It's that time of year, when everyone (or almost everyone) posts a summary of their completed projects for the year so I'm doing it too.  I don't feel at all that I accomplished much this year and I'm not happy about that but the time commitment for Girl Scouts really made a major dent in my sewing time.  All in all, 11 projects is better than 1.

I completed only a couple of quilts and this is really unusual for me but I have 3 more that are in the final stages and will be completed early in January so the new year will be off to a good start.  My plan for 2016, in part, is to get a lot more of my UFOs quilted and bound and I'm working on my list of goals for the year.  

So it is goodbye to my 2015 quilting year.  I sincerely hope 2016 is much better.

Whoo hoo! I have another recent finish to show you.

This is Cherries & Chocolate and it is a baby quilt for my niece's new little girl Emalee.

It started with this pile of fabrics from my stash that I got who knows where quite a while ago.

It's a new experience for me to have an inspector present while I work.

Juno even checked to make sure the thread was pulling of the cone nicely. Thanks buddy!

The pattern was Nap Time by Caroline Reardon and was published in Quiltmaker's Favorites Winter 2008. It is a fast and easy pattern and whipped up quick.  It is a one block pattern made from strip sets.

Once the strip sets were sewn together, they were cut into the proper length and then some fast chain piecing was next.

Here are the blocks all laid out.  The white strip was just added to the top or bottom of each block, with every other block row the strip set flipped around so that the right most print in the first row was the first print in the next row.  And so on and so on. Such a simple design but great results.

Then with the addition of a couple of borders, the top was complete.  This is another great pattern that I will definitely use again when I need a quick finish.

This is the final result after quilting and binding.  It finished at 50" x 72", a bit bigger than a typical baby quilt but I wanted it to be something she'd be able to use for quite a bit longer.

When I quilted this one, I decided not to use a panto but instead took my cue from the loops surrounding the round motif in the Brown print and free handed simple loops and added in lots of hearts too.  The thread was a very pale Cocoa.

The backing was pieced from the last print I had that coordinated and some of the leftovers from the front.  I'm really happy that 100% of this quilt came from my stash so no cash outlay for this and it turned out adorable.

I just need to add the label and it will be ready to deliver to my new great niece.

Because of the fact that they live a distance from me, I have yet to actually meet the cute little one in person but I can't wait to hold her and to enjoy some snuggle time together.  I'll get to do that at our extended family Christmas celebration in a few weeks. From the pictures I've seen she sure is a cutie pie.

So another satisfying finish has been recorded.  Now onto the next one!

Tina's Blue and Tan string quilt is finally on it's way back to her.

This is the quilt that was on my frame and that she was working on 2 weeks ago when the belt broke on Penelope.  The replacement belt finally arrived late Saturday in the mail and I was then able to finish up the last bit of quilting on this for her.

This is the entire quilt.  It will be a Christmas gift for her father in law.

Tina picked out the panto Popcorn and together we decided that Glide #24525 Khaki (though it looks Gold) looked best on the top.
Other than me lining up and getting her started on each new row, she did all of the quilting herself.  This was only her 2nd time using my machine and she did pretty well.  

She brought a mid Blue wide backing fabric that works well with the quilt top and we picked a blending So Fine thread for the bobbin.

Now she just has to get the binding done and it will be all ready to gift on Christmas day.

I think her father in law will love it.

It has been so long since I've had a finish of my own to share but it sure feels good to be able to do so now.  In April I learned that a friend was expecting her 2nd child but it wasn't until early September when I learned whether it was going to be a little girl or a little boy.  Since this isn't Pink I'm betting you can guess.

This is the 2nd Where's the Lorax quilt that I've made.  Since it is such a cute line and perfect for new babies, when I originally purchased the fabric, I made sure I bought enough for two quilts.

I literally duplicated the 1st one that I made a few years ago as I liked how that one turned out so much.

 There is one big difference though between the two.  At that time, my Penelope wasn't working so well so the 1st one was quilted with a bunch of straight lines (I can't find the pictures on my hard drive at the moment to show you) but this one I quilted with the Happy Times and I love the way it looks on this quilt.  The curves and points of the design mimic the Truffala trees to me.

For the backing I used the exact same fabric also.  I think this print is great as it has lots of visual interest for babies.

For the thread I used a light Sage Green that blended well on the back and only showed every so slightly on the front.

This finish was so satisfying that I'm going to work hard to get more of them done, as soon as my sister Tina's quilt gets off the frame that is.  I'm still waiting for the new belt to arrive but the post office tracking says that it will be here today. 

Along with all of your holiday prep and events, I hope that you get to enjoy a little sewing time.  I know that I will.

I had a visitor over the weekend. My sister Tina came up and together we got her Giggles quilt done, or at least almost done since she has to still add the binding.  She also brought a 2nd top to be quilted, a Christmas gift for her father in law, but since she's keeping this Giggles quilt for herself, she decided this was the better one to do first before she quilted the one that will be a gift.

