So let’s start in January of 2022! This is the year when my stuff actually started looking good, and I gained a lot of confidence in my skills. I think this was a SUPER productive year.
Remember when I said that the green quilt for my neighbor was my first quilt? Well…it was my first FINISHED quilt. But in January of 2022, I finished my actual first quilt…the first one I’d ever started. I intended to give it to my husband for Christmas, but I did not finish it until New Year’s.
The pattern is called Civil War Scrappy, and it’s from a book called Jelly Roll Quilts by Pam and Nicky Lintot. Again, my mom gave me the yellow and grey jelly roll when I told her that these are my husband’s favourite colours. I bought the gunge fabric from my local quilt shop in Tucson, Quilt Basket.
This quilt was a bit of a disaster. Mostly because I did not have a seam grunge on my Featherweight when I started quilting, and I just assumed that the edge of the foot was 1/4 inch. So all of the seams on these blocks as actually about 1/8 of an inch. I also decided that I wanted to mostly hand-quilt this full-sized quilt, and I did not have any experience with hand quilting. I used a combination of straight-line quilting and big stitch hand quilting. My mom noted that it was not enough quilting, so I used a tack stitch on my Husquavarna to emulate a tied centre.
So in this quilt, I learned about seam allowances and hand quilting. I also learned about strip piecing. Even though I have to repair this quilt often–the seams pop every once in a while–we will use this quilt all of the time. It’s still Darren’s favorite quilt.
In Tucson, I was also determined that I wanted to learn to play an instrument. I paid for banjo lessons for TWO YEARS and never really learn to play. But I did make this cool banjo strap.
When my niece turned 5, my sister bought her a “big girl bed.” I made this bedroom set for her 5th birthday. I had just bought the layer cake from Missouri Star on Black Friday. The pattern for the quilt is Double Sliced Cake. I also made the matching pillows so the set felt complete.
With this project, I learned the burrito method for making pillowcases. I also got better at straight-line quilting. Looking back, I cannot believe I quilted this all on my Featherweight.
I guess I did nothing but sew in January! I also made this travel bag for my niece. I noticed she likes to keep her books and toys in the car, and I imagined she would strap this bag to the seat in front of her to keep her car toys organized. I used leftover fabrics from her pinafores last April. I also really liked these Fancy Zips from Missouri Star. They are so cute and easy to install.
When I made this bag, I started making things without a pattern.
With my new skill of sewing without patterns, I decided to make my sister a bag too. I used my own mini backpack as inspiration, and I penny-pieced all of my scraps that I got from an older friend.
This bag was really cute, but it did not last long. First, it was wonky because the front and back were not the exact same shape. I should have traced the top to make the bottom. I also used an invisible zipper instead of a bag zipper, which was not durable enough.
I guess I did nothing in January except sew. Here is the last project that I finished in January. I made this quilt jacket from the Paola Workwear Jacket Sewing Pattern. It used to be a free pattern! The fabrics are from a layer cake by Art Gallery Fabrics. For this project, I accidentally doubled the batting inside, so is really really too warm to wear in Tucson. I also really struggled with putting the collar on; it never was perfect. But I always got compliments when I wore it.
While making this project, I learned how to line a jacket. I actually never learned how to put on a collar, but I made my first attempt.
I recently gave this jacket to my friend, Kristen. Since we started wieght-lifting, my shoulders are too big for this jacket. I am thinking to make a new one soon.
