16 in 2016

As 2016 winds down- which many people are happy about- I wanted to complete my annual wrap up of the quilts I completed. In 2016, marked mostly for me by me starting an awesome new job in September which resulted in less sewing time- I completed 16 quilts. Of those 16 I kept two.

Starting at top left and rotating clockwise, finishing in centre: Sweet Pepper Jelly, Quilt of Belonging, Thank You Stephanie, Little Eye, Tumbi, Canadian Wilderness, Welcome to Canada, AeroPlus

Starting in top left and rotating clockwise, finishing in centre: Midnight at the Museum, Force Field, Bearss, Diamond in the Sky, Bunnies, Glisten, In the Garden, Fishy Friends

I've definitely upped by paper piecing game this year and had lots of fun mixing and matching from my stash. I went on a six month fast from buying fabric (along with my friend C) and really didn't suffer too badly from it. I made enough flying geese between In the Garden and Force Field to last me at least until 2018. And I now have Sweet Pepper Jelly as my go-to quilt for the car and my youngest daughter has her Little Eye quilt to drag around and have picnics on almost daily. Definitely a successful year!

I think Little Eye ended up being my overall favourite from this year because I drooled over the inspiration quilt for so long and then finally made one! I love how it turned out.

I made other things, too, in 2016. Pillows and pillowcases and Halloween bags and Sew Together bags. But the quilts are where my heart truly lies.

What was your favourite finish of 2016?

In the Garden: A Finished Quilt

One of my husband's aunts is turning 65 this year. She is a kind, generous and very humble person and has never asked for a thing in the 15+ years I have known her. But two years ago she hinted that she was going to be turning 65 and she sure does love my quilts....

Well how could I say no to that? I asked her for colours and she said "brown and earthy." I hate those colours. Yuck. And I have to love the fabric to love making the quilt. So I found the perfect Lewis & Irene print for my starting point and then went with it. This unusual colour combo is the result and I really love it!

Here is In the Garden:

I still am not sure if the flying geese look better up or down. The recipient can decide!

I love how the small flying geese look next to the big ones.

I did lots of straight line quilting at random places to add some texture to the quilt overall (as well as secure all those geese!) This picture also gives you a good shot of the Lewis & Irene print that started the whole thing!

There are a few playful details like this mouse block which is a bit of whimsy, perfect for the whimsical recipient.

The binding is Carolyn Friedlander in this lovely dark shade of brown.

The back is my go-to Lizzy House Pearl Bracelets in chocolate. I didn't even try to match up the pattern. I went with all one fabric this time because I specifically ordered this from a clearance sale at Pink Castle Fabrics and since brown is NOT my thing I didn't want too much left over!

I used white Aurafil for all the quilting and I like how it adds subtle texture and interest on the reverse of the quilt as well.

I will not be seeing this aunt until (Canadian) Thanksgiving, which is two weeks after her birthday. My mother-in-law saw the quilt and is sure that the aunt will absolutely love it. I hope so because I sure love it!

Flying Geese: Trying a New Technique

I started a new quilt, this one for my husband's aunt who turns 65 early in 2017 (she gave me two years notice about how much she might *wink wink* like a quilt for her big birthday). The pattern comes from Issue 13 of Love Quilting & Patchwork Magazine, a British publication that my husband got me a subscription to so I could stop stalking my local bookstore for the day the one or two copies came in with the "imported" magazines.

The quilt is mostly flying geese, which is fine, but the technique for making those flying geese is the 4-in-1 method which I have seen but never tried. I was a bit trepidatious but I went for it anyway.

If you have not seen this method before, I took pictures of each step so you could see what I mean by the alternative method. 

Draw a line with pencil across the two small white squares.

Sew 1/4" on either side of the line.

Slice.

Press. (They look really weird at this step. Like this will never work and what-have-I-done).

Place another square and draw a line through the middle of that one, then sew on both sides again.

Another slice. Here you can see that maybe this will work after all.

Ta da! Here is a flying geese (goose?) unit after pressing. You end up with four.

The method results in no waste, and that is fantastic considering how many stray HSTs I have floating around from various projects. The sizes also end up really accurate, which I wasn't so confident about. There do end up being a lot of bias edges and that is not ideal. I definitely found the method very efficient as the quilt top came together in no time flat. 

Stacks of flying geese turn into...

Initial layout of the quilt.

I would say that IF the pattern I was following was designed for this method of making flying geese, I would do it again. But if not, the traditional method seems more reliable to me. Maybe I'm just too uncomfortable with innovation in this case?

Have you ever tried this method? What were your results?