Best of 2018

Today I’m joining the Best of 2018 Linky Party going on at Meadow Mist Designs, and sharing five of my favorite finishes from this year!

The 100 Day Project

I made several quilts that I’m really proud of this year, but my 100 day project stands out. I’ve mentioned before that after a rocky start, I made a tweak to make each block in a single colorway — and after that, this project was truly a joy to work on. It’s not often that I made a quilt that is 100% for me, but that’s what this one was, and it was immensely satisfying.

Geometry of Circles

I’ve written quite a bit about this one already, both when I made it back in the spring and when it was juried into the International Quilt Festival in the fall. Making this quilt was another personal challenge, since I used it as a means of trying several new-to-me techniques to implement one of the many “sacred geometry” designs that I find inspiring. I didn’t make it with the intention of entering it into a show, so Quilt Festival was like a giant bonus!

Everglade Mini

I didn’t write much about this one, and I gave it to my partner in the MQG mini swap at QuiltCon back in February so it doesn’t belong to me anymore. But as I looked back over my makes from this year, this little mini surprised me by making it into my top 5. It was such a fun project to pick fabrics for, and to practice my hand applique skills. I really loved how it turned out and my partner liked it too!

Gulf Coast MQG Charity Quilt

While this one isn’t actually finished yet, I’m including it anyway because I’m so excited by the entire effort! GCMQG was a brand new guild in 2018 — we haven’t even completed a full year yet — but after seeing the charity quilts on display at QuiltCon in February, I knew I wanted our group to participate for 2019. I led the effort to design the quilt based on our logo, and more than 15 different members played a role by stitching blocks, helping assemble the top, quilting, and binding. I’m so stinkin’ proud of our group and cannot WAIT to see this on display in Nashville.

Astros Quilt Block

There may be a dozen different projects on my to-do list, but sometimes I have to just chuck all those out the window for a few days and make something that can’t be denied. This year, it was this paper pieced quilt block of the Astros logo that I made during their postseason playoff run! They sadly fell short of the World Series this year, but at least I have this fun souvenir.

I always get to December feeling like I didn’t actually make that much, but then when I look back through my posts I’m always reminded that I made quite a bit! And thus, I can’t help but share several more…

Honorable Mentions:

• Spring Training. It may not have made my top 5 but I’m not any less proud of it, and am excited to see it at QuiltCon in February! I love how fabric challenges push me to come up with new designs.
• #100days100blocks. I didn’t include it because I haven’t done anything with the blocks yet, but this was my 2nd 100-day project of the year. Wow!
• Onesie quilt. This was my first commissioned quilt, and I learned a lot in the process.
• Learning to longarm quilt! This was a really fun thing to do this year — I did the orientation class, and then longarm quilted two quilts. I look forward to more next year.
• Pineapple Mini. This gift for Emma’s kindergarten teacher was quick and fun, and I got to learn how to use heat transfer vinyl!
• Pathfinder. This was my third pattern with Craftsy, and had the additional excitement of being featured on the Midnight Quilt Show with Angela Walters.
• QuiltCon. I went for the first time in 2018 and loved every bit of the experience — the show, the shopping, the classes, the people. I can’t wait for Nashville!

I’m excited to see what I make in 2019!

p.s. I’m doing a 31 day blog writing challenge!