I was bitten by the quilting bug ten years ago. Five years ago, I wrote a post about my first five years of quilting. If anyone is interested, I have linked it here. I also shared about my quilting mentors in the Quilty Inspiration post I wrote in 2019. Sometime, hopefully before the end of the year, I’d like to write a More Quilty Inspiration post.
I’ve decided to share a number of my favorite projects over the years, sometimes with rather creative titles, and they are not in any particular order. This is definitely one of my longer posts, and quite frankly, not everyone will want to read it from start to finish. But I am going to have to have a give-away, so feel free to scroll to the end of this post to see if you are interested in entering the random drawing.
Newest FPP Projects
I’m going to start with my favorite finishes of October: my Eiffel Tower “spookified” with two bats made from Sarah Ruiz’ Batty Block free this month by commenting on her post here). Read a little about my trip to Paris and London here.
Favorite Collaboration with My Mother
I lost my mom in 1997, and after I started quilting in 2014, I felt that loss anew as I wanted to share all about my overwhelming passion for quilting with her and to ask her a zillion questions. But I had an opportunity to collaborate with her when I visited my niece, Mary Frances, in March, and she showed me the quilt my mom had made for her in the 1980s that had binding that was in desperate need of repair. Read about the woes of lost binding fabrics and the lovely fabric I found in London here. Incidentally I found the missing fabric this past week in the bag that holds my travel Keurig (because I hate hotel room coffee!!!). I had taken it to a hotel in Albuquerque for an overnight stay and the next morning when I was packing up my Keurig, I saw a plastic bag at the bottom, and was I ever surprised when I opened that bag!
Quilt I Most Want to Remake
I really like the color gradient Ranges quilt I made for my great nephew, John, and I’m sure none of my friends and blog readers will be surprised if I end up making a version of this quilt to keep. See details about John’s quilt here.
The Only Quilt I’ve Entered into a Quilt Show (Spoiler: it wasn’t accepted)
My Mid Century Modern quilt is one that I’m very proud of and was thrilled to give it to my friend, James, for his 50th birthday. It looks amazing hanging on his wall above the loveseat with those modern looking pillows. Read about this labor of love here .
Temperature Quilts
I made three temperature quilts in 2022. This is hands-down the quilting project that required the most persistence. Read about it here.
Favorite Donation Quilt
For the past several years, I have donated at least one quilt yearly to a worthy cause. I’ve made three “Mercyful” quilts for patients in the hospice program at Mercy Hospital in Sacramento, California. Read about my most recent donation here.
Favorite Halloween Project
My favorite Halloween project is the Rotation Halloween quilt that I made last year, but I’m also quite partial to the Sugar Skull pillow I made this year. Read about both of these projects here and here.
Favorite Quilt with Curved Piecing
I made this quilt for my friend, Karla, when she achieved her long-time goal of getting a doctorate degree. She may have even celebrated with a drink from the bar next to her in the photo below showing her holding her quilt! Read more about the quilt here .
Favorite Comfort Quilt
This was the most heart-breaking quilt I’ve ever made. Read about it here.
Favorite Baby Quilt
Thankfully we quilters often have the opportunity to celebrate life. Below is a recent baby quilt I made. See the post about it here.
Favorite Paper-Pieced Mini
I am very fond of this paper-pieced Fairy Wren. Read about it here.
Favorite Large Scale FPP quilt
About three years ago, I started the large-scale paper piecing of Violet Craft’s Wolf Pattern. I made this quilt for my friend, Laura, pictured below with her cat and dog. I just love Laura’s smile in this photo! Read more about this quilt here.
