2018 Wrap Up

Blogging is just not something I seem to prioritize these days, which is also the case for the vast majority of quilters I know who have blogs. Still, I see this blog as a way of tracking finishes and goals and so I will do a wrap up of 2018.

My goals as set in January were:
1. Turquoise and yellow quilt for my cousin's new baby that I made but have been avoiding basting. FINISHED!

2. Teal and grey baby quilt for a friend. FINISHED!

3. Finish binding my Christmas Improv Quilt. FINISHED!

4. Quilt the Rainbow picnic quilt. FINISHED!

5. Quilt my Aviatrix Medallion. FINISHED! (Though technically I had it quilted).

6. Finish a Knuffle Bunny quilt I have waiting. FINISHED!

7. Pineapple Farm Quilt (for April). FINISHED!

8. Gamer Quilt (for hubby...maybe March for his birthday?) FINISHED! (Though for our anniversary in July instead).

9. Finish the QB travelling quilt that I have been doing with friends...assuming C gets out of thumb jail after some minor surgery on her hand in the new year. FINISHED! (Just waiting for A and C to finish so we can exchange at March Break!) I can't show you a picture because they haven't seen it yet!


I also made these things in 2018:

Baby quilt for a co-worker

A map quilt of Southern Ontario from a workshop I took through the Toronto Modern Quilt Guild with 3rd Story Workshop.

Pillowcases for my nephews.

A shoe storage bag for packing for my MIL.

A pineapple Sew Together Bag for my MIL (my other MIL...yes, I have two!)

I kept it simple for her and she loves it.

I used the stars I won at the West End Modern Quilt Guild for our Block Lotto to make this baby quilt to donate.

I made 17 of these vinyl pouches using the pattern Pouch with a View from Three Owls.

They will be the goodie bags for my daughter's fifth birthday party the second weekend in January.

And they have these adorable charms on them.

I put binding on this quilt that my friend C pieced and A quilted as a gift to a principal friend who was retiring.

My older daughter had a sleepover party in October and each girl got a pillowcase.

A Peppa Pig pillowcase for my youngest daughter and a Mario pillowcase for my best friend's son.

I made more of these then I can count, but this large size (Project) was for a family friend's son who LOVES flamingos. It held his birthday gift.

This Thank you Nadia quilt for my daughter's Grade 4 teacher in June. I guess I never posted about it? It uses the free Art Gallery Plenum pattern and I quite love it. (The teacher's favourite colour is red).

So I was busy quilting. I do not have as many quilt finishes as I normally would (only 11 this year) because of our new, furry family member who arrived in August. Basting has now become impossible because of the help of our very friendly puppy. I have FOUR quilts ready to baste at my friend A's house later this week! So stay tuned for some new finishes soon!

Hooray for another awesome year with lots of great finishes!

Summer Sewing

Despite having a busy summer I did find time to sew. I have several that are nearing finishes but I thought I would track a bit of what I have been up to!

My Aviatrix Medallion is almost done! I just need to get the binding on it and then it is going right on my bed!

I had it quilted because I was worried that I would mess it up. I chose an edge to edge pattern and Quilting by Design quilted it for me.

The binding is ready to go on. It is the same fabric as the backing, an Alison Glass fabric from my favourite of her lines, Ex Libris.

I have also been hard at work on my Polaroid quilt. The top is actually all finished and I just need to get the backing made. I even have the batting ready to go!

I also have been enjoying Summer Sampler 2018. You receive a new travel-inspired block pattern every Monday. This coming Monday, September 10, will be the last of the blocks. I have managed to make every block on time! I challenged myself to do them in neutrals (blacks, white, grey) and with scraps. It has been such a good exercise for my creative brain! Here are the first blocks!

I will have to decide how I want to finish this one up.

