Quilting

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I'm excited about the announcement for this week's Project QUILTING challenge: A Novel Project. The one big rule is that our projects need to be inspired by a book we've read. Easy peasy! So many options. (I hope you'll consider playing along and making a quilt between now and Sunday!)

In the challenge theme announcement post Trish shared a number of her book inspired projects. It got me thinking about which quilts I have made inspired by books. Here's a wrap-up of those projects.

***click on the photos to read more about each project***

The first thing that came to mind is Very Hungry Caterpillar. I adore the children's book and when the Very Hungry Caterpillar fabric came out I admired it but had no reason to buy it... until I found out it was pregnant with my first. I think Very Hungry Caterpillar fabric was the first baby-related item I purchased once I knew I was expecting.

My son's crib quilt was the first project I made with those fabrics (back in 2010). It was probably the first thing I pieced improvisationally, starting with the panels and building around them until it was the size of a crib mattress (odd dimensions, I know now).

I had purchased *a lot* of the Very Hungry Caterpillar fabric, which resulted in at least three more quilts, the last of which was a twin-sized bed quilt for my son which took me way too long to finish. Oh, and the pillow case on there, too!

In 2016, when my sister was expecting her first, the baby;'s room had a Wizard of Oz theme which inspired me to make a Wizard of Oz baby quilt. I absolutely adore this quilt. It was designed as I went. The Emerald City is appliqué and the yellow brick road is reverse appliqué.

In 2021, I used a Willy Wonka inspired fabric pull for a Project QUILTING challenge.

One of the very first quilts I made was from a book was from Quilts from The Quiltmaker's Gift with patterns out of the delightful children's book The Quiltmaker's Gift.

The last reference I could find to books on my blog was not a project, but a fabric pull. Fiction and Fabric was a fun activity using a book as inspiration for pulling together a small palette of fabric.

Now to decide what I will make this week!

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This week the Project QUILTING challenge was based on a traditional block, 54-40 or Fight.

As the week progressed with no progress, my quilt plans got smaller and smaller. I finally made it into the studio with less than 12 hours left to the deadline.

I used the traditional block as a springboard and pulled some fabrics in a palette I enjoyed. I opted for a grid-based design instead of piecing the 4-patch units. Taking creative liberties I omitted the 4-patch in the center, in favor of a single square.

Then I improv pieced the triangle units before deciding that I preferred them pointing out.

Here's the rundown of my sewing schedule for this project.

  • 10:38pm entered my studio with new idea
  • 10:42pm fabrics pulled
  • 10:59pm fabric cut
  • 11pm sewing underway 
  • 11:16 experimenting with pieced units 
  • 11:33 finished quilt top
  • 11:59pm finished quilt!
  • 12:00am photos taken
  • 12:34am blog post complete
  • 12:35am linked up

Tada! It's just over 4" square and pillowcase bound.

Thanks for visiting! I'm linking up on Kim's blog for the Project QUILTING 54-40 or Fight challenge.

As a longtime participant of Project QUILTING, I'm excited to be a sponsor this year. Each week as a Weekly Sponsor I have contributed a PDF pattern to one winner. Additionally, this week, I am the Ultimate Weekly Sponsor. The prize is a spot in one of my self-hosted open enrollment live virtual workshops. I'm also a Grand Prize Sponsor. Again, the prize is a spot in one of my self-hosted open enrollment live virtual workshops.

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I am way overdue for updating this list. It was November 2021 the last time I posted it. There were 72 items on the list then. There are only a few new WIPs from 2022, bee blocks, a project that I didn't finish in time for the SAQA Benefit Auction, and a set of 4 mini compositions from a class last October that just need to be finished up. The good news is that the projects I've started in 2023 so far have both been finished.

The Numbers

  • 19 quilts from the list were finished in 2022.
  • 13 were purged from my WIP list, passed along to other people, back into stash/scrap bins, or moved into workshop supplies as class samples.
  • 47 quilts currently on the list:
    • 12 are finished quilt tops
    • 12 projects are quilting in progress or just need binding/finishing

I've rearranged my list to be in order of oldest to newest. I'm currently working on two of these projects, so I hope they will be quilt tops soon. Some quilt tops are being held on to specifically so that I can quilt them when I get my new longarm machine in the latter half of 2023. I think in the case of some of these older projects at the top of the list... I need to fish or cut bait. (Pun intended.)

After you scroll through the list, I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments... how do you feel about WIPs/UFOs? How many do you have? What is your oldest one? What catches your eye in my list?

The List

  • Ocean quilt for my daughter (2012?) - fish need fusing.
  • La Passacaglia (2014?) - not much progress
  • Patchwork City (2015) - blocks complete.
  • Purple Royalty quilt (2015?)
  • Quartered Log Cabin (2016) - piecing in progress.
  • Rainbow Remix (2016) - piecing in progress, recent progress has been made.
  • Swoon (2016) - all but one block finished.
  • Rainbow Chain (2016) - blocks finished.
  • Floating Squares (2016) - piecing in progress.
  • Tula Pink City Sampler (2017) - blocks complete.
  • Variation of Planned Improv: Scrappy Squares, Wall Hanging (2017) - just needs binding/facing.
  • Playing with solids project from Tara Faughnan class (2017) - piecing in progress.
  • All About Angles in Cherrywood Blue Lagoon (2017) - nearly a finished quilt top
  • Second All About Angles in Cherrywood Blue Lagoon (2017) - blocks/units complete, leftover from above.
  • All About Angles in Cherrywood Meadow + Indigo (2019) - piecing in progress.
  • Round Robin Medallion (2019) - finished quilt top.
  • Pink Curves (2019) - no real plans for these two blocks... maybe a two-sided pillow.
  • Mosaic Mystery (2019) - piecing in progress.
  • Trinket (2019) - 9 of 40 blocks complete.
  • Beads On a String (2019) - finished quilt top.
  • Mini Mini Star from Sewcialite Sew Along (2020) - finished quilt top
  • 9-Patches (2020) - finished quilt top?
  • Monochromatic Improv Maximalism (2020) - blocks/slabs made by Solid Seven bee members.
  • Tic Tac Toe (2020) - finished quilt top.
  • 6 Personal Symbols Mini Quilts (2021) - quilting in progress.
  • Quilt Connection Lap Quilt (2021) - finished quilt top.
  • 5 Green Improv Mini Quilts (2021) - finished quilt tops?
  • Turquoise/Yellow/Orange Improv (2021) - blocks complete.
  • Fantastic Fusion (2021) - blocks complete.
  • All About Angles in Alison Glass Kaleidoscope (2021) - piecing in progress.
  • Green Stripes bee blocks (2021) - blocks complete by bee members.
  • Improv Triangles in Blue (2021) - piecing in progress.
  • 12" x 12" mini quilt (2022) - quilting in progress
  • Improv Sawtooth Stars (2022) - blocks completed by Quilts Unscripted bee members
  • 4 Mini Mid-Mod quilts (2022) - just need finishing

Thanks for looking! How do you feel about WIPs/UFOs? How many do you have? What is your oldest one? What catches your eye in my list? Drop your thoughts in the comments and sign up for my newsletter so you can follow along with what I finish next!