Thursday, January 1, 2026

Two Finishes! Tomten's Quilt and BOM 2024

How come I've forgotten to take photos of these two finished beauties?! 
 I think the distraction of my faulty Bernina (in June) is to blame. 

Now, for about two weeks, I've been waiting for nicer weather to take photos, but 'of course' the weather went worse. Today (Jan 1, 2026), the sun is shining from blue sky.

Tomten's Quilt (Keep Believing), #14 on my UFO list 2024 / #16 UFO list 2025


6 blocks were done in 2024 and the remaining 24 in 2025
My intention was to make it into a flimsy at that point, which didn't happen. 
 I ran out of the red fabric (Moda Marbles Brick Red) and had to order more. When I got it, I decided to finish it.

There are 9 duplicate mini panels. I wanted to make the blocks all unique, but that meant buying a coordinating panel and that was no-no! As many of you know, I purchase fabric from abroad. International shipping has become extremely expensive. Sometimes the shipping cost comes to more than the item price! From this year (2025), I'm on SFD (Strict-Fabric-Diet)! That doesn't mean I'm not going to buy anything at all, it means only buying what I really need to finish a project. So far, so good! 

How to quilt it, is always my question. Depending on the design, it doesn't always fit the quilt to do FMQ. For me, that is meandering or loopy swirls design. I decided to custom quilt the blocks. It takes time of course, but is well worth it for the final result. 


Aren't these guys too cute?! 



First, I quilted in-the-ditch (in the seamline) around the star spikes, then the snowflakes background. The four cornerstones got an X and I did another seam half an inch inside the HSTs. 


I needed to do something with the small panels (star centers). I did in-the-ditch around the star center panels and from spikes to spikes. Quite a lot of quilting, AND wrestling (arm exercise!), for not to forget those not so nice words! LOL


The backing has small gnomes on dark blue. 


First blocks made: 2022 (or maybe 2021?)
Flimsy: April 2025
Thread basted and quilted: May 2025
Finished: May 17, 2025


Sherri McConnel's BOM 2024

I was not going to do any BOM! 
...and see what happened! 

I couldn't resist Sherri's BOM 2024. 
I had sew much fun making these blocks in RSC (Rainbow Scrap Challenge) colors. 


I like how it turned out in RSC colors. 
You may notice there are two red blocks. I ran out of RSC colors and decided to make one more block in red.



Each block is custom quilted. 


The sashing has white dots on black and small corner stones in a variety of colors


The border is a batik I've had for years. You know the phrase; 'too beautiful to be cut'! lol 


I did a pieced backing for this quilt.


First block made: January 2024
Flimsy: Dec 2024
Finished: June 8, 2025



6 comments:

Magpie's Mumblings said...

You should be very proud of both of these!!! I puzzled over how intricate the BOM blocks look and am reminded yet again of the fact that things like that are the reason I don't make quilts. Here's to a happy, healthy and most creative 2026 for us all!

Karen - Quilts...etc. said...

I always love stars - Happy New Year

Julierose said...

Two lovely finishes, Astrid!! :))) I love those novelty center blocks a lot...and
the stars are so pretty. Congratulations on both--well done!! Happy New Year
to you and yours.
I am going to really try HARD to stay only with my stash, too...except for any larger pieces needed for finishing...I do "scrappy" mostly so no excuse of
running out of a particular fabric!! ;((((
hugs, Julierose

Linda's Relaxing Lair said...

These are really beautiful, Astrid. Happy New Year to you ❤️ ☺️

Barwitzki said...

Yes... what magnificent pieces! I don't want to have to choose; I like them both very much.
And you did such an incredibly good job with the quilting.
Congratulations! A reason to celebrate :-)))
Cheers :-)) Astrid.
And I wish you all the best for the new year 2026. I'm looking forward to blogging with you... I think my quilt will be on my blog in January, not quite finished yet, but almost.
Hugs from Viola

Michele McLaughlin said...

Fantastic Quilts Astrid! I love the Christmas quilt with the images in the middle. It is really inspiring me to want to make one too (not now, too many projects). Wishing you the happiest New Year!