definitely making my creative juices sit up and quiver. It just feels free somehow.

Auditioning some ideas...

And back to speaking of the potential of certain fabrics to bleed, I've been soaking some darker pink/raspberry colored fabrics all day. Getting ready to cut out the binding for Quilty 365!

Getting ready for binding

That's it for now. Just plodding along as usual. It's a tough time of year to really get in a good groove with any quilting progress though I try all the time. Our church camp-out is coming up at the end of the month and of course we are nowhere near ready. In fact, our camp trailer ended up with a massive leak in the bathroom area last winter so I can't even go get it cleaned and well stocked yet. We have taken on the t-shirt/sweatshirt orders these past three years as well and it's been more paperwork this year than I expected with all the pre-orders and changes. Fun stuff. So glad I have a permanent check list {for this particular camping trip} on my computer that I print out every single year. Couldn't manage without it.

Today was an off day all the way around. Wound up locking my keys in the car when I went grocery shopping and then later, about ran into a Man when I was trying to find an empty stall in the Ladies room at Walmart. Don't bother talking to me about inclusiveness etc. etc. as I'm not really asking for a political/social opinions rant. Most women would agree that it's very unsettling when it happens unexpectedly {definitely not a normal happening around here}, and leave it at that. Also, to top off the day, my daughter discovered a pretty determined line of little sugar ants invading my kitchen. Ughh.... Seriously? And I just went to town today. Linking up with sew-stitch-snap-SHARE!

Little Bits of Progress This Week

There hasn't been nearly as much hand quilting as I would like lately. Too many interruptions in our normal routine and also, I've been reading a lot more. I'm easily seduced by those 25 cent books from the senior center thrift store...

Quilty 365 in the hoop

Looking ahead to when this quilt is ready to move out of the hoop, I settled on the next quilt top in line. Then I decided that it obviously needed another border on the top and bottom. Of course it has to be applique. Never go the easy route when there's a more complicated option! That's me on the nose, but in my defense, I'm not a huge fan of ignoring the insistent pleas from an unfinished quilt top aspiring for 'more'. If there's work to be done in pursuit of its betterment, so be it. Better to buckle down and do it now than regret the lack forever.

Another border...

Hemming and hawing over the Solids Challenge quilt once again. Finally went with the white printed sashing of which I am not exactly thrilled about. But it's better than any other option I could come up with from the stash. And I like how it helps keep the quilt sweet and happy looking, so that's a bonus.

Getting the middle part of the quilt sewn together

This quilt--oh this crazy quilt. I like it {even love it sometimes}, but it hasn't been easy to move forward at any particular point in the journey. I cut out the white triangles in the same creamy white used with the solid colored {little} triangle sashings. Then I ran out before I could cut enough for the very outside of the quilt. Will have to come up with some sort of solution soon so the sewing can commence and frankly, I'm tired of having to take up the entire living room floor for this sort of thing. Might do what Cathy normally does and just wing it. Her quilts usually turn out to be pretty amazing even without fine-tuning the layout every step of the way!

Auditioning the outer border

I really, really want to get this quilt wrapped up and behind me. Maybe, possibly, hopefully, there will be more time next week. Do you ever feel like the quilts that you most want to work on haven't even been started yet? Linking up with 6and6 in 2018 and sew stitch snap SHARE.

Every Stitch Counts....

I just couldn't stand it any longer. This quilt {Quilty 365} needed to be in the hoop and that was that. You know how it is. Once a decision is made about the next quilt-in-the-hoop, it's just seems to be time!

Next up in the hoop!

I did manage to wait until the Tree of Life quilt was ready for binding, but it was touch and go. Not that this quilt was hard to work on at all. Oh no. These colors were perfectly satisfying to have in the hoop. The binding was an interesting choice as I really thought the orange/peach would give it a too matchy, matchy vibe. Nothing else popped though and using a brown or black just seemed boring. Surprisingly, this drab peach works well, especially when it's folded over and such a tiny little bit of color is all that will be showing. It was thrilling to find an larger, much older piece of plaid fabric that worked wonderfully for the binding. It's been hanging around in the stash totes for years and years! Now to get it all hand stitched to the back of the quilt.

