Best of 2022

 Each year Cheryl over at Meadow Mist Designs hosts a linky party for the 'BEST of' your blog for that year! No set way to decide which are the best! It is up to you which is nice because sometimes my favorite don't get a lot of 'eyes' or comments for whatever reason. So here are my top picks:

Coming in 5th is my April 30th post revealing my Simple and Sweet baby quilt gifted to my daughter for my granddaughter, Freya! I love the colors in this quilt (chosen by my daughter) and is one of my favorites but for some reason didn't get as many views. I loved making this pattern from PenandPaperPatterns...I've made it 2 times in completely different colors!

Next in the countdown is my June 26th post revealing my daughter and son-in-laws wedding quilt! This was another fun quilt to make! At my first look at the pattern, I thought 'How does this work?' The pattern is well written and the technique is clever. My plan is to make another quilt in different colors!

Coming in 3rd is my September 22nd post revealing my Forest Friends baby quilt gifted to a close family friend expecting her first baby. This pattern is all paper pieced. I changed some of the blocks slightly and added the words which I embroidered as well as the eyes.

Coming in next is a tie, both with 12 comments. The first is a post from July 15th, revealing my Sweet Summer Strawberries quilt. This quilt is so fresh looking and makes me want to taste some sweet strawberries! 

The second post that tied is my November 6th post revealing the 1st RSC quilt from 2022 that I finished...Kaleidoscope! Many people commented on the quilting I did on this quilt!

My overall 'Best of 2022' is my November 18th blog post revealing my Squiggles quilt finish. Squiggles was a RSC quilt for 2022. I made 3 different RSC blocks/quilts during 2022 but Squiggles was always a favorite among my readers!

Thanks to all that read my blog and to the many comments! 2022 was a good year finishing 16 quilts! Besides quilting, I made many knitting projects for charity with my knitting group! I also made fabric postcards for my grandchildren, a technique I've been wanting to make for many years!

Thanks to Cheryl for hosting this party. Head on over and see what others have done this year!

Yay! Another finish and more

This morning I took this quilt out of the dryer! The last stitches in the binding were made last night and I immediately threw it in the laundry for a wash and then the dryer before heading to bed. Don't you just love a freshly washed and dried quilt?

Fair and Square is my 3rd RSC quilt for the year and it is finished!

I used gray scraps for the background and color scraps for the blocks all from my scrap bins. The gray and white marble are scraps from a wedding quilt I made earlier this year. The gray border and binding fabrics are from my stash. 

The backing fabric is also from my stash. I added a strip of yellow to 

make the stripe fabric wider to fit. 

I love how the backing coordinates with the rainbow of the blocks!

All blocks are machine stitched and I machine quilted in straight lines both 

vertically and horizontally.

This quilt finishes at approx. 40" x 52" - a good lap sized quilt!

I'm linking to Scrap Happy Saturday @SoScrappy, Off the Wall Friday @ Creations-Quilts, Art, Whatever, Can I get a Whoop, Whoop @Confessions of a Fabric Addict

For Thanksgiving, I made these fabric postcards for my grandson and granddaughter. I follow the tutorial by Annie. She make beautiful postcards and

 art of all kinds!

Aren't these turkeys so cute!

The back before I wrote a special message to each of them. 

I hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving! 

As we enter into the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season, may we take time 

to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas, find time to enjoy family 

and friends and time to relax and care for ourselves. Enjoy!

Another Rainbow Scrap Finish

I have another RSC finish for 2022! All year long I worked on 3 different blocks for the challenge. This year's challenge is just about over and we are supposed to be working on finishing them up. On my last post, I showed my 1st finish,      Kaleidoscope. Today I'm posting about my Squiggles quilt finish!  

Squiggles was made from the bonus HSTs from the Kaleidoscope quilt plus a few additional  2 1/2" squares. It is my second of 3 RSC quilts made during 2022. This is a baby size quilt. All the fabrics were from my scraps and the backing is from my stash. I bought the white with black polka dots for the border because it coordinated with the backing and the black with white polka dots for the binding. 

