Looking Back at 2023

 

Hope you all had a lovely Christmas.  We had a quiet Christmas with very little snow, it has been raining with above freezing temperatures all week.  I have been having fun feeding the Chickadees in our yard by hand as its been so mild here. I also had a lot of fun this summer feeding the hummingbirds with a hand feeder and having them fly so close and even land on my hand at times. 

I didn't make the number of quilts I normally do but my attention was turned to bag making this year and that has been a nice change of pace.  Did a few Markets to sell my bags and that went very well. Had a lot of custom orders and sales from my social media posts and I'm still really enjoyed the new creative outlet.

So here is my end of year round up of the quilts I made this year.

I finished my Cupola View quilt in July which I gave to my youngest son.

Made a quilt for my older sons to give to his best friend for a wedding gift. 

I made quilted shoes!  That was a fun project I did at a retreat with Lori this fall.  We purchased our sneaker kits from Fabriculous. 

I participated in a Queen Bee block swap with our local guild and I made an baby sized Ice Cream Cone quilt.

Now to my bags.   I started with a few Ruby Totes, then tried the Compass Bags. Moved onto the Haralson Belt bags, the Redwood Totes and the Cambridge bags.  Made a ton of Devon Pouches, Norfolk Pouches and Essential Pouches. Just going to show one of each!

Here is what my sale table looked like at the markets. Had a mix of my laser cut signs, waxed canvas bags and quilts. Thank you to all my friends and social media followers that bought items from me this year.  I wasn't sure at first if I wanted to do markets but they were fun and I might do a few next year. 

I had a nice steady flow of quilts coming in to be longarmed this year.   One big change I notice this year was I didn't need a waiting list which was really nice.  I could quilt tops as they came in and my turn around time was a few weeks.  I had a slightly lower number of quilts come through my door this year compared to last year which is what most longarmers have been reporting.  I think it is down to two factors, higher cost of living and quilters are only bringing one quilt at a time not 2 to 4 like during covid years.  Things feel back to normal and I expect this coming year to be similar. 

  I wish you all a happy and healthy 2024!

Minnesota Stars Quilt in Kansas Troubles

Barb made our Highway 10 Designs 'Minnesota Stars' quilt which was one we designed for the Northern section of Minnesota Shop Hop a few years ago. Those that stopped at all of the participating shops of this section would receive a 1/2 yard bundle of Kansas Troubles fabric.  Barb just had to add the background, star and border fabric to make her quilt.

I quilted it with the Bushberry pantograph, used dark green So Fine thread and Barb brought a cotton batting.

Barb brought a cozy green flannel backing.

I am now done my quilting for the year!  Its nice to be all caught up and I have open bookings for January.     

Catching Up on December Quilts

 

Finally found time to catch up on my blog posts for December. The quilts have been coming in at a steady pace and getting picked up quickly so no a lot of opportunity for outdoor photo shoots.  And I know I didn't get photos of all of them but my priority has been to get them done and back to there owners to get the binding on in time of Christmas.   This first Tree wall hanging was made by Jill and I quilted it with the Chantilly Lace pantograph and used black batting and thread. Did my best to center the design on the tree and that worked out well.  Jill can now add the ornament embellishments to her wall hanging now that its been quilted.

The next quilt is one made by Kim and the pattern is called Perfect Placement, designed by Sewn Handmade. She used Monarch Grove wovens by Fableism.  I quilted it with the Plush pantograph, used a medium tan So Fine thread and Quilters Dream blend batting.

I then quilted a Shadow Box quilt for Pat.  I quilted it with the Ebb and Flow pantograph, used white So Fine thread and Quilters Dream blend batting.

Bev pieced this lovely Twilight Hopscotch quilt, pattern by Kim Diehl.   I quilted it with the Flourish pantograph, used black So Fine thread and she bought a cotton/poly batting.

This last quilt I quilted for Lucinda is called Camping Party quilt, pattern by Global Fiber Shop.  She used Grunge fabrics purchased at Road 17N and Stache Fabrics.  I quilted it with the Ebb and Flow pantograph and used a medium beige So Fine thread and Quilters Dream Blend batting.

Still not much snow here and nothing in the forecast.  Tomorrow is suppose to reach +6'c so what little snow we have will disappear.  Would be strange to not have snow for Christmas!

Getting To Know Hue Quilt

Gaby pieced this stunning 'Getting To Know Hue' quilt, pattern is by Nancy Rink Designs.   Gaby did this quilt as a BOM project and did an amazing job.  She machine appliqued the flower motifs and her lone star center was perfectly pieced.

I quilted it with the Windswept pantograph, used a charcoal shade of So Fine thread and the batting is Quilters Dream Blend.

I have been eyeing this quilt pattern for a few years so very happy that it came through my doors to be longarmed! It is just stunning!