Sayonara 2018! 🐶 Yōkoso 2019! 🐗

Welcome 2019! Here's a Grace and Peace Quilting review of 2018 and what's to come in 2019, the year of the wild boar in Japan. First, 2018:

Catching Up With December

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas. Here are some projects I've been working on this month--photo-heavy post!

December Minikins Challenge ✅

This month I finished making the last of 12 Minikins. Sara at Sew Sweetness created these mini bag patterns as a bundle, and featured one pattern challenge per month in 2018. These are the Minikins I made this year:

The Minikins challenge for December is the Binary Pouch. Here's mine:  

Charity Quilts 48, 49, 50, 51, 52 & 53 💝

I've been making 52 quilts in 2018 for Jack's Basket, where babies with Down syndrome are celebrated. 🎉 Here's a sweet baby sleeping on one of my quilts, surrounded by all of his Jack's Basket goodies!

This is the last month of my 52 baby quilts challenge! I ended up with 53 quilts, as that's how many coordinated bundles DD2 and I had arranged--just can't stop the fun!!!

Here are all 53 quilts:

🎄 Christmas Sewing ✄

A layer cake of Holiday Homies by Tula Pink is what inspired me to sew this quilt for Christmas. I love how it turned out!

A big part of the fun of this quilt, besides the fun animals in sweaters, is the "Sherpa" backing--so soft and snuggly! I quilted it with large freehand ribbon candy:

🎉 Party Quilt 🎉

This quilt was named by my blogger friend, Wendy, when she commented on Instagram, that quilt "looks like a party!"

The pattern, Pixelated, came out in Issue 51 of Love Patchwork and Quilting magazine. It's also available now in the designer's store, Down Grapevine Lane.

This is a fun quilt to make from 2 1/2" strips! I made mine from a Tula Pink "True Colors" jelly roll. I took out several of the strips that didn't play nice, added other Tula Pink strips, and I inserted 4 more rows in random places to the pattern. That took a bit of graph papering!

I did matchstick quilting on this 60" X 85" quilt. I was totally inspired by @SheCanQuilt on Instagram, and the throw size quilt she was matchsticking. 

November Minikins Challenge ✅

Sara @ Sew Sweetness is doing a monthly challenge with her Minikins patterns. The Minikins are a bundle of 12 small bags/projects that come with downloadable pdf instructions, patterns and step-by-step videos. 

The Minikins challenge for November is the Trifle Tumbler pouch. There are three sizes:

I quilted my fabric first. It's not necessary when using Annie's Soft and Stable, but it's lovely to quilt Soft & Stable, and fabric always looks better quilted:

Ric Rac Quilt

Here's a recent finish for me--my Ric Rac quilt!!! This design is made using the QCR Mini ruler by Sew Kind of Wonderful, and a free pattern on their website, here.

The fabrics were a bundle of Sweet Tweets Island Batik fabrics that I won on Kathleen's blog, here. You can also see the clever quilt Kathleen made from her bundle of identical fabrics. Here's what they looked like out of the package:

Dot 'N' Dash QAL

Christa Watson recently held a QAL (quilt-along) of her pattern Dot 'N' Dash, from her book Piece and Quilt With Precuts. Since I had the book and I love the quilt, I jumped right in!

I made my version from a small curated jelly roll I picked up on clearance at a LQS. It was made from a mixture of fabric lines teamed up together.

Sturgis Motorcycle Rally

Karen made this Sturgis Motorcycle Rally t-shirt quilt for her friend. Every t-shirt is related in some way to the motorcycle rally in Sturgis, South Dakota, going back to 1995. 

The moment I opened it up, I knew what I wanted to quilt it with, an edge-to-edge called "Heatwave". It just fit the theme!

