Two projects--finished!

Hurray! I finished two projects I’ve had going for some time—a great feeling, since I work on multiple projects at once and frequently put them aside if I get bored or reach a design problem I need to think about for a while. That means I have a stash of projects in various stages of completion. It doesn’t really bother me; I think I even like having unfinished work I can pick up when the mood strikes.

I finished these placemats for my daughter Libby. I bought the fabric in Colorado last summer and immediately cut out 2-, 4-, and 6-inch squares, the simplest of shapes. I looked at placemat patterns, but decided that if I made all of them the same, I would get bored and have another unfinished project on my hands! Instead, I experimented with different arrangements of the squares in each placemat. I also made half-square triangles from the 4-inch squares and arranged them in pinwheels, and I used 1-inch filler strips. These are machine quilted with a walking foot.

I had put these placemats aside after they were pieced but before they were quilted because of weddings, then Christmas, the urgency of other projects, and you know how it goes.  Next I plan to make matching coasters, so look for a little package in the mail from me, Libby!

After TWO YEARS of off-and-on hand quilting, I finished this quilt, Water Wheels III. These are leftover pieces from a larger Water Wheels quilt, as yet unquilted. Yes, this is the third in a series, and I can say that I have curved piecing down pat.

Batiks have a firmer hand—they are a little stiffer, more tightly woven—than other cottons, and these were no exception. So someone STOP ME before I ever attempt to hand quilt another batik project. This small wall quilt is only 40 x 40 inches. Weirdly, I added the final border with that tiny strip of yellow AFTER the rest of the quilt was finished. (Nothing like changing the design of your quilt after it’s done!) Amazingly, this quilt turned out perfectly flat. Here is a close-up of the quilting.

What did I do after finishing these two projects? I created more projects, of course. My quilt guild has a Christmas group, and I joined it because I want motivation this year to make 4 Christmas tree skirts—one for each of my 3 daughters and one for myself. I bought fabric at after-Christmas sales and cut out pieces for all 4 of the skirts, which took almost two days. Now I have a nice backlog of Christmas projects I can pull out when the mood strikes me. I love my unfinished projects!