Turning Over A New Leaf

Back in November I commenced working on my Tree of Life quilt started way back in 2015. How quickly flow the years. I blogged that I needed to make 7 more blocks and then assemble the top. 

I think it now measures about 69 inches square. And now that I look at it I'm wondering if it might need some kind of leafy border(s).  I don't normally add borders to quilts. I will let it ferment a few more weeks and then decide if it should go into the TBQ (to be quilted) pile or back to the UFO bin. 

I didnt have enough of any one blue solid when I started making the blocks so I used many different blues - blue for blue skies behind the trees.  

I tried tot use some fun fabrics in the trees...apples...

...cherries...

...the mighty oak with acorns.

I used the Mirkwood Designs 12 inch traditional Tree of Life instructions. 

And now it's time to turn over a new leaf...a new year begins. 

In 2024 I completed 66 quilts. 

Two of those quilts were hand quilted and the rest quilted on my Brother PQ1500SL sewing machine. The finishes used about 327.5 yards of fabric. 

 

Coincidentally I donated 66 quilts but not the same 66 that I finished this year.  I also gifted 3 quilts. 

Most of my comfort quilts are for kids and have been going to Wrap-A-Smile,   Quilts Beyond Borders, and locally to a couple of different places and people.

My donation quilt goal for 2024 was "44 in '24". 

My donation quilt goal for 2025 is "strive for 45 in 2025".  Goals keep me on my toes!

I've never chosen a word for the year until 2024. I chose "celebrate".  At the beginning of 2024 I was starting to feel a little depressed. I just get that way sometimes. I figured if I could concentrate on something good, something to be thankful for every day it might just change my mood.  It has. And I can see I have so much to be thankful for.  I am going to continue to celebrate every day of 2025 but not officially here on my blog...just in a journal. 

BUT 

I did kind of choose a few words, a few things (goals?) to focus on in 2025. Along with quilting I will probably do some scrapbooking/journaling and blog a bit about some of the following:

REMEMBER

Many many years ago I bought the book To Our Children's Children. Remembering Family Histories for Generations to Come. by Bob Greene  for both my Dad and John's parents hoping they would write about some of the prompts in the book. No one ever did. When John's parents passed away I got back their copy of the book and have always been meaning to do some prompt answering myself. 

I may share some of those writings on my blog but I'm also going to make a journal/scrapbook with the writings.  You may be prompted to write some things down yourself. 

GROW

You all know I love to sow as much as I love to sew.  I will definitely share pics of my gardens. BUT I have another goal...I've been saving my seed catalogs and seed packets for years and years and...

...I've collected a few very old seed catalogs and books. That Vicks one in the corner is from 1895. So,, anyway...I've always wanted to make some collage type scrapbook pages that combine pics of my flowers as well as seed packets and catalog pages and other tips and maybe even some dried flowers. I thought maybe then when I'm too old to get out into the gardens I can browse through my garden in scrapbook form.  2025 is the year I hope to get started on my scrapbook!

TREASURE

I also want to make a scrapbook about some of the many things around here I treasure...

...like this tablecloth my grandmother cross stitched. It has roses. You know I love roses!  And who knows the story behind that big wooden box I use as an end table? 

READ

I read to escape. I read to learn. 

How To Do Things

The Farm Journal

c. 1919

Over the years I have collected a few old books and a gazillion old newspaper articles that describe farm living back when my ancestors emigrated from Ireland and homesteaded. Over the years I've also taken a few creative writing courses and it has always been a dream to write a historical fiction book based on the lives of my ancestors. Or maybe just a book of a few short stories? Maybe in 2026 or 2027 or 2028? For 2025 my goal is just to read whatever suits my fancy, to escape, to learn. 

REMEMBER, GROW, TREASURE, READ

(my four words of the year)

And so as I have done for the past several years my page of quilty UFOs going into 2025 is ready and I will cross things off the list as I complete them.  I have my work cut out for me. 

Thank you for your visits.  Wishing you health, wealth and happiness in the New Year.

And sew on...

 

Bramble Blooms II Top

Bramble Blooms II

I think I'm finished with the top now.

