This morning the last stitch was taken in the Blockhead Baby quilt.

This wallhanging measures 40″ x 53″.  I used Pellon’s Nature’s Touch batting in this quilt.  Nature’s Touch is a 50% cotton and 50% polyester batting with 2 – 3% shrinkage.  This is the first time I have quilted with this batting and I was really pleased with the result.

Marlene

How can it be December already? – I still have too many projects to complete before the end of the year.

However I am starting this month with a finish.

The pattern is Down to Earth by Barb’s Elegant Designs and measures 48″ x 49″.  This quilt was made from a kit with beautiful hand painted fabric.

Look at the wonderful quilting designs that the our local long-arm quilter used on it.

The next project will be the third Blockhead Baby quilt since it is a Christmas gift.  I have plenty of time to get it done, don’t I?

Marlene

Instead of working on the Blockhead Baby Quilt, I quilted and bound the Wavelet.

This was the first quilt top that I completed this year, so it seems fitting that it is a completed quilt at the end of the year.

I just picked up a quilt from a local long arm quilter, so the next project is to get it bound.

I wish everyone safe travels and a Happy Thanksgiving.

Marlene

The first item on my end of year goals list is done – the Bow Tie Quilt.

It measures 50.5″ x 59″.  The blocks are dimensional bow tie blocks finishing at 6″.

I started numbering my quilt tops in 2007.  The first quilt top finished that year was 2007-1 and continuing on throughout the year.  I keep a list on Excel so I always know when and how many tops I have made.  They removed from the list once they morph into a finished quilt. The Bow Tie quilt top didn’t have a number, so that means the top was made sometime between 2002 and 2006.

It also took three attempts to get this quilted.  The first two tries were before I bought the HQ Sweet Sixteen.  The quilting plan was to outline each bow tie and stitch some pleats on each side of the bow tie “knot”.  Both attempts were disasters!  So this summer I removed all the stitching from the top, repinned it and decided to quilt the background instead of the bow ties.

I think that it is important to quilt and finish those early tops.  It helps me realize how far I have journeyed along this path and how much I still want to learn.

Marlene

I am finally finished

and very pleased with how it turned out.  The machine quilting took longer than I anticipated because of the echo stitching around each red & gray spike.

The pattern is called Cappuccino, but I am going to call my quilt Lava and Ash.  Do you name your quilts?

Now I need to get busy on a Christmas present quilt.

Marlene

The final stitch in the binding has been taken, so here is the Dancing 9-Patch quit.

Thank you Bonnie Hunter – this was a quick quilt since I already had the 9-patches.

Now it is time for something completely different.  My next project is Cappuccino by Judy Niemeyer in grays and reds.   The pattern makes 4 placemats and a tablerunner, but my plan is for a wallhanging.

My weekend goal is to have several blocks completed for Design Wall Monday.  What is your weekend goal?

Marlene

Last night I took the final stitch in the binding and now it is done!  Yeah!

I placed the short side of the quilt on the length of my bed for this picture.  There is about 20″ of quilt hanging down on the back side of the bed.

This photo was taken in my living room once all the furniture had been moved.  I suspect that it is the lights in the living room that make the string blocks look yellow, but the color in the first picture is closer to the actual quilt.

It took me three years to get RRCB finished and I am really pleased with the final result.  But since I don’t have a queen-sized bed, I think that twin-sized quilts will be as large as I make.  When Easy Street comes out to play, I will need to shrink it down a bit.

Marlene

Emerson’s placemat is finished and going in the mail tomorrow.  Isn’t it cute?

Pink is one of her favorite colors and I think that she will enjoy looking at the fairies.  The placemat measures 21.75″ x 14.75″ and has 6,009 machine quilting stitches in it.

This is the current project on my design wall.

The pattern is Avignon Picnic Quilt by Andrea Harris.  It can be found on the Moda Bake Shop website.

And this is the next project in the queue –

Can you see a theme developing here?  I didn’t plan this, but I am sewing outside of my usual color combinations.  Green & pink, green & reddish purple, green & gold – these are unusual color choices for me, but I am enjoying the journey.

Marlene

You may have noticed a new button on my blog.  After checking the stitch counter on my Sweet Sixteen, I discovered that I have quilted over one million stitches on it – 1,290,275 to be exact.

I completed this doll quilt.

This doll quilt measures 18″ square and was made from the leftovers from Hot Flashes #1.

This weekend’s sewing plans include a Dr Seuss place mat.  What are your sewing plans?

Marlene

The blockhead quilt has been finished and delivered.

This was a present for my youngest grandson’s first birthday.  He liked the bright colors and his older siblings enjoyed the subject matter.

This is the second quilt from the this pattern.  I like this quilt better than the first one for two main reasons – it is a rectangle and the border fabric is bolder.  I wanted this quilt to have a casual feel so I did not miter the corners of the border.  This is one of my favorite border treatments, especially for square quilts.

Bonnie Hunter has issued a challenge for the 2013/2014 leader ender project of split-9 patches.  Since my 2 1/2″ bin is overflowing, I accepted.

I wonder how many of these I will have this time next year.

Check out Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times for more inspiration.

Marlene