Best of 2020

The end of 2020 is fast approaching and it's time to look back to what I have accomplished this year.  Cheryl is hosting her annual "Best of" party and I decided to do a post to link up with her blog. 

Since I spent a lot of time at home this year due to the pandemic, I did a lot of sewing, knitting, cross stitch and embroidery. I looked back over my blog posts to pick out the top 5 I would like to share today.  

1. My blogpost with the most views in 2020 was posted on August 22nd. It featured blocks from a new quilt started this year,  "lupins", pattern by Gudrun Erla. 

Here are my first few blocks:

I have finished all of the lupin blocks I need for a queen sized quilt and this quilt top will be put together soon so that I can take it to the long arm quilters.  It will go into the rotation of quilts for our bed. My husband and I went to Iceland for our 25th wedding anniversary a few years ago and all of the lupins were in bloom while we were there. 

2.  My blogpost with the most comments featured my Snowflake quilt which I made for a friend to celebrate 30 years of friendship.  I used up lots of red and white scraps in this quilt.  My friend was thrilled to receive this surprise gift and it is out on display in her living room for the winter months. It will keep her warm while she reads or knits. The pattern is available from Modern Handcraft. 

 

3.  I made several baby quilts this year but my favourite was this one, made as a month by month HST sampler quilt with the London Modern Quilt Guild.  This quilt was given to a baby boy born in the fall.  He and his parents were excited to receive it. 

I love the light blue seagulls in sweaters fabric in each block. 

4.  My favourite finish of 2020 was my Neutral Swap Barn Raising quilt.  The neutral blocks were made over the course of 16 months and swapped with members of the Elgin Piecemakers Guild. 

5. I participate in the weekly Slow Sunday Stitching Link up with Kathy and decided that I would like to add my favourite slow stitching project to my list.  I purchased an embroidery kit at QuiltCon in Nashville in February 2018 and completed the project earlier this year. 

Thanks for visiting. I look forward to finishing many projects and starting a few more in 2021. 

2019 in Review

2019 was a productive year in my sewing room.  I finished several projects and still have lots on the go to keep me busy in the new year.  I have had a couple of non-sewing relatives ask me what I do with all of the quilts I make.  I keep some, I give some away as gifts and some are charity projects.  In any case, having lots of quilts does not make me want to stop making more.  Sewing relaxes me and feeds my creative soul so I will continue to sew. Here is an overview of my completed projects this year.

January
I signed up for the Coming Home BOM with Sarah Fielke this year.  I made this block book to keep the pieces organized as I worked on the quilt.  I had to take a break from making this quilt to get ready for Christmas but hope to get back at it in the new year.  I have two more borders to make to complete the quilt.  This will be a 2020 goal...

My next January finish was one that should have been done in 2018 as it was a Christmas gift... I made a sewing machine cover for a friend who loves to go camping.

February

In February, my friend Christine and I attended our first Quilt Con in Nashville.  I participated in the Make a Mini, Make a Friend challenge.  Here is the quilt I made for Evie.  It is called Maple Keys from Canada.

The London Modern Guild issued a colour challenge in 2019 for a mini quilt made with black and white plus one other colour.  These mini quilts were on display at our first quilt show in September.

March

My third challenge for 2018 was the snip it, rip it, drop it and pass it challenge issues by the Elgin Piecemakers.  I made a bag for my car stitching with my fabrics.  I use this bag all the time for my current cross stitch or embroidery projects.  It's very handy!



This wall hanging is in my sewing room.  The sewing machine is a Lori Holt pattern.


April

There was lots of sewing going on in April, but no finishes.

May

I made several gift quilts this year.  This one was for my cousin's new grandson in Scotland.



June

A colleague at work retired in June so I made her a zippered pouch.  I made lots  (over 2 dozen!) of these this year so I won't show pictures of all of them here.



The next quilt was a gift for my cousin in England...it was an old UFO that just needed to get done!  We delivered this one in person in August.



This next quilt also now resides in England with my step Grandmother.  The fabrics reminded me of her pretty garden.











July 

Gail's Garden is another older UFO that was completed in 2019.  This quilt was started at a class with Jacquie Gering a few years ago.




August

I gave this quilt to my aunt when we were in Scotland in August.  Purple is her favourite colour.



September

We visited a lot of cousins while in Scotland and England in August and most of them received a small quilted gift--many received zippered pouches or pillow cases made with Canada fabric and one received a Christmas table topper.




October

It was time to get started on the Christmas sewing in October.  I retired at the end of September so suddenly, there was more sewing time after that.  This little wall hanging was donated to the church's Christmas bazaar.



Another baby quilt--this time just to have on hand, ready for gifting. This was an attempt to use up some of my 30's prints.  I still have lots left...




There were lots of zippered pouches made this month too...

November

Another baby quilt in waiting...an attempt to use up my flannel scraps.  No fear--I still have lots left.