Squiggles is a fun block to sew together but it was nice to have the HSTs already made. I am so glad I decided to use them in this quilt right away rather than in my orphaned blocks basket.

I quilted stitch in the ditch around each Squiggle , then a simple pattern each squiggle. In the background squiggles, I quilted the same pattern with variegated thread. I quilted a simple straight lines in the borders.

  

This little quilt finished size is approx. 30" x 38". 

I'm linking to Scrap Happy Saturday @ SoScrappy,  Off the Wall Fridays @ Creations-Quilts, Art, Whatever,  Finished or Not Fridays @ Alycia Quilts, Linky Party @Patchwork Quilts, Friday Foto Fun @ Powered By Quilting, Can I Get A Whoop, Whoop @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Rainbow Scrap Finish!

 Yesterday I put the last stitches in the binding of my RSC quilt, Hang Ten! This is the first of 3 RSC quilts that I have been working on in 2022. 

This quilt is made with the block Hang Time my Melissa Corry @Happy Quilting. Way back in January, I mistakenly called it Hang Ten. Since I have been calling it Hang Ten every month since, I'm sticking with it! EDIT: After looking at the pictures more, I've decided to change the name to Kaleidoscope. Doesn't the quilting and the rainbow colors just remind you of looking thru a kaleidoscope?

This quilt is all machine pieced and machine quilted. The Rainbow Scrap Challenge colors are announced each month by Angela @SoScrappy through October. November and December are to add to and/or finish up your quilt in time for the new year! I added a peach and gray block to round out the number of blocks to 12. 

All the fabrics are from my scrap bins or my stash except the rose print used in the border and to extend the backing. I love that I found this backing in my stash (inherited from my mom's sewing room) that is a perfect fit for the colorful top!

I machine quilted in a swirl about 3/4" apart in each block 

overlapping the quilting into the adjacent block. 

I love the texture that was created. I straight-line 

quilted every 3/4" in the borders. 

This quilt finished at 53" x 68"

I'm linking to Scrap Happy Saturday @SoScrappy,  Off the Wall Fridays @Creations-Quilts, Art, Whatever, Linky Party @Patchwork & Quilts and Friday Foto Fun @Powered by Quilting
Linking to Favorite Finish @Meadow Mist Designs

It's been quiet on the blog but not behind the scenes

 Although I haven't posted on my blog since the end of September, I have been busy crafting and quilting. I find that if I spend time writing a blog post for every finish, I can't get to all the things I need/want to get done. Lately, I've been posting on Instagram and Facebook more frequently, then coming for a bigger blog post (WARNING). It definitely is a game of prioritizing the time I have. 

Since the last post of the baby quilt I finished, we have done many things relating to the season. My hubby and I also tested positive for COVID and needed to isolate for 1-2 weeks. Mostly fatigue which didn't help with the time to get things accomplished. We needed to cancel our annual trip to Door County, WI due to COVID but we did take a quick trip to check on our camper and stopped at a pumpkin farm and an apple farm and took in the beautiful fall colors. 

I made this Color Scavenger Hunt board and my grandson and I enjoyed a couple of walks looking for colors in nature! We also made a skeleton for Halloween!

I finally made time to make fabric postcards for Halloween

 for my grandchildren! I followed the tutorial

 by @annies_musings which was so fun and easy to follow!

 I have been an admirer of Annie's postcards for many years

 and I finally made these! 

I wrote special notes on the back so no pictures. 

(I'll have to take pictures before I write on them next time!) 

(Flowers from my daughter's cutting garden)

Didn't they turn out so cute?

I've also been crafting these rustic sunflowers for my daughters and a few knitted pumpkins to add to the collection.

In case you think I haven't been quilting...

I finished up the Stash Buster Quilt. It is large at 81" x 98". The layout I choose was on point which required 50 blocks but the challenge was for 52 blocks, so I framed the extra 2 blocks. I will be donating the flimsy and blocks to charity. 

This was a fun challenge and a fun block to make!

