I worked on a lot of stuff this year. Several have asked me “how long does it take” to complete a quilt, and since I don’t work on them in a linear (i.e. one-at-a-time) fashion, that question is always hard to answer. I work on one until I get bored or hit a trouble spot, and then move to something else while my subconscious works through the obstacle. While this approach wouldn’t work for everyone (and admittedly I do have too many going at once), it does work pretty well for me.
So, here are the ones that I worked on this year and a little information about each one. I count 27 quilts, 15 of which are finished and 2 more of which will probably be finished before midnight on the 31st. One was abandoned and thrown away without guilt. This list does not include quilts that I have not worked on in 2013 but are still unfinished, nor does it include other items I made this year (like bags, doll clothes, clothes for myself, napkins, tea towels, tiny schedule mini-quilts for teachers at school, etc.).
1. Scrappy Trip Around the World #1
Scrappy Trip using Pat Bravo's "Indie" fabric line
I got sucked into the madness of the ScrappyTripalong on Instagram and Flickr, and this was the first one I made.
Started: December 30, 2012
Current Status: Finished on January 8, 2013.
Size: 60″x72″, which is a great sofa quilt for one person.
Current Location: In a closet downstairs
I posted about it here.
2. Scrappy Trip Around the World #2
Scrappy Trip Around the World #2, using Amy Butler's "Love" fabric line
Started: January 2013.
Current Status: Layered and waiting for quilting
Current Location: on the quilting machine table and the thread is loaded and the binding is made. So it’s next in the queue. I’m not allowing myself to do that until I’ve finished the last two for the year, though.
3. Scrappy Trip Around the World #3
Scrappy Trip Around the World #3, using Basic Grey's "Figgy Pudding" fabric line by Moda
Started: February 2013
Current Status: completed quilt top, waiting to be layered
Current Location: in the closet in my sewing room
4. Something Out of Nothing
Something Out of Nothing, string quilt using batik scraps destined for the trash
Started: April 2012
Current Status: Finished, January 2013
Size: 51″ square.
Current Location: in the closet in my sewing room, waiting to be hung in the gallery over the stairs when I have a few more completed and ready for that purpose.
I posted about it here.
5. Helen’s Bed Quilt
Helen's Bed Quilt, using Amy Butler's "Soul Blossoms" fabric line
Started: 2011
Current Status: Finished, January 2013
Size: Twin bed quilt
Current Location: On Helen’s Bed
I posted about it here.
6. Alice By the Numbers
Alice's Bed Quilt, using sized-down "Swoon" block designed by Camille Roskelley
Started: 2012
Current Status: Finished, February 2013
Size: Twin bed quilt
Current Location: On Alice’s Bed
I posted about it here.
7. Oops
I was trying to clean my sewing room and I got distracted
Started: January 2013
Current Status: Finished, Lent 2013
Size: 20″ square
Current Location: hanging in my classroom at school
8. Secret Garden King-sized Quilt
King Bed Quilt using Sandi Henderson's "Secret Garden" fabric line
Started: Summer 2012
Current Status: Finished, Lent 2013 (long-arm machine quilting done by Lisa Marshall)
Size: King-sized Bed Quilt
Current Location: in a closet in my sewing room because elderly cat thinks that quilts are an acceptable substitute for litterboxes
9. FLiQs#2 Swap Quilt
My design: 32-pointed star, foundation pieced and set in Essex Linen
Started: April 2013
Current Status: Finished, April 2013
Size: 24″ square
Current Location: with my swap partner from the FLiQS#2 (Fab Little Quilt Swap) on Flickr
10. Improv Pieced Study in Brown
Used Rayna Gillman's Improv Piecing approach -- very freeing!
Started: April 2013
Current Status: Completed quilt top, waiting to be layered and quilted
Current Location: in a closet in my sewing room
11. Red Sky at Night: the $35 Experiment
Red Sky at Night: The $35 Experiment. I had a question about parallel lines and this answered it.
Started: January 2013
Current Status: Finished, May 2013
Size: 33.5″x 54.5″ (the golden mean! and almost Fibonacci numbers!)
Current Location: on the wall in my classroom at school
I posted about it here.
