Reflecting on 2022 and Welcoming 2023

Always Right

The end of one year and the beginning of the next is a wonderful time to reflect on goals accomplished and to set new ones for the upcoming year.   I recently shared my Best of 2022 post and now I'll be liking up to #2023PlanningParty.   I've filled this post with some eye candy of favorite finishes for the year because it is always fun to share them one more time.

Goals were set in the Reflecting on 2021 and Welcoming 2022 post and I'm feeling really good about how the year went.

Sea of Tranquility

Make at least one quilt to submit to QuiltCon 2023.  Yes!  I made 3 quilts specific for QuiltCon submission - two of them were for the yearly challenge.  I'm excited that two quilts were accepted.

Join a QAL to create a charity quilt only using fabric from stash.  Yes sort of!  I did finishing the quilting on a long time WIP and donated it to our guild charity so while not my original intent, I'm still calling this one done!

Submit a quilt design for publication.  Yes!  I've submitted two although neither were accepted.

Play with color to make a improv mini quilt. Yes!!  I've done several things with this goal.  First, my Tilted Tiles quilt and my Orange Peels were both examples of working with a new to me palette accomplished by purchasing a bundle of solids that someone else curated.  Although not yet finished, I also played with  orange scraps and the 30 days of improv QAL.   None of these projects are actually finished yet - the first two are at least quilt tops - but they all involved playing with color which was the goal.

Blog 1-2 times weekly and continue to host OMG (but without sponsors.)  Yes!  This goal was met and I will carry it into next year.  I was a bit on the fence about OMG but there are people who really like it so I will continue.

Make a group quilt for submission to QuiltCon.  Yes!  My group quilt Patent Pending was submitted to QuiltCon and was accepted for the 2023 show.  

Decade

My goals for this next year: 

• Make at least one quilt to submit to QuiltCon 2024 which will be in RALEIGH!
• Donate one quilt to our guild charity using only fabric from stash 
• Adopt the 'container' concept in my sewing room and donate or sell fabric I no longer want
• Run a quilt-along with a quilting friend
• Continue to challenge my fabric color choices to explore new color combinations
• Blog 1-2 times weekly and continue to host OMG (but without sponsors.)

Illusions

I'll be linking up here.

Happy New Year!

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Best of 2022

Each year, Cheryl invites bloggers to join the best of year link-up and share their 5 best blog posts of  the year.   And the best part?  We get to define what 'best' means so my best of 2022 all correlate to some major things that happened in my quilting life and documented on my blog.  They are listed in no particular order.

Favorite Make of 2022: With the help of some wonderful friends -  Linda @flourishingpalms, Sarah @saroy, Val @valbetweenquilts, Charles  @feltlikesweets, Kitty @nightquilter, Yvonne @quiltingjetgirl and Pat @peacockcreekdesigns - Patent Pending was created.  Patent Pending, a Rube Goldberg device in quilting form, was accepted into QuiltCon 2023.  I can't wait to see it hanging in the show!  (You can read about my other QuiltCon entries - overall 4 quilts submitted and Decade in addition to Patent Pending was accepted.)

QuiltCon 2022:  I was thrilled to have 3 quilts in the QuiltCon 2022 show in Phoenix - Boomerang, I Believe in Dragons, and Left Turn.  My Covid anxiety prevented me from attending the show but many friends shared photos with me which I appreciated.  Read more about the show.

Publishes:  My focus this year was entering quilts into the Curated Quilts challenges as opposed to seeking a magazine publish for a quilt pattern.  Red Alert appeared in the Red issue, Sanity appeared in the Utility issue and Left Turn was featured in the Negative Space Gallery

A New Passion:  Handwork projects are always important to me and I tried a new technique kawandi and rediscovered knitting.   Knitting has been a great joy for the  year.  I made two afghans - Fibonacci using cotton yarn and a Cozy Knit blanket using washable wool.  

3-D Sewing: I've always been a bag maker and love a good 3D sewing project.  Two of my favorites for the year were my Spring quilt coat and my new Range backpack.