Why did she want to do them herself?  She actually wanted to see if she likes longarm quilting.  She had a feeling that she would and she was right.  In fact, when I'm ready to upgrade to a bigger machine and frame (I've had the itch for a while now), she wants to buy my Penelope from me.  That will be a Win Win for both of us.

Here is her finished quilt.  It turned out really nice.  I did the first 2 rows so that she could watch and she how I moved the machine and then she did the rest, with only only getting her started on each new row.

For the back she chose a solid Sage Green fabric and it is fun to see how the quilting shows on it.

I picked the Dainty panto for this one and the design was perfect for complimenting the motifs in the fabrics.  Thread for the top was my favorite Silver Glide and we used a matching Sage Green for the bobbin.

As for that 2nd quilt that she brought with her, she quilted that one too but I can't show it to you yet.  You see it is still on the frame with 12 inches and one more row still yet to be finished.  She was quilting along while I worked on something else at my domestic machine Lucy when we both heard a loud noise.  After a little investigating, this is what I found.

A broken belt meant no more quilting for us.  Ugh!  With so little left to finish.  To say that we both were not the happiest of campers is an understatement.  I'm waiting for a call back from Steve Dekker to find out what type/size belt this is and whether or not I can get it locally or if he has to ship me one (actually 2 so that I have a spare), and then I can finish that quilt up for her fast.  Needless to say that I'm going to find out what other spare parts I should keep on hand so that I don't run into this type of problem again.

Today is the 15th of the month and that means that it is time to show off your progress on your City Sampler for the At Your Own Pace Quilt Along.  I can't wait to see what all of you have been up to.

For myself, I don't have a ton to show you since a month ago but I have gotten to make a few blocks.  At the pace I'm going it will be a while before I complete them all but I'm ok with that.  This is a no schedule, no pressure quilt along.

So I made block #4.

And then I made block #5.  I like it but the more I looked at it and I thought about it, the fact that the cross design isn't so visible with the busy corner pieces, the more it bugged me.

So the next time I was able to get in some sewing time, I swapped out the corner bits for something less loud and I like the block this way better.  The cross is definitely recognizable now.

Next, as I mentioned before, instead of working on #6 next, yet another cross design, I headed over to the next chapter Rectangles and made block #16.

Then came block #17.

Here is my block #18 and as other have said before me, why the Purple photographs as Blue sometimes I have no clue.

Happily I was able to use up the swapped out pieces from block 5 in my version of block #19.

And to round out my 5 before I move onto the next chapter, this is block #20.

Here is my gallery of blocks so far.  I'm really having fun making these and love that they are a nice little break from the quilting and binding I've been doing lately with other quilt tops.

So now it is your turn to link up to show your progress so far.  Hopefully by next month, I'll have more to share.

I've been reading blog posts about Quilt Market (which I hope to see myself one day) and just heard about this new line that debuted there.

I've got to have it!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lots and lots of it!

OMG I love it so much and it is so perfect for me.

I'm already designing a quilt for it in my head though I'm too excited to actually get a real plan in place.

At the moment.  The ideas will gel at some point I'm sure.

The big sob story part of this fun news is that it isn't available until June.
It is going to be hard waiting that long to get my hands on it.

I can't tell you how excited I am to be watching all the versions of my Castles on the Horizon quilt that I designed for the Moda Bake Shop come to life on Instagram.  I literally squeal each time I see a post.  I just have to share the pics with you.

This really bold color one is being made by Britta (IG: greatbritten66).  Love it!

Brooke (IG: thequiltyox) has her blocks sewn together.

And last for today but certainly not least, Cathy (IG: cathyewbank) has completed her top.  Don't you just love the calm feel of this one? I know that I do.

If you want to follow along with these ladies too their hashtag is #charmpions and there is another one, #charmpionsqal.  Thank you again to all the members of this IG group for choosing my pattern.  I am truly humbled.

I'm happy to report that I actually got a chance to make a few of my City Sampler blocks recently for my City Sampler At Your Pace Quilt Along. 

I'm making all of my blocks with Halloween prints. Here is block #1. 

After making the first one, I wanted to immediate make more but I had to run a bunch of errands and  so I had to wait. The next day I was able to get back into my studio and make a couple more. This is block #2. 

And here is block #3. I love how these are coming out. 

Recently my friend Heather asked me to recreate what she said was the best baby gift she received for her son to give to a friend who is expecting a baby girl soon.  It is a hooded baby towel made with a real towel so it is much bigger, thicker and snugglier.

I borrowed the one her son received (he still uses it 8 years later) so that I could see how it was made.  It really is easy and turns out so nice so I thought you might be interested in seeing how it is done.

For this project you will need 1 standard size bath towel in your choice of colors and 1 matching hand towel plus enough ribbon to add to both ends of the bath towel and one end of the hand towel in the appropriate width to cover the flattened area of the towels.  Heather purchased this Royal Velvet towel from JC Penney's and brought me this pretty Purple Polka Dot Ribbon to use.  I believe it was a 9 foot roll. 

First cut a length of ribbon to the width of the bath towel, adding a little bit on both ends to tuck under.