What are you biggest changes in quilting this year?
 

What has been the biggest changes and differences in your quilting world this year? Thought it would interesting to compare.

Last year at this time I was looking at the larger, bright patterned fabric and some of what I would consider a minimalistic/modern pattern and thinking......why bother? Absolutely did not appeal to me. What a difference a year makes! I'm still a traditionalist but what fun to work out of your comfort level.

Also, never seriously considering making a quilt out of solid fabrics. Saw some wonderfully inspiring quilts here on QB and made one for myself. Just love it.

Last, with the closing of my favorite LQS, I have been forced to rely on my stash and buy on the internet. Sometimes it's pure blind faith that the fabric is accurately depicted. Connecting Threads has become my new BFF. I look to them to provide great thread and affordable fabric and I have not been disappointed.

I began quilting with an introduction class over thirty years ago, took a long hiatus and began again just a little over a year ago through the encouragement of a very dear friend. I just love it and don‘t know where I would be without quilting as part of my life; I wish I had never stopped! In the past year I have completed three quilts and have been working by hand on a king-sized Cathedral Window quilt. I have grown immensely in my knowledge and skills as a direct result of the board and all you wonderful quilters sharing your ideas, talents, tips, photos, etc. I have become more comfortable in all aspects of my quilting, both hand and machine and it has brought sheer joy into my life…..thank you one and all! :)

Mastering FMQ. Well not mastering but at least learning to use my long arm that I've had for 8 yrs. Also would like to do "Thinking Out of The Box' quilt.

This year I am trying to complete some UFO's and use things from my stash. While cleaning my closet found some things that I didn't even realize were there, imagine that? I also like Connecting Threads for fabric and thread. Live 50+ miles to the closet fabric store so it's just easier for me cuz it doesn't take long to order $50 to get free shipping.

I've only dabbled in quilting in the past; so the big change for me this year is that I really got bitten hard by the bug and have converted my "craft room" into a "sewing room" and my stash has exploded from just one lonely tote to shelves jammed full! Prior to this year I only had made some small wall hangings and a handful of whole-cloth type baby quilts, all spread out over about 10 years. So far this year I've completely finished 3 quilts and as of yesterday I have 5 pieced tops finished & waiting to be quilted! Kaboom!

using a longarm for more than meandering and loop-dee-loops.

I joined a techniques class, a paper piecing club, I've learned how to & love doing paper piecing & I've stretched my comfort level with more shades of orange & green. It's a huge change from blues & browns. I think I'm less afraid of trying a more advanced pattern or do my own thing. :-) Even with the FMQ!!

The mid-arm sitdown quilting machine (HQ Sweet 16) is on the UPS truck out for delivery TODAY. Guess that will mean BIG changes in my quilting. I've also changed the way I use thread in quilting. I used to want to hide my quilting with matching thread, but I have gotten braver and actually used thread that shows.

I had been occupied mostly with knitting for the past 9 yrs (first grandchild born) but slowly my interest returned to quilting which is my first love in any craft. The biggest change for me this year is I recently purchased a quilting machine and I am waiting for the quilt frame to arrrive any day now. I can't wait to start machine quilting on some of the quilt tops that have been waiting for a few years to be done!! My Dear Jane quilt is among them. I will need to practice of course but I am really excited with the thought of machine quilting my own quilts other than by hand and stitch in the ditch which I've done for years.:o

Deciding that I am worth spending $$ on better grade fabric. My stash is filled with "bargains". Well I figured out that a bargain is not a bargain if it just sits in the closet.

I'm TRYING to concentrate on getting my UFO's (last count, about 21) LA'd and finished up. And every time I look at the calendar Christmas is closer! EEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!

I have been trying to finish UFO's too this year before starting any new projects. I do still buy for new projects though. I am breaking into batiks this year. I have always used more traditional quilting fabric until this year. I made my first quilt out of batiks and I just love them. I may never go back!

Several things. I have degenerative bone disease & also fibromyalgia so the past couple of years have been minus quilting of any kind. But I missed it so bad that now I'm easing back into it. It's hard because in the past, I was a going Jesse (as my Mother used to say) & could whip quilts out by the dozens (I donated one a month to both QOV & Project Linus in addition to the ones I made for my personal/gift use). Now it takes me forever because I have to take so many breaks (I just finished my first Jelly Roll Race). And getting good with that has been hard. That's not how I see myself, as sick, as disabled. But, related to that, I'm also being drawn more to quicker quilts & precuts (tho I have enough fabric in my stash to fill a fabric store easily). I also joined the board & that has been wonderful. I feel like I'm in a big group of friends & that's good. I get so many good ideas. I've also started buying more fabric than I have in the last couple of years. So, I guess the bottom line is, I'm back doing the thing I love to do the most (well, pretty close to the most).