Ready to stitch down the binding

Trying to keep up with the 6and6in2018 was problematic this month, just like last month. This little Tidbits quilt has most of the little 'hills' stitched down though. Only a few left to go now. Well, maybe it's more than a few, but still.... My granddaughter was at our house for five days and nights so this little bit of hand work felt like serious progress! The applique probably would have been all finished, but there was so much up and down, putting it aside etc., that finally I just folded it up and put it away. Didn't want a loose pin to find it's way into her foot or something equally traumatic!

Just a little more applique left...

Also for the 6and6in2018 challenge, I pulled out the Solids challenge quilt and finally, finally made a decision about the border. I've been agonizing about where to take it from these simple, punchy blocks. I've dithered between a clamshell type border, pieced triangles, applique work and everything in between. The funny thing, is that it probably won't even matter what the border looks like. It's just that the quilt is so small at this point, it's going to need something! I'm still cutting out the pieces, but as you can see, solids are not much in the equation anymore either. That was a huge decision too, as solids was the initial 'challenge' goal. It's a relief to let that go and just do my own thing, unfettered from restriction, from here on out.

So yes, it's a little strange, but I'm not sewing the center of the quilt together until I know exactly how long the borders will be. Of course I know what the measurement is supposed to be, but that doesn't mean it will actually happen. It feels safer to wait and adjust the sashing widths as necessary rather than try for a skinny coping border solution. Lots of confidence that my border will be wonky huh? Yep. It's gonna be a three deep sawtooth border. Lots of wiggle room there with the way I sew!

Starting to cut the border pieces...

And here's the little munchkin who kept G'ma and Papa hopping this past week. Wowsers, was I tired by the end of her time with us. Two year olds just don't fit seamlessly into our lives anymore!

Taking over Grandma's bed...

Good times though. She's such a little bundle of sunshine and love! Wouldn't trade it for all the quilting time in the world. Although.... now that my time is more freed up? Can't wait to get back to the quilting room! Linking up to 6and6in2018! Only worked on those two projects {Tidbits and Solids Challenge} for the month, but even a little bit of progress is better than none?

Quilty 365 Quilt Top Linkup and Giveaway!

Remember the year long Quilty 365 journey? So much fun and yet, surprisingly tough to get through there towards the end. Wowsers! I have to admit, my daily inspiration fabric became weekly {or sometimes biweekly} and always came with a rapid pileup of stitching to catch up on.

One month of circles!

But we made it! 366 days of circles including the Leap Day circle. Once I completed the quilt top, it got stuck in my quilt top drawers and hasn't made a peep since. I've seriously thought about pulling it out later this year and getting it to a true-blue finish, but there are lots of projects in front of it for now. We'll see how the year plays out and talk later!

I have been amazed and inspired by all the wonderful participation. So humbling. Love all the creativity shown and how it showcases many great quilting personalities! It made the whole year better, getting to share and see how others were coming along with their own quilty 365 journeys. I quite enjoyed all the quirks and personal touches! Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who stuck with this simple project. It may look like just another circle quilt in a world of many, but we know better. These particular circle quilts have heart and soul.

Finally, a quilt top!

Somewhere along the way I promised a giveaway for the die-hard circlers who made it through to the bitter end. It's a special quilt, especially if you stitched through all the ups and downs of the seasons. Lots of memories wrapped up in this project already!

So here's the details for the first giveaway: If you have a quilt top finish {a flimsy or a totally completed quilt is okay too}, then please link up below so we can all admire it! We want to see your amazing layout so we can drool and shake our heads, wishing we would have thought up something so good. For all that have something to link up, you will automatically be entered in the drawing for the first giveaway, which is a $30 gift certificate from Connecting Threads! It's a great store where you'll find backing fabric, batting, thread, notions and even books etc. Also included in that giveaway is your choice of the two prizes below {the Perle Cotton thread and needles--perfect for hand quilting OR the DMC embroidery thread and needles--wonderful for applique work}. Please state your preference in the comments below. One person will win both the gift card and one or the other of the secondary prizes pictured below.

2 Balls of #8 DMC Perle Cotton Thread, 1 Ball of  #12 neutral, variagated
Valdani thread and 1 pkg. of Fons & Porter Utility needles

The second giveaway will go to a name drawn strictly from the comments. That prize will be either the Perle Cotton thread and needles OR the DMC embroidery thread and needles--whichever remains after the winner of the first giveaway gets their choice. This means it will be open to everyone, and though it's unlikely, the linkup winner from the first giveaway could even win the secondary prize too!

