Two More Finishes

My original goal for 2024 was to finish 40 quilts. That sounds like a lot, but between basted quilts and quilt tops, I actually have that many quilts ready to finish. Potentially, I could finish 40 quilts this year without piecing at all. If you add in the quilts where I have the blocks done but they need assembly, that brings me closer to 60 UFO's! Crazy, right? 

I will be piecing this year, I have four quilts that need to be made for grandkids birthdays. I finished cutting the last of those out this morning. I have five other quilts I'd like to make for family members this year, all of which are cut out as much as is practical. Some things, like strip pieced quilts, need cutting along the way too. I have a few leader/ender projects pre-cut as well. 

So why did I do so much pre-cutting of projects? So I can keep my cutting table free for basting! Most of my finished quilt tops are not that large. There are several baby quilts, lots of throws, and a few twins. I have a ton of batting scraps that need to be pieced into Frankenbatts, and smaller quilts are a great place to use those up. Having my cutting table free will help me deal with all those batting scraps too! 

Meandering seems to put the least amount of stress on my arm, even less than walking foot quilting. I end up repositioning the quilt more frequently with most walking foot designs, which is harder on my arm. Honestly, if I meandered on every quilt I ever make, but I die leaving behind quilts rather than quilt tops, it's a win. Quilt tops don't stress me out though. Should something unexpected happen to me, and I leave behind a bunch of finished quilt tops, those can be turned into a charity that has long arm quilters in the group, or if my family wants any of them, there's a long arm quilting shop within walking distance of my house. They can be finished easily enough. 

I like finishing quilts myself, and the smaller ones are pretty easy for me. I don't see myself quilting a lot more queen/king quilts in my life. Every once in a while, sure, but often? No. Baby quilts are a great opportunity to try out new quilting designs. I may meander most of the time to protect my RSI, but I still like learning new stuff. 

I'm not confident I will finish 40 quilts this year, but I'm off to a good start. I finished four quilts in January. Besides the two baby quilt I showed last week, I finished these two as well. 

This quilt is twin sized. If it looks familiar, I actually made three quilt tops out of the same stack of black/neutral log cabin blocks. How in the world I ended up with so many black scraps I'll never know.  I know I finished the other twin sized one in 2023, but it had a different layout. I think the baby sized quilt top made from the leftover blocks is still hanging in the quilt closet. 

I finished this quilt too. It's just a throw 48" x 60". 

These aren't my fanciest quilts, nor my favorite ones. They are, however, finished. I hoping they can bring comfort to someone when it's needed, after all, isn't that why we quilt at all?

I quilted about 1/3 of another throw this morning. My goal is to get it finished this weekend. After that, I'll probably not be sewing much if at all for a week or so.  The end of next week through the weekend is a family reunion we are hosting and I will be very busy with that. Sewing can wait, family is more important.