Crank 'em Out

I've been on a roll with quilting over the last year. I have almost been in panic mode, wanting to use up fabric I have acquired, before succumbing to the call of new fabrics, new colors, new designs and new patterns. It has basically been a quilting frenzy, and I'm not totally thrilled with what I cranked out.

This was a quickie 4-yard pattern that came with a bundle of fabric I purchased in 2020.
I'm not a fan. 

Here's another oldie...a kit purchased sometime around 2020....get got 'er done!
Again, I'm not a fan of it.

I think I purchased this panel to make a fabric counting book before my grandson was born. He's now 6. 
Another "get  got 'er done" quilt - although I do kinda like this one! 

I called this quilt "Bye, Bye Blues" It was made from scraps of blue fabric left over from past projects. I do like this one!


This is the back of the quilt - basically another quilt! 

I think I bought this kit in 2017. I was enamored with the thread spools.
Now, as my son would say, "Meh"
Well, it's another "get got 'er done" quilt!

I can't take credit for the fabric on this one. It wasn't from my "stash", 
but I had to get it done as it was a project from the Quilt Guild I belong to. 
I was given this fabric, and had to make something out of it and return the finished
project to the fabric's owner. I really stepped out of the box on this one
and I love how it turned out!

Christmas was coming, and I had purchased a cute tree skirt pattern in 2018.
I decided it was about time that I used some of my fabric to make the tree skirt.
I was pleased with this "get got 'er done"!

I began quilting in 2015. I used to sew scraps together as "leaders & enders" 

when I was sewing pieces for other quilts. I turned the sewn scraps into 6 1/2" squares. 

I had about 70 of them, and always planned to make some sort of quilt with them. 

I used a quilting design software to "design" this quilt.

I decided to call it "Candy Corn"

I had some sort of brain fart when I cut the yellow rectangles to make 
the triangles. I ended up with a huge stack left over. So... I took more leader/ender 
squares and made a similar quilt with the leftover yellows - using the right and wrong
side of the fabric to make this "Macaroni & Cheese" quilt.

The back of both quilts are also pieced, and used the remaining 
leader/ender blocks. 

This is another project for the Guild, where I was given the fabric
and had to create a quilt to give back to the owner of the fabric. 
This isn't actually finished as I want to appliqué leaves on some of the trees. 

I went to Hamilton, MO in 2016 - home of the Missouri Star Quilt Company.
This is THE Mecca for quilters. I picked up a few "charm packs" with
varied design and color ways of a "collection" of fabric. This year I finally selected the pattern "Night Sky" from a Jenny Doan collection (she is the quilt maven of the MSQC) and I created this quilt. 

Then something happened. I had a "slap upside the head"moment. I realized I was cranking out stuff...and it wasn't satisfying me in anyway. It wasn't igniting anything in my heart. As I came to this realization, or perhaps the "baseball bat" that hit me up side the head that was the cause of my rethinking,  I attended two presentations by quilt artists who talked about embellishments on quilts: Margaret LoBianco and Susan Cleveland. They made me see that going a step beyond, taking extra time to be precise and finding ways to stitch in something of myself makes the quilt - not just the physical steps of sewing pieces of fabric together. Later, a chance meeting with quilter/author Marianne Hatton, made me realize that I needed to step back, take a deep breath, and examine why I quilt and determine what aspects of the craft excite me. 

While this metamorphosis was occurring, I was finishing the NightSky quilt. I completed the "flimsy" (the quilt top before it becomes part of a sandwich that is quilted).  I was not very excited. I stared at the large white blocks in the middle of the stars. They were like black holes in space - a whole lot of nothingness.  I experimented with using fabric pieces to create blades of a pinwheel - in the picture above I had just pinned the pieces on so I could sit back and stare some more. I liked it. I made more pieces and painstakingly pulled apart seams and inserted the fabric pieces in the center of each white rectangle. I have finished the pinwheels with two colors of fabric circles appliquéd in the center, including some decorative stitching, and most recently a few beads.  I love how this quilt has evolved, and will continue to be transformed as I get it on the long arm for quilting. It's a simple quilt, but for the first time I am truly excited by a quilt I have made!

Close up detail of 3-D pinwheel