Quilt of Valor quilts

2024 was all about the Journey!

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It’s kinda fun once a year to reflect on what’s been happening in the sewing room. In 2024, I attended a quilt retreat and was given a quilting journal (thank you Janet). It allowed me to keep track of the finished chaos that can sometimes be quilting/sewing projects. I don’t blog about all my projects, so the journal was a great reminder.

In 2024, I completed 8 quilts (one of them a Quilt of Valor), embellished two jean jackets (so much fun), created one new collage “cake” pdf pattern (which included two prototype quilts), honored a couple of “cutter” antique quilts, a block was created/submitted/and accepted for the 2024 Texas Agriculture Matters quilt for the Texas Department of Agriculture, made three burrito-style dinosaur pillow cases with French seams for the Michigan grands, made a Christmas pillow for a good friend, and four piped-edge pillows (piping on pillows is not easy; just saying) with canal house fabric purchased in Amsterdam last year. 2024 was all about the journey!

I remember purchasing this amazing fabric while visiting Amsterdam in 2023. I couldn’t tell you how much I purchased. They don’t sell fabric in yards (maybe meters?) in Europe. The fabric is tightly packed with adorable navy blue canal houses. After a year patiently waiting on the shelf, I got this idea to make pillows as Christmas presents for my family. I wanted to pipe the edges and had Erica at A Needle and Thread teach me. I’ve had Erica previously make a University of Alabama pillow with piped edges. But did I want to have her put together four pillows? It’s the old story of what do you want to do … give a man a fish … or teach a man to fish! I came prepared to her sewing lounge with yards of bias binding and cording and nearly had a entire pillow finished by the end of our teaching session. I could do this! Each completed pillow looked better than the previous one. I had learned to fish!

I had the most fun embellishing a couple of blue jeans jackets. At Houston’s 2024 International Quilt Festival, it clearly was one of the trends. I was stopped a couple of times at the festival by quilters asking to take a photo of my jacket. It was super easy (the zipper foot was my best friend) and I’m not finished adding to the Texas or Christmas jackets. Someone asked me if I was going to bedazzle it. Seriously, that kinda scares me!

One of my favorite 2024 quilts was “Elephants on Parade.” It is a Laundry Basket Quilt pattern and easy breezy to make with the elephant template. The last quilt I made from LBQ was similar in appearance but with multiple butterfly blocks. Sewing the elephant quilt, I perfected my button hole machine applique. I finished the last block while on a quilt retreat. While laying the blocks on the design wall, someone suggested I should make one of the elephants face the other way. I loved that idea!

My friend, Cynthia, came across a press release requesting quilt blocks for the Texas Department of Agriculture. Every two years, they request quilters make a 10-1/2 inch block for a themed quilt. A few pieces of fabric are supplied which must be included in the block. Creating a block about Texas agriculture was a challenge. I know nothing about the subject! Although they did not settle in Texas, my mother’s side of the family were dairy farmers. I decided to create a block honoring my heritage. Accompanying the finished block to the agriculture department, I wrote the following: “My mother and her family left Holland after WWII for the United States. My grandfather and uncles were dairy farmers and continued until retirement. In 2022, Texas was fourth in U.S. milk production. The Holstein cow is the top dairy breed. It produces 9 gallons of milk per day per cow. The churn dash red and white block is often associated with butter churning, a milk product.”

Big shout out to my friend, Sally, for making my quilt labels for over 10 years. She continues to wow me with her designs. Each quilt label is my favorite! And then there are the longarm ladies that continue to amaze: Lisa and Val. All these ladies make my quilts look so much nicer!

Looking in the Rearview Mirror of 2023

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I have posted multiple photos of quilts and projects in Instagram (@lifesloosethreads), but thought I needed a proper 2023 end-of-year blog post!

In 2023, I finished 7 quilts.

The first benefitted MD Anderson’s Ovarian Quilt Project. It is an online auction held every other year. The funds go to ovarian cancer research and education. This is my third quilt for MDA which honors the memory of my sister, Mary. My sister, Gretchen, made her first quilt for MDA’s project. The angel wing art quilt pattern is my own design. The quilt measures 44″ wide by 49″ long. Since teal is the color designated for ovarian cancer, one of the feather layers is teal. The others are yellow, purple, and orange. Expertly quilted by Lisa Taylor and awesome quilt label by Sally Wasserman.

The second quilt is a Quilt of Valor given to a local World War II veteran in August. The quilt kit is entitled “For the Brave” by Patti’s Patchwork and measures 72″ long by 58″ wide. As I was constructing the quilt top, I kept telling myself this was the only Quilt of Valor I would ever make in my life. The kit had some challenging blocks and I was just over it. However, when months later, I placed the quilt over the shoulders of my veteran, I changed my mind. I’m already thinking about my quilt for 2024. It was quilted by Lisa Taylor.

I am not certain when I started quilt number three! Maybe at the beginning of 2022. I worked on it at several quilt retreats and got lots of fun poked in my direction. And rightly so! The complex little blocks (each 4 inches square) took up very little space on my designated very large design wall. The quilt is entitled “I Spy 96.” The adorable paper-pieced I Spy quilt pattern is by Kimmie Tanner and Missy Winona. It is 43″ wide by 60″ long and contains 96 of the 100 quilt blocks in the book. I have a specific wall for the finished quilt. My least favorite block was the teapot with 41 fabric pieces. Judy Mathis used a swirly quilting design and the label was made by Sally Wasserman. I used Kona solids and mixed in batiks for the images and various white solids for the background. The backing is by Wilmington entitled “School is Cool” by Nancy Mink.

Quilt four is a baby quilt entitled “For Baby Calvert” for my friend’s first grandchild! I used a Moda panel called “Farm Charm” by Gingiber and sashed the blocks. Love the black sheep! The backing is from the same collection but with small sheep. It was quilted by the lovely Val Payne and label by Sally Wasserman.

Quilt five is “The Little Ghost” from a pattern/kit by Leslee Price with multiple blue and cream blocks and appliqued eyes and mouth. It is 45″ wide by 50″ long. It is quilted by Val Payne and label by Sally Wasserman. The quilt goes with the children’s book “The Little Ghost Who Was a Quilt” by Riel Nason. I am thinking about donating this quilt/book to a charity next fall.

Quilt six is a Minecraft wall hanging quilt for my grandson, Jacob. The pattern is by My Rainy Day Designs. I made nine 12″ blocks and Jacob picked his favorite Minecraft characters: dirt, sheep, chicken, creeper, mooshroom, pig slime, and zombie. I have no idea what Minecraft is all about but that is okay! I used a fusible 2-inch Quilt Fuse grid for fabric placement. Jacob and Ben helped with the layout of several of the blocks. The finished blocks are sashed with finished 2-inch black borders. The backing is Benartex’s “botanica” by Amanda Murphy. It was quilted by Val Payne.

Quilt seven is a 30″ by 30″ small quilt from Jillily Studio entitled “Joy Wreath.” I purchased the kit/pattern (included fabric for the top, back and binding) at this year’s International Quilt Festival. It was a fun little project that came together quickly. It was quilted by Val Payne with a snowflake panto.

There were several quilt-related projects in 2023, which included: a collaged banner with granddaughter Melanie’s name, a University of Alabama pillow for my favorite neighbor’s awesome son, barn quilt (it was a super fun class), and participation in our guild’s 2024 paper-pieced raffle quilt.