![IMG_3286[1535]](https://quiltingisinmyblood.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/img_32861535.jpg)
Favorite QuiltCon Purchase
I absolutely love to talk about my Rainbow Cheetah below, but first I want to mention the photo of the sticker at the top of this post that was included in the give-away bag at QuiltCon 2023 in Raleigh, NC. The words, “Practice Makes Progress” totally resonate with me. The stickers were provided by HollyAnne of String & Story. Someday I’d like to take her online FMQ Quilting Rockstar class. Now back to my Rainbow Cheetah quilt. I bought the pattern directly from Violet when I had the opportunity to attend QuiltCon 2023. I fell HARD for the pattern when I saw the quilt hanging in her booth. Read about it here.
Favorite Placemats
I’ve made many sets of placemats over the past ten years. Before I made the placemats for my niece pictured below, the Reel Time Placemats I made in 2017 for my sister (my niece’s mom) were my favorite. But I think the herringbone placemats that I made for Mary Frances have taken over that place of honor, LOL. Read about them here.
Favorite Ombré Quilt
I absolutely love ombré fabric, and this Ombré Lotus pattern perfectly showcased Ombré Bloom fabric by V and Co. for Moda. Read more about this favorite project here.
![IMG_0447[969]](https://quiltingisinmyblood.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/img_0447969.jpg)
Favorite Color Gradient Project
Erica with Kitchen Table Quilting is a very talented quilt designer. I am particularly partial to her color gradient/rainbow versions of her patterns (and I plan to make more of her quilts next year). Erica generously provided the color guide for her Sunrise version of her Katie quilt. See two posts I wrote about this project here and here.
Favorite Sew-Along
In 2021, I did a Blakely family sew-along with my Aunt Lois, her daughter Sally, and her granddaughter, McKenzie, and McKenzie’s son, Vincent, who was 11 at the time. Read more about this sew-along here and here. The first photo below shows me with McKenzie and Sally when with our Blakely quilts when I visited in June 2023. The second photo shows from left to right: Vincent, McKenzie, Sally, and Aunt Lois.
![IMG_0815[1435]](https://quiltingisinmyblood.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/img_08151435.jpg)
Favorite Sashiko Project
I’ve made a number of Sashiko projects over the past few years, but I absolutely love the pouch below. Read more about it here.
Favorite Round Robin-Inspired Quilt
I have enjoyed participating in the Stay at Home Round Robins (SAHRR) for the past few years, and I really liked how the quilt turned out that I made for my stepson, Drew, which featured his Boston Terrier dog, Sushi. Read this post here for more details.
![IMG_3624[1659]](https://quiltingisinmyblood.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/img_36241659.jpg)
Favorite Hometown Hero
I made a donation quilt in 2021, through Hands2Help, and I opted to give the quilt I made to my hometown hero, Kathy. Two years ago she moved back to Oklahoma, and I had a lovely visit with her earlier this month. If you’ve never been to the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, I highly recommend a visit there. Kathy hung the quilt I gave her three years ago in her living room, and I love how it looks above her television. For more info about this quilt and Hands2Help, please see this post here.
Favorite Christmas Project
I love my sister-in-law, Sharon’s smile below as she is holding the North Christmas quilt I made for her and my brother, Bill. The Christmas fabrics are subtle enough that they keep it out year-round. Read more about it here. On a side note, Sharon is having major health issues, and I will be going to California to help her and Bill who will be having another hip replacement surgery the latter part of this month/early November. I share this to encourage you all to treasure your loved ones and to make them a priority because things can change quickly.
![65844882696__0C841D35-37DB-4F8D-BCE3-68051DEA9EFF[1324]](https://quiltingisinmyblood.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/65844882696__0c841d35-37db-4f8d-bce3-68051dea9eff1324.jpg)
Favorite Camping Quilt
I’ve made several camping quilts over the last few years because some of my favorite adventures with my family have been during camping trips. Last year I finally made one for me. The pic below was taken outside of Arches National Park last year in October. Read more about this project here.
Favorite Quilt Apparel
I’ve wanted to add a quilt block to a sweatshirt for awhile, and in April I appliqued this lovely hummingbird, pattern from Liza Taylor, now available in her newly published book, Wonderful World of Paper-Pieced Quilt Blocks
Favorite Challenge Quilt
I just started participating in Project Quilting challenges this year, and they were so much fun. Read about this hourglass mini here.
