A Lovely Year of Finishes

I received an invitation today to join Melissa of Sew BitterSweet Designs and Shanna of Fiber of All Sorts' 2013 challenge, A Lovely Year of Finishes. I'd seen it described on both of their blogs, but hesitated to join in because I'm trying to go commitment light in 2013 (what with a baby expected mid-year and all). But when the invitation came on Flickr, I couldn't resist.  Here's how it works (copied from their blogs):

Each month pick one project, anything you like (it can even be an entirely new project, so long as you can finish it in the current month) and tell yourself, “I Will Finish It.” Then write a blog post about the project and link it up to our Goal Setting linky party. Spend the rest of the month working on your finish. We will have a mid-month check, and though you are not required to link up to that post, it would be fun to see your progress! Finally, after you have finished your project, write a second (or third) post showing us your Lovely Finish and link it up to our “Finishes Party.”

Other group members posted mosaics of their 2012 finishes, so I joined right in and made my own. I was disappointed to realize that there were some projects I didn't take finished photographs of, like my wonky log cabin placemats (Update! Found the photo but not going to redo the mosaic). I also haven't taken good photos of the Hungry Caterpillar quilt yet, due to Snot-fest-chez-us and copious amounts to snow.  

Here's the mosaic of my finished bee blocks:

I think I can make this happen, if I keep my ambitions within reason. June might be tricky...I wonder if finishing growing a human being can count as my June project?

Coming out of Hibernation

Our house has not been a fun place to be lately. We are entering week three of snot-fest 2012. All three of us are suffering terrible colds and are basically miserable. Mid-illness, we bundled ourselves up, packed our suitcases, and headed to Ottawa to visit family for six days. We had a nice time, but were happy to be home in our own beds.

Needless to say, not much sewing has been done. I did manage to redo Christine's herringbone block. Recall that I'd ended up with an off centre result the first time around:

The second time around went much better and I'm pleased with the block. You'll notice that the crown fabric is upside down, hence my reversing the top of the block in this photo. Hopefully it won't be out of place in the final quilt top arrangement.

I'll be sending both of these blocks off in the mail tomorrow. Maybe Christine will be able to use the wonky block in her quilt back. 

Next up for me is another baby quilt. I'm excited to get it started!

Lucky Stars? Yes Please!

Have you heard about the Block of the Month club that Elizabeth is running over at Don't Call Me Betsy?  It's a Paper Piecing BOM and the blocks are all stars. Members will receive a block a month in two different sizes (12 inch and 6 inch), plus regular Google chats for members only and support from Elizabeth throughout!  Right now it's only $10 USD to join (the price will go up on January 5).

Since I've decided not to sign up for any year long bees in 2013 (with a baby on the way in June, I'm going commitment-lite in 2013) this is perfect for me. There's no one counting on me to finish on time and there's something new to look forward to every month. I noticed many of my Sewing Summit Flickr friends signing up already, and the BOM was just announced today!

I'm already beginning to think about what fabrics to make this quilt with. Dare I use my Liberty of London quilting cotton? Or should I go with solids? I still have a huge stack of blue and green Kona FQs put aside. Or maybe I'll just stash bust...

Anyone else thinking of joining in? Come on, you know you want to! 

It Started So Well...

Everything was going along well. The fabrics were lovely, the pattern was easy to follow and I was going to finish ahead of schedule.

I carefully trimmed the block as directed. I thought I'd measured correctly, 6.5 inches from the centre of the red triangle. And yet. Clearly it is NOT centred. Ugh! I really don't want to redo the block. There are so many other projects I'd rather be working on. Bummer.

WIP Wednesday: The Sidetracked Edition

What I should be working on: Christine's December block for the We Bee Learning Bee. It's a Broken Herringbone block (Play Craft's tutorial is here). Aqua, red and grey has been an incredibly popular colour combination and this is the first time I've used them together. So far, so good.

The other project I should be working on: finishing the binding on the Hungry Caterpillar Quilt. I'm making progress, inch by inch, but my attention is elsewhere.

