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!

My Sister's Christmas Quilt

This post is linked to:  Quilting is more fun than housework,  Confessions of a Fabric Addict, From Bolt to Beauty.   

 I finished a Christmas Quilt made completely from what I already had on hand.  My sister gave me most of her fabric.  She loves fabric and had bought quite a bit over the years.  But, she decided to de-clutter her house and I was the lucky recipient of some beautiful fabrics.

I decided that since she picked out and bought most of this Christmas fabric, she would most likely like a quilt made from it.  Her birthday is near the end of October, so this will be her gift, just in time to display folded on the back of a chair or the end of a bed.

It is a typical windy March day today, so I had to get creative with the pictures of my quilt inside.  I pulled out a couple of Christmas items to add to the quilt pictures.

It doesn't show up too well in a picture, but the backing fabric has white snowflakes on white.   I don't know why my sister bought 5 yards (+) of this fabric, but it was perfect!  I also love a striped binding and this fabric worked perfectly as well.

One of the fabrics.

It was about 80 degrees outside when I took this picture of some of my Christmas Quilts, but ..... oh well.

I tried something new when I  pin basted this quilt top.  Instead of disrupting our household by pinning on the kitchen table, I tried it out on the table in my sewing room.  I just had to take a few things off it and slide it over to the center of the room.  It works just as well and is out of the way of every thing.  BUT, I remember when I used to baste on the floor and had to move furniture.  I'll never do it that way again!  I was much younger and more able to crawl around on the floor back then though.

 

 

My sister has good taste!!!  This jelly roll was the 2 1/2 inch width I needed.  I only had to cut the strips into the needed lengths.   I only used the green and red fabrics, so I still have some strips left in the different blues.  I added a few Christmas fabrics that I bought in the past that went with the jelly roll fabrics.

The layer cake fabrics were perfect for the corner triangles of each square and also for the border pieces.

I have beautiful blue fabrics left from the layer cake fabrics too.  I'll definitely be making a blue themed Christmas quilt soon.

 The twin sized quilt batting and all the thread that I used in the making of this quilt was bought with a Joann's Gift Card a few months ago.   Its always so tempting to go to Walmart or a fabric store to pick up additional fabrics to match what I have, but so far in 2021, I have not given into that temptation.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Stats:

68 inches wide

82 inches long

Blocks - 13 inches (finished)

Green outer border: 1 1/2 inches (finished)

Outer pieced border:  6 1/2 inches wide (finished)

5 and 1/2 bobbins were used in the machine quilting.

Happy Quilting!

Teenager's Strip Quilt

 Now that my oldest grandson is 13, I decided he needed a quilt that is more suited to an older person.  The last quilt I made him was when he was in kindergarten!

My inspiration was this vintage quilt which appears to use every kind of fabric you can think of:

My plan is to use lots of plaids, solids and more for the blocks and a medium gray for the borders.  The blocks will be strips sewn diagonally to each other.  I didn't want to sew the strips onto paper and then have to remove all the paper.  I also didn't want to go to the trouble and expense to sew the strips onto fabric foundation squares.  I also didn't really want the extra weight of the foundation fabric.

So, I came up with this plan to simply sew the strips together and then cut them into squares.

These blocks end up being 13 inches square.  Here are the measurements of the strips needed for each square:

Three 2 1/2 inch wide by 19 inch long strips.

Two 2 1/2 inch wide by 14 inch long strips.

Two 2 1/2 inch wide by 10 inch long strips.

Two 3 1/2 inch by 6 inch long strips.

 I sewed the strips together like seen in this first picture.  The 3 longest strips are in the middle and then the other strips are sewn on each side of the center strips.  I just eyeballed them to center the smaller strips on the longer strip it was being sewn to.

After pressing the seams all to one side, I placed a 13 inch square that I had already finished on top of the strip set like this.

Then using a rotary cutter and ruler, I trimmed off the excess like this.

The finished block:

The outer edges of the blocks are STRETCHY!  But, if I had used paper foundations and then ripped off the paper, the outcome would have been the same.  Borders will be sewn in between all the blocks, which will stabilize the edges.  I will carefully sew the stretchy sides to the non stretchy borders, and I think it will work out well.

For the twin size I am shooting for, including the borders, I will need 20 of these blocks.  Only 2 more to go!  I just might make a matching one for this new teenager's younger brother.  Now that I have gotten into the swing of things, these blocks have been going together quickly.