Sunset quilt

I finished my oldest in-progress quilt!  It didn't surprise me that it took so long to finish, as I decided to do some hand quilting on it and I really only did that sporadically when traveling.  It's just a small wall hanging, but I love it.

The fabric was from Play-Crafts and it was the first fabric that I ever won in a giveaway.  I was so excited.  The fabric pull was based on a sunset picture, and so I thought I'd loosely imitate a sunset.  The colors go from warm to cool and the triangles point down, to drive home the setting part.

It wasn't quite right until Claire suggested a horizon.  It was exactly what the quilt needed.

This was also my first try at hand quilting.  My stitches are pretty large, but I did that on purpose.  The quilting shape in important.  I used gold thread for the very middle of the arcs, suggesting the sun.  After a few golden arcs I changed to a varigated thread with sunset-ish colors for the rest of the arcs.

I also bound the quilt by hand for the first time.  It wasn't as intimidating as I was expecting.

The fabric on the back is a perfect match for the wall it's hanging on.  I ended up just using some 3M wall clips to hang it; if I ever feel the desire I can turn it around for a while.  I realized after I wrote that sentence that there is an ugly wall sleeve on it, but I could always cover it up for a short time. :)  It is by my computer and the only quilt I have right there; it's been nice to look up and see it.

Linking up with Finish It Up Friday (when it opens up).

December recap

1.  bee hive scrap something - baby girl quilt.  This is January's goal.  It seems like a pretty easy goal to finish it, but if I don't make it the goal I will work on something else and not finish it.  The baby for whom it is intended should arrive this month, so I'm hoping to finish it before I see her.

2. Aunt's quilt. I finished piecing it.  I need to get some backing still, and figure out how I want to quilt it.  I think this one will be quilted next.

 
3. Sunset wall hanging.  I just have the half the binding left to do. It's getting finished, still slowly but steadily.  I also have to bury some threads in the back.

Other items still waiting around.
4. scrap quilt #2.  needs a little more quilting, then blocking.  I'm a bit afraid of blocking, although I saw a tutorial by QuiltingJetgirl recently that made it look only a little scary.
5. Scrap quilt.   needs a lot more quilting.
6. Rainbow log cabin.  finish piecing - close
7. Orphan rocket block.  Just make into a zip little bag.  I may need to make a second one for a sibling.
8. Jeweled floors. Still in early design stage; I didn't do much with it this year.
9. Lost piece (almost whole cloth quilt).   Still in design stage...I have so many other quilting things going on that this will probably hang out for a while.  But it's small, so it might be good to sew up so I could work on it easily...
10. Winter quilt.    Design completed.
11. fabric from Christmas.    Purpose figured out...a napping quilt for me.  For me!  Now to figure out the perfect design.
12. A pillow with green/purple fabric.  I haven't done anything with this, but it should be easy. 
13. Simply solids bee quilt.   piecing needs to be finished - it's close, but there are some weird angles so it might also be rather challenging.
14. Quilt nautical quilt. Half way done.

Since it's January and I hit my goal of getting down to 15 WIPS, I gave myself permission to add several items.  I have to whole year to get the list shortened again!
15. Meshing solid HSTs. I started cutting, but no solid design plan yet.
16. green/white hourglass quilt. I have a design figured out
17. baby quilt - possibly pair with another quilt on the list. TBD
18. woodlands quilt. TBD
19. Trying to fit in - left over triangle quilt.  I have an idea.
20. Temperature quilt. My sister-in-law is crocheting a temperature blanket too.  It'll be fun to see how they look different (or the same) at the end.  The squares will be 2.5" finished, and each month will get two rows of 15 squares.  Some days might just have to share a square or will get two squares.

August recap

1. Wedding quilt. Finishing this is my goal for September.  As goals go, this one might be a bit hard to finish.  The quilt is on the frame. The beige is about half quilted and I just started the light grey, but I feel like it's taking a long time.  It took me about 1.5 weeks to do 2/3 of the beige part.  I thought it would be an easy quilting motif, but I think I'm doing more marking than expected.  There is also a computer game that recently had more content added to it, so I've been playing that a bit more in my evenings.

2. The bee hive quilt.  I took pictures...I just need to post them.  Slowly but surely is my motto with this one. (See, even the quilt is taking it easy and doesn't want to "work".)

3. Sunset wall hanging.   The binding is on the front and ready for hand binding during the next vacation I take.

4. Quilt nautical quilt.   I finished the ropes in the sashing and then took it off the frame for a bit.  I did bury a bunch of thread ends too.

