Final Project Finishes for 2021!

Here are a couple of final finished quilts for 2021. 

 First of all is the doll quilt I started over a year ago.  I finally finished it and gave it as a Christmas gift, along with a doll, to a granddaughter. 

Project number two is a Christmas quilt made in the same string quilt pattern that I have made several quilts from this past year.  The only difference is the fabric placement and using the same fabrics in the same places in all the blocks.  It makes a completely different looking quilt.

 

Here is the back.  I used what I had!
 

 Whew!  I set a goal for 2021 to make quilts without buying any fabric.  Mission accomplished.  I made 5 quilts during 2021 and only purchased quilt battings.

I want to make more Christmas quilts in 2022 using only what I have on hand.  I also think some Christmas pillow cases for the grandkids would be appreciated.  I could give them the pillow cases at Thanksgiving and they could enjoy them until after Christmas.

 

 

A Rustic Christmas Quilt / "I Spy Quilt"

This post is linked to the following linky parties:  From Bolt to Beauty, Alycia Quilts, and Quilting is More Fun Than Housework.

This is my second Christmas quilt finish of the year!  I have been able to continue making quilts using this same pattern, using only what I have on hand.  I have only purchased quilt battings in the year 2021.  This means that I have purchased no new fabric to supplement what I have on hand, nor any backing fabrics. 

This quilt is being made for a family whose home has a cabin feel and I was thinking these fabrics would be cute in their family room.  My vision is that it would be a great throw size quilt and could lay folded on the back of the couch when not in use.  

As I was making the quilt, I realized that there are lots of Christmas items and words in the quilt.  So I decided to type up a list of all of them, put the list into a sheet protector and include it with the quilt when I give it to the family.  It might be a quiet activity during the time leading up to Christmas to find these objects in an "I Spy" kind of game.  There are 3 children, ages 5, 7 and 8, who will be using the quilt.   At the end of this post I included the list of items and words.

 

 

Close ups of some of the fabrics:

I incorporated this panel into the backing fabric.  You might remember that I made a Christmas Tree Skirt using an identical panel which was my first project of the year 2021.  Also, some of the backing fabric has tiny U. S. Flags on it.

Soy Beans are growing in the background.

List of I Spy Christmas Words:

Wreath

Santa

Christmas Tree

Truck Tire

Deer Antlers

Teddy Bear

Ice Skates

Log Cabin

Star

Smoke from a chimney

Snowman

Scarf

Sweater

Sheep

Red Truck

Bird House

Mittens

Bird

Bear Foot Print

Moose

Noel (word)

Christmas (word)

Snow Flake

Mistletoe

Holly

Rabbit

U. S. Flag (In the backing fabric)

Apple

 

I have another Christmas quilt in mind, coming soon, I hope!

A Small 2021 Finish and 2021 Quilty Plans

Good morning and happy 2nd day of January, 2021!

Being home all day on a rainy first day of January, 2021, I was able to complete a small project from start to finish!  I am calling it a Christmas Tree Rug.  The place we normally place our tree is a small corner right by a doorway that we pass through constantly that leads to and from the kitchen and living room.  Our artificial tree is not a very big tree and fits that spot perfectly.

However, a traditional "tree skirt" is too big for the space and I feel like someone might slip and fall on it when walking by.  So my solution is a "tree rug".  Its a small rectangular shape and I am simply going to sit the tree on top of it.  A couple of presents under the tree will hide the part of the tree that sits on it.  

The fabric is a panel called "Northwoods Noel".  This has been in my Christmas fabrics tote for a long time.  In fact, including this one there are four!  Someone gave them to me.  The backing fabric is some I already had as well.

I taped down the backing fabric on top of my sewing room table, then added the batting and top, then pin basted the whole thing.

Also, this small quilt can be used for other things if I decide to do that.  It can be a wall hanging or a table topper.

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Quilty Plans for 2021: 

1. I want to use what I have on hand!!!!  I hope to only buy what is completely necessary.  This means piecing backs of quilts and making lots of scrappy quilts, which is what I love anyway.

