Farewell 2016

Once again I remember I have a blog.

I haven't shared any quilts for a long time...because I haven't made too many recently!  I made two quilts this year; rather, I finished one that I started in 2015 and I made just one quilt from start to finish in 2016.  They both stayed in my sewing room closet for a few months.  And then....I took them to be quilted on a real longarm quilting machine.

What a difference that longarm makes!

The first one is the one I started in 2015 and then finished this spring. It is my third (and final?) black and white quilt.   Obviously I added in a bit of red on this one and love how it looks.  This has long been one of my favorite color combinations.

I don't have the measurements for this one handy...it's what I like to call a "large throw" size.  I sized it so it would be just the right size for me.  I'm very average height, about five foot six, so it's approximately that long.  Here's a closeup of the quilting:

So much better than plain old straight-line quilting!

Next up, the Wild Horses quilt.  Named after one of my favorite songs.  Yes, sometimes quilts need names. Some of you may recognize those Cotton + Steel prints, designed by the fabulous Melody Miller (see my post about my typewriter quilt from 2013).

Doesn't that look lovely?  Serendipity gave me the ideal craft-show spot to display a quilt earlier this month at Lucky Star Market in Ames.  We were in a new location this year (ISU Research Park) and I got a fabulous booth location!  As luck would have it, I had some quilts to sell....here's a closeup of the quilting:

My photos may not do the quilting justice, but my fellow quilters will understand the huge difference between longarm quilting and quilting it on a regular sewing machine.  I'm hooked.  I'm hoping to make more quilts in the new year!  And that's as close to a resolution as I am going to get.

Thanks for following along with my sporadic posts.  For those of you I have met in person at markets & events, thank you for your support of my little handmade business.  Online readers and etsy customers, many thanks to you as well.  I look forward to more handmade projects and vintage finds in the new year.  In light of many events that have occurred in 2016, I find it more important than ever to carve out a happy place for oneself amidst all the bad stuff in the "real world."  May you find your happiness in 2017.