5. Aunt's quilt. I have all the HSTs done.  They still need to be trimmed.  I had been planning on doing opposite sides of the color spectrum - blue with orange, pink with green, and purple with yellow - but I suddenly found myself with a bunch of yellow and blue HSTs.  They were made, cut in half, and I realized I really liked the blue and yellow together.  So I just put the other colors together as I wanted.  The pink and purple went nicely together, so that left orange and green together too.

Other items still waiting around.  I didn't add anything this month, although I've had a few ideas floating around in my head.  So far I've been resisting the temptation though.
6. Baby quilt (boy). 
7. bee hive scrap something.
8. scrap quilt #2.
9. Scrap quilt. 
10. Simply solids bee quilt.     
11. Rainbow log cabin.  
12. Orphan rocket block.  
13. Jeweled floors.  
14. Lost piece (almost whole cloth quilt).  
15. Winter quilt.  
16. fabric from Christmas.  
17. A pillow with green/purple fabric.

Recap of July

1. QDAD challenge piece.  This is my goal for August.  I just have to put some rows together and quilt.  Below is half of the piece.

2. Wedding quilt. All the blocks are done.  Next to put them together.  This will be my piecing project once I finish piecing the challenge piece above.  The wedding is in September.  I don't have to finish by then, but it would be nice to do so.

3. The bee hive quilt.  This is finished, but I need to take pictures.  It's going to be a bit before I see the recipient, so it's been languishing in the the laundry basket for quite a while.

4. Sunset wall hanging.   This has been my vacation work as I'm doing the quilting by hand.  I surprisingly finished it up on the last trip; I thought I still had a ways to go.  I'm going to put the binding on by hand too, a new thing for me.

5. Quilt nautical quilt.   I've had this one for a while, but my mother-in-law doesn't love it and was in no rush to get it back.  I'm putting ropes in sashing and want to put sailboats on the outer border, but am not sure what I'll be putting in the blocks themselves yet.  I might end up taking this off for a bit to put on some of the quilts mentioned above.

Other items still waiting around.  
6. Baby quilt (boy). 
7. bee hive scrap something.
8. scrap quilt #2.
9. Aunt's quilt. 
10. Scrap quilt. 
11. Simply solids bee quilt.     
12. Rainbow log cabin.  
13. Orphan rocket block.  

14. Jeweled floors.  
15. Lost piece (almost whole cloth quilt).  
16. Winter quilt.  
17. fabric from Christmas.  
18. Kids' quilt.   
19. A pillow with green/purple fabric.

January update

It's the beginning of a year!  I worked on many of these projects in December and since it is a new year they are all getting a quick recap of where they stand.

1. Space robot quilt. The top is finally done!  I was looking through the archives and realized that my son looked so much younger when I got the initial fabric.  I'm finishing up the backing (hopefully it will be big enough) and then it'll be going on the quilter.  My goal for January is to finish this.

 

 2. Baby quilt.   This is Matrix by Anne of Springleaf Studios.  It is almost done; I'm just waiting on the gender of the baby to be revealed before binding it.

3. The bee hive quilt. I decided I need 30 blocks for this quilt to make it a size that I want.  Blah.  I received about 12 from the bee and am working on more.  It is probably going to take quite a bit longer than I was hoping.

4. A baby quilt.  I found out about a baby that is coming a few months.  So I used Meadow Mist Design's Plus Plus quilt.  I still need to quilt it and then will be waiting on the gender again to determine the binding color. 

 

5. Sunset wall hanging.  I add a semi-circle every once in a while when I'm on a trip.  I forgot my disappearing ink on the last trip so not as much got done as I was hoping.

6. Scrap quilt. I took some off the bottom to add to the top so that the design wouldn't be covered by pillows.  But now it looks too short - I'll need to try and figure out what grey I used and add a bit more to the bottom.

7. Simply solids bee quilt.  The main part is done, now I need to add the side triangles and probably borders.  I dislike working with big pieces, but it needs to be done.

8. scrap quilt #2.  I'm so excited about this one.  I ran out of pepper and need to get more, then I'll be back at it.

9. Quilt Christmas quilt.  This has been quilted and the threads tucked in...all that is left is to take some pictures! 

  

10. A baby quilt.  I have a design idea and the color palette.  I need to order the fabrics and finalize the design.

11. Rainbow log cabin.   It's been set aside, but I'm not really sure why.

12.  Pluses quilt.  I'm a little afraid to open the bag as I think a big mess might be waiting for me...

13. Orphan rocket block.  I think a little bag would be fun.

14. Quilt nautical quilt.  This is still just waiting for quilting.

  
15. Jeweled floors. I have the fabric and a design inspiration, but the quilt design hasn't become apparent yet.  I need to start working on it again.

16. Lost piece (almost whole cloth quilt).  I have the fabric and the ideas.  I really just need some "down time" on the quilter.  Well, and to make it, but shouldn't take much time.