Oh, yeah... that, too. I didn't used to like batiks & only had a few but this year? Yikes! Katy bar the door (another one from my Mother)!!! It's all batiks, all the time!

That dawned on me a couple of days ago, too. Stop me if I'm wrong but wasn't it just Christmas like a little tiny while ago? LOL!

Haha.. Xmas is getting closer when I start seeing Halloween decorations in stores!

For me it has been working with my HQ Sweet Sixteen. We have been bonding and I love her more every time I use her. Named her Charlotte, for no particular reason. I have a long way to go to get really good at free motion quilting but it gets better with every quilt I do. If I only had some artistic talent it would be so much easier. I can't draw at all. I use Golden Treads paper for quilting templates and, of course, stencils. I can do some of the meandering type of over-all quilting and I like those a lot. The last quilt I did I was able to quilt the whole thing without starting and stopping.

This year, I have been taking quilt classes on line and have learned do many new skills.

For me, I've been using bright and colorful fabric instead of florals and muted fabric. I have solids now! And I'm making a french braid with batiks...I swore I would never use batiks because I didn't like them, but now I think they are so pretty! So everything has changed for me.

More and more colors in my quilts. I think I have finally gotten some color confidence , and just go for it.. the more the better.

I quilted rarely a year ago, due to the demands of my job. I am now out of work on disability and quilt everyday, sometimes most of the day!! I am so glad to be able to make each of my 14 grandkids a quilt!! I am also getting more interested in scrappy quilts. I always hand quilt, but I now incorporate using stencils for patterns too. I eat, drink, talk and sleep quilting!!

For me it's applique.

I did a chemo quilt with raw edge fusible applique - including one applique piece that is over 5' tall (yes, that's 5 FEET), and the other applique objects were all letters. Both were firsts for me.

At the moment I'm appliqueing bunnies on a baby quilt. I'm using a modified technique by MUV where you machine stitch the applique using a stencil (thin paper) directly to the quilt back - no fusible or stabilizer. Then I'm doing a hand blanket stitch around the edges and I'm leaving about 1/2" of raw edge and raveling it. I'm also doing needle turn applique on some of the highlights of the bunnies (different shading of fur, pink inner ear, eyes - etc). Again ... all firsts.

I'm really liking the needle turn and because I hate hand work I thought I would regret the decision. But I like it. I'm headed off to a trade show on Saturday and I plan on bringing it with me to do some of the applique work. This particular trade show draws a large contingent of Amish and Mennonite folk ... so it will be interesting to see if any of the ladies comment on my applique and I would love them to look at and critique my work.

i learned to needle turn applique. i love it...

I am making a quilt for each of my grandchildren and great grandchildren. I have finished 2, have have 8 more to go. I spent last year making quilts for my children and my cousins. Now if I can just stay out of the hospital for a while maybe I can get them all done....

Due to other obligations I hardly did any quilting the first part of this year. But in the past 5 or 6 weeks I've actually tackled several UFOs, bringing each one to the next step (ie, top completed, sandwiched, quilting done, binding ready to go, etc) . Most still not totally complete, but upgraded to WIP status at least. LOL! Started some new projects too, including one throw done start to finish in only about a week's time and a tote done in one afternoon. Definitely a first for me! I'm doing much more machine quilting and venturing into trying something other than squiggly cross-hatch. Like the feeling of accomplishment!

I have finished a lot of things so far this year. The one I'm most proud of is finishing a private 45 hour Intelliquilter (computerized quilting) Class with Suzanne Moreno. It was a real commitment but I determined if I was going to have expensive equipment, I'd better be able to make the most of it. The next big step will be completing a 45 hour private digitizing class with her that will start in August. Sometimes I would like to draw my own designs. Finally I have started doing most of my piecing on the vintage machines we have been collecting. I especially love sewing on the treadle!

Oh wow! Where to begin! Last year I was still driving my big rig around the country & quilting whenever I could. I always had something to work on in the truck. Last one is GFG, which is 80% complete. This year, we had a fire destroy our shed out back & the insurance company paid for a new building, which my DH designated my sewing room! My health took a turn about the same time & I couldn't pass my DOT physical, so had to retire. WOOHOO! Thank you for that! I get to spend more time in the studio! I also purchased a longarm. Now, as well as collecting fabric, I collect thread for her. Seems I don't have enough. Joined the local guild, have finally done some swaps & enjoying every minute! How did I have time to drive that big rig?? I'm glad my health improved & I have time to enjoy my quilting!!

