100 Things Quilting Meme- Updated Version

I did this meme for the first time back in 2005 and I was glancing at it today and realized I've now done a bunch of these things that I hadn't done then so I thought it would be fun to do an update. Things I'd done as of 2005 are still bolded; things I've done since are in red.

1. Visit a quilt shop. I go to quilt shops as often as I can. My favorite near me is The City Quilter, in Manhattan.
2. Make a Nine Patch.
3. Make a Log Cabin.
4. Label a quilt. I used to use pre-printed labels but these days I like to get creative with labels even if it takes a little more time.
5. Figure yardage for a quilt.
6. Learn about warp and weft.
7. Use a rotary cutter. Don't know how I'd live without it!
   
8. Use templates. I used to sew miniature quilts by hand and always used templates for my pieces.
   
9. Paper piece a quilt block. I love paper piecing!
   
10. Hand applique a quilt block. I have appliqued but I am not a big fan of applique.
    
11. Make a yo-yo.
12. Embellish a quilt.
13. Try free motion quilting. Ugh.
    
14. Stitch in the ditch.
15. Try hand quilting. I prefer hand quilting over machine quilting.
    
16. Bind a quilt.
17. Miter the corners of quilt binding.
18. Join the ends of quilt binding.
19. Sew diagonal seams.
20. Use a walking foot.
21. Attend a guild meeting. I was president of my guild too!
22. Visit Houston for International Quilt Festival. I would love to attend this festival!
23. Have a quilt appraised.
24. Visit a quilt museum. I've been to the Quilt Museum in Lowell, Mass. It's very nice.
    
25. Go on a quilt retreat. I love retreats!! Retreats are the best.
26. Try curved piecing.
27. Miter the borders.
28. Learn to do blanket stitch by hand.
29. See a local quilt show. Not since I moved to New York, but I loved going to quilt shows in the Boston area. Always so much fun to see the quilts, and you get to shop too!
    
30. Put your quilt in a local quilt show.
31. Sell raffle tickets on a quilt.
32. Take a road trip with quilt friends.
33. Create a Pinterest board with quilts. Yup.
    
34. Make a 3-D quilt block.
35. Donate a quilt to a good cause.
36. Make a sampler quilt. My first quilt was a sampler quilt, which I made for the class in which I learned basic hand piecing.
    
37. Make an art quilt.
38. Try bobbin work.
39. Learn to maintain your sewing machine. Those felt pads in your bobbin aren't actually supposed to be there!
40. Add rickrack to a quilt.
41. Design a quilt. (Remember, you don’t necessarily have to make the quilt!)
42. Change/tweak/alter a pattern to make it your own.
43. Make a color wheel with fabric swatches.
44. Chat about quilting with a stranger.
45. Go on a blog tour.
46. Give a quilt as a wedding/graduation/retirement gift.
47. Visit Paducah during the AQS Show.
48. Take a class with a nationally known teacher.
49. Use some fabric you dislike.
50. Participate in Show & Tell. One of the funnest times I had at my old favorite quilt shop was a show-and-tell night in which the owners had turned the cutting table into a "runway" and we had to climb up and show off our quilts.
    
51. Volunteer for a job in a quilt group.
52. Use a color you detest.
53. Make a quilt inspired by nature.
54. Get up early to quilt or stay up late to quilt.
55. Make a scrap quilt.
56. Make a tote bag.
57. Make a postcard quilt.
58. Make a baby quilt and gift it to a newborn.
59. Understand the basics of caring for quilts.
60. Borrow a quilting book from the public library.
61. Teach someone else to quilt.
62. Creatively piece a backing for one of your quilts.
63. Apply a piped binding, or some variation of it.
64. Post quilt pics to Facebook.
65. Install quilty wallpaper on your computer.
66. Put a quilty bumper sticker on your car.
67. Cuss mildly when you realize you’ve been sewing air (because you ran out of bobbin thread). Well, I wouldn't say mildly.
    