Favorite Collaboration with a Long-Arm Quilter
Rebecca Grace did the long-arm quilting for me for many of my quilts over the past few years. She is super talented, and she is now using her skills and knowledge at a local quilt shop where she can leave the projects behind and go home and actually have a personal life. I absolutely love the Celestial Spark Clam quilting she did on the Lumen quilt I made in 2022. Read more info about this project here and here.
Looking Ahead
There are several projects that have peaked my interest. I probably won’t work on any of them until 2025. Not in any particular order, they are listed below:
- Aurora by Bryan House Quilts
- Seaglass and Fussy T-Shirt quilts by Exhausted Octopus
- Signal Trace by Quilting Jetgirl
- Cleo and Modern Postage Stamp quilts by Kitchen Table Quilting
- Luminary by Craft a Dream
- Star Shower (modified) by Mashe Modern and Maeberry Square
- Butterfly Effect EPP Eclipse by Lillyella (scroll down to see the Eclipse version with the black background–I purchased this kit three years ago).
- Halloween 2025 BOM by Hunter Design Studio, Leila Gardunia, and Quiet Play
- Ombre Tree Time by V and Co.
- Online FPP Design class with Quilt All the Things
Give-Away
I’m going to be giving away a paper copy of Elizabeth Hartman’s Randolph & Rudy pattern because I accidentally bought the paper pattern along with the PDF, and I’m hoping one of you might want to make this adorable quilt. I made the small quilt that includes three deer and three bears that I will share in a future post. If you are interested in being entered into this random drawing, please leave a comment that includes your first name and make sure you’ve entered your email address when you leave a comment. This give away will be open through midnight MST on 10/27/24. That will give me a chance to link up to several quilting linky parties. International entries are welcome!
I normally only link up to one or two linky parties when I write a post, but I’d like to give a lot of quilters the opportunity to enter my giveaway, so I contacted Rebecca Grace to ask her if I could copy her linky party list, and she generously gave me permission to do so.
MONDAY
Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts
Monday Musings at Songbird Designs
TUESDAY
To-Do Tuesday at Quilt Schmilt
WEDNESDAY
Midweek Makers at Quilt Fabrication
Wednesday Wait Loss at The Inquiring Quilter
THURSDAY
Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation
FRIDAY
Peacock Party at Wendy’s Quilts and More
Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts
Off the Wall Friday at Nina Marie Sayre
Beauty Pageant at From Bolt to Beauty
TGIFF Thank Goodness It’s Finished Friday, rotates, schedule found here: TGIF Friday
SUNDAY
Frédérique at Quilting Patchwork Appliqué
Oh Scrap! at Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework
At the end of the month, I will be linking up to the Monthly Favorite Finish linky party hosted by Quilting Jetgirl.
Quilting is in my Blood 
Wow! What a journey! Thank you for sharing. It is inspiring, because you are now to us (at least me) what those who inspired you were to you! Thank you for a chance. Good luck everyone.
Amy Kollasch
amy.kollasch18@gmail.com
LikeLike
What a wonderful post Mary!! I enjoyed reading about your quilting history with your Mom on your 5-year post and seeing those quilts. This post has more detail and is amazing – you are a tremendously creative soul! I have to say the post about Mary’s sister’s daughter really got to me – that is a truly beautiful quilt. And I loved seeing your camping quilt again. I love so many of these quilts – you should write a book!
Nicely done on your 10th anniversary – please have a glass of wine on my behalf. 😀
LikeLike
What fun to see these quilts again, and be able to pop back to the posts about them, too. Happy 10th anniversary – here’s to many more years of quilting!
