What happens when an accountant is a quilter

 Several years ago I decided to start keeping a spreadsheet of all my quilts and related projects.  I realized that there were several quilts that I had photographed that I could not remember where they went.  Also periodically questions would come up about who designed the pattern or the name of the pattern.  Then I started keeping this blog and putting the date & name of the blog post was also helpful.  The next result of all this is I have a lovely list of all my quilts and other than three, I know either the owner or if they were donated.  And of course since it's a spreadsheet, I can also do graphs.  Haha, what fun.

Since I started quilting in 2001, I've made just under 400 quilt, which consist of 47 t-shirt quilt, 215 novelty quilts & 135 other quilts.  Of that, 59 have been donation quilts, 80 are in my personal collection, and my daughter has 13.  Below is the graph by year since 2015 (252 total).  2020 was an unusual year for t-shirt quilts because the company I worked for (Pier 1 Imports) closed down during Covid and I made a LARGE number of t-shirt quilts for people from Pier 1 shirts.  And I pretty much burned out on t-shirt quilts that year.  I have been trying lots of patterns that aren't novelty fabrics in the last few years.  Some of those I have documented here, but many many of the older ones I have not documented anywhere.  So I plan to catch up on those in future posts. I'll mark them as "general quilts" for those who are interested only in novelties.

Ok, I'm making myself tired.  But it is fun and informative to look back and see just where my quilting journey has led me.

Recent fun with novelties

 After reading a discussion in a quilting group about the size of people's stash (3000 yds & more), I felt very convicted about my own stash of novelties (which is well over 50% of my total stash and very likely near 3000 yds).  So I determined to go through all of it, cut one 4.5" strip and two 2.5" strips off of every piece.  Then iron & refold the remaining large pieces neatly, cut up any small pieces and make up a bunch of kits ready to sew.  I've realized over the years that I really dislike the fussy cutting and refolding.  So having precut strips in my most used sizes saves time a lot of time & effort and encourages me to get sewing.

The resulting newly cleaned baskets were so neat and pretty and gee I had a bunch of room in every color.  And look at all those strips, organized by color, and ready to be cut into kits (4 baskets full and now I know why so much room in the others).  

And here are some quilts.  The first one is what I call a chandelier quilt.  Very dramatic.  I don't love doing on-point layouts because of the bias but they do look very cool.

This next one was super super easy because the precut strips were already grouped by color, many of them ironed and cut together.  All I had to do was cut off the end.  Very fun, I'll definitely be making more like this.

I got the idea for this from the pattern called Woven Whimsey by Mill Street Quilt Company.  But I changed the construction method to maximize the novelty fabric piece sizes.  It made it more complicated than the original pattern and I'm not sure it was worth it.  But it was a good experiment.

This is super simple pattern just uses a strip set of 4 rails, then add a triangle.  Putting the blocks together was a little fiddly because you end up with matching seams but I was able to nest them without too much trouble.  And they didn't have to match exact.

After all the cutting, I was overrun with left over strips less than my standard 2.5" wide.  So I made a BUNCH of piano keys for borders.  But I had so many I decided to make a string quilt to use up some. I've done this pattern several times and it's very easy and a great way to use up scraps of varying sizes.

The idea for this quilt came from a very graphic quilt a friend made using batiks.  It's basically a trip around the world layout, but with black sashing between the columns.  It didn't turn out as well as the original, but it's not bad.

I found this pattern called Valor, designed for QOV.  But it works great with novelties.  It was especially fun because I got to both match colors for the large squares as well as use other fabrics in the small ones that never get used because they don't match anything else (especially the tans).  This one is definitely worth repeating.

With all those precut strips, I'm excited to get a bunch more novelties done this summer.  Stay tuned!

Quick kid donations

 As a member of three different organizations that make donation quilts for children's charities, I get to make a lot of small quilts with panels, novelties, donated fabric and practice my quilting on a small scale.  Sometimes these are my usual novelty quilts, but many times not.  Here are some recent trials.

