2024, How Did It Sew?

I have spent 2024 trying to stick to the list I posted about last January in my first Planning Party report. At times sewing my list and sticking to the plan became very tedious, however I am very glad I persevered when I see all the quilting that was accomplished. A total of 8 quilts were listed. Of those 8 quilts, 6 are completely finished and 3 of those quilts were started and finished this year. However I did have a squirrel sneak in and run around, I'll show you that quilt at the end of the post.

Hearts & Wreaths was finished in June. From start to finish, it took a little under 3 years for this long term project.

The piecing of Dresden Stars was completed in February, sent to the long arm quilter in May then returned to me in August.

The anniversary quilt (listed as gift quilt) was pieced and long arm quilted entirely this year.

The months of June and July were spent binding comforter tops for MCC and machine quilting small quilt projects which I'm not showing in this post. You can read about them here, here, and here.

However, I am going to show you Dots and Dashes, this was the largest of the compassion quilts I quilted and donated. Quilting compassion quilts was on the list.

Most of the blocks for Dots & Dashes were completed, I just needed to piece a couple more blocks then sew the blocks together. The pattern for Dots & Dashes is found here. I may make another quilt from this pattern someday.

Tula Hexies was one of the quilts I quilted. She's staying at my house for me to enjoy. Tula Hexies was a new project I started in November 2023 and she's finished!

Radiant Blues was started and completed in 2024.

Radiant Blues is my favorite quilt of the year. I have been wanting to make a feathered star quilt for years and now I have. I enjoy looking at it displayed on the wall. 

Pineapple Blues was started at the Jane Stickle retreat in April. I innocently thought I could actually piece all 49 blocks needed for this quilt in one long weekend! I managed to complete almost 20. The rest were completed in September. She came home from the long arm quilter in November, another quilt started and finished in the same year.

The outer blue borders have been sewn onto blueberry pie. She won't be going into the quilting frame though. She measures 108" and I won't be able to have the hand quilting finished by spring. I don't like to hand quilt during summer and I feel guilty if I have a quilt the frame and not be quilting.

One of the projects I listed was Garden Party, designed by Bonnie Hunter. Thirty-six blocks were pieced at the November retreat, that quilt is on the list again for next year.

What quilts didn't happen? Fire Island Hosta was the only project on the list to not make it out of the project bag, it is also on the list for next year.

The squirrel quilt is Blessed by Nature which was a kit I purchased at Lolly's during my July birthday outing. Donna and I both pieced our quilts together in October then I sent my quilt to Calico Point to be quilted. Here she is!

Linking to TGIFF!, Favorite Finish December, Finished or Not Friday, Off the Wall Friday, Beauty Pageant, Patchwork & Quilts

Home Again!

I have been  gone for several weeks, it seems like much longer. We drove to Springfield Missouri for Thanksgiving then I flew to Phoenix to visit our daughter for two weeks. Now I'm catching up on everything!

My pineapple quilt came home just before we left for Missouri. I'm glad she's back and I am very pleased how she looks quilted. There is no picture of her hanging on the outside display line because it snowed the morning I took the pictures and the grass was wet.

She measures 99" quilted which is larger than the 98.5" she measured when she was a flimsy. Being pulled tight while being quilted stretched her out completely. There are so many seams in this quilt!

Here she is displayed on the bed.

A straight view. We slept under this quilt one night, this is definitely a heavy quilt!

When I first started piecing these blocks, I made sure the fabrics were only blues and the lights. The blocks looked rather boring, it's the colors in the fabrics that add zing to this quilt. I used a lot of small pieces that have been accumulating over the years.

Calico Point did the long arm quilting, this is the design I selected. I know this design has a name but I don't remember what it was.

I selected a white whole cloth for the backing fabric. I like how it shows the quilting design which doesn't show on the front side of the quilt, it's too busy!

This design looks big but it was close enough together to quilt across the millions of seams.

The striped binding fabric was part of the Tea Garden collection I used for some of the Lady Jane blocks. I ordered the striped yardage to use as binding for that quilt but then it didn't look right. Lady Jane was very particular about her binding.

The pineapple blocks were foundation paper pieced using papers from Gigi's Thimble. She had a sew-along in 2022 which I missed but stumbled across later. Gigi's quilt looks very different from mine since I used blues in my corners while she used lights in her corners. 

A pineapple quilt was on my list of 'someday quilts to make', now I can cross her off the list.

I won't say I will never make a pineapple again but I will say it will be several years before it happens.

Linking to To Do Tuesday, Midweek Makers, Wednesday Wait Loss, Put Your Foot Down, TGIFF!

After I wrote the above post, the farmer got the ladder out of the shop and we hung the pineapple quilt for display.

He's really getting into hanging quilts, he used a tape measure to make sure she was evenly spaced on the rafter!

Blue Pineapple Flimsy

The blue pineapples are now a flimsy. This quilt is more of a scrappy quilt than I had originally planned, the corners don't look the way they should. The flimsy measures 98.5", I wonder how much it will shrink during the quilting?

A picture of the back, there are a LOT of seams! A lightweight batting is going into this quilt. 

There are 57 pieces in each block, times 64 blocks is 3648 pieces.

These blocks were foundation paper pieced. I purchased the papers from Gigi's Thimble. Her quilt looks different from mine. She made sure each block was shaded the same and she put the light blocks in the corners. I won't say I will never make another pineapple quilt, but if I do, I'll switch the corners.

The flimsy has been delivered to the long arm quilter at Calico Point, they said it would be 6 weeks - two months. 