Typically I quilt t-shirt quilts with a meander or some other freemotion quilting, since t-shirt quilts are usually a mine field of raised letters, motifs, plastic-fused pictures and other items to be avoided or tip-toed around. I found Karen's quilt super flat, smooth and only one "watch out" item--this pocket, which I easily went around:

Charity Quilts 44, 45, 46, & 47 of 52 💝

I'm making 52 quilts in 2018 for Jack's Basket, where babies with Down syndrome are celebrated. 🎉 Check out their Instagram account, Jack's Basket, for a lot of cute baby pictures!

The pattern I'm using is "Simple Gifts", from the mini book Fat Quarter Love, and uses 4 fat quarters. These quilts finish at 30" X 36". Here are quilts 44 through 47:

I'm really enjoying quilting all four quilts at once, so fast and sleek and satisfying:

October Minikins Challenge ✅

Sara at Sew Sweetness, is having a monthly challenge for her "Minikins" patterns, 12 patterns of small bags and projects. The patterns come in a bundle and include PDF patterns, instructions, plus step-by-step video instructions. 

The October Minikins challenge is the Bellevue Pouch. It comes in three sizes.

I made the small size first. The pattern says to cut down the zipper for all three sizes to 8 3/4". But for the medium and large I cut down the zipper to 12". I like the access better with the longer zipper length.

Charity Quilts 40, 41, 42, 43 of 52 💝

I'm making 52 quilts in 2018 for Jack's Basket, where babies with Down syndrome are celebrated. 🎉 Check out their Instagram account, Jack's Basket, for a lot of cute baby pictures!

The pattern I'm using is "Simple Gifts", from the mini book Fat Quarter Love, and uses 4 fat quarters. These quilts finish at 30" X 36". This month I worked on quilts 40 through 43:

I'm enjoying quilting these baby quilts 4 at a time:

Four Quilts ㆕枚

While DD2, Susanna, has been at World Race training camp this past week, I've been quilting up a storm!

Every quilt has a story, and here are the beginnings of the stories of these four quilts.

WR Sewing 🌏 🏃🏼

What visits and serves in 11 countries in 11 months? They travel with everything in a backpack + daypack, and must be between the ages of 23 and 35. The World Race is a Christian faith-based mission trip. Our younger daughter is leaving on this adventure in January, 2019. But right now she and 125 young people are at training camp in Georgia, getting to know each other and practicing for the World Race.

Preparing for training camp takes a lot of planning and shopping--getting just the right gear, including a backpack that is comfortable, a tent, sleeping bag & mattress, plus innumerable other items. 

I've been sewing a few items for Susanna. First off has been packing cubes. I used this free tutorial by Melly Sews to make 3 of them. I had to alter the side panel to be cut at 50", as 46 1/2" was too small in my experience. 

Wedding Bells 💍

Our daughter got married last weekend! Let's start out with the quilt I made for a wedding gift:

The wedding took place at the groom's grandparent's hobby farm. Our daughter designed the decorations and area. She asked me to make these curtains for the barn entrance:

Vickie's Shabby Chic

Vickie's grandson is getting married in November! She asked his fiance what kind of quilt they would like. His fiance requested a "shabby chic" style quilt. This is what Vickie came up with:

The quilting we decided on is "Fascination":

My Latest DREAMI Quilts

In the world of quilting, "DREAMI" stands for DRop Everything And Make It. I have two DREAMI quilts to share with you today.

This DREAMI quilt is a quilt-in-progress. It started with a bundle of fabrics I won on the Kathleen McMusing blog. Thank you, Kathleen!!! Check out what Kathleen made out of this line of fabric on her blog, here, "My Victorian Windows". 

"Sweet Tweets" is a batik line from Island Batiks. These fabrics arrived in the mail one day, and I started cutting and sewing the next:

Bloggers Quilt Festival 🍂 Fall 2018, Part 2

Every fall Amy Ellis, over at Amy's Creative Side, hosts an online quilt show for bloggers and Instagramers. Two entries per person, and they can be any quilt finished in the past year. Visit Amy's site here to enter your quilts and take in the whole quilt show.