A friend found these llamas on a donation table and I kept some for my stash.  But I know from experience that pink just doesn't make it into my usual I spy quilts very often.  So I decided to use it as a focus fabric instead.  The pattern alternates snowball blocks with framed 9 patch blocks.  I've been trying to print out fewer patterns, so I was trying to just look at the pattern I had put in OneNote on my phone.  And I did the math wrong - so the snowball triangles didn't account for the framed strips on the 9 patch and are smaller than intended.  Of course I didn't have any jade fabric to spare.  But it made for an interesting variation.  I like this pattern a lot because you can do the framed 9 patch using strip piecing, so it goes together quickly.

This next quilt didn't work out so well.  Originally I was tempted to use black instead of the gray but felt it would be too much contrast.  But the gray I chose was too little contrast - I should have tried the black & white photo trick to check.  

I tried doing some custom quilting to emphasize the gray - it didn't really help much.  But I am very happy with the feather detail in the open snowball.  They came out very well and only a few times look like weird toes.  And I got to use my Christmas present of rulers by Bethanne Nemish.  I was honestly surprised with how easy they were - I guess all the practicing lately has paid off.

I had these left over flannel squares and the weird lozenge fabric so I thought I'd try a fancy sashing (from a workshop taught at one of the guilds I attend).  I used a new ruler set by Marti Michelle that worked really well.  The quilt isn't all that great (the pink and yellow with blue is a bit weird), but I hope someone will enjoy how cuddly the flannel is. 

Basic warm wishes to the rescue.  Zoo animals and cats don't exactly go together but I didn't have enough of either fabric, so they will just have to get along.

How to finish a flannel panel?  With left over flannel squares.  I am pleased with how well this turned out - and even more pleased that this was the last of those silly flannel squares!

Another odd panel, I decided to finish it off with some coordinating strips in an asymmetrical arrangement.

One more panel.  Looking through my stash for coordinating fabrics, I found the two blue fabrics sewn together.  No idea where they came from, but I chopped them up to make a 4 patch, added the narrow orange border and called it good.  Kind of like the off center.

The safari fabric was so fun, but there wasn't very much of it.  So I had to use an extra 4 patch in the corner. Fun and bright - my favorite baby quilts.

Where does time go! General quilts

 I remember my grandmother making that comment.  The older I get the more I understand.  It feels like just a few weeks since I updated this blog, but here it is June and it's been five months.  And 24 quilt tops.  Obviously I've been sewing (and remodeling a kitchen) but not much else.  I'll tackle the adult themed quilts first.

I recently took a class at my local quilt guild, taught by Nadine Watson called Perfect piecing.  This quilt is the result.  It was an excellent class and I do recommend it.  I especially loved learning about making flying geese that can be trimmed to the exact size.

I found some great magazines on the donation table recently and have been trying out some patterns from them.  This pattern by Pat Forster was in Quiltmania (what a great name for a quilting magazine). I changed it to blues, planning to hang it in our newly remodeled laundry room to help deaden the noise.  I had planned to call it Windmills, but after all the struggles with the quilting, I've decided to call it Learning Curve.

I wanted to do the quilting the same as in the magazine, which was all custom.  I learned to be careful and not lean my head against the screen on my long arm or else the stitch length might change.  I learned it's really difficult to remove stitches at 32 per inch.  I learned to make sure your machine foot is tight and centered with the needle or else the width of the line behind the needle is not the same as in front.  I learned to BREATHE and stay loose on meandering (tho I did NOT learn to like meandering).  I learned that I get better on ruler work by the bottom of the quilt vs the top.  And ultimately I had to learn to be satisfied with not perfect. 

All in all it is very nice quilt for a laundry room wall.  And it's got so much work in it, I think I'll enter it

in our local quilt show in September.

This quilt called Towers by Wendy Shephard was in AQ magazine.  I fell in love with the optical illusion and the bright colors.  It now hangs in my hall way and is very dramatic.   This one might go in the show too just because it looks so cool.  Anyone have idea for all the black & white tiny triangles left over?

I've also been having some fun trying out some new patterns using either donated fabrics or left over backing pieces or fabrics in my stash so long I cannot remember where they came from.  It reminds me of making a casserole with whatever you can find in the pantry.  

