The Best of 2015!

First off, how can 2015 be almost over?!  For me, it was an exceptionally busy year and went by in a blur.  When I saw that Cheryl over at Meadow Mist Designs had invited bloggers to put together our 5 best posts for 2015 I thought it was a great idea just so I could go back and see what I did this year.

Other than giveaways, the post with the most activity was definitely the one where I shared this beauty.

In February, the Fat Quarter Shop asked me to participate in their Layers of Charm blog hop. I immediately chose to use Windham's Mimosa collection and ended up making one of my favorite quilts of the year.

One of my most popular posts seems to be a Pinterest favorite. In this post, I shared a bunch of quilts others had made using some of my patterns.  I continue to see lots of daily traffic and thank all of you who pinned some of these quilt to your boards.

And even though it isn't an actual post, many of you have visited my Scrap-A-Palooza page - hopefully looking for inspiration.  The first Scrap-A-Palooza quilt of the year was this fun one.  It seems like I just finished it a few weeks ago!

My personal favorite post of the year was the one where I shared my Pineapple quilt.  A pineapple quilt had been on my bucket list for years and I spent a lot of blood, sweat and tears on this one.  I don't get attached to many quilts but this one is tucked away just for me.

For the last of my "best of" choices, I wanted to share the quilts that I think inspired the most people.  It was hard to choose between two finishes so I guess I am breaking the rules and now linking my best six for 2015!

This simple little nine patch quilt I made last year as my Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilt seemed to inspire others to want to make one of their own.  Since I shared this one, I have even made a second one myself.  These colorful nine patches make such a cute quilt!

And it was great to see so many quilters making their own version of this scrappy log cabin.  It was a Scrap-A-Palooza quilt with lots of layout options and one I will definitely be visiting again in the future!

So that is my best of 2015!  Now it is time for me to start thinking about my plans for 2016.  I would love to hear what you would like to see more of.  I really do appreciate all your support!

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Blogger's Quilt Festival - Fall 2015 Scrappy Pineapple

Every spring and fall, Amy Ellis of Amy's Creative Side holds one of my favorite events - the Blogger's Quilt Festival.  This event coincides with Quilt Market and is a way for those of us who didn't get a chance to go, to enjoy a virtual quilt show.  I am always so inspired by all the beautiful quilts and their creative makers. It is a great time to discover new blogs and quilters.

One of the quilts I am entering this fall is my Scrappy Pineapple Quilt.

(You can read the original post here.)

An intricate Pineapple quilt has been on my bucket list since I started quilting. I had started piecing these blocks many years ago and finally finished this quilt late spring.  I was heavily inspired by some of my Pendleton blankets that I love so much.

I wanted this quilt to also test my skill as a piecer.  Each block was meticulously pieced - I wanted to see precision without paper piecing the blocks.





















I chose scraps in reds, blacks, greens and tans.  I wanted this quilt to have a lot of warmth to the colors.

 When it came to laying out the blocks, I wanted to come up with something unique.  For weeks, the blocks were moved around my design wall until I had a layout I liked.  Then it was just a matter of a lot of math and background cutting.

 And I was so pleased with the results! 

 I love to see traditional quilt blocks laid out in fun and new ways.   

For the quilting, I went with stacked swirls in the background and ditch work in the blocks.  I also echo quilted in the black sashing to accentuate the layout design. 

 A red and tan print on the back to finish it off nicely.

 I am entering this quilt in the scrappy quilts category. I love all the tiny pieces and the way the colors all work together to create some beautiful patterns and illusions.

Thanks to Amy for hosting this event.  It must be an immense amount of work!

I hope you grab a cuppa and take some time to visit all the bloggers who have entered the show.  Then you can nominate your favorites for Viewer's Choice before the 29th..  Voting for all the categories opens on the 30th.

 If you are interested in seeing more of my quilts, here are my other entries over the years:

Fall 2013: Orange and Gray Woven Quilt

Fall 2013: Star Surround

Spring 2014: Appliqued Flowers

Spring 2014: Geese Migration

Fall 2014: Wiggle Time

Fall 2014: Vertical Scraps

 

Spring 2015: Rainbow 9 Patch

Spring 2015: Life is a Highway

If this is your first visit to my blog - Welcome!  My quilting roots are in the traditional but I am all over the place in my quilts.  I love to play with color in all manor of quilting techniques - paper piecing, EPP, applique.  I share my processes for using scraps in my Scrap-A-Palooza series and I host a link party every Sunday called Oh Scrap! I hope you choose to follow along to see what I am up to next!