My second entry is this mystery quilt. The quilt shop where I work, Quilt Cove, gives out free mystery quilt clues to all who attend the monthly "Quarter Inch Club". These are mystery quilts by Debbie Caffrey and have 6 clues.

The patterns call for 3 or 4 fabrics in light, medium light, medium dark and dark. Always trying to use stash, I pick a border fabric and choose my colorways from there, making my quilt scrappy. In this quilt I used white, orange, green and purple, all fabrics from Japan.

Blogger's Quilt Festival 🍂 Fall 2018, Part 1

Every fall Amy Ellis, over at Amy's Creative Side, hosts an online quilt show for bloggers and Instagramers. Two entries per person, and they can be any quilt finished in the past year. Visit Amy's site here to take in the whole quilt show.

My first entry is called "Ruby Tsunami":

For all you Bonnie Hunter fans, you'll recognize this quilt pattern as "Talkin' Turkey" from Bonnie Hunter's book, String Fling. 

Here it is on my longarm, where I quilted it with "Lovegrass". 

Charity Quilts 35, 36, 37, 38 & 39 of 52 💝

I'm making 52 quilts in 2018 for Jack's Basket, where babies with Down syndrome are celebrated. 🎉 Check out their Instagram for a lot of cute baby pictures.

Since there is 52 Saturdays in 2018, each month I'm making the same number of quilts as there are Saturdays. This month I've made 5:

Since I can't quilt 5 at a time on my longarm, I quilted one by itself first, number 35:

September Minikins Challenge ✅

Sara at Sew Sweetness is having a different challenge each month with her Minikins patterns. The Minikins are 12 patterns of small bags, with step-by-step videos, that are fun to make, use and give as gifts. 

The Minikins challenge for September is the Moto Pouch. I made a size small and a size large:

I started out by quilting my fabrics with Annie's Soft and Stable (yes, there's a chunk cut out of the navy fabric where I fussy cut a different block!):

Charity Quilts 31, 32, 33 & 34 of 52 💝

I'm making 52 quilts in 2018 for Jack's Basket, where babies with Down syndrome are celebrated. 🎉

In June I quilted two quilts side-by-side on my longarm. In July I quilted three quilts side-by-side. This month I went for the max and quilted all 4 quilts side-by-side on my longarm:

August Minikins Challenge ✅

Sara at Sew Sweetness is having a different challenge each month with her Minikins patterns. The Minikins are 12 patterns of small bags, with step-by-step videos, that are fun to make, use and give as gifts. 

The Minikins challenge for August is the Morsel Lunch Bag.

I chose to make my Morsel Lunch Bag out of a chopstick print, a tribute to the 24 years I spent in Japan.

My August Dreami Projects

Quilters have a vocabulary all of their own. One of those words is the acronym, "Dreami":

DRop
Everything
And
Make
It

Also known as a squirrel project, it's when a quilter is inspired to stop whatever project she's working on and make something else. Right now!

My first Dreami projects this month contains a rainbow of fabrics, not all of these, but I love this photo of the fabrics I was picking from!

I found a feather pattern at one of our LQS, Eagle Creek Quilt Shop, and who doesn't love a good feather pattern these days! The pattern is Skylark, by Sewn Into the Fabric... It includes one feather, or an entire quilt of feathers. I had just the spot on our stairwell quilt gallery for a single feather to hang. 

Picking out threads for the quilting:

Last Week, Minnesota; This Week, the World!🌏🌍🌎

First off, I quilted this Minnesota themed quilt for my sister last week:

The quilting is Harbour Wave, for the waters of Minnesota's 10,000+ lakes:

A Bit of Crochet かぎ針編み + Road Trip Day 6

My quilt friend, Karen, was crocheting a rag rug at a recent guild meeting. She showed me exactly what she was doing and I was inspired to go home and start one myself.

