Remembering the Year 2005

The year 2005 started off without much quilting going on. We were decorating the house and finishing the basement.  But I got my own craft room.  :)

My grandmother (who I had been taking care of for eighteen months) died in January.  Then a couple months later my quilting buddy (and sister-in-law) JoAnn died. I helped my brother clean his house. He kindly gave me her stash of fabric, supplies, and UFO's.  

Believe it or not, by this time I was down to three of my own UFO's: the Southern Belle, finished later in 2005; my Leafy Northern Wind, finished in 2013, and my yo-yos, finished in 2013.  Then with my newly inherited stash, the number went way up.  :)

That spring I took another machine quilting class. This one was taught by the national teacher Maybeth Oxenrider. She does a lot of things for the American Patchwork and Quilting Magazine.  She did all of her quilting with her machine in a cabinet.  I thought I would try that out for smaller quilts and only do larger quilts on the grace frames. 

Taking the class from her helped get me back in the groove of quilting. I did the applique and quilted this valentine quilt JoAnn had pieced.  

I also quilted her snowball quilt and fell in love with seasonal quilts.

I used my new stash and made this Irish rose quilt for March.

These three seasonal quilts were all from the book Calendar Quilts by Joan Hanson.  Someday I would love to make more of these quilts.  There is one for every month in this book. 



I then quilted two of my Mom's cabin quilts and five wall hangings.  This is my mom's Bargello.  She had started quilting it with the stitch I used on my dinosaur grow chart that uses colored thread in the bobbin and clear thread on the top. 



She got frustrated and put it aside.  She decided to have me finish it for her. 

This is my mom's Cross My Heart quilt.  I think she and JoAnn had taken the same class together.  My mother appliqued the hearts on in the other direction, so her quilt hangs horizontally. 

This is my mother's St. Nick quilt.  It is a Thimbleberries Cover Story quilt. 

This is my mother's snowball quilt.  It was another class she had taken with JoAnn. 

This is my mom's Irish Rose quilt for March.  She chose to use a dark background. 

My amazing husband made these quilt hangers for her to display her seasonal quilts on.  He has also made some for me. 

I was feeling more confident in my FMQ, so I decided to finish this Old Fashioned Doll Quilt with my most detailed quilting ever. I quilted it in my cabinet rather than on the Grace frames.

Then I finished up a scarecrow quilt JoAnn had pieced.  I call it Scare the Crows. 



I continued in my love of seasonal quilts by finishing some Thimbleberries wall hangings for the months of December, February, and October for me.

Then I quilted this mini stack-n-whack wall hanging I had originally given to JoAnn. It is a smaller version of my husband's favorite quilt.  The diamonds are only 2 inches finished. 

I quilted a larger stack-n-whack which I had given to my mother.

Knowing it would be my brother's first Christmas without JoAnn, I decided to finish five of her quilt tops to give to his family for Christmas. Finishing these quilts for her family was very therapeutic for me.  It helped me feel closer to her and I hope it helped her boys to feel her love as well.  

This is a Trip Around the World I finished for her son N. 

This is a Log Cabin quilt I added borders to and finished for her son B.

This is a Log Cabin in a Swoon layout which I added borders to and finished for her son G. 

This is her Triple Irish Chain I quilted and finished for my brother V. 

Then I finished a blue and yellow Lone Star for my mom.  She, JoAnn, and I had shared many quilting adventures together.  I hope this helps my mom remember all the good times. 

It was a rather emotional year.  Quilting and my faith helped me through it. 

XX,

Jasmine