3 spools of 50 wt. DMC Embroidery thread and 1 pkg. English
Scarlet Today applique needles

Sometimes we just run out of steam on a project and that's perfectly okay. I've done it many times myself. As a thank you to all who started the project but ended up running short of a quilt top, please feel free to add a second comment to increase your chances to win in the second drawing. If you want to continue with the monthly linkups, they are now happening over at Daisy and Jack!

Linkups are open to quilters with a Quilty 365 quilt or quilt top only. Comments are open to all! The giveaway will run for a week and then I will email the winners with the details. If there are any problems contacting the winners then I will simply draw another name. Please be sure there is a way to properly contact you!


   

    An InLinkz Link-up

   

Progress on the 17 UFO's

Last week saw me with the quilt top finish of Chunky Crossroads. This week Gather Ye Roses and My Quilty 365 got crossed off of the 17 in 2017 list as well. I only committed to quilt top finishes with these particular projects as Meredithe assured us that progress was the point!

The three latest quilt top finishes!

Gather Ye Roses started out as tumbler block leftovers and then eventually morphed into a large tumbler basket after one day of play. At that point, I knew it needed more, but wasn't sure where to go from the over-large basket piece. Medallion style quilt? Pieced blocks? More flowers? There are so... many options you know!

Gather Ye Rosebuds looking a little washed out..

Finally I settled on a very rough draft that included smaller basket blocks, a flowing vine and space for some appliqued words. The baskets were easy, just took some time for the details. Then for the rest? Hmmm... In the drawing, my vine had what looked to be fat berries on the vines, but when I settled on 'Gather Ye Rosebuds' for the saying, the berries looked extremely wrong. Not that I'm a purist, but seriously, mentioning the word 'rosebuds' might, just maybe? create an expectation of buds on the vine as well as in the occasional basket.*sigh  These quilts, so demanding!

A look at the bottom of the quilt

However, the flowers are all just a mishmash of whatever blooms I decided to cut out at the time. Tulip shapes and other assorted floral shapes that made sense to me. I refuse to get too worked up over making sure every single detail is just 'so', and I do so love the primitive look to this asymmetrical quilt. Especially done up in the classic, traditional colors that I'm seemingly drawn to, over and over and over again through the years. I will say though, that the applique was a bit brutal at times in the overall effort of making this quilt. Hardly any machine piecing at all which means progress always comes along at the speed of the turtle, not the hare....

The large tumbler basket centerpiece

And then there was the day I spent appliqueing the centerpiece for my dear Quilty 365 quilt. Nothing else quilty that day at all, just this deceptively simple addition to my circle quilt! Words are tricky, but oh, so fun looking on the occasional quilt.

And now it's a quilt top finish!

Surprisingly, I've also moved a very little bit forward with the make-piece triangles for Shattered. It's a quilt that is primarily going to be made out of the scrap bin and while I love the look, it does get a bit tedious at time. Just saying! 76 out of 208 triangles made so far, which by my calculations is just over a fourth the way through. Every time I think, 'This is it! I'm done making these forever!'. Then I take a couple days break, think about it and come back with fresh eyes. It may be a project that takes the entire year to plow through, but I know it will be worthwhile if I just stick with it long term.

Make-fabric triangles

The really exciting progress was finishing up the hand quilting for my Geese Tracks quilt. Yay! It needs binding of course, but it's always such a great motivator to get this close to a true-blue finish. I don't even have to put the binding on for a month and I already feel like it's amazing progress.*wink

Geese Tracks and Black Shadow Applique quilt

So far, it's been really good for me to have this list, reminding me every single time I walk in the quilt room, but the years' young! There's a whole long list of projects I still want to attack, most not even cut out yet. When there's time, I'll be checking out everyone else's progress over at Meredithe's 17 UFO's in 2017. Right now, my youngest son thinks dinner is much more important that mom's quilting stuff and you know how hungry teenagers get when their stomach is empty!