12. Sparks
Another example of me being almost totally incapable of following a pattern
Started: Thanksgiving 2012
Current Status: Finished, May 2013
Size: 51″ square
Current Location: in the front hall, under the presser foot of the 1938 Singer featherweight sewing machine in the cabinet that serves as our entry table.
13. Cross #1: Easter 2013
First in a series because I kept having buyers
Started: April 2013
Current Status: Finished, Summer 2013
Size: 27″x33″
Current Location: purchased by a friend in Atlanta as a wedding gift for some friends
14. Cross #2: For God So Loved the World
I made this one for our church's annual silent auction
Started: Summer 2013
Current Status: Finished, November 2013
Size: 27″x33″
Current Location: purchased in the silent auction by Sam Barnett, as a Christmas gift for his mother, Sally Barnett
15: Cross #3: The Light in the Darkness
Commission for a friend's daughter
Started: Summer 2013
Current Status: waiting for hand-sewing the binding to the back, label, and hanging sleeve
Size: 27″x33″
Current Location: on the sewing table
16. Champagne Friday
Commissioned by Chrissie Bannister as a gift for Mark for their 30th Anniversary
Started: Summer 2013
Current Status: Finished, December 2013
Size: 24″x45″
Current Location: on the wall at the Bannisters’ house
17. Christa’s Quilt: I’m glad [you] happened to be awake
2012 Fat Quarter Shop Designer Mystery Quilt
Started: Summer 2012
Current Status: Finished, Summer 2013
Size: Queen sized (almost)
Current Location: in the private collection of Christa Reaves
18. Wonky Town: Not Up To Code
Wonky Town: Not Up to Code
Started: 2010 (!!!)
Current Status: Finished, Summer 2013
Size: 80″x108″
Current Location: in a closet downstairs
19. Entropy
Made with Oakshott Cottons
Started: September 2013
Current Status: completed quilt top, needs backing, waiting to be layered and quilted
Current Location: on my ironing table
20. Log-A-Rhythm
I'll tell you about this one in February.
Started: April 2013
Current Status: Finished, Fall 2013
Size: 62″x75″ I think
Current Location: on the wall in Jerry’s office downtown
21. Farmer’s Wife Quilt
Farmer's Wife Blocks from a book Jerry gave me several Christmases ago
Started: Summer 2013
Current Status: 17 blocks made, many to go
Current Location: in a zip-top baggie in closet in my sewing room
22. Scrap Vomit
Another one where I was sucked into the madness on Instagram
Started: Fall 2013
Current Status: finished quilt top
Current Location: in a closet in my sewing room
23. Partial Seam Nightmare
I had a question. This answered it. No more exploration needed.
Started: Summer 2013
Current Status: abandoned and thrown away. I had the idea during a faculty meeting so I explored it with one block, and decided that it wasn’t an idea that needed any more of my attention. I threw the block away so that it wouldn’t make me feel guilty. Liberating!
24. Fibonacci Revisited
I did this once on the back of a quilt, so I decided it merited further exploration.
Started: November 2013
Current Status: layered and marked and waiting to be quilted
Current Location: folded up next to the quilting machine
25. Holiday Favorites Block of the Month
Christmas Favorites Pattern by Nancy Halvorsen, another Fat Quarter Shop block of the month
Started: Summer 2012
Current Status: binding almost sewn on; needs 3D embellishments, hanging sleeve, and label
Current Location: on sewing table
This one will get its own post when I’m finished. It’s probably the first time in a very long time that I have followed a pattern exactly.
26. Bonnie Hunter’s Celtic Solstice Mystery
Bonnie Hunter's Holiday Mystery Quilt for 2013
Started: December 2013
Current Status: Currently on step 5. Step 6 will be revealed on Friday, January 3. I don’t know how many steps there are but by my estimation, probably less than 3 more.
Current Location: pinned and stacked and next to my sewing machine
27. Peacock Quilt
Started: April 2012
Current Status: Quilt top complete in 2013, waiting for backing to be made, layering, quilting, etc.
Current Location: in a closet in my sewing room
2 Responses
I am so impressed that you can make that many in one year! You have two kids, a full time job and housework!! And they are all so beautiful! Thanks for sharing!
I was too obsessed in 2013… you can ask my mostly patient husband about that. But I don’t spend a lot of time watching TV, I’m not a sports fan, and I don’t go out as often as perhaps I should.