Final Finishes of 2017

Photographed in Bride's dressing room at Davies Manor

Those recently adopted star blocks 

and miscellaneous pieces/parts

have been turned into this reversible runner.

80" long by 11" wide

Photographed in Bride's dressing room at Davies Manor

I used the miscellaneous pieces and parts

 to create this wonderful scrappy reverse side.

DH and I both like the reverse side even more than the front.

Here is a sunlit detail photo 

of the liberated free motion quilting

done using Glide thread in Hawaiian Blue.

And this is how that stitching looks

on the reverse side of the runner.

There were enough extra 2.5" squares to create 

a coordinating 16" square table mat.

(quilted with liberated free motion orange peels)

My sister is going to love both of these -

especially since she lives in the white snowy north.

* * *

I kept a list of my 2017 finishes 

with links to their reveal posts HERE.

It was a very good year in the studio

with lots of pondering and piecing

as well as plenty of free motion quilting.

Quiltdivajulie

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"No matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow."
Proverb

Christmas Gifted Quilts

This is the finished crib quilt

that was a last minute special request.

Solid blues for the outer border,

a mix of starry night-time blues for the center,

and especially for my little beach bum

his name in turquoise with colorful beach ball bubbles.

Quilted using Glide Rainbow Variegated thread (top)

and Persian Glide (back).

See previous post for more quilting notes.

Here's a detail shot of the name fabric.

And a detail shot of the border stitching

and striped binding fabric.

Mom and Dad and Little Man all love it.

36" wide x 45" long

Here is the larger of the two quilts 

featuring a hungry animals ABC panel

 by J. Wecker Frisch for Quilting Treasures.

I added the fun border and sassy striped binding.

Quilted with liberated free motion Baptist Fans

in Glide Warm Grey 4 thread.

Finished size approximately 45" x 55".

Two toucans on a turtle taking tea

beside a topiary and two trellises.

I cut 10.5" squares from "wordy" prints

to create the quilt's scrappy back.

Can you find the turtles, daisies, dots, 

butterflies, fish, pigs (and/or flying pigs), 

trucks, raindrops, birds, 

birdcage, Dr. Suess characters,

bunnies, ducks, sheep, flowers, 

and on and on?

A closer sampling of fabrics used in the back.

Bike, ball, pear, compass, pirate,

bunny, duck, flower, stars, fish, 

(who can later become Dory and Nemo)

Curious George, ship, continent, and so on.

N is for nuts, neck (the ostrich's), and nest.

O is for Ostrich in overalls, 

oranges in the orange chair, olives, owl, 

open (window), and onions (growing in the ground).

S is for smiling sheep sitting on a stool

with soup sitting on a stack of suitcases,

socks and saddle shoes, 

sunflowers, stove, sugar,

shutters, salt shaker, 

snow (outside the window),

spoons (hanging on wall), and a sink.

Each and every letter block is just like this -

filled with things to seek and find.

Mom and Dad spent quite a while

poring over the quilt 

looking for and finding things.

But the best part was Little Man's reaction

when he pulled the quilt out of the gift bag.

He knew EXACTLY what to do.

* * * 

I'll be linking up on Tuesday

 with Ann and Kaja and the Ad Hoc Improv Quilters

for the final 2017 AHIQ link party.

Looking ahead, 

I'll have two posts in the coming days

about my goals and plans for 2018.

I may not achieve all of them

but I know sharing them here will help keep me on track.

Quiltdivajulie

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"You have to decide what your highest priorities are and have the courage - pleasantly, smilingly, non-apologetically - to say 'no' to other things. And the way you do that is by having a bigger 'yes' burning inside."
Stephen R. Covey

MERAKI - the Quilt

Introducing MERAKI.

(formerly known as the solid coins project

from an AHIQ challenge earlier this year)

MERAKI means 

"to do something with soul,

creativity, or love;

to put something of yourself

in your work."

The finished wallhanging now lives in our home office

along with And Sometimes Y.

On the third wall hangs this framed notecard

with a watercolor by Kat Frick Miller of Nova Scotia --

And this painted tree that was purchased 

October 2016 at River Arts 

(big annual art fair)

and gifted to me last Christmas --

And this new print of a pastel done by a North Carolina artist --

(purchased at River Arts a couple of weeks ago)

And this framed cross stitch that I did

when we lived in Northern Indiana's Amish country.