December

Yet another baby quilt this month---this time with a Bonnie Hunter pattern...Bricks and Stepping Stones with an I spy theme.  This one will be delivered soon.



Another challenge was completed--this time for the Oxford Guild.  I made a pillow inspired by the colours on a Kleenex box.



I made a pillow for my brother for Christmas using our Dad's shirts. There were more zippered pouches, pillow cases and bowl cozies made in December as well.  My next post will hopefully outline what I hope to accomplish in 2020.

2018 Roundup

Here we are on the eve of a new year and it is time to look back over the past year to see what I have accomplished.  There seemed to be a lot of babies being born this year so many of my finishes are baby quilts, most of which have been given away.

January

This quilt top, Fancy Forest, was made in 2016 but it took me a while to find the right backing, so I got it back from the long arm quilter in January 2018 and added the binding.  This one is staying in my my quilt stash. 

March

I spent a lot of time the first few months of 2018 looking after my father who passed away in April.  I worked on my snowmen counted cross stitch project while I sat with him as he slept, and finished this old UFO in March.  It is still waiting to be framed.

I attended a Libs Elliott "Embracing the Chaos" workshop in March and made this little wall hanging at the workshop. 

April

I made this I Spy baby quilt for my cousin's new grand-daughter, her first grandchild.  I needed a simple project after my dad passed away to get me quilting again. 

June

I had three finishes in June.  This quilt was started at a Shannon Brinkley scrappy appliqué workshop in May.  

The second June finish was another baby quilt, this time for my husband's cousin's baby.   I used a charm pack to make this quilt. 

And, another I Spy baby quilt for another cousin's first grand baby.  I used Bonnie Hunter's bricks and  stepping stones pattern for this quilt. 

July

I participated in a swap at the London Modern Guild and made this sewing machine quilt for my swap partner in the Ancaster Modern Guild.  You may remember that my husband thought it was a hat...

August

The baby boom continued.  This quilt was made for a colleague at work's baby girl, born in September.  It is the only baby quilt I made all year that was done before the baby was born!

October

When I was gathering things up for a retreat in October, I found this quilt top, finished years ago, but not quilted.  I quilted it at the retreat and donated it to a fundraising auction for Camp Kintail.  I hope whoever purchased it is enjoying it!

This mini quilt was made with a package of 2.5" squares that I received at the 2017 modern guild retreat.  

December

I had a lot of finishes in December including some Christmas gifts and a new single bed quilt for the bed in my daughter's old room. I worked on the blocks for my Foothills Quilt-Along quilt all year and finally finished the quilt in early December. You may remember that I made this quilt from my husband's discarded shirts.  This is the only bed sized quilt I made all year. 

I made a few pincushions this year...here is a sampling.  The top 5 are mine and the others were made by my friend, Christine. 

I made this zippered pouch for my friend, Pat, for Christmas. 

Finn, the grand-dog, received this quilted crate liner for Christmas. 

I made Christine and I matching "Bountiful Boughs" wall hangings for Christmas.  The first one is mine. 

This one is Christine's.

I made my mother a small table topper for the little round table in her kitchen. 

I have one more gift finished but not gifted yet, so you will have to wait to see it.   I hope to deliver it later this week so check back for a blogpost about it. 

I also finished my Frank Lloyd Wright Fountain Glass Window counted cross stitch picture in December.  I had been working on it since April.  I have three counted cross stitch pictures which need to be framed and hope to do this in January. 

All in all, it was a productive year in my sewing room and I look forward to more finishes in 2019.  

2016 in Review

The end of the year is a good time to look back at what I have accomplished this year and look forward to 2017 as well.

Here are some of my finishes for 2016:

January


This quilt was made for a Syrian refugee child.


I made this pincushion at the London Modern Quilt Guild meeting in January.

February



My husband and I made and installed a design wall in my sewing room.

March


I completed my "in the Coop" chicken quilt.

May



My Stitch and Flip Garden from a Jacquie Gering workshop--flimsy completed.  Hoping to get this one quilted in 2017.

July



Round and Round wall hanging. 

August

I completed my daughter's graduation quilt.

September



Flannel Vortex, made for a friend going through cancer treatments.



Modern Wedge .  There were lots of finishes in the late summer/early fall so I would have quilts to display at the London Friendship Quilters Guild show in October.

October and November










I made lots of pillows to sell at a local craft show and to give as Christmas gifts.  Above are a few of the pillows I made.



Placemats for Meals on Wheels.



Baby quilt



Fall table runner for a hostess gift.

December



Wool Applique sheep for my MIL for Christmas



Bees wall hanging, also for my MIL





Pillows for my nieces. 

As I looked over what I finished in 2016, there were lots of other blog posts showing great progress on other projects.  I need to make a list of goals for 2017--that will be another post. 

Happy New Year, Everyone!