I enjoy participating in the link-up each year even though it is always tough to choose just 5 highlights.  You can find my previous yearly top 5 here:  2021, 2020,  2019,   2018,  2017,  2016

Have a wonderful day! Patty

December One Monthly Goal Finish

Ready to link up your finishes?

Don't panic - this link-up is open until December 31 at 11:55 pm ET.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

Want to see everyone's goals for the month - check out the December goal post.

My goal for December was to finish knitting my afghan and it came out so nice and soft.  Read more here.

Now it's your turn to link up!  Please add a link to this OMG post so others can follow where you are linking.   Let's make that easy -  just paste this into your post:  

Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal - December Finish Link-up

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Cozy Knitted Blanket

It's done!

I really enjoyed making this lap sized blanket which finished about 36" x 38".  The pattern was a Purl Soho pattern for a small blanket, knit using two strands of yarn on a size 13 needle so that it is extra warm and soft.

The yarn, Plymouth Encore, is a blend of acrylic and wool chosen because it would be washable.  I purchased 2 balls of Light Gray Heather (color 6007) and 6 balls of Dark Wedgewood (color 598).  (affiliate links)    I enjoy using these needles from Clover - bamboo tips feel nice to hold in your hands.  

The blanket was knit on the diagonal and it was interesting to see how the corners developed.  There were about a gazillion stitches on the needles at the widest point.

I've got the blanket blocking right now to square things up.  Then I can wrap and get it in the mail.

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Cork Pencil Pouches

I always like to make simple gifts for a few family members each year.  This year, I decided on making some pencil pouches with Noodlehead's tutorial.

Cork on the outside and some pretty fabric on the inside!  Pair the pencil pouch with some nice highlighters and another gift ready to go!

Cork is really fun to sew with!

I like these so much that I'm definitely making myself one - once the holiday season is behind me!

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Tilted Tile Workshop

What fun I had this past Saturday, sewing away with fellow guild members while it rained outside.  We were all taking a workshop from another guild member - Charles @feltlikesweets - on his Tilted Tiles pattern.  The pattern is available to MQG members and Charles is teaching the class at QuiltCon.

The workshop was 4 hours long and held via Zoom.  While the quilt pattern uses 7 different fabrics, we worked with 4 different fabrics in the workshop with the choice of making either a small quilt or table runner.  

Pieces were cut ahead of time and I decided to downsize my piece so did a bit of quilt math (which actually worked!) and labeled everything the day before.

I knowingly ignored the advise to construct a palette with a strong mix of values and went with a riot of color.

Still playing with layouts, here are some that I am considering.   My wall hanging would be 18" x 18".

Or maybe this one.

Or this one which wouldn't be quite square.

For now, the blocks are hanging out on my floor (design wall is full) but I hope to sew them together this week.

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Dorothy's Christmas Star Block

Several years ago, Frances @offkilterquilt released an novel in the form of a serial podcast called Friendship Album 1933.  

We were introduced to 5 woman - Eula, Bess, Dorothy, Florence, and Emmaline - who gathered together each week to work on their entry to the quilt contest for the 1933 World Fair. 

Since then, Frances has shared a new short story about one of the women set during the Christmas season.  First Emmaline and then Bess.

Guess what?

She is doing it again - this time the story is set in 1918 and is all about Dorothy.  In the story, Dorothy is working on a quilt for her daughter using the Christmas Star block. 

You can find the story and the block pattern for this block - written by me! - at QuiltFiction.  Make sure you check out Story Guild for access to more quilting fiction.  

My mini finishes at 12" x 12''.  I kept the quilting simple - outlining each of the piecing elements and then doing some big stitch quilting to highlight the star.

I played around with the block in some quilt setting in 2 different colorways, with and without sashing and one version on point.  Which do you like best?

Find the short story and pattern for Dorothy's Christmas Star at QuiltFiction!

Have a wonderful day! Patty

December One Monthly Goal

Welcome to December!

