You know that satisfying feeling when you get to cross a quilt off of your to-do list because you've finally finished it?

Well, today I am hosting Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday (TGIFF) and that's exactly what I want to celebrate with you! If you have any quilts or quilted projects you have recently finished and you've created a blog post about it, share a link for your blog post in the comments.

Books and Blocks Quilt

So, now for the quilt that I have recently finished.

At the beginning of 2024 I decided to create one quilt block for every book that I read.

At the time, I thought I knew how much I was going to read, but I wasn't really expecting to read as much as I did.

The whole idea behind making these quilt blocks was to be able to have a quilt at the end of the year that reminded me of all of the books that I read.

I read 144 books in 2024 (my book count from Goodreads, shown above, is a little lower because I re-read 2 books that I read in 2023 and Goodreads does not add re-read into the total count) and I was not expecting to read that much.

I read every chance I got.

I woke up early in the morning to read.

I read during my 60+ minute commute.

I listened to audiobooks while I was at work and I was doing mindless tasks.

I read during my lunch period.

I read on my way home.

I listened to audiobooks when I was cooking or cleaning.

I would read when I put my kids to bed.

I would read after my kids went to bed instead of watching TV.

Basically, I was always reading.

I read a mixture of physical books, ebooks, and audiobooks. I would usually read 3 different books at the same time, but in different formats. I would listen to one book on audio, read one book on my phone, and then read another in hardcover or paperback.

I joined several book clubs so that I would be encouraged to read and discuss the books.

I even re-read some of my favorite books from last year.

As I started creating the blocks, I decided to use the Ohio Star pattern (I've previously blogged about it here.) 

HOWEVER, by book #48 I was tired of making the Ohio Star. Yes, the Ohio Star is one of my favorite blocks, but there's something you should know about me:

I need change.

I am not one of those people who thrives on routine. I need to inject a little spontaneity and change into my life, while keeping the bulk of it structured and in a routine. 

Because I knew this about myself, I knew that I was going to start hating this project. But like, how could I hate a project that I'd gotten so many other people to fall in love with? Well, I came up with a plan to create a different quilt block for every quarter of the year. 

For the months of January, February, and March I made the Ohio Star block.

For the months of April, May, and June I made the Friendship Star block.

For the months of July, August, and September I made the Double Friendship Star block.

For the months of October, November, and December I made an Ohio Star Variation block. 

I loved this idea because I was able to get familiar with the pattern, but I wasn't bored with it. Also, I can look at the blocks in my quilt and get a little bit more data from them, such as when I read the books, and not have to worry about keeping my blocks in order of the books I read.

Along the way I laid out my blocks to get an idea of what my quilt would look like.

When I finished the first three months I laid them out. 

I decided early on that I liked placing my blocks to create a color gradient instead of organizing the blocks in the order I read them, as a temperature quilt is created.

Halfway through the year I laid them out. 

My quilt was starting to come together and I was really excited. 

After the first nine months of the year, I laid the quilt blocks out again.

The quilt was coming along nicely. And then, I had to totally mess it up. 

For the final three months of the year I accidentally made the quilt block an inch and a half BIGGER than the rest of my blocks. I only realized this after I had made about 10 blocks. At this point I didn't want to re-do them so I said it would be a future-Lauren problem. 

Now that the year is completed and I have completed all of my blocks, I am organizing my quilt, and it's a little more complicated than I had planned. 

Somehow there's a life lesson in this project: you can do all the planning you want, but sometimes we make mistakes and we have to pivot our plans. 

Well, I had to totally scrap my idea of making a quadrant grid for my quilt. The initial plan was to place the blocks that correspond to the same quarter of the year in the same quadrant. 

January -March blocks would go in the upper left quadrant.

April-June blocks would go in the upper right quadrant. 

July-September blocks would go in the lower left quadrant. 

October-December blocks would go in the lower right quadrant. 

Only one problem: my blocks didn't fit. 

Now was the time for me to get creative.

I still wanted to create some sort of color gradient so I organized my blocks in piles of colors and got to work laying out my new quilt.

 

Now that all of my blocks are finally complete, I am able to piece them all together, and, surprisingly, they all fit!

It's not completely finished yet (oops). I will be adding some personalization on the bottom right-hand corner and I need to quilt it. I am thinking of doing some kind of book pantograph for the quilting.

The book block quilt was such a fun project and I'm excited to start another one in 2025.

Share a link to your recent finished quilt project in the comments. I can't wait to see all of the creativity.