Project Quilting 16.1 - Djinn Postcard

Woot!  Time for a new season of Project Quilting!  Looking over my posts I realized this is my fifth year of participating.  Wow.  

This year's challenges starts out with Mythical Creatures.  So many possibilities!  I spent some time researching various myths and stories: Celtic, Indian, Norse, Greek, Native American.  I wanted to avoid reaching for a dragon or a unicorn.  Then I started thinking of some books I've read in the last year or so that featured djinn.  Of course then there's the problem of rendering and making it small enough to fit on a post card.  So I settled for wisps of smoke coming from a magic lamp.  

Cute.  Quick.  Fun to make. 

Finishes for 2024

This year's finishes was a real mishmash of stuff - a handful of postcards, various quilted objects, a few wall hangings, a baby quilt and a throw quilt - along with some not quilted objects. 

Irish Chain postcard, water bottle holder, flowers for my hair
More postcards: Milky Way, Birdhouse and Time Flies

I have been really enjoying Project Quilting - this year's challenges resulted in most of my mini pieces.  I created four new postcards, which were a blast to dream up and assemble.  I finally made a water bottle holder for myself (that's been on my project list for years).  I also completed two wall hangings - the citrus one was one of the challenges, whereas Marmalade used up all the leftover citrus wedges.  My last mini piece(s) were flowers for my hair to go with my dancing outfits.

Blogiversary #14

 Happy blogiversary to me - I'm 14 years old!  

The year flew by!  A bunch of baby guinea pigs, good family get togethers, a chunk of time spent with my mother, a summer spent digging in the garden.  Not enough time sewing and I wanted to spend more time with my friends - but looking back it was a good year doing things I enjoyed with people I love.

Thank you, readers, for coming along for the ride.  I appreciate your comments and feedback (both written and in person!).  I'm looking forward to another year of family, friends, piggies and quilts.

I Like Thursday: Happy Boxing Day

 

Another year nearly over.  One last I Like post for 2024.

I've been enjoying the wood stove in our sunroom.  Still learning how much wood to put in and when.  I've spent a few relaxing afternoons watching the birds and the fire.  Ahhhh... very zen.

Lightened Layouts

These are the same Midnight Garden layouts as I posted yesterday with just one fabric replaced.  Looks different, doesn't it?  I used a grey that I had in my stash.  I don't have enough to put in this quilt.  If I run with this, I think I'll get something just a tiny bit darker, or maybe a large print.

Solid Middle

Block Layout Tryouts

I have completed 448 diamonds for the Midnight Gardens quilt.  Whew!  And goodness, they'll all need to be trimmed.  But before I start doing that, I need to know how they'll be laid out (it makes a difference which side I trim first).  I had intended to spread them all over the floor, but realized it would be better to take photos of a single block and lay them out on the computer.  

In doing so I discovered a few things.  First, I may nix the idea of using different combinations that I had considered last month.  That might have worked if this was a scrappy quilt.  I'll play some more with that when I get a chance.

It's amazing how the same pieces in a different orientation change the whole look.  I found that some blocks I really liked weren't as nice when all put together.  I captured five different layouts. 

Crispy Christmas (Sixteen Days Old)

 

The Rice Crispy Boys!  Back for one last hurrah.  They must be big boys now in their forever homes.  But look at how cute they were at sixteen days old when I took these photos last March.  

Snap takes up more room in that box than he did in the prior photo shoot. 

Diamond Piles and Rounding Errors

 

I have stacks and stacks of diamonds.  They are spread across two rooms in various stages of completion.  I've lost track of how many I've cut (I think I have an extra 14 for some colors).  Oops!

I spent the week cutting and stitching them together.  Right now I have only 40 or so finished ones.  The majority are pinned ready for stitching and ironing and another 100 left to pin.  Eventually I will end up with two sets of 224 complete diamonds.