last finishes of 2011

I'm planning to post my progress from last year and my new goals for this year soon, but first I have to sneak in these Christmas finishes.

I made this very large quilt for my mom for Christmas. It measures 102" x 104". LARGE. Note that one side is missing the border. That was on purpose. You may have also noted that it is not bound. I left that to my mom. But I did get it quilted for her (by my favorite quilter Emily - of Emerson quilting.) I am SO thankful I didn't have to quilt it myself!

Here is a close up of the quilting. I love the loops.

This is the backing - my mom had this sheet and thought it would work well for the backing.

And here is the quilt I made my sister. (It was inspired by this quilt by Jess of Urban Patchwork.) It was actually supposed to be her wedding quilt - she got married in July. But she didn't really need it until winter and I wasn't going to see her until Christmas. So of course I was scrambling around trying to finish it up at the last minute.

It measures 91 x 91" and I quilted it myself. I didn't get it finished in time to send to Emily for quilting. So I did the biggest stipple I could manage on my home machine and it turned out okay. I DO NOT like quilting large quilts at home. But my sis and her hubs liked it and that's all that matters :)

they asked for a green and blue quilt so I started with the Denyse Schmidt picnic/fairgrounds dots, picked a  few solids to match, and pulled a few other blues from my stash to mix in. I LOVE the colors.

same pattern - two totally different quilts

First of all - thank you for all the comments I've received on the giveaway and for all of you who follow and read my blog! If you're looking for the giveaway - you can enter here.

A long, long time ago I started the 9 patch quilt along with Amanda Jean of Crazy Mom Quilts. She was using scraps, but I didn't want so use mine for this project. I don't love the traditional nine patch design (with an x through it), but I had some purple (purple?) in my stash that I'd had for at least 10 years. I figured it was a good way to use it up and a new challenge - why not?

So I set to work cutting it into squares. I finished the quilt top and then put it away for at least a year. Just recently I figured out the perfect person to give it to because I really don't want it. I don't even really like purple. I started collecting purple and yellow because of this one print (the posies on white background). So I gave it to Emily - of Emerson Quilting - and now it looks like this:

Not my fave. But I'm pretty sure the new owner loves it. And that's really all that matters anyway.

After I'd already started the purple one I saw this one by Rita of Red Pepper Quilts. It was around the time that everyone was going crazy for Katie Jump Rope and I talked myself into buying most of the line. I don't love the browns in that line with the rest of the fabrics, so I picked the ones I liked and started another 9 patch. This time with a white center and random colors all around. It is completely different and I like it much better!

I strip pieced this one rather than cutting out each square separately to begin with. I liked that much better and it came together faster. I did a scrappy binding and used the green posies (found on clearance) for the back. Emily also quilted this one for me and I love the quilting on it.

Lesson learned: If I don't like a fabric - I shouldn't try to make a quilt with it. (Unless it's for someone else - who will like it.)