Linking Up:

Freemotion by the River

Blossom Heart Quilts

QuiltStory

Sew Fresh Quilts

 

Friday Finish!

Back in December, I put together a list of goals to achieve in 2015.  One of those goals was to start working on my quilty bucket list.  The list is long and if I don't start work on these little masterpieces, they all won't get done.  

So in January I continued work on a pineapple quilt that I started back in 2007.

 I have had 30 of the blocks finished for quite some time.  They were a lot of work as each strip finishes at 3/4" wide.  These blocks finish out at 8".

Here is a nice view of the back of a block.  These were not paper-pieced - I carefully pieced these using the pineapple ruler.

Once I sewed the last corner piece on these blocks, I was so burnt out on the project it has taken me over 5 years to get them back out to finish.

 Having only 30 blocks, I knew I was going to have to get creative on the layout.  They danced about on my design wall for quite some time before I settled on a layout.

Once I started sewing them up, I quickly fell in love again with the project.

When I started this project, I was inspired by a few of my pendleton blankets.  I wanted a quilt with a lodge feel in nice warm colors.

In no time at all, I had a finished quilt top.

So many of the fabrics in this quilt have memories from older projects.  I am glad this quilt will be staying with me.

Once the top was finished, I loaded it up on my frame and quilted it.  I don't often bump my client quilts but this one wanted to be quilted right away!  A stacked swirl design was done in the black background and some simple line work was quilted in the blocks.  I didn't want any of the quilting to distract from the piecing.

 I did have to shop for a backing for this one.  Nothing in my stash seemed quite right.  Luckily, I found the perfect piece at my favorite quilt shop.  Hurray, it was even on sale!

Now that I have one of my bucket list quilts finished, it is time to get started on the next one.  Not sure what it will be but I will certainly share it with you once I decide!  

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! 

 

Linking up:

Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Fabric Frenzy Friday

Richard and Tanya Quilts
TGIFF

Crazy Mom Quilts

Pineapple Progress

Last December, I took a hard look at some of the things I wanted to accomplish this year.  One of the items was to start working on some of the quilts on my bucket list.  The first quilt up on the list is finishing a Pineapple Quilt I started in 2009.

In my last progress report, I shared the completed blocks and some layouts I was considering.   Each block measures 8" and is meticulously pieced (no paper piecing).  Since January, these blocks have been moving around my design wall and awaiting a final plan.  This week, I committed to a layout and started testing my quilt math for all the inset triangles.  I have to admit it went together perfectly!

 

And a finished quilt top is born! 

A few of my Pendleton wool blankets were the inspiration for the colors and fabric placement..

So many tiny pieces in such a small area!  With all the many seam allowances, this quilt top is surprisingly heavy.  I wish I would have taken a photo of the backside - it is quite amazing to look at!

I had played with an outside pieced border to bring the colors out to the edge of the quilt but I decided I really liked the blocks just floating in the black fabric.

I will have to shop for a backing for this one.  It might take a while to find something I like.  I am also thinking about the quilting already.  I am considering a combination of dense machine quilting in the background and some big stitch hand quilting in the blocks.   It is a bucket list quilt after all so I can't make it too easy!

While this might not be a finished quilt, I am celebrating the fact I have gotten this far.  I don't even want to think about how many hours I have into this quilt to date.

 

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! 

  

Linking up:

My Quilt Infatuation

Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Fabric Frenzy Friday

Richard and Tanya Quilts

Pineapple Quilt

While I plan on sticking around this planet for quite a few more years, as I was putting together my plans for the year, I concluded that in order to sew up all the quilts currently on my bucket list, I had better start working on some of them now!

So my plan is to start making small goals of accomplishment each month toward finishing up those "I am only making one and it is for me" bucket list quilts.

First up in the queue is a Pineapple quilt.  I love all pineapple quilts but I love, Love, LOVE ones with tiny pieces and planned color placement that create wonderful designs and give the eye so much to look at.  Now this quilt I actually started in 2009 by sewing up 30 of these 8 inch blocks.  They have been hanging on a design wall in my quilting studio ever since.  I can't tell you how many times friends have said "You really need to get that quilt finished!"

So I have moved the blocks into my sewing room and I am playing around with layout ideas.  I still have some final trimming on most of the blocks but my plan is to work out a design, decide on a background fabric and start working up the math to get the look I want.  Now that it is in my sewing room, I am hoping to motivate myself to work on it again.  It really does need to be finished!

Do you have a bucket list of quilts you want to make?  

I would love to hear what type of quilts are on it!

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! 

  

Linking up:

My Quilt Infatuation