Artwork makes such a difference in a room.

MERAKI measures 31" x 31"

and can be hung either direction

since there are fast finish triangles on all four corners.

Quilted by Chris Ballard

(hand guided unmarked free motion on her Nolting long arm)

I love it!

Quiltdivajulie

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"The simplicity of form, the drama of rich, intense colour, 
the joy of challenge, and the challenge of endurance . . . 
The piece, when it is over, is not what is made, but how it is made."
Andrew Kuntz

Deep and Crisp and Even - The Finish

I recently shared the quilted and bound 

advent tree wallhanging here.

Now it is fully finished and ready for action 

beginning on December first.

As you can see, I sewed 25 vintage glass buttons 

onto the tree and added one extra large button at the top.

Here is what the fully decorated advent tree 

will look like on December 25th.

A full length view with all ornaments

hanging on the tree.

24" wide x 47" long

Next I sewed 25 mother of pearl 

and/or creamy vintage buttons 

onto the snowy ground beneath the advent tree.

Four mother of pearl hexagon buttons 

came from a sweater my father wore as a child.

The others came from button boxes

belonging to my grandmothers and

DH's maternal grandmother.

(hint:  photos will enlarge if double-clicked)

Here is how the snowy ground 

will look at the beginning of December.

I added a hanging sleeve to the upper edge

and another to the lower edge 

so the lower rod's weight will help

the wallhanging stay flat against the wall.

So why did I do all this?

The felted wreath shown above

was the original display location 

for all 25 ornaments.

After 30+ years of service

and reading this post,

I realized it was way past time

for an updated approach --

one that allowed the ornaments

waiting to be hung to also be part of the story.

I think this new version will last a long, long time.

Deep and Crisp and Even was finished just in time 

to be shared during the Davies quilt show.

It was interesting to listen to viewer comments.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Joy is but the sign that creative emotion is fulfilling its purpose."
Charles du Bois

Grape Pansy Caper - Mystery Quilt No. 2

I did not want to make 

one very large mystery quilt

so I created two lap/couch quilts instead.

After finishing GPC-1, 

(see previous post)

I used the remaining segments

and, instead of making more blocks,

(boring)

I randomly pieced the strips

into three long columns.

And after following the rules 

while making GPC-1,

it felt SO good to break away and

create something completely unexpected

for this second quilt.

I cut 1.5" strips of Turquoise Grunge

and used them to frame the last of the pieced strips

for two vertical sashing units.

And I bought yardage 

of this incredible fabric for the back.

(Midnight C3898 by Chong-Ahwang

for Timeless Treasures)

Persian Glide thread was chosen for the quilting.

Horizontal liberated/organic wavy lines

were just right for my Grape Pansy Caper-Part Two.

I couldn't be any happier with the texture.

And the quilted back . . .  deep sigh!

I used more Turquoise Grunge to bind GPC-2.

48" wide x 60" long after quilting.

GPC-2 on display.

And guess who came to see Grandma at the quilt show?

Quiltdivajulie

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The one thing that you have that nobody else has is you. 
Your voice, your mind, your story, your vision. 
So write and draw and build and play
 and dance and live as only you can."
Neil Gaiman

Grape Pansy Caper - Mystery Quilt No. 1

This is The Grape Pansy Caper - Part One

freshly quilted and trimmed but not yet bound.

The Mystery quilt block pattern

was given to participants last February.

(The Case of the Flamingo Chain

from Billie Lauder's Mystery Quilt Series

Locked Up in Chains)

Color choices and layout options

were left up to individual participants.

You can read the three previous

posts for this project

by clicking HERE

and scrolling down.

I quilted GPC-1 with a lot of 

free motion liberated spirals

using Gilde thread in Turf green.

Here is the unbound quilt outdoors on the driveway.

I am elated with the texture.

I used Scrollscapes yardage in Emerald Green

(Dan Morris for Quilting Treasures)

for the quilt's backing.

The texture on the back is also amazing.

With a bit of creative cutting,

there was even enough of the leftover backing

to use for binding!

54" wide x 65" long

Hanging at the quilt show.

Quiltdivajulie

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"A tulip pansy doesn't strive to impress anyone. It doesn't struggle to be different from a rose. It doesn't have to. It is different. And there's room in the garden for every flower."
Marianne Williamson