Friday Finishes

Happy New Year!

May 2016 find you happy, healthy and with lots of time to quilt!

2015 ended with some finishes and for that I am happy. It's been kind of crazy around here and the first few months of 2016 doesn't look like it will be much different. I've decided to look at this as a positive, as I could be struggling with things and not able to quilt or teach at all. :-)  

I finished a t-shirt quilt for a friend. She and her daughter started it, but soon ran into issues so they asked me to complete it for them. I was happy to do it and it's done and was delivered in time for Christmas, even if this picture doesn't show that. (I send them this picture to determine if they liked the border corners and forgot to take a picture when the quilt was completed. Oh well...)

And, I finished and delivered this Carpenter's Star quilt, complete with embroidered names to my friend Janet. It was a gift for her mom. I love the fabrics in this quilt!

And Brandon's quilt was presented to his twin brother and mom on Monday. This really was an emotional challenge for me.  I am glad I made it and hope that it brings comfort to the family.

I hand-wrote a message to the family on the back of the quilt, along the binding.

I promised Quinn and Sadie that they could sew a little bit over Christmas break. They each chose 6 strips of fabric from my "collection" (That's what they call my stash and I love it!), and sewed them together to make a baby quilt. I set up the machine with a guide for them to keep an accurate (or close to accurate) 1/4" seam allowance and they both did exceptionally well. Here they are showing Grandpa Jack what they've created.

Sadie decided that she thinks hers could be used by Bailey when her baby doll isn't using it. She's trying out the size to make sure it will work. They do love their sister!  :-)

I did the actual quilting for them (in the ditch) and they love them. Since we finished these right before supper, the girls asked if these quilts could be used for placemats too and since I said yes, it was decided that I (or we) need to make one for Ronan. I think I'll try to do that later today. 

I love this backing fabric and have just enough to make Ronan's placemat and maybe one more. 

And finally, although not quilt-related, I am happy to say that I'm thrilled to have finished with what I hope will be first of many purging episodes. 

My sisters and I challenged ourselves to do some "housekeeping" and here's what my car looked like when Jack and I made a trip to Goodwill yesterday. Feels good!

Do you have any Friday Finishes to share? 

I'd love to see them.

Hooking up to 

Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

Therapeutic Quilting

There are lots of reasons I quilt.

Of course I quilt for my family and friends. I enjoy the process of deciding what kind of quilt I want to make for them, choosing fabrics and actually doing the piecing. I feel like I am putting a part of me in every stitch and my hope is that they will feel my love every time they use the quilt.

At times, I quilt for profit. There is a wonderful feeling I get when I see the reaction of customers who see the finished quilt that they only saw as a pencil sketch, EQ sketch, or just a pile of fabric. It ALWAYS makes me smile. :-)

Many times I quilt for donation. I've made quilts for Quilts for Kids, Quilts of Valor, Honor Flight, Hands2Help, etc. I make lots of quilts for local organizations, including quilts for auction or raffles. I enjoy making these quilts. Not only do those in need get quilts, it allows me to try new patterns or techniques. I think it's a win/win situation. :-)

Another reason that I quilt is because it's therapeutic for me. Today's quilting is for therapy.

This quilt is for Brandon's family and it's meant to be a celebration of his life. He loved Star Wars and was studying to be a history teacher. Each of the squares has something to do with Star Wars, geography, history, movies, etc. He was a really nice young man who was taken from us far too early. http://www.pfeilfuneralhome.com/notices/Brandon-Preece

I started sketching this Christmas Eve night and pulled fabric last night. I cut squares late last night and started putting it up on the design wall. I started sewing this morning and now I'm auditioning borders. I think I'll add the wide grey border, a narrow dark border to the top and bottom, and then another border of one of the Star Wars fabric to make this more of a rectangular quilt. I'll add what's here and then audition the others to make my decision. I should have this finished later today and will get it quilted and give it to the family Monday.

I'm thankful to have this skill and passion. I hope that it is not only helpful to me, but to others as well.

Hug your loved ones!