This is a standard disappearing 9 patch, but the fun is the narrow sashing that matches the center patch.  The inspiration I saw had a more narrow sashing, but I didn't feel like fighting to keep a very narrow one even.  The seam allowances can cause problems and visual wobbles, so I went with larger just to keep things easy.  The white fabric was a wide backing purchase from several years ago and has been used on a number of backs - but I still had lots of long left over strips.  I now only have one FQ sized piece left.  The blacks were all out of my scrap box and the yellow was off the donation table.  A great casserole!  I think I'm going to get some Minky for the backing, it will make a great sofa cuddle quilt.

The next pattern is called Tile Time, a design by Amanda Wilbert from APQ magazine.  I liked the secondary pattern which is intended to look like tile work.  The flamingo fabric was from the donation table and I just barely had enough.  Raiding my stash for coordinating colors I discovered I really need to buy some more teals and coral, this quilt used up the very last bits but they sure matched nicely.  The pale purple was from the trimming from a wide backing.

I've made the following pattern several times and I enjoy it every time, except for the bias on the setting triangles - but starch is my friend.  The pattern is called Chain letter by Daniela Stout.  These fabrics were all donation fabrics, some of them decidedly ugly.  But they came together for a very nice overall design.

Warm Wishes is such a great quick pattern and depending on the colors, can be very dramatic.  I found the striped border fabric in a donation pile and the colors matched perfectly.  I had to piece a few of the sea shell blocks as there wasn't enough, but no one will ever notice.

This pattern is one of my favorites.  It's basically an attic window block, constructed using half square triangles, but then arranging the blocks in a rotating pattern rather than straight.  You get such a fun pinwheel effect. the 4 inch squares were from a stash of donated novelties where many were flowers.  The dark blue pinwheels were very faded but I was able to cut around the fade marks.

So, it has been a very productive first half of the year, even with a four and half month kitchen remodel in progress - which will be completed in two more days - yippee!  Then on to the back patio.  That's one of the benefits (and downsides) with working at home.  You come up with so many projects while sitting in your home office, looking.

Sewing room update

While fixing some missing photos in old posts (how does that happen?), I noticed it has been quite a while since I posted an update on my sewing room.  So here's the latest.

Last summer we replaced the carpeting on that side of the house, which required disassembling my long arm and moving everything out of the room.  Including a very heavy, very large fold out sofa.  We had to put it up on end, balanced on the curved arm, and slide it out on a piece of cardboard, twisting as it was pushed through.  It barely fit through the door and it wasn't easy.  Once we got it out, everyone agreed it would stay out.  Since we had first put it in the sewing room to use as a guest room, both our kids have gone to college and moved out.  So we now have two other spare rooms for guests and really don't need to use my sewing room.  Yippee, more room!  Sofa has been sold and two trundle beds are in the kids old rooms.

I decided I really wanted my long arm to be against the opposite wall, with a small walk space between the table & the wall.  We ordered wheels for the table thinking it would be easier to move.  But they are very difficult to adjust the height, so I've not ended up moving it much at all.  There is a small space where I can walk around the back, but I only do so to plug in the machine.

Moving the table opened up the center of the room and makes it more inviting.  I also had room to add a small reclining chair to watch TV.  The cat isn't particularly pleased as he can't sit next to me any more on the sofa.  But he does like sleeping in the chair, mostly because I keep a folded quilt there and everyone knows the best cat trap is a folded quilt.  

I am able to have two machines out for sewing, though I keep one of them lowered in the cabinet and use it as a work surface.  If I am hosting other sewers, I can also open up the back on cabinet and sit someone there, though the rocker has to be moved first (tetris).

I really love being able to walk around my cutting table now.  It lessens the times I'm doing contortions to cut something.

Here is my nice big design wall, hung from a curtain rod using binder clips.  Hey, it works and it's easy to move if I decide to rearrange (again).

One downside to moving the long arm table is the surface is not as convenient to use as a pressing area.  Walking around to the back of the table is very narrow and just too difficult and leaning over from the front hurt my back. I ended up putting my pressing table in the bathroom on the counter.  It isn't in the way if someone does need to use the bathroom and it is nice to have it out of the way - and on a different electrical circuit.  I'm a little nervous about dropping the iron on the tile floor but I found some foam cushioning that I put there to also help with foot fatigue.  I raised the surface above the counter using some 4 x 4 blocks previously used to raise my cutting table (before I got the adjustable one).