The panel used in the Northwoods Noel Christmas Tree Rug above is my first project of the year using what I have!   I even pieced the quilt batting from leftover scraps of batting.

 

I received Joann's Gift Cards for Christmas, So I will be using them for new quilt battings and what ever I really need.

2.  I want to make my hubby a quilt from plaids, solids and other masculine fabrics like the one I made for the teenager HERE.  He loved that quilt and commented about it often when I was working on it.

3.  I want to make more quilts for our grandkids.  If I do them in order, the 2 year old and her 6 year old brother are next.   I will see how far I get with those.  If I am able to finish those, I will continue with the next ones in line.  They all have quilts that I made them, but they need new ones..... at least that's what I think!  LOL

4.  I want to make some more Fall and Christmas quilts.  I have lots of fabric for those.

5.  I want to finish the doll quilt  HERE.  I didn't finish this in time for Christmas.  :o( 

6.  I started a leaders and enders quilt about a year ago.  I don't think I shared that on this blog, but I want to continue working on it and hopefully finish it.  It would make a great quilt for donation or a grandchild.

7.  I want to make quilts for donation!  I have always wanted to do this, but I end up making quilts for family members and the donation quilts don't get done.

 These plans include a lot of quilts, but I am dreaming big! 

 

This post is linked to Finish it or not Friday.  HERE

Finished All Eight

I had grand ideas of going outside to hang all eight of these mini quilts on the clothesline for a photo shoot. Shoot! Too windy, cold and looks like rain any minute. I tried, but the wind blew them off faster than I could pin them on!

So I had to settle for spreading them all out on the couch in the dim cloudy day light.  But, whatever!  I'm done with Christmas sewing and can't wait to start some non-gift sewing.

Remember this quilt top?  Its the Buckeye Beauty/Jewel Box quilt I worked on in February and March of this year.  Its been pin basted and ready to quilt all this time and I'm going to start machine quilting it before the weekend is over.  This would be a good final finish for the year 2013!

I've already started my quilting "to do" list for 2014.  The projects include a wedding gift, a Hubby throw size quilt, the Road Trip Quilt Along quilt from the Summer of 2012 and a Sunflower/chicken one for me. 

Finished Two More Game Board Quilts for Guy Gifts

This one is for the outdoorsman. I love the browns and greens. Not too much camo, but just enough!

This one is for the ECU graduate. 
 

I quilted it with gold thread.

I ordered checkers, but they are red and black.  I may spray paint the red ones to match the game boards.... maybe not...   We'll see!

Finish it up Friday

Here's another Miniature Quilt that I finished this week. This is number 6 of these that I am making for Christmas gifts. It has appliqued Scottie Dogs on it.

Two more to go!

On My Sewing Table This Morning.....

A genius at work? I think NOT!

This is what my sewing table looked like this morning.  I'm making a miniature heart quilt.  I still have to add some borders, but isn't it cute so far?

These are scraps left from making three baby quilts back in the Summer.  Those three were:  ELI'S COMING, RILEY BLAKE SAW TOOTH STARS and PINWHEELS AND PRAIRIE POINTS.  (click to see them)

These scraps just keep going and going.  I'm sure I could make a couple more baby size quilts from them.

Finished Little Red School House Quilt

I finished binding this little quilt last night. I think it turned out pretty cute! Look at the bottom picture to see if you see the mistake I had to fix! The hubster caught it when I was showing it off to him. It is hard to fix things after all the rows have been sewn together.... but we can't have doors upside down on houses, can we?

upside down door!

Some Mini Quilts

I've been making some mini quilts for Christmas gifts. The first one is made using the Little Red School House  pattern by Kathy Tracy in Prairie Children and Their Quilts. Blog HERE. Book HERE.

I thought the school theme would be good for the school teacher on my list.  She also likes primitive décor, so the muted colors work well.  The apple fabric came from the skirt of one of those big, flowing jumpers that were popular several years ago.  I bought it at the thrift store, a long time ago.  I'm pretty sure it was an elementary school teacher's jumper. 

