The pillow top is a sample we did during my free-motion quilting class. We were to put a motif of some sort in the center, stipple around the motif and do some free motion on the outside.

I tried to think of a motif but kept drawing a blank. I looked online but didn’t find anything that was the right size. In desperation the night before the class I traced around my hand.

I’m happy with the stippling in the piece, and reasonably happy with the free motion in the border. The hand thing is just a little creepy though!

I’ve had and used a set of paper coasters for at least a couple of years. They were more of a winter motif but I used them all year, specifically at my chair while I had my morning coffee. When my grandchildren were here they used them for a few games so I thought it was time to replace them.

They couldn’t have been easier to make, and I love the bright colors (that don’t really match anything in my livingroom)!

At the beginning of the year I purchased a small paper bag that contained the Challenge for the year. The bag included a bright yellow fat quarter and this note:

“To help get through the long and dark days of winter, I want you to think of one of your favourite summer memories and create that memory using this fabric.”

It took me several months, but when I came across a pattern for a Christmas card holder I was reminded of the photo holder that Stacia and Deloise made for Aunt Jean. I thought I could modify and adapt the pattern I found into a photo holder.

The three pockets included photos of the Thomases visit, our day up Desolation Sound, and the edible garden tour.

This was such a fun project. At the beginning of the year we each brought a cookie tin filled with a block of our choice, and asked the people in our group to add to it. We included a small notebook that outlined our ideas for the project, and a bit of fabric if we wanted.

Since this was the 25^th anniversary of the Guild, and I’m one of the newest quilters, I asked for blocks that recreated either the first block they made, or a block from their first quilt. The pieces I received were all outstanding, and the stories that were included in my notebook are wonderful memories of some of the quilters I most admire in the Guild.

My biggest challenge was to put them all together. All of the blocks were different sizes, but I was able to trim and add borders to even them up. Since I’m new, I didn’t think to keep back enough matching fabric to put together the sashing so I had to dig into my stash to find something that “sort of” worked with the colors. I wasn’t sure I would like the piece when it was finished so I didn’t want to spend any money on it. I bought the backing at the Economy Shop and used it for the binding as well.