I love having the walk-in closet but it would be nice to move the Christmas decorations out - another project. 

I made this applique sign for my door.  The knocker underneath was my mother's who was a pianist & singer.  Welcome to my happy place! 

Novelties in 2023

 And one more post for 2023!  I did actually make some novelty quilts in 2023, in between the donation quilts and other projects.  This first one is from Kim Bracket's Scrap Basket Sensations book, one of my favorite books.  This inspired me to suggest it for the guild's raffle quilt.  The next thing I knew I was coordinating the raffle - never ask a question or make a suggestion in a guild or it will be considered volunteering!

This starburst pattern was one I had seen at a quilt show.  It was made using matched half square triangles.  The layout was a little tricky.  Fortunately I have a good design wall and my little numbered felt flags saved me from having to rip much.

This was another pattern from a Kim Bracket book.  I used 2.5 x 4.5 precuts, arranged in color families.  It was so busy the only border that worked was my "go to", piano keys.

This diagonal colors was a fun one to put together.  It was from 4.5 precuts with a small triangle in one corner.

It has been many years since I've done this heart block.  The guild president's challenge this year was hearts, so I knew what I needed to use.  This quilt was auctioned at the QGPC fall auction.

I wanted to use up scraps from a couple of wide backings.  This pattern looks very difficult but it is not since it uses folded triangle corners instead of Y-seams.  I haven't made it in several years and wanted to try it again.  I think the mitered border was a nice touch, adding to the optical illusion of depth.

This was a fun pattern for a sew day.  I could sew and talk at the same time without having to think too much.  It is made using 2.5" x 4.5" rectangles in rounds alternating white & colored.  I cut my novelty scraps in 2.5" x 4.5" & 2.5 x 2/5" sizes so I just went thru my scraps.  I tried to limit the repeats but didn't worry too much if a few occurred twice.

This pattern is by an internet friend of mine from Australia.  She once sent me authentic Kangaroo novelty fabric from Australia.  Her pattern is called Emeralds and is available from her Etsy shop.  The pattern was very well written.  I modified it some to use multiple colors and I offset each column to make the secondary pattern.  I enjoyed making it, but pressing the seams was a challenge as many of them need to be pressed open to avoid excessive bulk at the points.

This pattern is Watercolors by Ledine Watson at Sugar Stitches Quilt Co.  Normally I would have used a bright white background but I thought I'd try gray.  Not completely happy with it, I keep wishing I had chosen a lighter gray to give more value contrast.  The pattern was fun to do - but LOTS of flying geese.

I found this free pattern on Jordanfabrics.com, called Log Jam.  It designed by Robert Kaufman fabrics to showcase batik jelly rolls. I think it worked great for novelties and it went together quickly.  The strips are 2.5" x 6.5", with folded corners on oppose sides of the block.  When to put together, they make a great zigzag effect.

Using up scraps - I've seen this called Jewel Box.  Each block is made from 2 half square triangles and two 4 patches.  The arrangement of the 4 patches gives it the Irish chain look.  I may add a border at some point if I decide I want it larger.

This pattern is called Tangled by Alyson Harris.  The original pattern uses one fabric in each block for the "strings".  This creates interwoven squares made up of 4 colors.  Watching a lady work on it at retreat, I thought it might be fun to make the large squares out of a single color.  Planning this out and organizing it was a real challenge.  I had to have a chart, a graph, and label each fabric as I cut it.  It turned out pretty nice.  But if I make it again, I will make it like the pattern calls with one color in each both. I also think it needs a border but right now I'm a little tired thinking on this one.  It needs to "age" a while.

At first I thought I had donated this last quilt before I took a picture.  But then I looked through the quilts finished but not yet donated and there it was.  Phew, that was close.  I've made this pattern before but it has been a long time.  The name is Ladders designed by Lumberyard quilts.  Nice and easy, it is a great pattern to use up some scraps.  And I got to use some of those white novelties that are so hard to use.