Bramble Blooms has been a slow improv do-your-own-thing in a series quilt along hosted by Audrey at Quiltyfolk. 

This is my second top in a series of what is to be three quilts. 

For my applique border I chose to add wild roses in the four corners. 

I made my own wild rose and leaf templates...

...and I made bias vines for the first time in my life. 

I did needle turn applique. 

And I added some embroidered details to the wild roses. 

My first Bramble Bloom post is about the fabric piles for the series of three quilts and gives the reason why lime green and orange are the base colors in all three quilts.  (Because I don't really like that color combo, believe it or not!)

In addition to the base of orange and lime green each quilt has fabrics added in another color. Bramble Blooms II has pink added. 

My Bramble Bloom I top had purple added. 

And sew on...

Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts

CELEBRATE! (my word of the year)

Dec. 28 - Oh what beautiful weather for December! The temps were in the 50s so I went out and sowed my gifted wildflower seeds in my patch out front. The addition of those seeds filled in the patch nicely. 

 

In The Pink Four Inch Width Scraps

Shoofly and Hollow Nine

10.5 inch finished

The Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) color for January is pink. 

This morning I whipped up blocks from 4 inch width pink scraps. 

The longer scraps plus one other color get made into the Shoofly blocks. 

4 inch squares get made into Hollow Nine Patch blocks with white centers. 

Broken Dishes

7 inch blocks

Shorter pieces get made into Broken Dish blocks. 

Any other 4 inch pink scraps will get cut into squares or rectangles or made into strips. I won't put them back into the 4 inch width scrap box. 

Large flat rate postage box of 4 inch width scraps I hope to empty this year. 

Years ago I cleaned out all but the 2 inch width scrap boxes and bins and then had a block going for almost every size scrap so made blocks as scraps were made or received. This year I got a little behind on processing scraps and have a box for almost every width of scrap. I hope to empty them this year making blocks in the RSC color of the month.  The last couple of RSC years I've been making blocks from scrap chunks but now I'm back to using "precuts" which aren't really precuts unless you consider that most were cut by someone other than me - most have been given to me over the past year by many different folks.  

And I try to make those scraps into comfort quilts. My goal is "Strive for 45 in 2025". My goal last year was "44 in '24" and I'm happy to say I exceeded that goal!

RSC ScrapHappy Saturday

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CELEBRATE! (my word of the year)

Dec. 27 - Box of orphan blocks from Cherie! 

 

Four Log Cabin Tops

Four Log Cabin Tops

Hidden Log Cabin

40 x 56

The Log Cabin lunacy all started a few weeks ago when someone with the Stashbusters group posted a link to Hidden Log Cabin made with a jelly roll or layer cake. I don't normally even look at jelly roll or layer cake ideas because I don't buy precuts. BUT at around the same time as the link came out someone sent me a flannel jelly roll so I went and looked at the video. 

The video calls for 42 strip jelly rolls and the one I had was 40. I used 35 strips which is all I needed to make a nice sized kiddo quilt. 

I just sewed the pieces together randomly and then used the layout in the video for the blocks. 

Hidden Log Cabin

from scraps

40 x 56

After I made the Hidden Log Cabin from the jelly roll I looked at my overflowing 2.5 inch strip bin (which I had actually emptied a few years ago) and decided to try a scrappy version of the Hidden Log Cabin. 

I used black 2.5 inch squares for alll of the block centers. 

Sunshine and Shadows

Log Cabin

60 x 80

After I made the scrappy Hidden Log Cabin top my 2.5 inch width scrap bin was still pretty full so I decided to make some 10 inch finished traditional log cabin blocks with red centers. 

I didn't have quite enough neutral pieces so did have to cut some 2.5 inch strips from scrap chunks. 

I think the Sunshine and Shadow Log Cabin layout is my favorite. 

Courthouse Steps

52.5 x 73.5

Then since I was in a Log Cabin mood I dug into my SAR (some assembly required) box and pulled out the complete set of Courthouse Steps blocks I made a few months ago from 2 inch width scraps. 

I've made many different Log Cabin quilts over the years; however, this is my first Courthouse Steps quilt. 

And sew on...

