2013 Recap: what happened.

Because I don't have anything really new or interesting to write about but wanted to display proof that I'm actually still alive, I have decided to to a recap post of accomplishments of 2013.   There were quite a few more than I had remembered ... which is a hazard when the one remaining brain cell becomes frequently fried. :-)

1. Hawaiian Applique.   This project was started in January 2013 and the top was finished in May 2013. 

The pattern is for the center medallion only; I added on the borders to make it a more useful size for me. 

It's still a top, awaiting quilting.    Ya know, that really did turn out pretty, didn't it?  I ought to quilt it.  Should I pop it to the top of the quilting list or make it wait its turn behind all the OTHER tops that have been patiently waiting?  :-)












2. Podcats throw pillow.  This project was started AND .. omg .. FINISHED in February 2013.  I was attracted to this pattern because the Pirate family has 3 girls.   By no means are they like three peas in a pod, but I do tend to buy them items in three's ... especially if those items are in "their colors".








3. Manzanita.  This project was started in February but the applique wasn't completed until April 2013.  I did love doing the applique but it's a "dark" project ... very stark.  I wasn't depressed or feeling sad when I bought the pattern; it simply appealed to me.   

Since I learned how to do needleturn applique, I really adore doing those skinny little shapes and fine points.  I'm certainly not intimidated by any applique any more!

There are leaf-shaped leaves to be sewn to the branches and some interesting shaped borders to be applied.  It's still at this stage.  I probably ought to look around the sewing studio and find it.  Wherever it's hiding.

4.  Just Ducky.  This project was not only started in April 21013 but finished, quilted, labeled, bound AND delivered in

April 2013!   Go me!  :-)  

This quilt was for a new member of the extended Pirate family and I know from first-hand knowledge that it *IS* used frequently.  I can't tell you how happy that makes me. :-)

Nothing is sadder than a quilt, designed to be used, that is folded and put away because "it's too pretty to use".













5. California Poppies applique.  I bought this pattern because I love poppies.  The displayed sample was breath-taking ...

their use of color and fabrics was wonderful.  How could I resist when the pattern was combined with pre-selected fabrics? 

I started work in May 2013.  The applique for the stems (all those skinny stems!) went rather nicely.  It wasn't until I got to the actual flowers that my enthusiasm began to wane.  The fabrics "they" chose didn't have enough contrast to effectively show shadows.

But, I slogged through it, finishing the applique in October 2013.  It remains an unquilted project.  It may remain an unquilted project.  :-( 








6. Pinwheels.  This project was started in May 2013 and completely finished by mid-June 2013.  It was originally created as

a way for me to use a "new" technique in making pinwheel blocks from (2) 5"x10" rectangles. 

It ended up being sent, along with 11 other quilts that I had previously made, to the tornado victims in Moore, OK.
















7. Jacob's quilt.  The fabrics for this quilt were picked out in May 2013, although the quilt wasn't finished until August

2013.  I have no idea (at this point) what took me so long other than ... it just did.

This quilt was made for the older brother of the Just Ducky recipient and, once again, I know for a fact, that Jacob *uses* this quilt.   I am pleased.  :-)















8.  Jolene's quilt.  This quilt was made for the older sister of the Just Ducky quilt recipient.  It was started in June 2013 and

finished, quilted, labeled, bound and *delivered* by August 2013.

Because the older sister has an American Girl doll, I also made a matching quilt for the doll .... a project that morphed into a wardrobe of all sorts of clothing for the doll.  It was waaaay too much fun!




















9.  Oink-a-Doodle-Moo quilt.  Now *this* project was fast-tracked!   Another member of the (extended) Pirate family was

about to be born and I needed a new baby quilt.  Everything was completely done in August 2013.

Dang.  August was really a busy month, wasn't it?

This was kind of a "cheater" quilt, in that I used a pre-printed panel, but cut up the sections and added some other elements.  There were a number of ... um ... "opportunities for creative problem solving" associated with this quilt, but in the end, I think it came out nicely.












10. Barter: sew a top in exchange for a hand-quilted quilt.   I have a quilting friend who LOVES, I mean LOVES to

hand-quilt.  She creates tops under duress, simply to have something to hand-quilt. 

I had a hand-pieced top that I wanted hand-quilted.  I do not hand-quilt.

So, we bartered .... I would sew a top for her, using her fabrics & pattern and she would hand-quilt for me, using whatever quilting motifs pleased her soul, a double-sized (I think) quilt.

I started her top in May 2013 and completed it in September 2013.  My quilting friend did ask me not to do the top until she was almost done with the quilting ... but I knew that if I waited until then, I would have forgotten all about it and then be in a panic.  So ... disregarding her request, I finished her top.  She doesn't know it (unless, of course, she's reading this) so whenever she finishes the hand-quilting (there was no deadline for her), the top will be ready.  :-)


11. Commissioned quilting.  My neighbor wanted me to finish the small amount of sewing required to finish a top that her

sister (a rank beginner sewer) had made for her own little girl.  Then I was to quilt it.

The sister did a *wonderful* job of piecing and it was a pleasure to quilt. 

I quilted the center with a pantograph and gave the borders a separate treatment, using the design in the pantograph as the basis.













 12.  All That Glitters.  This is a wall-hanging that uses a pre-printed panel as the center.  The pattern adds on the pieced

borders.  It's supposed to have small LED lights poking through buttonholes in the center of the snowflakes, but almost everyone that has done it that way has complained that the wall-hanging will not lie flat due to the wires and cords of the lights.

Instead, I am taking their suggestions to put hot fix crystals in the centers instead.

This project was started in October 2013, was delayed and deferred for several reasons but finished (except for the crystals) by early December 2013.

In fact, because it's not completely done, I don't even have a picture of the completed quilting nor made a web page for it.  Soon .. very soon!



Wow .. that was actually a lot more projects than I thought that I had done.  Twelve for the year isn't too bad, even though some of them remain unfinished.  Heh .. they simply join the ranks of all the OTHER tops that remain still unquilted. :-)

So, what am I working on right now?

1. my hand-piecing Forever (™) project is my English paper piecing hexies.  It's not the small scale that most other quilters

are doing .. oh no!  I want to actually get this project FINISHED at some point, so my hexies are on the large size.  I've already figured out how I'm going to machine quilt it, so I'm eager to get it done. 

This was started in July 21013 and is a work-in-progress.  The picture that I have here is from October 2013.  I've done quite a few more since then but don't have a picture of it.

2. charity quilting.  I have volunteered to quilt some charity/outreach quilts for the quilt guild I belong to ... so the last of those is on the frame. 

Once it is done, I'll need to decide which one of *my* tops will get quilted next.  I *really* want to substantially reduce the number of tops I have (literally) hanging around so I don't feel quite so anxious about them.


And that's what I did this past year and what I'm currently working on.