I'm doing more charity quilting this year. Also am trying to use my stash. I have been only buying what I absolutely NEED. Money is a little tighter this year than last. I also have been trying to clear up UFO's. I only have 3 left to finish, and plan to get them done this weekend. Then I am going to start my Christmas giving projects. I don't gift my family anymore, but gift to charities in their name. This year gets an earlier start on that.

With the continuing high prices of fabric, I have concentrated on shopping my stash more. Scrap quilts have always been a favorite, but I plan for them a bit more now, to get that last drop out of my scraps!
:)

I keep trying and trying to get caught up!

Due to bum shoulders, I've had to take a break from rotary cutting, ironing and manipulating large quilts. I've turned to crazy quilting and love it. It brings out the creativity in me. I mentioned my crazy quilt blocks at a local quilt shop. The gal waiting on me said she would be interested in seeing them. You guessed it---I'll be teaching a class in the fall. I'm planning a hexagon table runner in whites, off whites, ecrues, tans and creams. Then I'll teach the embroidery stitches and the really fun part, embellishments. I love it!
Soon though, I'll be back to regular quilting. I have two wedding quilts to make.

I use the cotton batting from warm and natural and in the last 6 months the price for a queen size pkg has increased $6.00 which is a percentage of of almost 20%. Sad!

For me the biggest change in recent months was coming to the realization that I was hoarding lots of scraps and never actually using them. I was inspired by Bonnie Hunter to cut them into usable pieces (have barely made a dent, so far!). I have made a wheelchair size quilt entirely from scraps, used the off-cut hsts from it to make a pinwheel doll quilt, and have made a piano keys border on a queen sized quilt top, and I also have a couple of piles of blocks ready to use for other quilts. It's rewarding to see progress, and strangely, it also helps me to see what is useful and what isn't and to let go of some of the excess that has been hanging around for too long.

My biggest change was getting some space, TO quilt. We moved/greatly downsized, about three years ago; I lost my sewing room and my sewing machine was shoved into a small space, with no room for a cutting table. This year, dh worked on insulating and finishing the inside of a shed, for me. It isn't perfect (still being used for some storage) but I now have room to actually cut and sew! I also bought myself a new sewing machine, after 35 years. :)

Well, I've started an english paper piecing quilting that will take more than a year at my current pace. It feels like a huge commitment but I'm anticipating getting better along the way. Will hide my initial blocks in the bottom corner of the quilt. I've wanted a "take-along" quilting project for years and look forward to quilting on the go over the next year.

Learning to paper piece for me and making several on my bucket list for "just because".

My Joann's, which has been on this side of town as long as I've been sewing (I'm 54, and started in grade school)is now closed. There's a bigger, fancier one on the other side of town, so it means I look for 'free shipping' deals, and order online usually.

Let's see, two things have changed really. One is that things have been financially very tight, so I've been quilting out of my stash. That's been a real eye opener, not just because of the size of my stash, which is very decent, but because my stash is finite. I've been forced to consider choices I would never have dreamed of putting together before, and guess what? They not only worked, but some of them worked brilliantly! I would say I've learned more about color choices, value, hue, and putting it all together in the last few months, than I have to date, no exaggeration! No more relying on the "tried and true". I have been propelled into the circle of "edgy color choices". And I'm loving it! What fun! It has kept my "unsewing tool" busy at times, because the colors don't always work when put together, but hey, that's just part of the fun. No risk, no gain.

Also, a dear friend gave me a series of Craftsy courses to take on line, which have kept me very busy, and I'm learning a lot. She was very sneaky and pretended her sister had become interested in quilting, and Oh, by the way, would I go over what I thought were the most important courses to take? Of course I did, unwittingly. Then I forwarded to her the site when all of the courses went on the most incredible sale. The next thing I knew, I had 6 courses to complete, and a complete Happy Birthday song on my answering machine! Sometimes it amazes me how generous people can be.

The biggest change in my quilting this year is that I haven't been able to do much quilting/sewing due to a spinal cord injury to my neck in Feb. which drastically changed my life. After surgery I spent 4 months in rehab. - no sewing machines there, but I am happy to report that through a lot of hard work and therapy I have regained the use of my hands and I'm now able to stand and walk using a walker. I have to pace myself, but each day makes me stronger and each day I can make progress on some of my UFO's started before the fall. I've even completed 3 blocks from the Craftsy BOM and I can't wait to see what comes next. So - for the remainder of 2012 I hope to make many more blocks and quilts to make up for lost time, and all the while I'm thankful for what I can do now.

Like a few of the quilters on this thread, my finances have been tight so I've made a commitment to shop from my stash to make my scrappie quilts. I've got a pile of UFOs I want to finish, and all the while starting other projects. I've several kits that need to be made, and I'm also making some crafts to sell at a small shop in town. A busy year for me, indeed!