Feature Friday-Handquilted Quilted Wall Hangings

I having a slight problem meeting deadlines already this month and I’m currently plugging away at my April UFO, trying desperately to finish it by this weekend in time to present it to my mom along with her Mother’s Day present.  Which, by the way, she already knows about since she reads my blog.  Ha!  Guess, I’ll have to be less diligent about presenting my current projects if they are potential gifts.  Or maybe at least put a huge disclaimer at the beginning of the post that reads, “If you are my Mom, quit reading now!”.


Anyway, I thought since I’m in the midst of hand-quilting, I would show you some of the wall quilts that I’ve made.  After the Nifty Fifty 50 State quilt swap had ended, some of us decided to participate in a new swap.  We would swap 6” squares of monthly themed blocks.  There were 25 of us participating, so we would each do 25 blocks of our own design for the theme and in return, receive 25 blocks back, one from each participant. 

So now, I have 25 blocks for each month of the year, waiting to be made into wall quilts.  The plan is to have a spot assigned in my livingroom and change the quilt out each month.  Well, actually, I’m missing November.  Seems that I left my little package of quilt blocks at work and someone ran off with them.  I’m still very bummed about it.  When I finally decide to make my November wall quilt, I’ll just have to start from scratch. 

My monthly wall quilts are officially members of my UFO stash.  (Unfinished Objects).  And I hope to add some of them to my UFO Challenge this year along with my other projects. 


This is my January wall quilt.  One thing that I found is that one person’s idea of 6” blocks can certainly vary from another.  The very first step in assembling a quilt made from many contributors is to square up all the blocks and make sure they are all the same size.  Cut down those that are too big and add a strip of fabric around those that are too small. 


My February wall quilt.  On this quilt I learned to cut border strips on the bias.  Otherwise, they stretch as you sew them together.  I ended up having to compensate in my quilt stitches for the extra fabric.  Other than that, I am particularly fond of this one. 


I then skipped to May so that I’d have a nice themed quilt for the spring, since this was already several years in the making.  One of the fun things about this is not only putting the blocks together in the best order, but creating a great border to go with the theme.  I just love my butterfly border!


I am currently working on August.  Yep, I skipped some more months.  Since this project is taking me so long, I thought I’d at least have one up for each season to start.  Then I will start to fill in the blanks…



Eventually I will have them all completed.  And I’m sure that in the meantime, I’ll start another huge project.  

I just can’t help myself…


If this type of project interests you, check out my Sleepy Time Doorstop Tutorial.  A cute little way to make an easy little quilt and a cute doorstop! 


Or if you are interested in the background story of my Fifty State Quilt, check out this post!