28 finishes in 2017... Not bad! My Christmas-giving list this year isn't as long, and I'm so anxious to start using up loads of scraps from last year's fruits (which means, oh, no, new WIPs!!!). I don't expect I'll be quite as finish-worthy this year. But that's okay. I think last year's adrenaline high will stimulate my motivation for years to come!
My final quilt of the year was a belated and surprise extraordinaire for the guy I love most. I thought I'd be able to finish the Collared Lizard wall quilt, which features my photo printed on fabric by Spoonflower, quickly because it's so small. However, I burn the candle at both ends and churn that midnight oil, too, during fourth quarter, and I was rarely home alone to work on it.
Lizard got off early a couple of times, and I had to quickly get to a stopping point and then hide the project! I was certain he had seen it a couple of days before Christmas because I didn't get it put away fast enough before he walked over to see what I was doing. But when I presented it to him on New Year's Eve, he was totally shocked and said he had no idea that's was the orange he'd caught me hiding. He thought I'd been naughty and started a new quilt over which I didn't want to be teased.
That made the giving all the more delightful!
He wasted no time hanging the new wall quilt in his home office where it brightens up the whole room so much, we can't help but smile every time we walk by.
I quilted lots of little hearts in the background of the photo, and he noticed!!! Brownie points!!!
You probably can't tell from the photos, but this quilt does indeed have two different shades of yellow thread and four different shades of orange thread. I
couldn't believe I had that many variations in my stash. One orange spool was from a neon rainbow project I worked on back in the '90s!
The backing is one of the Kona yellow solids I bought online to flesh out my full rainbow back when I first pieced Owl Be Striped and didn't like once I saw the color in real life. Thank heavens I have my quilted Kona colors on my bedroom wall now so I can pick hues more accurately. This mustardy yellow won't be seeing much daylight from the backside of the quilt.
My goal this quarter in the Ravelry WIP challenge is to finish two WIPs per month again if I can. I'm getting dangerously close to culling this list down beneath 20 and keeping it under 20 from this point forward! Wow! What if I could get it down to 10 by the end of the quarter?!? Perhaps that should be my goal...
1. Hawaiian Punch
2. Leaf Me Alone
3. Welcome to the Jungle
4. Blue Floral Nostalgia
5. Lizard Toes
6. Hexie Booboo
7. Tickled Pink, the Sequel
8. Teal Shadows
9. Goodbye Hollyhock Road
10. Snowflake Strip Bar
11. Green Floral Batik Postage Stamps
12. Lavender Sunrise
13. Giant Dahlia
14. Showcase
15. Snowbike II
16. Autumn Splendor
17. Cool Edge of the Rainbow
18. Citrus Whip
19. Time for Me to Fly
20. Venetian Squiggles
21. Scrappy Blue Block a Day
22. A New Quilt for a New Niece
Linking up with Busy Hands Quilts, Crazy Mom Quilts and Confessions of a Fabric Addict.
haha and now starts a new goal with new WIP, always something to do. Awesome you got to surprise him indeed.
ReplyDeleteIt was indeed fun to surprise him, Pat! I really did think he’d seen it, and his expression when I finished was so full of amazement!
DeleteI see many old friends and some new in your quilt list!
ReplyDeleteThat Lizard quilt is fantastic. You have such an eye for color and construction. The borders are just perfect - I love the movement of the green strips.
What a relief that he was surprised after all!