Here is a close up of one of the little red school houses, before quilting.

Completed top before quilting.

I machine quilted it with a small meander design.

Tonight, hopefully (!),  I will make the binding from the fabric laying beside the quilt and get it sewn on.

I made this ASU checker board quilt for the Mountaineer in the family.  I used the same pattern as the game board quilt from my previous post.  This one went together much quicker because the little squares were already printed on the fabric.  I just had to cut out and sew together sets of 4 little squares.  The border is made from the larger squares that were printed on the fabric.

I plan to buy the checkers pieces on Amazon and am leaning toward the wooden ones that come in light wood stain and dark wood stain.

I made this really small mini quilt using a rejected block from the Little Red School House quilt at the top of this post.  The colors in this one were too bright and stuck out like a sore thumb.

It can be used as a mug rug, a small wall hanging, a hot pad, etc.  I think its cute and I may make more in other colors.

Ideas for more mini quilts for gifts include:  Camouflage for my outdoorsman, ECU for my Pirate fan and Summer colors for my Summer Loving girl.

Finished The Game Board Quilt.....

I finally did some sewing.... finished the Game Board Quilt.

I machine quilted it with a small meander which helps it to be slightly stiff and not puffy, and therefore good for playing checkers.

This pattern can be found in Kathleen Tracy's book, "Prairie Children and their quilts" HERE.

WIP Wednesday - Checkers Game Quilts

I've been working on some hand made Christmas gifts lately.  But, sometimes its hard to come up with good hand made gift ideas for men.  When I came across a board game quilt pattern, I thought that might be a good idea.  So, I made this Checkers Game quilt top using a pattern by Kathleen Tracy in her book, "Prairie Children and Their Quilts".  Tracy blogs at A SENTIMENTAL QUILTER.




Checkers Game Board

I need to come up with the checkers game pieces.  I have lots of plastic coke bottle lids that might work.  The only problem is that when you need to "crown" your opponent, they don't stack on top of each other too well.  In the past, men would play checkers in the neighborhood country stores and they used metal bottle caps. 

I considered hand quilting the game boards, since they are small and would make a great "TV watching" project.  But, if I make 4 of these, plus the other gifts that I am working on, there wouldn't be enough time.  I can machine quilt one of these in just a few minutes, so that's the better option since its less than 4 months until Christmas.

I like these small quilts  for the game aspect, but also for the fact that they can be displayed in a home in many ways when not being used for a checkers game.  They would look nice on the back of a chair, on the wall, or as a table topper.

This post is linked to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced HERE.

Christmas Sewing on the Fourth of July!

I made my first handmade gift of the 2013 Christmas season yesterday.

A quilted tote bag for my chocolate loving coworker/friend.

Hand over the chocolate and nobody gets hurt!

 

 

 

I will be filling it with items that she likes as I find them on sale and with coupons. Of course there will be chocolate in there!

I will make two more for the other two girls at my office.  One loves doughnuts, so I have some doughnut fabric for her bag.  The other is an NC State fan.... so I won't have to look far to find that fabric in my stash!

Friday Night Sew In - April Pillow Case

I'm pretty proud of myself for getting this project done, despite the fact that I REALLY DID NOT HAVE TIME TO DO SO! But I made up my mind that I would make a Christmas gift every month during Friday Night Sewin and I stuck to it.

But, with all that being said, Its not my favorite. The blue fabric doesn't show up in the pictures as its true color. The close up in the next picture may give you a better idea. There are little swirls and a tiny yellow dot in the fabric.





So far all 4 months I have made pillowcases for the guys. Next month, maybe I'll tackle a more feminine one!

Boy its a stormy Saturday! Stay safe!

Debbie J.

April's Christmas Gift

Its time for Friday Night Sew In this Friday night, so you know what that means. I decided to make at least one Christmas gift each month during Friday Night Sew In and so I will be making pillow case Number 4!

Here are Numbers 1, 2 and 3 that I made during the previous three Friday Night Sew Ins this year.

January:



February:



March:



April's pillow case will be made with this fabric.