Trunk Show 2016

                                                             

I've been sewing for the past week and am thrilled to report that my shoulder has healed enough to allow me to do some work on my treadle. I made some arm rest protectors and antimacassars. Antimacassars--ooh, what an old fashioned word! You might remember them from your great-aunt's or grandma's parlor chairs. They are the pieces of fabric (or crocheted doilies) that go over the backs of chairs to protect them from hair products-- literally, grease. When I got hurt, we bought me a recliner to sleep (and pretty much live) in, and then we ordered another for my husband. (Caregiver's chair?) I know they'll get a lot of use, and I want to keep them fairly clean. I've also needed a therapy project. I was going to quilt the protectors, but then I found some upholstery fabric in just the right shade, so I didn't quilt them after all. They won't be making an appearance here, but I'm just glad I was able to do some basic sewing. 

Not having a recent quilting project to share--I found that Soma of Whims and Fancies is doing a trunk show this week. It's the perfect way to sum up my quilting for this year. And it gives me a boost to see what I've done since not a lot of quilting has been going on for the last couple of months (and that can make me cranky). So here they are in roughly chronological order. If you want to read more, click on the link for each one. 

 1.  Choose Your Illusion. This quilt is from a pattern called Use Your Illusion by Cheryl at Meadow Mist Designs. I donated it to A Mother's Hope program of Margaret's Hope Chest.

2. Random Experiment. This quilt is from a freebie pattern in a mailing from American Patchwork and Quilting called Now and Later by Kathie Holland. To make it, I pulled my fabric units from a grocery bag and used them just as I pulled them--truly random placement of the colors. This quilt also went to A Mother's Hope program at Margaret's Hope Chest.

3. Big Quilt. This is a quilt I designed and made for my son and daughter-in-law based on a screen printed pillow. It took me a little over a year to make from first idea to binding. It helped me become very familiar with quilting on my treadle sewing machine. I wrote about 50,000 blog posts about it as I made it. Well, maybe that's a slight exaggeration.

4. Round and Round. This is a piano quilting stool cover I made using a Spirograph style quilting. Tiny quilt, and the quilting looks so complicated, but it isn't. The basic design is all straight lines. I embellished the outside edge with some curves and added some FMQ flowers. So much fun! 

5 and 6. Old Fashioned Values and Leftovers! I made these quilts from a huge batch of charm squares that were gifted to me in an unusual way. The first is named for the vintage looking prints and value placement of the squares. It's based on the Flower Patch Quilt by Kathryn Ludowese. I had enough squares left over from the first quilt to make the second. So that quilt really named itself. These quilts were donated to the Hands2Help challenge hosted by Sarah of Confessions of a Fabric Addict. 

7. 2AM Quilt. This quilt was a wedding gift for my niece and now nephew, who were married in August. They wanted a vintage-y style quilt, so I went with a scrappy Burgoyne Surrounded, called Tone-It-Down by Lissa Anderson in the February 2014 American Patchwork and Quilting. I couldn't resist a more modern back. 2AM refers to their first and last initials, which are the same.

8. LOVE WINS. The basic whole heart is from Cluck Cluck Sew. I designed the fractured and broken hearts. I made this quilt for distribution by the Orlando Modern Quilt Guild to the survivors and families/friends of the victims of the shootings at the Pulse nightclub. This was a very emotional project. The message was specific to the event, but given the divisive nature of my country's recent election, I think the words can be applied and will echo in a more general way for a very long time. 

  
So that's this year's batch of quilts. I completed some other quilted projects as well, and there are several quilts in progress, going oh-so-slowly right now. But I am confident that in the coming year they will all become part of the next trunk show of finishes as my shoulder gains strength and healing.  

I'm looking forward to seeing all your favorites in your own trunk show! Don't forget to link up with Soma's party and to check out the other posts.