Finished Or Not Finished Friday at Alycia Quilts

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CELEBRATE! (my word of the year)

Dec. 25 - Merry Christmas. It was a quiet day for just the two of us. I remembered Christmases past full of relatives, good food and games. Hubby John and I rarely exchange gifts. In past years we just never had any disposable income and really never needed anything. This year John surprised me with a windchime that has solar powered hummingbirds that will glow in the dark. I do love windchimes. 

Dec. 26 - Mandarin Oranges. I bought a bag of mandarin oranges at the grocery store a couple of weeks ago. They are so sweet. I've been eating one or two every day for lunch. I was hoping they would be nice and juicy. I hate it when I have bought oranges and found them to be kind of dried up.  Oranges remind me of our Christmas stockings when I was a young girl - they usually had a big apple, a big orange and a few peppermint candies and that was it. I think that is the only time of year we ate an oranges or apples. I did not like (and still don't) the peppermint candies because they remind me of upset stomachs...whenever we had a stomach ache Dad gave us tea with peppermint extract or tea with peppermint candy dissolved in it. Since I didn't like the concoction I learned not to complain when I had a stomach ache. 

 

Florals and Plaids Sixteen Patch

Sixteen Patch

10 inch finished blocks

in vintage florals and plaids.

For the last couple of weeks I've been working on these Sixteen Patch blocks as leaders/enders. I have more blocks made but the blocks in this post are the only ones I have ironed.

My target is 48 blocks for a 6 x 8 layout - 60 x 80 inches.

Plaids and florals in a quilt always reminds me of my grandmother's quilts. She used old dresses and shirts to make her quilts. 

And I always find a quilt made with the simple Sixteen Patch very comforting. 

And sew on...

***

CELEBRATE! (my word of the year)

Dec. 23 - Finished a book! Dire by Jeff Carson. The 8th book in the David Wolf mystery thriller series. 

Merry Christmas! 

Orphan Block Tops Zeke, Archibald and Bertha

Orphan Block Tops Zeke, Archibald and Bertha 

blowing in the wind.

Zeke

40 x 60

Zeke started out with nine 12.5 inch slab blocks framed in cream that someone gave me. 

I made three rows with the slab blocks and between the first and second blocks in the rows I added some 4.5 inch four patches I had in the Parts Dept.   That was so I could get to the 40 inch width I try for in kiddo quilts. 

Someone else gave me some 12.5 x 18.5  scrappy blocks. I used four of those blocks to make two more rows adding more four patches between the two blocks so they were also 40 inches in width. 

Archibald

40 x 60

Archibald consists of 12 inch (finished) green blocks received from different folks. 

I added strips between columns and rows to get the width and length I needed. 

Someone gave me a big pile of the dark green/white 2.5 inch striped fabric strips that I've used in several quilts and for bindings. 

Bertha 

40 x 56

Someone gave me these 8 inch (finished) Cracker quilt blocks. 

The problem with them is that most of the blocks have more than 1/4 inch seam where the points meet in the block. I looked at trimming up the blocks; however, the seams vary so much in each block so that by the time I trimmed them up to have 1/4 inch seams at points the blocks would be different sizes. 

Awhile ago I tried sewing a few together with the colored edges meeting; however the blocks looked too wonky that way. So I put them aside until now. 

I decided to try a layout with the blocks all going in the same direction. This way it is not so noticeable that the points in the blocks don't match up. 

And sew on...

I thiink that might be all the tops I'll make for this month. I'm off to start piecing backings because I think I'm going to have to have a January quilting marathon. 

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CELEBRATE! (my word of the year)

Dec. 21 - Finished a book! When The World Went Silent by Ellie Midwood. I believe I've read all of Ellie Midwood's WWII historical fiction books. Most are fictional stories based on true characters. This book is a fictional story based on true events  - the Uranium Club - Nazi Germany's attempt to develop a nuclear bomb. 

Dec. 22 - Sitting on the couch and looking out the deck doors - a beautiful pink sky at sunset and later a very beautiful bright object in the southwest sky that I think might be Venus. Or maybe Sirius. I'm no expert on night skies. I just like looking and I'm thankful I'm not seeing a lot of drones hovering over my house.