2019 Quilting Recap

Looking back at what I finished this year, I feel I was very productive. I am very proud of what I accomplished for 2019. I made a top nine photo to post of my creations on Instagram that I was very proud of. I picked specifically only finished projects. I didn't want to include stuff that hasn't been quilted because they feel half done.

Top Nine Projects of 2019

For total projects I finished:

1. A Rose for My Boyfriend
2. Purple Cat convention Bag
3. Tumbler Blocks Baby Quilt
4. Focus Freeway Camera hanging
5. Fruit Salad Quilt
6. Terracotta Greenhouse
7. Double Wedding Ring -wall hanging
8. Lots of Hexie Tags and nerdy coasters
9. 2019 Row By Row- Taste the Experience
10. Berry Box table runner
11. Candy Block and 9 Patch Christmas potholders
12. Christmas Tree Table Runner and Star mug rug - this I just finished yesterday!

Happy New Year! I can't wait to begin the project list for next year.

Fairest of the Fair?

Mom turning in her quilt

Mom's pillowcase.

It looks like Skipped a few months but it's not because I wasn't busy. Quite the opposite really. I submitted quilts to two local fairs. Two quilts to the Anderson County Fair in July and three to the Tennessee Valley Fair in August. Mom also submitted quilts to both of these fairs. She was reluctant at first but because labeling and prepping is not as strict as a quilt show I convinced her to do it.

 I think we did really good at both fairs. I placed on most of the things I submitted. Anderson County is a small local fair they do get a lot of entries but not as many as the bigger fairs. At Anderson County I submitted two quilts, my Rose for My boyfriend in small bed quilts and the Fruit Salad quilt as a baby quilt. I won a blue ribbon for Fruit Salad, and third on the other. The larger bed quilts category is usually got so many quilts I'd never place due to the competition. I was still thrilled about what I received.

Quilts hanging at Anderson County Fair

Mom submitted a pillowcase and a quilt in the first time category. Since it was her first time ever showing something she felt that fit her. Her pillowcase won first place and she got second for her quilt. It was successes like that that fueled us to enter the next show in the regional fair in September.

At Tennessee Valley Fair we submitted three each this time. In table toppers and placemats I submitted my camera and then the same two quilts I submitted for Anderson County. The larger quilt had to go into the general bed quilt category because they didn't have a baby quilt category for this fair and Fruit Salad is too small to be a bed quilt. I did not win anything on Rose for my boyfriend in this fair but took home second for the other two projects.

Ribbons won at TN Valley Fair

Mom submitted her quilt in the same category as fruit Salad and got third place on it. She submitted an appliqued placemat in the table topper category and got third there. The pillowcase won second in Tennessee Valley also.

Overall the experience was really fun and it's always encouraging to win. I am going to try to submit to a quilt show one day. I keep telling myself I plan to.

Today's tea is another specialty tea I got from my travels. This one came from a shop in Pensacola, FL. I don't remember the shop's name and I'm surprised I had the tea as long asI did but it was tasty and now it's gone. It was a Belgium black chocolate tea. It was very nice with a dark chocolate hint. There were actual chocolate chips in the blend. I hope to find more in the future. I just have to remember the name of the shop I got it from.

Fruit Salad Throw finished

I surprised myself and finished this quilt quickly. It's not that big, it's about 45 by 47 inches. It's big enough to be used as a picnic quilt or a lap quilt. I had started the quilting on Sunday after my last post. I got most of the work done in that one day. That's what surprised me the most. Saturday I had finished the borders and the only thing I left the house for Sunday was to buy more thread. I used a Gutermann 807 Lemon Peel yellow. I was looking for a larger spool but Joann's only had the 110 yards size. It took about 3 and a half spools. 

I did an easy zig-zag pattern using a Dresden ruler to mark my angles. By Monday I had just one row and the border left to go. I had used the light yellow fabric as the binding. The backing was pieced with the leftover fabrics from the front. I Used up all the green and the darker yellow I tried to use as much of the fruit fabrics as I could. I am happy to say I have minimal scraps left to go into a pile for my million hexies projects.

The sun shows off the stitches on the back

I figured I worked a total of 40 hours on this quilt. That's a positively light speed for me on something like this. I'm going to take it by the quilt shop where I bought the fabric to show off the finished product.  

Tea for today is actually the Harney & Sons Blood Orange herbal tea. I know I had already featured it once but I made my self a nice lunch with it Sunday and that's what I drank while quilting.

Fruit Salad

I started calling this quilt Fruit Salad from the moment I picked up my Wild & Fruity fabrics from my local quilt shop. I didn't quite know what I was going to do but I had wanted the fabrics. When I got home I was putting away some old magazines and a pattern card had fallen out. The pattern was one I got with the purchase of other fabrics a few years prior. It had gotten shoved in a magazine that I loaned out and forgot about.

It's a simple pattern and those are the best kind. About Face by Villa Rosa Designs can be used with a charm pack or yardage. I had some solids I got as remnants from JoAnn's and the colors paired will with my fruit fabrics. I had dragon fruit, guava and two of the citrus colorways. When I finished the center I made a pieced together border of the fruit fabrics. I plan to piece together a backing out of my scraps and use yellow as a border. I'm hoping to use all of the fabrics but if I don't I've got a million hexies project going on that they can go to. I'm going to explain that in a future post.

Today's tea is Petro's Hint of Orange Tea. It's a simple tea and the orange is very light but I love this stuff. Every time I go to the mall I buy a large when I first walk in the door and make sure I get a refill before I leave. 90% of the time this is the only thing I buy at the mall. So time well spent. I exercised by walking and exercised control by only spending 2 bucks and change.