 And there are my 50 projects/quilts for 2023.  Not sure how I was able to get so many done.  I guess I just don't work on much else and we didn't travel because we have a new puppy.  So I sewed.  I also have quilted and bound approximately two dozen charity tops that were pieced by others.  At one point I decided there were too many tops hanging in my closet.  I quilted and bound 15 quilts all in a row.  I actually had only 2 unquilted tops left after that quilting binge.  But that was a few months ago and the number is growing.  Of course.  I do love this hobby!

Some additional non-novelty projects in 2023

 These projects don't have anything in common, other than I was trying some different patterns out this year, some new and some traditional.  Some were trying new methods and I learned something on almost all of them.

The first quilt was commissioned by my sister for her grandson.  She purchased the precuts & panel from the Fat Quarter shop and enticed me to put them into a quilt.  I learned a lot about precuts (they shrink differently cross grain than lengthwise when you starch don't don't count on the full size of the precut.  And quilting a panel is NOT the same as quilting pieced blocks - start in the center to avoid tucks on the back.  And how to use every single bit of fabric available to make a full quilt.  It was a fun challenge, though frustrating at times.  I know Beckett loves his quilt though.

This quilt was commissioned by my son.  He wanted me to make a quilt for a coworker going through cancer.  He took the album squares to work for signatures before I pieced them into the quilt.  Another coworker quilted & bound it, then it was presented and displayed at work.

This pattern was by J. Michelle Watts, a door prize from her workshop at QGPC in 2022.  I had originally made a table topper for my round table using reverse applique, hand quilting & detailed binding.  However that quilt was "lost" during the Christmas holidays in 2022.  So to ease my despair, I made another topper for the round table.  I used some batiks that had been in my stash for years.  I was pleased with the way it came out and it looks well with the gray/blue sofa.  The contrast isn't as much as I had thought it would be once it was done but still a fun pattern.  But I was ecstatic when my other quilt was found when I pulled out the Christmas decorations in December 2023.   This one will make an occasional appearance but for now I'm enjoying having the applique one back.

This project is "in the works".  I had volunteered to coordinate the raffle quilt for the QGPC show in September 2024.  The fabrics are batik strips donated by guild members and we had two sew days to put them together.  I then stitched them together at the guild retreat in November.  The picture below is the blocks on my design wall before stitching into the top.  It will be a very dramatic quilt and hopefully generate a lot of raffle sales.  The pattern is Flower Blossoms by Kim Brackett from her Scrap Basket Sensations book. 

Under the heading of finishing other people's projects, these fabric strips were rescued from the donation table.  I decided to make another Jagged X pattern by Donna Jordan.  I learned the importance of an accurate 1/4" seam on that diagonal, especially when working with strips that weren't all cut accurately.  I love how it turned out though when sewing it was a little frustrating.

This pattern called Rolling Waves was a free pattern from McCallsQuilting.com, designed by Jane Koelker.  It was very easy to make, using strip piecing.  I didn't want to purchase fabrics to try this, so I just used left over backing fabrics.  When done it needed something to brighten it up so I added the rust border.

I decided I wanted to make a bag to carry my featherweight to sew days.  I purchase this pattern from Quiltessa on Etsy.  The ideas in the bag were great, but the instructions were not.  Still I got it finished.  It is nice to carry and the zipper corners are cool but the pocket in front isn't particularly usable. I quilted the fabric for the outside.

After using the bag above for a while I decided I needed a freestanding tool bag.  I found this pattern by Bodobo bags called Stitcher's Dream bag.  The instructions and illustrations were very clear and it was fun to make.  I still had fabric left from the FW bag, so I made this one to match.  The top folds down to make it easy to reach the tools inside.

And one more "finishing someone else's project.  These black and white triangles were all cut and many of the assembled.  But the person who donated them got frustrated and put them on the give away table.  Again I really came to appreciate the importance of an accurate 1/4", a good learning opportuniaty (lol).  I didn't care for the pattern that was with the fabric so I came up with my own layout.  Not sure but I think it needs a border of some kind but I don't have any more of the fabrics.  This one will age for a bit in the closet before it's quilted.

For the QGPC auction in September, we had a country store.  I agreed to make some wall clocks for the store.  They were very popular and sold quickly to guild members.   The photos below are before the clock hands were added.