2014 in Review

I know I am a little late to the 2014 year in review party but starting the year out feeling under the weather has me running a few days behind schedule.  I promise I will fill this post up with lots of great eye candy to make up for it!

First, I can't believe I am entering into my 9th year longarm quilting for others. I am blessed to have so many talented and loyal clients and I count many of them as close friends.  Running a very successful home business is quite rewarding and I am very thankful for the life I have.

One of the great things about quilting for others is I get to be a part of so many beautiful quilts.

Every week I am inspired by all the colorful and diverse quilts that pass before my eyes.

Because I love all styles of quilts, over the years I have built a very diverse client base.  So one day you might find something very traditional on my quilt frame.... 

 ...immediately followed by something very modern.

There are even a few art quilters who send their pieces to me to be quilted.

Pretty cool huh!?!  A quilt on a quilt!

Occasionally, I get the pleasure (and challenge)  of working on quilts with intricate piecing that I would probably never piece myself.

 This one just came off my frame and the customer hasn't seen it yet so I can't share too much but this little glimpse from the back.

For each quilt, I try and adjust my quilting styles to fit the canvas before me. 

 

The downfall to being a LAQ is I am constantly inspired and I have to constrain myself to not start a new quilt everyday.

Even the simplest of piecing done in the right colors of flannels has me placing items in a shopping cart!  I really wanted to snuggle up with this one right after I finished it but I think clients frown upon that!









Besides quilting for others, of course I had a lot of my own projects I worked on over the year. 

I started 2014 with a list of 47 projects in the works (Yikes).  So my main focus this year was on finishing some of these up.

I did finish 64 quilts in 2014.  And 11 of them (like the one above) were projects I started many years ago so that was an accomplishment to be celebrated!.  Most of these victories were due to joining in on a couple of Finish-A-Longs, something I will be doing again in 2015.

 I might even join in on some Instagram events like #SewMyStash2015 and #WhipYourWIPs2015.

My goal was to finish 2014 with less than 35 WIPs. I am delighted to say I have whittled down my WIPs to just 26!  I know that still sounds like a lot but quite a few of the projects are long-term, bucket-list type projects that I only work a bit on each year. But I want to continue to work through this list so I want to set a goal to have the list down to 20 by the end of 2015! 

Of the 64 quilts for 2014, 29 were made from scraps and 21 were made from my existing stash.  Those numbers make me and my pocketbook very happy as I didn't spend a lot of money on fabric last year.  I hope to continue to sew quilts from my older stash but will be allowing myself to design quilts around some new collections.

Due to my Scrap-A-Palooza series that I started in 2014, scrap quilts have become a regular feature on my blog. I think the quilt below was my favorite of the year.  It has definitely been getting use lately as I fight my way through this nasty flu bug!

 I am also proud to say that in 2014, I had 2 more magazine publications with one of my quilts even featured on a cover.  I will be starting 2015 out with another magazine publication so stay tuned for the announcement in a few days.  Hopefully you will see a few more throughout the year.

And in 2014, I published my first independent pattern (Wiggle Time is available for purchase on Etsy and Craftsy). I have been working on writing up a few more so I hope to have additional patterns available in 2015!

I also became a Craftsy affiliate in 2014. This allows me to make a small commission on purchases made by wonderful people who click through my site and make a purchase on a class or product. These funds help cover the costs of running linky parties and supporting giveaways. I really do appreciate the support!

But the best part of 2014 was getting to know so many of you.  I am so inspired by what I see in so many of your blogs and encouraged by my readers support and comments. I truly do appreciate all of you and look forward to seeing what 2015 brings.  Cheers!

If you are interested in more ways to follow me, you can find me on Craftsy, Facebook, Pinterest, Bloglovin', Feedly, Instagram, Google +, or get my blog sent right to your email inbox by entering your email address on the right sidebar!

I usually only share my client quilt photos on my Facebook or Instagram feeds.  If you want to see more of these throughout the year, you are welcome to follow along there!

Okay, here are a few more client quilts I think deserve sharing!

Linking Up:
Fresh Sewing Day
Anything Goes Monday.

Hello 2014!

I have to admit, 2013 was just a blur.  Every day seemed to fly by...

Balancing maintaining a home, running a very successful at home business (I am a longarm quilter) and starting new endeavors like blogging and quilt design left me quite busy and very overwhelmed at times.





I spent this morning preparing for the new year by updating business spreadsheets, taking a physical inventory for my accountant and reviewing my business plan.  This will be my 8th year quilting for others.  It is hard to believe it has been that long!





Looking back at my records, I have quilted well over 1000 quilts for others.  That is miles and miles of thread! 

I have a wonderfully loyal customer base and consider many of them close friends.





One of the great things about quilting for others is I get to be a part of so many wonderful quilts.  Many I would never piece myself but from each I am always inspired.

Many of my customers are such talented piecers. 

Thanks to some of them, I always get to see the newest lines of fabric.






The fabric and color combinations in some of these quilts make it difficult to not want to make one for myself.




(This hopefully explains why I start so many quilts!)






I usually only share customer quilts on my Facebook page but I felt they were just as important to my success in 2013 as the quilts I made myself.

...and speaking of my own quilts.  There were lots of those too!

I started 2013 with a list of 42 projects in the works.  This sounds like a lot but some are long term quilts like hand quilting, EPP and applique.

