Trunk Show 2016

Welcome to my Trunk Show! Soma over at Whims and Fancies is sponsoring this fun blog hop where we are asked to feature our finished quilts from 2016. I've been working on a couple of super secret squirrel projects lately so I'm happy to have an opportunity to blog about something besides my current sewing. Here we go!

First quarter, 2016

This quilt, made from a panel by M'Liss, was a baby gift for my newest cousin, Luke.

Half Square Triangle quilt made with the Lario line of fabric, was a housewarming for my husband's cousins.

Vienna Garden, 16 patch quilt gift for a dear friend. I totally fell in love with this pattern, and want to try 25- and 36-patches, too!

Pinkly Purply Hearts, made with the heart pattern by Cluck Cluck Sew, donated to Project Linus. Project Linus gives blankets to children in need of comfort.

Polar Bears With Old Man Hairs, also for Project Linus. I practiced "dot to dot" quilting on this one, and never took a photo of the complete, finished quilt. That polar bear novelty fabric still cracks me up!

Go, Dog, Go! was another Project Linus quilt. The stripes between the big arrows features dogs driving cars. All scrappy backgrounds.

A bit of selfish sewing: this 16 patch queen sized quilt was for our own bed, and was made in four sections. The navy sashing hides the junctions between the sections. Sort of a very large quilt as you go (QAYG) project.

Second quarter

Disappearing nine patch I-spy quilt for Project Linus. So fun to make! I'm saving up more novelty squares to make another one of these. 

Cat Family Portrait, made with the bonus HSTs from Pinkly Purply Hearts. My first mitered border, what a pain in the tuchus that was. Project Linus (PL) donation. The sweet cat faces on this quilt are among my all-time favorite fabric. Too bad it's out of print!

Charming Cupcakes, a simple patchwork quilt for PL. I did a different FMQ motif in each color and learned so much. All the fabrics were scraps.

Scrappy Chili Peppers, also made completely from scraps. This one was donated to Covered in Love as part of the Hands to Help Charity Challenge. Covered in Love provides comforting quilts to families who have had a member pass away in the hospital.

Bright Bento, donated to the same charity challenge. Almost all the fabrics on this one are Kaffe Fassett, which are a joy to work with. Such a wonderful, soft hand!

Birds in Branches, an attic windows pattern quilt, sized for wheel chair use at 36" x 36". Originally made "just because," I ended up giving it to my sister-in-law's mother last month.

Berbere, made from silk dupioni scraps. I wanted to see how silk quilted up, and the answer is that it's a bit tricky but the results are shimmery and lovely. This is a wall hanging size and I kept it for myself.

Brewskis, made for my step cousin Will who was badly injured in a work accident. Beer themed fabrics in economy blocks. I really hoped this would cheer him up, and it sounds like he really likes it. His health is improving, too!

Third quarter

A sweet owl themed baby quilt for another step cousin's new daughter. The nursery features turquoise and chevrons, so I was happy to sew this up to match. The animals in the center are part of a larger panel.

Windchimes, a modern column quilt for my friend Linda. The grey background is Essex linen, which is a dream to work with. Some of the purples are shot cottons, my first experience with those, too. I'd love to have yards and yards more shots and Essex in my stash!

Balance, a gift for my friend G. The pattern is "Movement in Squares" by Wendy Shepherd. After she received it, G told me she had always wanted a quilt, and had never had one before. I was so happy to grant that wish for her!

Animal ABCs, another Project Linus donation quilt. Super cute soft book panel, cut up, borders added and rearranged into a little quilt. The binding is rainbow satin blanket binding, folded over double thick.

Ocean Portal, my first curved piecing. All the fabrics are smiling fish, wavy watery fabrics, and dots to represent bubbles. For Project Linus.

Fourth quarter

Let's Go To The Races! an illusion pattern quilt made with fun race-themed fabrics: cars, monster trucks, flames, checkered flags, etc. Fast and easy with big blocks, PL donation.

Life is Tweet, a super simple quilted panel with no piecing at all. Fleece back for extra softness. More of a receiving blanket than quilt, I finished this one in just a couple of hours. 

Angular Jungle, made with a funky jungle animal panel and exploding block pattern. Another simple, fast piece to sew for Project Linus when my shoulder was hurting too much to spend very long at the machine.

Transformation, a disappearing four patch quilt made entirely of dragon fly themed fabrics and creamy white. This was a retirement gift for my friends Pam and Di. It turns out that they collect quilts and were sweetly appreciative of this one.

If you've made it this far, thank you for sitting through my 2016 trunk show. It was a fun, productive year and I learned so many new patterns and techniques. It's also the year I started quilt blogging, and I've made lots of new friends through quilting social media. Let's do it again next year!