Tuesday, September 14, 2010

A Quilt for Every Month

It is better to wear out than to rust out. –Richard Cumberland

I have this great big, blank, empty wall in my kitchen. It is about 13½ feet wide. And very boring. It needs something :confused:. A quilty something :idea: A different quilty something each month :cool:.

There are so many amazing quilts out there and I want to make them all. But the practical side of me says that there has to be a use for things. To reconcile those two ideas, I decided a few years ago that I want to make a different quilt to hang on that big blank wall in my kitchen each month and that way I could make at least twelve quilts, and be able to use them all. And because my motto is, Go Big or Go Home!, I decided that I wanted to make either a table runner or six matching place mats to go with each quilt. I've recently added a 13th quilt and table runner to the list – they are going to have gifts and balloons and presents on them to be used on birthdays at Bug Cottage.

I'm using this post as an index mostly to keep track of what I've got going on, but partly to make you all feel better about the number of UFO's you've got going on. I've got more :crazy:. As I work on and post about these quilts, I'll add links to the posts as a reference guide, again mostly for me, but just in case you want to see what I get up to.

January
Theme: Snowmen
Status: Several patterns and a few fabrics acquired.

February
Theme: Hearts and Love and Mushy Stuff
Status: Several fabrics acquired.
Notes: Valentine's table runner {which may or may not go with the quilt} finished.

March
Theme: St. Patrick's Day
Status: Super cute leprechaun pattern {thanks Cat :wink:} and several fabrics acquired.

April
Theme: Chicks and Bunnies and Eggs and Spring
Status: April Wall Hanging Pattern and all fabrics necessary acquired.

May
Theme: Beauty/Spring/Women/Gardening
Status: Cottage Garden Pattern and several fabrics acquired.

June
Theme: Outdoors/Beauty/Nature/Men
Status: {Mostly} Finished!
Outcome: Dance of the Dragonflies Quilt {pattern found here} and six place mats.

July
Theme: Patriotic
Status: All fabrics and patterns acquired.
Ten of fifteen blocks finished.
Three more blocks finished
The last two blocks finished and a start on the cornerstone stars
More cornerstone stars
Flying geese & border blocks, a start on assembly and place mats in progress

August
Theme: Outdoors/Nature/Summer
Status: Escaping Bug Jar Quilt pattern and all fabrics acquired, bottle fabrics cut, paper pieced critters finished except for the chameleon. My mom and I are each making a quilt and we have special Bug Jar sew days.
A peek of one of the blocks
Escaping Critters

September
Theme: Chickens
Status: Several patterns and fabrics acquired.

October
Theme: Halloween
Status: Close to being ready to quilt.
About this quilt and blocks in progress
Small Witch in progress
Witch place mat and quilt top in progress
Happy Jacks
Ghost and Black Cat place mats in progress
Pumpkins and Bats place mats in progress
Candy Corn place mat in progress
Completed quilt top

November
Theme: Fall
Status: Pumpkin Patches Pattern and all fabrics acquired.

December
Theme: Christmas
Status: Most of the patterns and a few fabrics acquired.

Wish me luck. With the way I get distracted by any shiny new project, I may never finish all my kitchen quilts.

11 comments:

QuiltNut Creations said...

Go you!
I have a wall in our living room(where my pinwheel sampler currently lives) that I try and have a seasonal quilt on. Same with the kitchen table. I've debated about making a whole bunch for the dining room too. You aren't alone lol!!

Betsy said...

Elizabeth, I do the exact same thing. I also add a matching kitchen towel for the stove rack and coasters. If I have enough fabric left over I may make a set of coasters. i am presently doing the same thing for my daughter and I use some of the patterns from Country Threads.

Betsy said...

here is a link for Lori Smith. She has a quilt for every month
https://www.frommyhearttoyourhands.com/Qstore/Qstore.cgi?CMD=009&DEPT=1155191359&BACK=A0009A1B01155191241B1F01155191241F1I000010I1J01270925164J1

Just JaiCi's Crafts said...

Good for you! I just do the fun holidays for our table runner and birthday placemats. Although there is only 1 birthday placemat at our house....it's special :)

Shay said...

Gosh thats some list!

Around here people are lucky if I decorate for any occasion other than Christmas.

I've noticed that some other parts of the world are a lot more into seasonal decorating than we are in Australia. I think it's lovely . Maybe I'll start doing it here and set a trend.

Michelle said...

What a cool idea! And it's nice to know that someone may have as many WIPs as I do. :-) It will be fun to watch your progress.

Paulette said...

Great idea! I think it'd take me 10 years to get 12 wall quilts done, but I know you'll get it accomplished in a fraction of the time. The patterns you linked to are all super cute!

Wanda said...

I'm watching and excited for your progress on these. Sew fun!

whimsyfox said...

Too cool!!!

Jennifer Lovell said...

Your daughter is going to have a lot of awesome things to inherit for her home if/when you ever get too many beautiful quilts to fill your own. Lucky her! Keep me in mind too, in case she's not interested ; ). I can't wait to see the entire collection of monthly quilts!

Qpatches said...

HEY.. I LOVE THIS IDEA! I have such a space, only tis a wee bit narrow....but in past have had quilted apple theme, but am changing colors in kitchen to more neutral; SO THIS IS COOL...so glad I found your blog. TTFN.. Granny Lindie