I'm starting out 2014 with 47...sigh.  Guess what I will be focusing on this year!

I did finish 60 quilts in 2013.  And 6 of them were projects I started many years ago so that was good.  Most of these victories were due to joining in some Finish-A-Longs, so I will be doing that again in 2014. 

Do you think I can finish out 2014 with less than 35 WIPs?

 

Of the 60 quilts, 21 were made from scraps and 27 were made from my existing stash.  Those numbers make me happy as I really didn't spend a lot of money on fabric.  You would think I would have run out of fabric, but I am always amazed at how little fabric you need to make a quilt with.

I think this quilt was my favorite scrap quilt made in 2013.  It seemed to have a life of its own and I really enjoyed watching it evolve.

I only made about half a dozen quilts that I actually purchased at least some fabric for.


My favorite quilt of the year was the Star Surround quilt.  I rarely get attached to quilts but this one is a keeper.








I plan on joining in to this year's Quilt-A-Long with Melissa.  I haven't firmed up the colors yet but I know navy will be among them.

2013 was also the year I had my first publication of an original design.  Over the year, there were a total of three quilts published.

You will be seeing more publications in 2014 and if I can find the time, maybe some patterns available for purchase.

What I am most excited about for 2014 is the scrap series I am putting together. As I make my scrap quilts, I will be sharing my process on what inspires me, how I choose patterns and layouts, tutorials on the blocks and even ideas for quilting.  The posts will be written in such a way as to guide readers who want to work through their own scraps to sew along and make their own quilt based on their personal style of quilting.  I am hoping with each new quilt, more quilters decide to join in.

<a href="http://quiltingismorefunthanhousework.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjl-ZgzJ55jRKwQPawzgdAmpsJ7szfSNzI2RRMocZd_hYYVeUyBf9pv8KpH-i7Rfezc9zAERDgfS-XUlDwJnTx4vVOF_o0fhCUZdgyj-fIhnKoEgze75WPi3It9BO4n3hZXF4dnkctu7U/s1600/Publication2.jpg" alt="Quilting is more fun than Houseowrk" width="125" height="125" /></a>

The best part of 2013 was getting to know so many of you.  I am so inspired by what I see in so many of your blogs and encouraged by my readers support and comments. I truly do appreciate all of you and look forward to seeing what 2014 brings.  Cheers!

Linking up with Lily's Quilts Fresh Sewing Day, Confessions of a Fabric Addict for 2014 Goals and Sarah Quilts for the Year in Review.  Be sure and check out what others are planning for the new year!

A Glorious Finish

I have a very talented customer who loves to paper piece and about once a year, she completes one of Judy Niemeyer's beautiful quilt patterns.  We have teamed up on about five of them to date.  I just completed this Glacier Star for her and thought I would share with you some pictures of the quilting and her beautiful color work.

The entire outside border was quilted with a double line radiating to the center.  It worked great against the curved lines of the flying geese.

I did some simple line dancing to create an orange peel effect in the star points.  I also quilted in some "S" curve quilting in the white background to add a 3D texture.

To complement the straight lines in the outside border, I added some echo quilting in some of the smaller starburst blocks.

The wonky geese around the center star medallion also got some echo line quilting.

To accentuate the flowing flying geese weaving throughout the quilt, I tightly stippled in the background fabrics.  I also quilted pebbles in the dark navy areas to add dimension throughout the quilt.  An inner blue border on point also received some straight line quilting.

Here is a photo showing how the different quilted shapes worked to define various areas of the quilt.

Sadly, I don't have a space large enough to lay the quilt out to get a great picture.  The quilt is about 100" square.  On my own quilts, I usually spread them on my lawn but I won't take a chance with quilts from my customers.

The quilt will be displayed this July at the Sisters Quilt Show in Sisters Oregon. So if you get a chance to attend, you can see it there. I am hoping to get a picture or two of it hanging in all of its glory.  The customer and I were both really pleased with how it turned out.

When the customer picked up the quilt, she also brought her color plans for the next one, which is the Mariner's Compass.  I can't wait to see it once it is completed!

To keep up with other quilting projects, you can follow me on Bloglovin' or here on Facebook.

Linking up with Cindy at Live a Colorful Life, Leah for FMQ Friday and TGIFF.

Finally!

I have finally finished a quilt I started about 5 years ago. Sorry about the poor picture but we had rain all day today so I had to snap this one inside.

Every time I went to work on this quilt, I would discover I had "stolen" some of its fabric for other projects so I would have to rethink how to proceed.

That usually resulted in it getting thrown back into a bag and stored.





For the quilting, I did simple vertical lines in black thread then added detail lines in red thread and randomly placed circles and triangles.

I think it matched the vision of the quilt quite well.

I had quite a bit of fabric left over from this project and as I had been working on it for so long, I just couldn't bear putting it back in my stash.  So I decided to throw together this scrappy quilt with the leftovers.

I had no plan when I started and placement of each fabric was dependent on how many squares I could cut of each fabric.







I really didn't think much of the quilt top after I finished it but I quilted it with an orange peel design with a little twist and fell in love with it.

Now it hangs in my living room and brings me joy.  Isn't it great when that happens!

Linking up this week with:

Let's Get Acquainted

Linky Tuesday at Freemotion by the River

Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story
Show and Tell Tuesday at I Have To Say...
WIP Weds at Freshly Pieced

and Free Motion Quilting Friday.