Believe it or not we have almost made it to the end of 2020. When I made by UFO list in January I couldn’t imagine the kind of year that we would have. It certainly did provide me with plenty of time in the sewing room and for that I am very grateful. Along with quilting seven Quilts of Valor and 17 customer quilts during October, November, and December I was also able to make progress on several other projects. Now it is time to check in to see what I accomplished.
I checked the paper piecing kit that I purchased at a garage sale off of my UFO list by deleting it. While I was looking forward to hanging this cute picture in my sewing room I was not a fan of the technique that it required. I like to paper piece and have done several projects that way but this wall hanging used a completely different type of paper piecing. In addition the pieces were tiny and hard to handle. As someone who aims to finish what I start I debated for quite awhile before finally giving up on this project.
Another UFO project that I made a little progress on - and I mean little! - was the QuiltWorx pattern by Judi Niemeyer. I sorted the Bali Pops - 2 1/2” strips - and added eight more strips from another collection so that I should be ready to stitch the next time I get this project out.
I also finished three quilts that were not on my UFO list to begin the year. The first was the Mystery Quilt that I started in September that was sponsored by Quilt Stitches in Beatrice. I documented the construction and completion of this quilt in several blogs last fall so you can refer to the archives for those details. I really enjoyed the process of making this quilt and didn’t have any idea what I would do with it when it was finished. Then I realized that the colors would go perfectly in Melissa’s room so it has now found a home there.
The second quilt that I completed was one that I donated to someone who had suffered loss due to the fires in California. Yearly the Panama Quilt Guild donates quilts to a good cause and even though we have not been able to meet in person since February one of our members organized this drive. I chose to make my quilt from 4 1/2” squares that I had purchased at a garage sale a few years ago. I had a variety of colors available including pink, orange, blue, teal, gold, and purple and arranged them in a diagonal pattern. I then found a teal fabric for the border and coordinating backing fabric from my stash. I added the finishing touch by quilting an all-over swirl design using hot pink thread.
The third quilt that I finished was an English Paper-Piecing project that I started this summer. Even though I had no idea what I was going to do with this quilt I chose to do this project because I liked the colors and the small size of the hexagons. I also wanted a hand-stitching project that I could do in the evenings while sitting outside in the patio. I had all of the brown and red fabrics in my stash so only needed to purchase the black and gold fabrics. Oh shoot! - another trip to the fabric store! About the time that I was constructing this quilt we were also working on remodeling our downstairs bathroom. Since we were starting from scratch on it I decided to go with a neutral brownish palette and then add a pop of red with accessories. And because of those color choices and a bare wall next to the mirror I now had a place to hang this quilt.
I have also been working on a couple of projects that coincide with some important life events happening in our family in 2021. I’ll detail those in the next edition of the blog so stay tuned for that!