I also did LOTS and LOTS of fabric purchasing this summer. I mean, that is not unusual but I am definitely ready for a fast. From September 1 to January 1 I will not buy any fabric with the following rules: 
1) I can preorder Lizzy House Constellations. She is THE designer for me and she is not even designing fabric anymore so I absolutely need her to add to my giant stash of LH.
2) My guild has a shop hop on October 20. I will try to be modest but to not be able to buy anything will make it much less fun.
3) I can buy materials that are required to finish a project. Batting, more of a solid that I need, zippers, fusible, etc. If it is for a specific project that can't be completed without that then I can buy it.
4) Spending gift cards doesn't count.

I think the just because buying will be shut down with this fast but note that I have many preorders arriving in the next few weeks because of preorders so I will still be showing lots of pretty on my Instagram account!

Hope everyone else has been getting lots of sewing done!

Slogging Away on My Aviatrix Medallion

One of the things I most wanted to work on this summer was my Aviatrix Medallion, started ages and ages ago and stalled after the fourth border.

These blocks involved some careful organization of the different colours. They were time consuming.

The end results were so delicious, though, and I could easily enjoy a quilt made just of these blocks.

It was then a time consuming step to follow the diagram (seen in the top right corner) to lay out each of the sides.

I just loved how they looked out once they were pinned to my design board.

 After I had Border 5 on I felt like I had some momentum going into Border 6. The blocks for Border 6,  however, were more challenging in the type of block (though the colour organization was much easier). 

I did a lot of chain piecing which was boring but efficient.

 I am now encountering an issue with Border 6. You see, a year ago I used a blue marking pen, which is removed by water, to mark all of the blocks as per the instructions in the pattern. The pen does come out when I wet the spots but when I use my iron they come right back. I am now feeling super paranoid that I am going to finish the huge, complicated, beautiful quilt and have all of these terrible pen markings! Any suggestions?? 

Border 6 sure does look nice, too, don't you think?

Border 6 has since been added to the quilt and now I have just the final, outer, 2.5" solid border strips to attach. Thing is, I could have sworn I bought backing for it but...no? When I went through my stash I found pre-determined backing for my Snails Quilt and my #QBTravellingQuilt but, alas, not my Aviatrix Medallion. Do I piece together some favourites? Invest in a single fabric for the backing (keeping in mind my very large purchases from my recent shop hop!)? Also, how am I going to quilt this beast? My friend C sent hers out to get quilted in an all-over design and it was beautiful- but do I want to do that?

Decisions, decisions, but it does indeed look like at least this top will be finished this summer!

Aviatrix Progress

True to my plans for 2017, I have pulled out all the bags and bits and instructions for my Aviatrix Medallion- which has been in a bag all together for at least a year- and got myself back in the game with it.

This code sheet is no joke. You could not make this quilt without it.

I had the HSTs all pressed and trimmed and never got around to making this first border, so that went on first, followed by the solid grey border. This step got me very motivated because the borders went on pretty smoothly (I am not the most accurate of quilters and so the piecing accuracy of a medallion is intimidating).

Centre and Border 1

When I got to work on Border 2 I decided to set up a grid on my design wall so I could keep track of all the parts. This made it much easier (plus it looks pretty!)

Border 2 in progress

Border 2 on the quilt.

Border 2 went on smoother than I thought it would too. My piecing has obviously improved. It certainly isn't perfect (and my quilty friend C's Aviatrix Medallion is) but it fit really well.

Then I got to Border 3. Yikes. This one took a long time.

The trimmings sure are pretty.

So many steps to make the X blocks.

The resulting blocks are pretty beautiful. However when I put on the first strip, it was about 1/2" too short. Then I put on the bottom strip and it was 1/2" too long. Um. That's probably not good. I made it work with some stretching but I am rather concerned for the next few borders.

X-blocks take a long time.

I read on someone's Instagram that Border 4 is haaaaaaard because it is small and fiddly. That has me a bit concerned. I'm slowing down a bit because my husband is back to work this week so I can't steal away for an hour here and there and because I actually have to get some of my work done before I go back to work Monday.

Wish me motivation to get this quilt top done!