I made this rag rug from selvages cut at a 1" width. Chain 41 stitches (I've since increased this to 51 stitches), turn, crochet in the second chain from hook, crochet 40 single crochet stitches. Chain one, turn, and continue to crochet 40 single crochet stitches, back and forth. I used a size M/N crochet hook. Here are some in-progress photos:

Number 499, 500!!! 🎉五百枚 🎉

I recently quilted my 500th quilt on my longarm! I've had my longarm for 6 years now. Here's a rundown of quilts number 499 and 500.

Quilt number 499 is a baby quilt that I quilted for our neighbor, Patty. She wanted a play quilt to have on hand for when their grandchildren come over:

Missy's Triple Play

Missy is a a friend I met at a Knitting Pipeline retreat. She is an amazing knitter, does beautiful smocking and sewing for her granddaughter, and now has been bitten by the quilt bug. Check out her instagram feed here, Marynvoigt.
  
Missy sent me three quilts to quilt for her: 

Missy's first quilt is an Hourglass Quilt pattern. Don't you love the fresh blue, red and yellow color palette?!

Charity Quilts 27, 28, 29 & 30 of 52 💝 + Road Trip Day 5

I'm making 52 quilts in 2018 for Jack's Basket, where precious babies with Down syndrome are celebrated. Let me introduce you to quilts 27 through 30!

Quilt number 27 is quilted with "White Caps":

Dreami Projects + Road Trip Day 4

Are you familiar with Dreami projects? "Dreami" stands for:

DRop Everything And Make It

I'm sure everyone experiences these moments in their life, whether it be a craft, cooking, reading, or just about anything. In quiltland it means we run across a pattern, idea or fabric, and we stop whatever project we're working on to make it now! I have 2 "Dreami" projects to share with you this month.

I fell in love with this Joyful Barn Star quilt pattern. I sewed the top one day and quilted it the next:

It resembles a barn quilt but it's made out of fabric:

July Minikins Challenge ✅ + Road Trip Day 3

Sara at Sew Sweetness is having a different challenge each month with her Minikins patterns. The Minikins are 12 cute-as-a-button patterns of small bags, with step-by-step videos, that are fun to make, use and give as gifts. 

The Minikins challenge for July is the Jetset Cinched Bag.

This bag is great for traveling and has 4 mesh pockets inside:

Two More ⼆ 枚 + Road Trip Day 2

I have two more friends' quilts to share today. These are made by two different quilters:

This first one is made by Paula of Knitting Pipeline Podcast. If you are a knitter, I highly recommend her podcast, which besides her amazing knowledge of knitting, also includes her quilting and nature notes. Quilters will enjoy her YouTube videos, where she tells you the point that the quilting updates begin.

Verve + Road Trip Day 1

One definition for "Verve" is "enthusiasm or vigor, as in literary or artistic work". Karen, as a fairly new quilter, definitely embodies "verve"! Take a glance back here to see her first quilt, made for her older son. Now she has made a quilt for her second son:

I quilted it with "Verve":

A Trio of Quilts ㆔

This trio of quilts, made by Regina, has a wide variety of styles: 
The first quilt is a printed "penny rug" flannel, with an added border of printed vines and printed "lamb's ears":

Charity Quilts 22, 23, 24, 25 & 26 of 52 💝

I'm making 52 quilts in 2018 for Jack's Basket, where babies with Down syndrome are celebrated. I went through my calendar and numbered all 52 of the Saturdays in 2018. Since June has 5 Saturdays, I finished 5 quilts this month.

We went on a road trip to California this month. While staying at my DH's childhood home, I pieced 11 baby quilt tops on this Singer 201 that was his grandmother's sewing machine, manufactured in March of 1950. With a lot of oil (there must've been 30 oil spots in the manual!?!), it sewed like a champ!

Road Trip 🚙 Stitching ✂️ 2018

We went on a road trip to California and back earlier this month. Here are a few stitching and other highlights.

