Finishing out 2017

     During holiday sewing time I made some more microwave bowl holders in 2 sizes ( 10" and 15") This is the first time I have made the larger size.  There have been times when I could have used one so now I have one.  A couple will be gifted.

     I worked on finishing up this hexagon table topper.  I started English paper piecing with the New Hexagon quilt along and decided a lot of handwork is not for me.  I machine pieced 2 hexagons to finish the number needed.  Next I pulled out paper and ironed flat seam allowances (trimmed a little) to then machine piece the hexagons all together.  I layered batting and backing and sewed together pillowcase style so I would not need binding to finish the edge of all the hexagons.  Now it still needs quilting.

        As 2017 comes to an end, I finished another lap quilt for church.

Here are closer photos of the quilting. 

  

      Even though I only finished a couple of quilts from my listed goals, I am satisfied.   I finished and donated 1 Quilt of Valor,  2 kid quilts to my guild for the children’s hospital, 1 wall-hanging to my sister’s guild for silent auction,  and 10 lap quilts to my church (which includes 2 JoAnn class samples). I made 5 quilts of various sizes which were gifted to family and friends and 1 full size quilt I kept for myself for a total of 20 which does not include a couple sets of placemats and many mug rugs along with many other sewing projects.  I’m counting 2017 as a productive year for quilting and sewing projects even though I still have numerous UFOs and WIP.

     As I look toward 2018 I hope to continue to make progress on finishing up UFOs.  The AQS blog recently shared hints for prioritizing UFOs.  I usually store projects in 2.5 gallon ZipLock bags. Here are 8 projects I pulled to take a new account and make a plan for finishing in 2018. ( This is not all my UFOs.)

My red, white and blue LeMoyne star improv quilt is partially quilted.  I would really like to quilt a mystery quilt top that has been waiting many years.  A graduation gift quilt has not been started. That is plenty to work on in the new year. 

Be Safe for your New Year celebration.

Enjoy some time sewing or quilting!