Merry Christmas 2019

I have worked hard this year from scratch to finish eight quilts.  This has been a major accomplishment for me.  I, first, needed to quilt a couple of unfinished tops.  Two I've already posted and the third one that had been waiting for about six years is also finished.  This one is a strip quilt using my favorite colors from my stash. 

 

I stitched this quilt on a 1878 Wilcox and Gibbs chain stitcher.  The little machine is a really nice, smooth machine.  It is one of the most relaxing things to do, to sew at a treadle machine.

 

Along with these quilts, I also made 8 quilts from beginning to end this year.  One was for my cousin Claire to celebrate her birthday.  She came up to New England from Florida this fall to see our beautiful fall foliage.  She has had four little dachshunds in her life and they were great little friends to her, each in his or her own time.  As a gift to her to celebrate, I made her a Dogs in Sweaters quilt by Elizabeth Hartman.

 

One of the little dachshunds suffered a broken back, hence the little wheel to represent the wheelchair she used.  The little guy on the bottom it wearing a lizard print jersey because he keeps the little lizards out of Claire Florida home!!

I also made seven quilts for seven grandchildren ranging in age from 10 to 21: two boys and five girls.  I plan on adding each quilt individually to the journal, but for now just a picture of all together.

I love this picture.  It is a record of an incredible year of quilting.  I have never been this productive in all the years I've been quilting.  I've always had so many distractions through the years.  This year I was able to set a goal and keep to it.  It is really exciting.  I would not have been able to do it without Phoebe, my Q'nique 15R long arm.  I love standing at her frame and free motion quilting or ruler work.  I don't have a computerized system and I have to say I'm glad about that.  I love the freedom that comes from deciding as I go what I want to quilt.  This year has given me some giant leaps in quilting as well.  I also free hand embroidered messages in each quilt on my sewing machine.  I haven't FMQ'd (free motion quilting) in some time and was pleasantly surprised to find that I was able to easily return to FQM. I'm looking forward to doing some more this coming year.