This was my main passenger project. I stitched it from a pattern I got at one of our local quilt shops, Eagle Creek Quilt Shop. It didn't come with a color key so I had to wing it. I was going for the rainbow look:

I also crocheted 10 of these hanging kitchen towels. Two were gifted before I could take a photo. I buy the towels at Costco in a bundle of 10, crochet across the first row using an awl, steel crochet hook and crochet cotton, then crochet the topper with worsted weight yarn:

You Are My Sunshine 🌞

My quiltin' cousin, Sue, made this wonderful quilt for her son! 

The pattern is "You Are My Sunshine" from the booklet, Slice of Home by Creekside Stitches. It's a layer cake friendly pattern, or you can cut from stash like Sue did. Here's a close-up:

It's a Mystery⁉️

Quilt Cove, where I work a couple days a week, does two free mystery quilts per year. Here are 3 quilts I quilted from a mystery we gave out a couple years ago: 

Wendy made her version out of four batik fabrics:

June Minikins Challenge ✅

Sara at Sew Sweetness is having a different challenge each month with her Minikins patterns. The Minikins are 12 patterns of small bags, with step-by-step videos, that are fun to make, use and give as gifts.

The Minikins challenge for June is the Zeppelin Pouch, a bag that can be used as a cosmetic bag, shaving bag, toiletry bag, or just about anything you might want in a bag! I made two of them:

I made my first one out of this Tula Pink's All-Stars print:

Charity Quilts 18, 19, 20 & 21 of 52 💝

I'm making 52 quilts in 2018 for Jack's Basket, where babies with Down syndrome are celebrated. In May I worked on quilts 18, 19, 20 and 21:

Quilt number 18 is quilted with Macaroni:

T-Shirt Quilt Parade🎽

  Graduation season is also t-shirt quilt season! Here are 5 t-shirt quilts that have recently come out of the Grace & Peace Quilting studio.
  This first quilt was made by Hannah, close friend of DD2, Susanna. Hannah and Susanna have been working together on this quilt for more than a year, so it's fun to see it come to a finish and get used!

For the backing, Hannah had a favorite piece of fabric she wanted to use, the horse fabric, and she pieced some extra, coordinating fabrics to bring it up to size:

May Minikins Challenge ✅

Sara at Sew Sweetness is having a different challenge each month with her Minikins patterns. The Minikins are 12 patterns, with step-by-step videos, of small bags that are fun to make and use, or give as gifts. 

Sara's Minikins challenge for May is the Grab and Go Sleeve, a custom sized sleeve with handles, for a device or book.

Ruby Tsunami 🌊

This year is the 40th anniversary of Minnesota Quilters. The traditional 40th anniversary gift is ruby. My small group decided to commemorate the event by each of us making a red and white quilt to be entered in the special exhibit category of the Minnesota Quilters quilt show in St. Cloud on June 14-16. I was happy when I finished the last stitch on Wednesday!

This quilt started about a year ago as this pile of 9-patches:

Charity Quilts 14, 15, 16 & 17 of 52

How sweet is this little girl! I'm making 52 quilts in 2018 for Jack's Basket, where babies with Down syndrome are celebrated. This photo featuring Hannah, with my quilt number 6 as backdrop, is from their Instagram feed on March 31. 


In April I worked on quilts 14, 15, 16 and 17:

What To Do With ½ Yard of Fabric...

My small group is doing "secret pals" this year. We drew names and are giving our secret pal a different small gift every month at our meeting. We're doing this anonymously by putting the gifts in brown lunch bags. This month I received a half yard of Alison Glass fabric in my favorite color, fuchsia:

To me, fuchsia is warm, feminine, colorful, vivid and friendly. Next, what to do with a half of a yard...

April Minikins Challenge ✅

Sara at Sew Sweetness is having a different challenge each month with her Minikins patterns. The Minikins are 12 patterns of small, quick and easy bags that are fun to make and use, or give as gifts. 

Sara's Minikins challenge for April is the Desktop Cubes.