The 2017 Quilty 365

Just a quick post to make an announcement! As we've come to the end of the first year of Quilty 365, I've been wondering about the few 'circlers' who started in later than the rest of us. It made me a little sad to leave them out in the cold and asked if anyone would like to take over the monthly link-up parties.

A whole year of circles...

Yay! for Leanne over at Daisy and Jack Handmade! As of today, she has it all set up with a brand new blog button and everything! After checking out her blog and communicating with her for a couple days, I knew she would be perfect. I mean, look at how cool her blog button is compared to mine?

And I know there are a few people who got behind on their circles {but want to rededicate themselves to finishing}, some who started in much later in the year, and even the ones who weren't quite ready to dive in last year. Now's your chance to have some monthly encouragement for 2017 too! Please go check out Leanne and her new Quilty 365 post. Her first monthly link-up will be on February 1st. Got a feeling she's going to be a wonderful host!

p.s. Don't forget to come back here on May 1st for a finished quilt/quilt-top linky party for those who are further along in the project!

The {2nd} January Quilty 365 Linkup

Okay, here we go! Hopefully most all of you will have completed a full years worth of quilty circles! I've had some people question why this project was named 'Quilty 365' when 2016 was a leap year, but it's a synonym of sorts. When I say 'My Quilty 365', I'm actually saying 'My Quilty Year'!

My Quilty 365

And here it is now in four pieces. Well, five pieces if you count the centerpiece. Of which I'm still playing with! At first, upon completion of the circles, I was gung-ho about having a black centerpiece. Thought that would make the circles 'pop'. Then immediately after laying all the circles out on the floor for a look-see, I changed my mind. Uggh! It needed to be very light. Not white, but maybe a white cream? And when I found the subtle black stripey piece I was sold. Yes! Don't you love it when the perfect piece of fabric is hiding out in our very own stash!

Playing with the centerpiece

This project has been interesting, deeply satisfying, tedious, boring, frustrating, worrisome and now it's turned back around to interesting and yes, even exciting. I'll confess to loving how the centerpiece is taking shape here. I had vague ideas of words in the middle {mostly because I didn't want more than 366 total circles in the quilt}, but never envisioned such a bold look. But it feels right. Whew! We just never know do we?

At times I definitely wondered about the end result of this particular project--all the mishmash of color and odd scrappy bits. So hard to see what's really going on when it's a one-block-a-day sort of project, but you know how it is. Quilts blocks usually end up having a mind of their own. I couldn't believe all the different layout ideas I considering in the course of making these little circles. And then to end up with something so very basic as this! It totally makes me smile. Such a perfect layout for such a crazy, crazy year, having the optimism shining from the inside out to the darker edges of the quilt. I'm often amazed at how happy my quilts often look when life seems to be such a struggle at times. I've tried really hard to find joy in the little things, remember our blessings and not get bogged down in the things I have no control over. The quilt is very personal to me and I'm pleased to have gotten to this particular stage of making.

An idea coming together...

And another BIG THANK YOU! to everyone who stitched along with me. I am so thrilled and happy with all the different Quilty 365 versions. So fascinating having us all start off with the same, simple idea and ending up with something very unique and personal. It feels like a victory, my oh-so-creative friends!

This January linkup is the last monthly linkup I'm doing until May 1st where I will be doing a final linkup to wrap it all up. My Quilty 365 won't be totally sandwiched and quilted by then, but the top will be completely done and I invite you to join me in showing off your completed quilt top and/or finish too. There will also be a giveaway for all those who have participated along the way. 

As there is still a bit of interest in this project being ongoing, I would also urge anyone who is interested, to take over future monthly Quilty 365 linkups. Just a thought. It could be definitely be tailored to match up with how you envision it moving forward! Please email me if this is something to be considered. Otherwise, we'll just let it be and anyone currently doing the Quilty 365 can stitch along on their own. Nothing wrong with that! Happy, Happy New Year! Hope to see you at the May 1st linkup!

If you're still working on this project, please feel free to link a thumbnail picture to a current post on your blog detailing:

• What particular day you happen to be at now {such as 'day 366'}
• A picture of all your December circles whether they are stitched to the background fabric or not. Possibly a picture of your current quilt top progress?
• A link back to this post
• Any thoughts or introspection you might want to add about this particular project

   

    An InLinkz Link-up