68. Read your sewing machine manual cover to cover.
69. Learn to thread baste.
70. Learn to pin baste.
71. Use basting spray.
72. Help a friend make a quilt.
73. Make a quilt for a special child.
74. Make a quilt for a spouse or partner.
75. Make a quilt for a friend.
76. Include your quilts in your will (i.e. who gets them).
77. Determine your favorite thread for piecing.
78. Understand the concept of value.
79. Understand the mathematics of quilt blocks.
80. Apply a bias binding.
81. Take a guild speaker to dinner.
82. Comment on a quilt-related blog post.
83. Make a mystery quilt.
84. Take part in a block exchange.
85. Write how-to instructions for making a quilt block.
86. Watch a quilting video.
87. Know the difference between lengthwise and crosswise grain.
88. Know the parts of a sewing machine needle and why they matter.
89. Organize your stash. I've done this a few times! It's an ongoing process, really.
    
90. Know the names of hand sewing needles used for different tasks.
91. Finish a UFO.
92. Purchase fabric on impulse.
93. Try sewing with precuts.
94. Trade fabrics with quilt friends.
95. Identify your ancestors who quilted.
96. Visit a quilt shop while on vacation. I often visit quilt shops on vacation. I've been to quilt shops on trips to Hawaii (Maui, Oahu, and Kauai), Austin, California, and London (if Liberty counts).
    
97. Sew on a treadle for old time’s sake.
98. Subscribe to a quilting magazine. I used to get Better Homes & Gardens American Patchwork & Quilting.
    
99. Become a regular reader of a quilting blog.
100. Go on a Shop Hop. Fun!

Quilting in Progress

The pattern here, Fractal, is from the book Quilt Lab by Alexandra Winston. It's a book of patterns inspired by science- chemical formulas, math, etc. Very modern and fun. I bought the book for this specific pattern.

I'm only showing a little because the story is the quilting. It's not exactly matchstick quilting- that would be even denser- but it's more modern than my usual style. I'm liking it a lot though.

It will end up as a gift for a family friend, nice sizable throw about 60x60 inches or so. The batting is my usual Quilters Dream Green and the thread is Aurifil 40wt in Aluminum. I haven't decided on a binding yet.

It's taking a long time just due to the density of the quilting. I've been working on it for two weeks and I'm only barely half way done. Usually my half-ass minimum-standards approach to machine quilting means I'm done in two weeks or so! And I'm definitely going to need another spool of thread!

To measure the intervals I'm just using the quilting foot. The biggest challenge is keeping those lines straight so the quilt doesn't lose its shape. I started in the center and worked my way out to the right hand edge; now I'm back to the center and going out the other way. Wish me luck!

Color Blocks Wall Quilt, Pattern by Tina Curran

This was a fun quick project. I actually managed to chew through a lot of my smaller scraps for this; it's more pieces than you might think at first glance! The pattern is Color Blocks by Tina Curran. Curran is a prolific quilt artist who does a lot with Victoria Findlay Wolfe's partial-seam herringbone technique but this quilt is just some scraps arranged in a rainbow. 

I say "just" but I really love it. It finished around 36x36 inches which is a great baby size but actually turned out to be a nice lap size for me as well. 

I used Aurifil monofilament to quilt a relatively simple pattern of swirls (I tried to do a beaded-curtain pattern tbh but I'm not sure how well it turned out) and black binding. I used my favorite Quilters Dream Green batting and it quilted up beautifully as usual.

The Gift of Music

I finished my GiftWrapped quilt top the other day. You can find the pattern here.

I am very happy with this; it's richer looking in real life than it shows in the picture. I love Christmas quilts and plan to keep it. 

I made the throw size and used a variety of reds for the bows rather than the single red suggested by the pattern. This allowed me to pull from stash and not buy extra red fabric. I used a white fabric with gold musical notes as the background. The inner border is a red fabric with musical instruments. I started learning to play piano this year and I'm calling this "The Gift of Music". Once it's quilted I'll add a label to it with a musical theme.

Here you can see a close up on the border fabrics. I had a stash of reds for the bows but I did buy the two green fabrics especially for this quilt. I like the way the bows look like they are floating on the background.

I've had the pattern around for a couple of years. I figure I am 2-3 years behind in terms of my Christmas quilt-making.  It was tricky getting everything to line up and while it's not perfect it's not bad.