My temperature quilt is finished, and that means it's time for the year-end round of up my quilt and sewing projects, skills and tools.
A Year of Half-Square Triangles!
2022 was definitely a year for the books, at least for me in terms of finishing projects, developing and refining skills, and upgrading my sewing tools.
1. Tools
I'm going to start with my sewing equipment, because you can't produce a lot of great quilts without great sewing machines!
In May, I upgraded my quilting machine to a Juki QVP 18-L. It has definitely affected my piecing accuracy. I love how fast and accurate she is, and the single, straight stitch might be seen as limiting by some, but for me it's a dream. (That's also easy to say because I have 3 other machines I can pull out if I need to do something else!)
Working with Juki, I've definitely learned a lot more about machine maintenance and oiling, and cleaning, and I think that's prepared me for the newest machine, the entered our home... today. On Christmas Eve, it felt appropriate that my new longer quilting machine was delivered. It's a Grace Company Q'Nique 16 Elite, with the Q-zone Queen Frame. It can quilt something up to 76 inches wide, and I'm in the process of getting it set up so I can learn how to use it.
This year, I also upgraded my cutting mat, to a full-size new style, reorganized the sewing room to work better for me with an l-shape with a cutting area, recovered my ironing table, and bought a large and small oliso iron. Found great new starch options, and the tailor's wooden helper for supper flat pressing! I bought EQ8 and started designing my own tops. Plus had a few great subscription boxes.
2. Skills
This year I definitely improved my accuracy, my pressing and starching, did a lot more top quilting on Juki on smaller projects, and really improved my binding.
But... this was definitely the year of the half-square triangles. So many of my quilts involved them! From the A Quilting Life block of the month to the Desert Blooms quilt, to the Moda Blockheads 4 project, and especially to my temperature quilt (above), I definitely got comfortable with an HST (and a QST and flying guess!)
If I doubted that my skills have improved a lot, I finished two quilts, one from 2012 and one from 2014 that really showed me how much better I've gotten. It was cringeworthy thing to finish them, but once they were done, their new owners were thrilled!
3. Projects
This year, I took on a lot of new projects. From 1-hour potholders to the daily temperature quilt, I overcommitted myself to quite a few things. I did three quilt alongs (Moda Blockheads 4, A quilting life, and Sew with Erika), a few complicated projects (Lepidoptera by Elisabeth Hartman, Bossa Nova Pineapple Quilt by Shabby Fabric, and Desert Blooms, to name a few) and some fun designs of my own (MN Shop Hop was my first EQ8 design).
But I'm also proud that I finished quite a few longer-term works in progress. These included the Lepidoptera quilt for my brother, the fig tree butterfly for my sister (started in 2014), Witches' Night Out, the quilt I started with Lauren in 2013, and more.
Wrapping Up
I'm still working on the final list for 2022 - which includes Potholders, Mug and crystal mats, table runners, table toppers, wall hangings, and quilts from lap to queen size. So that will be a different post!
Thanks for stopping by!
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