LikeLike
This is a fascinating post! I very much enjoyed viewing each of these quilts. And I see that there is no stopping you now – you have projects already in mind for 2025. I especially love the camping quilt because I, too, go camping. Also, every one of your gifted quilts seems to be very much loved and enjoyed. email: peterstankovich@comcast.net
LikeLike
All your favorites are wonderful quilts. It’s impossible to decide which ones I like best. Laura at lriley3753@aol.com
LikeLike
Happiest of quilting anniversaries to you, Mary, and may there be many, many more years of quilting joy ahead. It’s such a treat to get to see this beautiful recap of your quilts and I’m always excited to see what you make next.
LikeLike
What a great idea to review your years of quilting. This was a lovely post to read–filled with so much beauty and inspiration! Welcome to my weekly show and tell, Wednesday Wait Loss and thanks for sharing!
https://www.inquiringquilter.com/questions/2024/10/16/wednesday-wait-loss-402
LikeLike
Hi, Mary! Congratulations on 10 years of quilting! I really enjoyed your post about all of your favorite quilts. You’ve made many amazing ones, and I know there are many more to come!
LikeLike
Happy quilting anniversary. And thanks for linking with Design Wall Monday’s linky party. I hope lots of people join in your pattern giveaway. Please do not include me, because I am spending the next two years finishing up projects I have started and somehow got delayed on. I dare not start another new project. It is really a cute pattern and I am sure someone will enjoy receiving it.
LikeLike
Fun post, Mary!!! Great recap of 10 years of quilting!!! So many fun quilts in a variety of styles!
LikeLike
I stayed for the whole post. What a great read! You are so generous in sharing your quilts with those you love. I love Elizabeth Hartman patterns. Currently I’m working on the Rainforest Animals quilt. I’d love to have this one. Thanks for the post and the giveaway.
LikeLike
You have cranked out more gorgeous quilt finishes in 10 years than I have made in 25 years! I loved seeing so many of them in today’s post. Happy Quiltaversary!
LikeLike
Congratulations on your quiltaversary!! I loved seeing all your favorites. I really love your Eiffel Tower and bats quilts! Thanks for sharing with us at Monday Musings!
LikeLike
What a great summary. This truly highlights how everyone’s quilting journey is unique, amazingly different and full of so much creativity. You make such pretty art, Mary.
LikeLike
You have really done a lot of wonderful quilts in your 10 years of quilting. I like the variety of techniques and varied color choices. Here’s to the next 10+ years of creativity and fun making quilts.
LikeLike
Wow, what a wonderful post, about fabulous quilts! I love your selection and the diversity of all of them. Pretty Eiffel Tower ;)) Thank you so much for sharing and linking up today!
LikeLike
Pingback: My Illuminations Runner is Finished | Quilting is in my Blood
Hi again, Mary! What an amazing ride you’ve taken us on. All of them are wonderful and noteworthy. I just adore Karla curved piecing quilt, and your mini PP wren along with the hummingbird you added to your t-shirt are fantastic. WOW! Laura’s Wolf quilt is so striking and your version of the Cheetah is beyond words. I join you in your love for ombre – that is one fun project. Best of all are all the projects you are looking forward to in the future. Please do not count my in your giveaway, but it is so nice to catch up with all the quilting fun you’ve been having. {{Hugs}} a whole bunch. ~smile~ Roseanne
LikeLike
Mary it was so enjoyable to read of your 10 year journey with the craft we all love. I really enjoyed seeing all of your favourites of anything quilty. I especially loved seeing your SAHRR quilt. It’s going to be fun seeing which of your future projects you jump in to first! Thank you for joining To Do Tuesday and sharing our link. I love Elizabeth Hartman patterns and your ombré projects are stunning. I hope you’ve had another good week stitching. 😉 Carol
LikeLike
I found your blog through the link at The Inquiring Quilter. Wow! Your work is amazing. I don’t know how I’ve missed your blog all these years. I will go back and read some of your previous posts to see more of the gorgeous things you make.
LikeLike