1.5" strips were used to make this quilt, I have a LOT of strips left! I foresee a blue/neutral log cabin happening sometime in the future, but not right away.

Linking to Midweek Makers, Wednesday Wait Loss, Needle & Thread Thursday, Put Your Foot Down, TGIFF!, Finished or Not Friday, Off the Wall Friday, Beauty Pageant, Patchwork & Quilts

Blue Pineapple Blocks

I'm finished, the 64 pineapple blocks are pieced!

Sixty-four blocks make quite a stack. The next step is to remove the paper from the backside of the blocks. Normally when I foundation paper-piece, I remove the paper immediately after piecing each block. This time I didn't because I had the blocks on the display floor since the first part of August. I could pick them up in a hurry if I needed to and they wouldn't get wrinkled.

We've been having lovely early autumn weather this month. It's definitely sweater weather in the early mornings but the afternoons are perfect for sitting on the porch and removing the papers. That's the plan anyway. 

Finished, these blocks will measure 12.25". 

I purchased the foundation papers from Gigi's Thimble. Gigi had a sew along in 2022 but I wasn't aware of it. I thought her quilt was beautiful when I stumbled across it. Of course it was in blues, how could I resist, so I ordered the foundation papers.

I was surprised when the papers arrived. The pattern was printed on ordinary white paper, just like what I would run through my printer. Normally paper used for foundation paper piecing is a lighter weight paper, easier to tear for removal, less apt to make the edge seams come undone when removing the paper.

I had the papers so I used them, however I do not recommend them. When I wrote my post in April about the blocks, someone commented that they normally use regular paper for foundation paper piecing. After foundation paper piecing 64 of these blocks, I am definitely NOT a regular paper fan and will stick to newspaper weight paper from now on. That's my opinion, you use whatever weight of paper you want to use.

Linking to Midweek Makers, Wednesday Wait Loss, Needle & Thread Thursday, Put Your Foot Down, TGIFF!, Finished or Not Friday, Off the Wall Friday, Beauty Pageant, Patchwork & Quilts

More Pineapple Blocks

Another group of pineapple blocks have been pieced for a total of 52 completed blocks, just 12 more to go for an eight by eight block arrangement.

When I made the original 20 blocks, I pieced them with more dark blues but I thought they looked too dark. Now I'm piecing the blocks with lighter blues. I think they blend ok, what do you think?

The above picture is not the final layout. Once all the blocks are completed, the papers have to be removed from the back of the blocks. That will take some time.

September is a busy month for me, I don't know if I'll have time to complete the rest of the blocks this month. I hope you all find time for stitching this month.

Linking to Midweek Makers, Wednesday Wait Loss, Needle & Thread Thursday, Put Your Foot Down, TGIFF!, Finished or Not Friday, Off the Wall Friday, Beauty Pageant, Patchwork & Quilts

Blue Pineapples

I started piecing pineapple blocks at the Jane Stickle retreat last April, I didn't realize how time consuming these blocks were!

This August, I've managed to foundation paper piece 20 more blocks so 40 blocks are completed. 

Sorry, this picture has a dark tint to it. Here is a close up picture of some of the blocks.

I had originally planned to piece 49 blocks for a 7 blocks by 7 blocks setting. The blocks finish at 12.25" which means the quilt would be 85.75" by 85.75" square, but knowing me, I'll probably come up with a different measurement even though these blocks are foundation paper pieced. I don't intend to add a border.

85.75" square is an odd size for a quilt, too big for a throw, not large enough for a bed quilt.

If I would piece 24 more blocks I would have an 8 by 8 setting which would be 98" square, a decent bed quilt. I'm going for 24 more blocks.

I purchased the foundation papers from Gigi's Thimble. Gigi had a sew along in 2022 but I wasn't aware of it. I thought her quilt was beautiful when I stumbled across it. Of course it was in blues, how could I resist, so I ordered the foundation papers.

I was surprised when the papers arrived. The pattern was printed on ordinary white paper, just like what I would run through my printer. Normally paper used for foundation paper piecing is a lighter weight paper, easier to tear for removal, less apt to make the edge seams come undone when removing the paper.

I have these papers so I'm using them, however I do not recommend them. When I wrote my post in April about the blocks, someone commented that they normally use regular paper for foundation paper piecing. After foundation paper piecing 40 of these blocks, I am definitely NOT a regular paper fan and will stick to newspaper weight paper from now on. That's my opinion, you use whatever weight of paper you want to use.

Linking to Midweek Makers, Wednesday Wait Loss, Needle & Thread Thursday, Put Your Foot Down, TGIFF!, Finished or Not Friday, Off the Wall Friday, Patchwork & Quilts

Planning Party, 2nd Quarter Check-in

Summer is here and not much time is being spent in the sewing studio but I'm still making progress. Here is a link to the list I posted last January.

Radiant Blues is a flimsy and has been delivered to a long arm quilter.

I'm sorry this picture has a yellow tint, I think the bright sunshine affected it. I didn't realize the picture was this way but the quilt isn't at home. You'll have to wait for a better photo until after the quilting is completed.

Dresden Stars has also been delivered to the quilter.

Hearts & Wreaths is completely finished, my first completed quilt in 2024! Hand quilting does take a long time.

I did start piecing the pineapple blocks at retreat in April. I plan to piece more blocks sometime this summer.

Linking to Planning Party, 2nd Quarter Check-in, Stitching Stuff, Oh Scrap, Sew & Tell,  Design Wall Monday, Monday Musings, To Do Tuesday, Midweek Makers, Wednesday Wait Loss