New to One Monthly Goal?  Welcome!  To join, share a photo of your project plus, some words about what you want to accomplish in a blog post, an Instagram post (tutorial) or a post on Flickr and add that photo to the link-up.  Return at the end of the month and share your results.  (Results link-up opens for the last 7 days of the month.)

My goal for December is to make a few holiday gifts - many of which need to be figured out!  I am making a lap sized blanket as a gift so finishing this by the end of the year will be my OMG.  You can read more about it on this post.

Now it is your turn to link up - what is your goal for this month?   The One Monthly Goal accomplishment linkup will be available on December 26.  Make sure you add a link to this OMG post so others can find the OMG link-up from your blog.  Let's make that easy -  just paste this into your post:  

Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal December Link-up

Take a few minutes to visit others and make new friends!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Have a wonderful day! Patty

On Dasher!

What a fun mini!  I used up scraps of low volume fabric and tried to incorporate as much sparkle as possible.  I was busy sewing away, not focused on the specific of the body part I was working on, so imagine my delight when the gold circle landed in the exact spot where the eye would be.  

Before quilting a small stipple in the blue fabric, I outlined the reindeer.  

The reindeer pattern is from @quietplay.  My mini is 12'' x 12''.

Have a wonderful day! Patty

November One Monthly Goal Finish

Ready to link up your November finishes?

Don't panic - this link-up is open until November 30 at 11:55 pm ET.

For those in the US, Happy Thanksgiving!  I'm opening the link-up a day earlier than usual but you've still got to the end of the month to link up your finishes!

Want to see everyone's goals for the month - check out the November goal post.

My goal for November was to make some progress on orange peel blocks after first deciding whether to piece or applique.  Pieced it is!  You can read more about my project here.

Now it's your turn to link up!  Please add a link to this OMG post so others can follow where you are linking.   Let's make that easy -  just paste this into your post:  

Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal - November Finish Link-up

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Have a wonderful day! Patty

My Next Knitting Project

I so very much enjoyed knitting my Fibonacci blanket that I was ready to cast on another project.

I'm following a Purl Soho pattern for a small blanket and am using two strands of yarn on a size 13 needle so that it is extra warm and soft.

The blanket currently measures about 16" from cast-on corner.  It will be a gift for someone who uses a wheelchair so I'm aiming for roughly 38" x 40".

The yarn chosen is Plymouth Encore - a blend of acrylic and wool.  I choose this primarily because the end result will be washable.  I purchased 2 balls of Light Gray Heather (color 6007) and 6 balls of Dark Wedgewood (color 598).  (affiliate links)    I enjoy using these needles from Clover - bamboo tips feel nice to hold in your hands.

For my next knitting project - and I'm certain there will be a next one! - I will go back to natural fibers because they are so much nicer to touch and knit with.  That said, the texture on this one is really yummy and soft given the double strands of yarn!

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Celebrating My QuiltCon Entries

I submitted 4 quilts for QuiltCon this year.   As many of you know, it is really hard to get a good quilt photo - especially one that shows up the quilting and gets the color correct.  I photograph every quilt outside and often am trying to capture photos in between wind gusts!

One thing I always do is jump in a photo with the quilt - here is me with my quilt Sanity.

Sanity was one of my favorite quilts made this year.  It even showed up in an issue in Curated Quilts.  I don't actually remember if I entered it into the Small Quilts category or the Log Cabin challenge.

Decade is my entry to the X (or plus) challenge celebrating ten years of QuiltCon.

 Sea of Tranquility is my entry to the fabric challenge.  It was also my entry for our guild's challenge and I'm excited that it won Viewer's Choice!

Finally, my quilt Patent Pending, a Rube Goldberg device in fabric, created with support of some wonderful quilting friends - Linda @flourishingpalms, Sarah @saroy, Val @valbetweenquilts, Charles  @feltlikesweets, Kitty @nightquilter, Yvonne @quiltingjetgirl and Pat @peacockcreekdesigns.  I submitted this quilt into the Group category.

Yvonne from QuiltJetGirl has started an initiative to #CelebrateMyQuiltSubmission.  I love this idea because it recognizes that it takes a bit of courage to actually submit a quilt to a show.  Acceptance and rejections letters will be sent by mid December.  Fingers crossed.