I've caught the hexie bug! All I want to do is add to my hexagon block. I plan to keep adding hexies until I have a 12.5 by 12.5 block to add to my collection of plum and chartreuse blocks (acquired via the 3 x 6 bee on Flickr).

On Deck
Bungle Jungle baby quilt
A second baby quilt for a friend - maybe using my Flora charms?

In Progress

Hedgies & Hexies block

Farmer's Wife QAL - I'm on block 17 now

Hungry Caterpillar Quilt - almost done, just a little binding to sew down

We Bee Learning December block

Curious Nature quilt - no progress

Sew Intertwined quilt -no progress

Flora Charm Quilt - no progress

Hibernating projects

Levi's Growth Chart - no progress

NY Beauty QAL - no progress

We Bee Learning Bee/Levi's Bed Quilt - No progress

I'm linking up with  Freshly Pieced and the Canadian Needle and Thread Network. Head on over to see what everyone else is working on.

Hexies and Hedgies

I decided not to take the English Paper Piecing class at Sewing Summit last October. To be honest, I really didn't understand what all the fuss was about sewing hexies. Sure, they are cute, but why was everyone in blogland so obsessed with them? I do love learning new techniques though, and I've heard that EPP is great for using up scraps. I have a LOT of scraps. So, when I saw that Johanna was teaching a three hour workshop at The Workroom, I signed up.

You guys, I drank the kool-aid! Hexies are SO. MUCH. FUN! They are perfect for fussy cutting. Plus, they are totally portable. 

I'll but using these first flowers to make a block for my grey, chartreuse and plum sampler quilt. I need around six more blocks to make a lap sized quilt. These hexies will be a great addition.

WIP Wednesday: New Canadian Fabric Spot!

It has been a productive week. I just started sewing down the back of the binding on my Hungry Caterpillar quilt! It looks like all that worry about my FMQ pebbles was unnecessary because the quilting looks amazing. Check out the free-style stitching I did in the white space.

Not bad, eh? I can't wait to pack this beauty up and send it off to my friend. It's such a wonderful feeling to make something special for someone you love.

I picked up two charm packs for Bungle Jungle from a new online shop called My Fabric Spot. Karen carries a ton of Kona Solids, organic cottons and really lovely designer fabrics. Best part? It's Canadian! I placeed my order on Monday night and my fabric arrived today. Inexpensive shipping and no customs charges? Now that's something to celebrate.

These charms are destined for a another baby quilt, this one for my cousin. I'm going to base the design on I made for Nita recently.

Using charms, this will sew up very quickly.  I'm thinking three or four wonky stars in gold, a thin royal blue border and a thick gold outer border. Sweet, simple and the perfect welcome for a new addition to our extended family.

And now for the weekly WIP list.

In Progress

Farmer's Wife QAL - I'm on block 17 now

Hungry Caterpillar Quilt - almost done, just a little binding to sew down

We Bee Learning December block

Curious Nature quilt - no progress

Sew Intertwined quilt -no progress

Flora Charm Quilt - no progress

Hibernating projects

Levi's Growth Chart - no progress

NY Beauty QAL - no progress

We Bee Learning Bee/Levi's Bed Quilt - No progress

I'm linking up with  Freshly Pieced and the Canadian Needle and Thread Network. Head on over to see what everyone else is working on.

Weekend Round-up

When the concierge called to say there was a package for me at the front desk, I said to my husband, "I didn't order any fabric!" What could it be? Only the nicest surprise ever! My friend Shannon (who blogs at Hello My Name is Quilt) recently went to the Denyse Schmidt and picked up these awesome note cards for me. How sweet is she!? I was so touched,

In other news, I took a trip to The Workroom today to choose binding fabric for The Hungry Caterpillar quilt. They had just received Simply Color, the fabulous collection by V and Co. In addition to some lovely prints, there are seven ombre fabrics. I chose the grassy green and think it will make the perfect binding. I also picked up the ikat print in three colours, and a grey chevron.

Finally, I chose fabric from my final block of the We Bee Learning bee. I had thought we were done and that there was no December mama, but it turns out it's Christine's month. She chose a fractured herringbone block in red, aqua/teal and grey. Here's the stack I selected.

What did you get up to this weekend?