mid-year roundup and more

In my last post, I promised a collage photo of all the quilts finished so far this year.  So we'll start there and then move forward with what I've been up to since last week!

The first six (working from left to right, top to bottom, as one would read a book) are finishes from Project Quilting.

The next seven are finishes for my one-per-month self-challenge for charity.

And the last three are quilts that were made for and given to family or friends.

As you know, more than this were given to charity last month, but those were not all finished this year.  But this does seem like a lot to have finished.  Some were started last year and only quilted this year, but others were started and finished already this year.  (It hardly seems half the year has gone by, but many of my days go fast.  I hear a lot of folks saying the days drag along, but since the biggest change to my life was MORE hours at work, life did not change as drastically for me as it has for many others.)

So what have I completed in the last week?

With my completion of the Bear's Paw top last week, I was motivated to sew more of the dreaded long seams.  My Christmas stars quilt was at a point that all I needed were two borders.  It seems crazy that such a simple task can cause me to stall out completely, but the finished top (that I love) motivated me to just keep sewing.  So I did.

Grumbly quilt holder helped again here, as it was just windy enough that the clothesline was not an option.  (The porch is more sheltered, so the wind is less than the open area of the backyard.)

The border looks pink from a distance, but I assure it is red with white dots and looks a lot better up close.  But really, I don't mind the contrast here either.  And I cut binding strips from the black-and-white sashing fabric, too!

And then it was back to the leader-ender project I started in April.  I honestly intended for the blocks to end up here:

I had enough to make eight blocks, which meant I was going to have to figure out something for a ninth, but that was okay.  It wasn't going to be large (about 32"), so I was kinda frustrated there, but was willing to let it be.  It could be a baby quilt and be large enough.

I debated embroidering something in the solid squares here, but couldn't find anything I liked.  I also considered embroidering something larger for a center square and then I remembered some leftover large printed flowers from a quilt I made my niece, Adrian, a while ago...

How perfect is that?  (There were two more flowers, but both were mostly pink, and as this quilt has zero pink in it, they did not fit as well.  A little yellow is good with me!)

So I carefully cut the flower (I had only one, so no room for error!) and pieced together the blocks.

Of course, I had help in the many permutations of the layout before I got here...

She cannot miss an opportunity to roll around on a quilt and replace the furs I have painstakingly removed with the lint roller!

But then the quilt started talking.

It wanted to be bigger.

It needed some borders.  With maybe leaves.

And then maybe some 9-patches.

But wait.

Circles in that first border.

Dots.

DOTS!!!!

So I dug through my stash, looking for any fabrics left over from the original quilt, but also some that would play nice.  To bring in the yellow.  And supplement for where the original fabrics are no longer available.  (I should have taken a photo of my stack of fabrics...)  I also had to supplement yet another black/grey for background.  But it's all playing nicely together.

Wanna see?

I have been busy hand-appliqueing the circles down.  I actually have the large ones done, but there are smaller circles going in the centers of each of these.  The hubby offered that they look like fried eggs.  He is very helpful.  (But I guess at least he is not putting fur on things?!)

I did the math to make sure this border will make it easy for the next border to be 9-patches.  I haven't cut anything for that, but since it will be random, I can't strip-piece anything.  This will take a while, but I'm having fun.

And there will be at least one more border after that.  I might do leaves.  I might do single, small circles.  Or maybe the quilt will holler again and let me know what I should be doing.  For now, with no other quilts needing to be worked on, I'm content to let this one do its thing.

My hope now is only that this will be large enough for a good-sized throw.  I kinda like to make them square, but perhaps the leaves applique border needs to be just on two sides, making it rectangular?  All I know is that this quilt sure has a voice and is not afraid to speak for itself!

I also got a surprise package from my aunt a few days ago.  I keep forgetting to upload a photo, but she sent me the CUTEST cat fabric.  Out of the blue!  Those are the best surprises, but now I want to figure out something super special to use it for...

Time now to head towards bed.  The hubby has flipped to third shift and gets home around 6:30 in the morning.  I've been trying to get up early at least a few days a week to join him at the gym...I've become a bit too sedentary for my liking and the pants are letting me know about it.  So a little extra calorie burn is good for me, now that the gyms are allowed to be open again.  (Fingers crossed they remain so, but I also understand the health concerns, so I put my faith in policymakers to make the best and right choices.)

Happy quilting!

Katie