Have a wonderful day! Patty

My Color Journey

Aren't these pretty?

These arrived in my mailbox as a FQ bundle - all Painter's Palette solids in the colors Amber, Bisque, Colonial Blue, Daydream, Gold, Golden Brown, Goldenrod, Haze, Jack O'Lantern, Paprika, Portabella, and Redwood.  

When it comes time to choose fabrics for a project, I consistently lean towards using the same colors.  It has been a goal of mine to break away from this by choosing colors that I am not normally drawn too - like several quilts made recently with wasabi and/or purple.  

So I decided to create my personal solid stash program by purchasing a bundle on a regular basis and then challenge myself to make a quilt that used all the colors in that bundle.

When this bundle arrived, I broke out my curve templates, cut some orange peels and then paired them with some low volume fabric.   At first, I did a few as applique but quickly decided using my sewing machine was a much preferred option.

I took some step by step photos to help me remember my cutting and trimming process - sharing them here in case it is helpful for someone else.  Once I sewed one side piece, I pressed and used the template to get things all trimmed up.  With the second side sewn on, my 4 1/2" ruler did the trick to square up the block.

I'm not yet sure of the final quilt layout - right now I'm just enjoying sewing the peels.

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Decade

The MQG has a category for the upcoming QuiltCon for quilts with an X (or a plus) to represent the ten years since the first QuiltCon.   And I love quilt challenges so I couldn't resist giving this one a try.

My very first QuiltCon was in Savanah in 2017.  I felt like I found 'my people' and I've never looked back.  (I had just joined my local guild right before the show too.)

This quilt was a great opportunity to play with a large scale paper pieced block.  The initial version of the block brought all the points together to one spot.  While it looked good on paper, the giant traffic jam of fabric didn’t work well in practice.  After a bit of rework, the final design, color placement and quilting help the center X to jump to the front.

I quilted with matching thread all different designs with my walking foot inside the X. Doesn't the back look cool? And for the record, I was not trying to get the backing seam line down the center of the 'x' because I didn't want the extra stress. But look how close it came!

Decade measures 29.5" x 34.5". Happy Anniversary QuiltCon!

P.S. I had a really tough time photographing the quilt so the quilting lines shows up.

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Fibonacci Finish

I am excited that my Fibonaci blanket is done!   (I've no idea how to properly photograph knitted projects so I asked my quilt-holding husband to help me out.)

Handwork of any kind is a great stress reliever for me.  The beauty of knitting a simple piece is my hands can be busy and my eyes can rest.  I can knit while visiting with a friend or just sitting enjoying a nice day.  It kept me busy (and calmer) during my daughter's surgery and hospital stay and calm during a 5 hour delay for a flight to my son's graduation.

The blanket was knit in 3 panels which made the knitting process very portable.  Each panel measures 55" long.  The side panels are 20" wide (92 stitches) and the center panel measures is about 15" wide (70 stitches).  The top and the bottom of each panel have a couple of rows of K2 P1 ribbing while each side panel has 5 stitches of ribbing on one side.

Before joining, I blocked just the un-ribbed edges by using a spray bottle and pinning them carefully to make sure everything lined up.   The mattress stitch was relatively easy to do in order to seam together edges.  Burying yarn tails was as tedious as burying thread tails on a quilt.  Next time, I will work those yarn tails into the process.

I blogged more about creating the blanket on April 11, April 27, and July 5

The colors are following a pattern - dark gray to blue to light gray to white to light gray to blue to dark gray - and the width of the strip follows the Fibonacci series, namely 1", 2", 3", 5",  and 8".  I am using Berroco cotton yarn in color ways Waterman (1685), Tiverton (1623), Gadwall (1608) and Bluffs (1600).  The yarn is wonderful to use and the knitted piece is very soft! (affiliate link)   

I'm ready to cast on for a new project but haven't yet figured out what it will be yet - perhaps another blanket but this time made out of a different fiber.  Something simple.

Have a wonderful day! Patty