I'm currently working on finishing up my RSC blocks for 2022. Angela @Soscrappy allows November and December to finish your quilts and get ready for another year!
Here is my Hang Ten blocks finished and waiting to be sandwiched and quilted!

So, I may have been quiet over on the blog, you can see that I have been keeping busy! Hope you have had a chance to enjoy the beautiful fall colors this year!

I'm linking to Finished or Not Fridays @AlyciaQuilts, Off the Wall Friday @Creations - Quilts, Arts, Whatever, Can I Get a Whoop, Whoop @Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Friday Foto Fun @Powered by Quilting, Scrap Happy Saturday @SoScrappy 

A finish and some catching up!

 Once again I am finding myself playing catch up with my monthly obligations...like QALs and sewalongs and charity blocks. I think that maybe I over committed this year but I have a hard time NOT joining in. It leaves little time for my own designing and for sewing for my family, friends, and me.

So when I found out that a close friend's daughter was going to have a baby, I needed to get busy and make and complete a baby quilt. 

Forest animals is the theme for the baby's room and shower. So I found some paper pieced animals and trees designed by MadebyMarney on Etsy. Mary's style is unique and cute. I added the squirrel designed by Protoquilt. I did change the patterns a bit and I embroidered the eyes, noses, and other markings (instead of buttons). I added the words and designed the layout. 

The blocks are all paper pieced except for the Forest Friends which is appliqued.  The sashing and border print is a woodland animal print I found at Joann's. The backing is one piece of another woodland printed fabric. 

The animal blocks are 8" squares and the tree block is 12" square.

I quilted with a stipple across the quilt being careful not to sew over the embroidered features. The quilt finishes at 37" x 40". 

                                     I hope mama and baby like it!                                            Linking to Favorite Monthly Finish @Meadow Mist Designs.

In August, I participated in the #30daysofimprovqal on Instagram. This was the 2nd year. Each week there is a shape that was the focus: stripes, polygons, triangles, and curves. On 5 days of the week a new prompt was announced to help you make your block. All the fabric that I used was from my stash. The last week focused on composition. At first I thought I would do a more traditional layout giving each block its own space. But the more I looked at it hanging on my design wall, I wasn't satisfied. I ripped it all out and began rearranging, adding and stitching it back together. This is how it turned out. 

I straight line quilted every 1/2" from the top to the bottom. 

I added corners for hanging. 

This quilt finishes at 27" x 31.5" This quilt is gifted to a friend.

It is now nearing the end of September and I just got started on light blue for my RSC blocks. They came together pretty quickly.

Hang Ten in blue and all nine colors.

Squiggle in blue and all 9 colors

And my 3rd RSC block in blue and all nine colors

I'll keep working and hopefully will be ready to go before October comes. I got a few more things to catch up on!

A Friday Finish!

 It is always fun to have a finish especially on Friday and when the quilt has been lingering around for some time!

I'm calling this quilt Small-Town Charm! The pattern, Mod Diamond Quilt is from Lindsey @Penandpaperpatterns. The fabric is Playground from @ArtGalleryFabrics and Kona white for the background.

I bought this pattern and fabrics quite a while back, started cutting, but it got pushed aside for various reasons. At the start of the summer, I was determined to finish this quilt. 

The backing is a upcycled sheet I had in my stash with a strip of scraps from the fabric collection. 

The construction of the quilt is made in columns, then sewn together alternating the direction of the white background triangles and the prints. It is all machine stitched. The quilt is quilted using 'stitch in the ditch' along the diagonal, horizontal, and vertical lines. 

The binding is Kona navy. 

The finished size is 63" x 70 1/2"

I am very happy with this finish! I'm linking to Finished or Not Friday @AlyciaQuilts, TGIFF @AnjaQuilts, Put Your Foot Down @TrueBlueQuilts, Off the Wall Friday @Creations, Quilts, Art...Whatever, Peacock Party @Wendy's Quilts, and Beauties Pageant @From Bolts to Beauty

On another note, here is my August calendar journal. This year is flying by!