red, white and blue quilt

My latest big project. This quilt was my nephew's high school graduation gift. 

hexagon quilt

I finished my hexagon quilt!  I started it almost five years ago and I began making the hexagons while in Guatemala.  The fabric that I took wasn't sufficient, so it was at a stand still for quite awhile.  There are a lot of hexagons, and I had to look for more fabric several times.  Now it is all quilted and bound.  It feels good to be done.  This is one of those projects that I doubt I will ever do again because it took so long and it is almost all hand work.  It is a keeper, though. 

blue squares

Last week I finished this quilt.  It is about twin size, and the finished blocks are three inches.  The fabric is all Robert Kaufman Kona solids.  I have made other quilts with all solids, but they were triangles (click here, here and here for pictures).  The squares work out pretty well since I quilted on the diagonal.  This quilt went to live with my youngest brother.

pineapple block quilt

I finished this quilt last evening, in time to meet my deadline of finishing before the end of the year.  The pattern is called a pineapple block.  Though I like how the block looks, I didn't like how long it took to make each one.  I started making this quilt at a retreat last November where my sister Amanda was teaching.  Now there are three red, white, and blue quilts in my collection, but that's about right for someone with a fourth of July birthday.

disappearing four patch quilt

My first completed quilt of the year.  Finishing the quilt was one of my summer goals, so I pulled it out last week and got the binding done on Sunday.    The warm colors contrasted with white ended up to be a winning combination.  I haven't been quilting much in the last couple of years, so this one is a keeper to add to my personal collection.  It should get some use this fall and winter.

solids

I finished this quilt last night.  It is my third attempt at making a quilt with solids.  (You can see the others here and here.)  After I put this one together, I wished that I had just used squares instead of the triangles, but I think the recipients will like it anyway.  Funny that I finished my quilt with Kona solids...this week my sister did the same, you can see the quilt here.  What color scheme would you use in a quilt where the fabric was all solids?    

baby quilt

This is the baby quilt that I made this week for a friend's baby boy.  It was inspired by a quilt that my sister made.  I would use the idea to make another quilt...not too complicated with pleasing results.  

green and blue quilt

I finished this green and blue quilt in July.  It is a lap sized quilt inspired by a quilt from Amy Smart's book Fabulously Fast Quilts.  I was flipping through my sister's copy of the book.  It is a simple and traditional looking pattern, which made it easy to put together.  I made it for a gift, but wouldn't mind keeping it.  It was one of two quilts that I delivered on my vacation, this one was for my uncle. (You can see the other quilt here, which I made for my aunt.)

finished

This is the quilt I finished this week.  It is made up completely of solid Kona fabrics.

 It about 60 inches by 70 inches, perfect for a lap sized quilt. 

It went together pretty quickly.  For the quilting, I stitched in the ditch, diagonally, vertically, and horizontally. 

The back I like just as much as the front, even though there is a lot of purple.  This is the second time I made a quilt with all solids (see the other one here), and although they both turned out well, I am ready to go back to make things with prints again.    

Among other finishes for the week...

I am not teaching a GED class anymore, which has been a part time job since the fall of 2010.  Teaching adults is much different than teaching seven, eight, and nine year olds.

My piano lessons are done, for now.  It was the first time I have taken any kind of music lessons, and I enjoyed it.  I memorized one song (Allouette) and can play some others passably well with the music.    

I completed my twelfth year as an elementary ESL teacher.  That boggles my mind.  Twelve years is three times as long as I was in college, and more than twice as long as I was a teacher in California.

With all these finishes, now there is time to do travel planning for my next adventure-learning more Spanish.

blues quilt

Here are some pictures of the lap size quilt I finished this week.  It is for a friend who moved away last month.  My original hope was to give it to her when she left.  Twice I attempted machine quilting and spent hours ripping stitches.  It was on to plan B, which was hand quilting it. (My sister reminded me it is always good to have a plan B).  Now that it is done, I am looking forward to giving it to her.  I think she'll like it. 

sixth quilt

Here is the baby quilt I finished on Sunday.  My sister helped me pick out the fabric a couple months ago.  My goal was to make a baby quilt for a boy, and I think that it works well.  Nothing like the approach of the end of the year to get a project done.  This is one of six quilts I completed in 2013.

Happy New Year!

brights

This is my latest finished quilt project-one that I have already given away.  My original plan was to make it all pinwheels, but it felt too busy.  After consulting with my sister, I made a simpler block to put between the pinwheels.  It is nice to have someone to get advice from, and the result was satisfying.  

nine patch

This nine patch quilt is what I finished this week.  It is a generous lap size quilt that is for a friend.  I started it back in April, and finished the top the last week of school.

 

Sometimes my favorite part of quilting is getting the project done.  Now I have no quilts in progress, though plenty of ideas.  I will have to start another one soon if I want to get one more done before summer is over.

another quilt

I finished another quilt today.  The pattern is Easy as Pie, a pattern from my sister's blog, which makes it the second time I have made this pattern.  (You can see my first one here.)  I wanted the quilt to be a bit wider than the last one, so I added a vertical row to make it closer to sixty inches wide.

triangles quilt

 I finished this quilt this mornings-the top I finished back in March.   I like the back as well as the front because it shows off the quilting.  I am linking to Amanda's finish it up Friday series on her blog.  This originally supposed to be a gift but am thinking about keeping it. 

batik pinwheel quilt

This is my first attempt at making a quilt with batik fabric.  It is possible it will be my only attempt to make a quilt with batik fabric.  The loud, bright colors are almost overwhelming.  The pinwheel block might be my favorite, though.  It is easier than it looks and I like the overall effect.  

blue, purple, and white

This is the quilt I made this summer.  I made it for a friend and coworker who had her second baby.  The babies I know get plenty of stuff when they are born, so thought a gift for the mom would be a good choice.  I am not a fan of purple, but it was a good addition to the quilt.  To make it a bit more interesting, the blocks are four inches by five inches finished (instead of making them square).

latest baby quilt

This is the third quilt I finished this year.  I made the top back in February.  It was originally a larger quilt which I planned to give to a friend for her birthday.  I couldn't find a fabric that would make a good border, so I ditched it temporarily and made a different scrap quilt that weekend. (Click here if you want to see that one).   Recently, I cut the quilt about down to a baby size, hand quilted it, and bound it so I could give it away.

scrap quilt

This is the scrap quilt I made for a friend's birthday. If you ever want to make a scrap quilt, I would suggest getting help from an expert like my sister. She provided most of the scraps, and helped some with pressing, cutting, and piecing. I quilted it on her Juki machine. There was red in the top (before we started sewing) but I took them out because they didn't seem to blend well with the rest of the quilt. It turned out well, though I might consider using brown for the binding to frame it.

cozy ragtime quilt

This is my latest quilt. It is the first time I made a ragtime quilt. It isn't something I thought about making until I saw the one my sister made last March (click here to see the picture). I like it because it is not flannel fabric. This is a closer view of the front, and below is one of the back. The squares are 4 inch finished with half inch seams for the frayed part.I washed it once, but the quilt does leave strings everywhere it goes. It should get better after a few washings. This one is a keeper.