17. Winter quilt.  I have a design figured out and the fabric.  I'm ready to start!  It's also winter time and there isn't much snow, so I expect I'll start this rather soon.

18. fabric from Christmas.  I received some beautiful fabric for Christmas...now I just need to figure out what to do with it.

19. Kids' quilt.  This is kind of a "sew this when a child wants to sew and I don't have anything good for them to sew."  I don't expect a ton of progress.

20. A pillow.  I got this fabric a long time ago for such a purpose - I should use it!

December rollover

Just as I think I'm going to make the list go down something new comes up. :)  Ah well, it's fun to have choices to work on and apparently I'm really happy having about 20 of them.

1. Baby quilt.   My ALYoF goal for December (#26) is to almost finish this quilt.  It is Matrix by Anne of Springleaf Studios.  And by almost finish, I mean have everything except the binding done.  The gender of the baby is going to be a surprise, and the binding color will reflect the gender.

2. Space robot quilt.  I'll show you the front eventually.  In the meantime, the whole thing has been put together and almost all the paper has been removed.

3. The bee hive quilt.  I have a few blocks, and am still expecting more.  I will still need to make more to get the size that I want.

4. A baby quilt.  I found out about a baby that is coming in a few months.  So I used Meadow Mist Design's Plus Plus quilt.  I still need to put the blocks together.  I think this is another baby where the gender will be a surprise, so the binding will probably wait until the baby has arrived.

  

Other items on which I didn't make progress last month...
5. Sunset wall hanging.

6. Scrap quilt. 

7. Rainbow log cabin.  

8. Simply solids bee quilt. 

9. scrap quilt #2. 
10. map wall hanging.  

11.  Pluses quilt. 
12. Orphan rocket block 
13. Quilt nautical quilt   
14. Quilt Christmas quilt  
15. Jeweled floors. 
16. Lost piece (almost whole cloth quilt). 
17. Winter quilt. 
18. A baby quilt.

November rollover

1. Baby girl top - I would like to finish this for the November ALYoF (#54).  I thought the baby was due early December, but is actually due late November, so I don't have quite as much time as I thought.  I have the white "flowers" all quilted and am probably going to put some leaves in the background.

2. Sunset wall hanging.  I quilted a few more circles.

3. Space robot quilt.  The top is almost together...just two or three more seams.  I've started taking some of the paper out.  It will be a long process, but I was thinking I might start Gilmore Girls.

4. The bee hive quilt.  I made a sample block for my month, November.  Now I'm just waiting for them to come in!  The block is spinwheel.

5. Baby quilt.   It is Matrix by Anne of Springleaf Studios.  I feel like I should have put a little more planning into the colors, but still like it.

  

Other items on which I didn't make progress last month...

6. Scrap quilt. 

7. Rainbow log cabin.  

8. Simply solids bee quilt. 

9. scrap quilt #2. 
10. map wall hanging.  

11.  Pluses quilt. 
12. Orphan rocket block 
13. Quilt nautical quilt   
14. Quilt Christmas quilt  
15. Jeweled floors. 
16. Lost piece (almost whole cloth quilt). 
17. Winter quilt. 
18. A door stop. 

October rollover

1. Quilt swimsuit quilt - for my October ALYoF (#35), I'd like to finish quilting the swimsuit quilt.  I'm doing waves on the white part.  I'm about half way done with the quilting, but there are a lot of stops and starts (should have thought of that earlier) and so a lot of threads need to be buried too. 

2. Baby girl top - The top of my stack 'n whack is done.  I really like it.

3. Sunset wall hanging.  I finished quilting the actual sun in shiny thread and am now doing semi-cirles around it.  I didn't end up working on it as much this summer as I was expecting, but I hope to continue to slowly work away at it.

4. Space robot quilt.  I almost have all the blocks pieced!  I'm about half way done with my last five.

5. Scrap quilt.  I finished this at the end of last month,  but as I was taking a quick picture something just didn't seem right about it.  Maybe it was all the negative space just being intimidating.  So I put it on the bed to check the dimensions.  Over all it's pretty good, but I think I'll add some from the bottom to the top.  I had forgotten that pillows often cover up the top bit and don't want them to cover the stripes.  So I guess nothing has actually been done, but there is a plan.

  

Other items on which I didn't make progress last month...

6. Rainbow log cabin.  

7. Simply solids bee quilt. 

8. scrap quilt #2. 
9. map wall hanging.  

10.  Pluses quilt. 
11. Orphan rocket block 
12. Quilt nautical quilt   
13. Quilt Christmas quilt  
14. Jeweled floors. 
15. Lost piece (almost whole cloth quilt). 
16. Winter quilt. 
17. Baby quilt. 
18. A door stop. 
19. The bee hive quilt - make sample blocks for November