Friday Night Sew-In Results

I didn't sit down at my sewing machine until 10:30 last night. I didn't really expect to get anything done but my husband kept pestering me to go do something. So I did and surprised myself with how much I got done.

 My husband casually mentioned this week that a guy at work and his wife were expecting a baby during the holidays. I asked if they would like a quilt (expecting the answer to be no), and he said yes. I had 2 charm packs each of Egg Blue and Chartre green bella solids (minus 2 squares of each colour that I used for a failed block). I decided to make a bunch of half square triangles. I got 22 pairs sewed together Wednesday night and 60 pairs sewed together last night. I started cutting them but since it was getting late I decided it was probably best to stop using the rotary cutter and started another project!

I have had a jelly roll of Prayer Flag for a few months and bought a cream jelly roll about a month ago to go with it. Sewing them in pairs, then I will cut them up into blocks. This quilt will be a gift sometime next year. Just needed some mindless sewing. I got 4 pairs sewed together last night.

One project I had got out but didn't get to, was making this stack of flannel into pillow cases for my kids. Hope to do it this week when they are at school and use the pillowcases to "wrap" odd shaped Christmas presents.

This week, my husband and I moved my sewing table and stuff into our bedroom. It had been in the garage but it is getting too cold to be out there. I had been using the kitchen table but was getting a little sick of moving my stuff back and forth everyday. Now I can just crawl out of bed and start sewing.

Go here to visit Heidi's blog to see what everyone else got done last night.

Friday

Well, it's Friday. I'm so close to being done the gifts that need to be shipped. I finished a quilt Wednesday night but can't show pictures here. I have one gift left. It feels like it is taking me forever.

I am working on a vest for my brother. This is the back. I finished it yesterday after I took this photo.

This is as far as I got on the front yesterday evening. I want to mail this tomorrow. Part of me is saying rip it out and make him a plain stockinette front instead of the cables which are slowing me down. The other part of me knows no matter what I decide it isn't going to be done tomorrow so I should just do what I originally intended. I think I am going to keep the cables and mail the rest of his family's gifts tomorrow and just mail his when I get it done. I would rather pay express for just his gift than his whole family (he has 4 girls). 

So tonight is Friday Night Sew-In. I'm not going to force myself to work on his vest. I'll probably work on it a bit but I am going to let myself work on some other, not so urgent projects as well. Go here to sign up for FNSI. There will be another one next Friday too.

More Holiday Finishes

Our little tree is up. Our snowman countdown calendar is hanging behind it and there's a new tree skirt underneath. 

I used some squares from a layer cake (The Caroler, I think), and cut them into wedges. 

I finished these 4 placemats. I pinned all 4 on a half yard of fabric and sewed random lines across them. Trimmed and bound them.

They are a little small, so I have been calling them snack mats. 

And yes, I showed this scarf last week. I didn't make another. I blocked this scarf twice but it refused to be flat.

As I ripped it apart I crocheted it into this ribbed scarf. I am happy to report that this one lies flat.

Made this circle pillow for a niece. Used "Diego" blue (or as close as I could get) since she is a big fan.

Another scarf for a nephew. 

First box of presents from family arrived on Saturday. My SIL included some quilting magazines. Thanks Michelle. I looked at them all quickly but hope to look at them properly once things settle down.

Here they are... first 2 packages sealed up and ready to go. I mailed them yesterday. I hope to mail 2 more tomorrow and the last 2 on Friday. 

And if I get everything mailed off, I will celebrate Friday evening with Friday Night Sew-In. There are 2 this month.  Go here to sign up.

A Finish for Friday

Cross another one off the list! Finished this quilt about an hour ago. It's a Christmas present and needs to be shipped soon to arrive on time. I bought the vintage quilt top from etsy a few years ago and then just let it sit around and get moved twice. Finally dug it out this year and forced myself to quilt it or give the top to someone else. I added the borders last month during Friday Night Sew-In. 

This would be a small twin - definitely long enough but probably not wide enough. I was thinking of this being more of a quilt for resting on the couch. Great size for 1 person, but could fit across 2 laps of if you turned it. Hope they like it.

Linking up at Crazy Mom Quilts, Finish it Up Friday.

You can see all my other finishes this week, here and here.

November UFO

November UFO, #3 is done! It's the Glow Happy quilt designed by Happy Zombie using her Holiday Happy fabric. You can find the pattern here or on her blog. I bought the fabric for this quilt last year on Cyber Monday. Happy to have it done.

Well, almost done. I ran out of black floss for the last lantern. Going to Michael's this weekend and I will pick up more. Should take less than an hour to finish the strings. Everything else is complete though, so I am considering it finished.

Stipple quilted in the white sections and then each part of the lantern is quilted as well. I mainly outlined the pattern in the fabric. The gnomes I just  went around to make them pop. On the snowflake fabric I free-motioned little snowflakes.

I love this quilt. For an hour while adding the black embroidery I thought of giving it away for Christmas but decided to keep it. Here it is hanging in the hallway outside our bedroom. I also put up some other Winter quilts this morning. The quilt at the top of the stairs is Primitive Joy designed by my sister. I got to test the pattern but you can buy the pattern, here.

This is a quilt I made last year (or maybe the year before?), and had put in my etsy shop but no one bought so I decided to keep it. It's hanging in our bedroom.

Some other finishes since Tuesday, include this scarf for a BIL. It is currently being blocked on the living room floor. 2 skeins of bulky yarn make for a great, quick gift.

Finished these 2 pillows. Also a Christmas gift.

Finished the Tree skirt for my SIL and her family. It's flannel and the snowmen are felt. I rarely ever work with these materials and I don't know what possessed me to do it now. I hope it works okay. If this one falls apart, I'll make you a better one, Michelle.

I tried to fuse the felt to the flannel. Didn't happen, but it did cause the red felt to bleed on one of the snowmen. I had a dry iron so not sure exactly how I did it - maybe kept the iron too long in one spot. The other 2 are fine.

Last post I mentioned that I had made a list of what I needed to finish and make before Christmas. Of the 31 things on the list, 8 are complete and 2 have been crossed off - not happening this year :) 8 more need to be finished and in the mail by next Saturday to reach their destination in time. 8 doesn't seem like a lot except the 8 include 2 quilts that need to be quilted and a cardigan that has only been cast on. Guess I need to get back to work.

Go to Judy's blog to see other completed November UFO's.

Keeping Busy

I made a list the other day and there were 31 things I needed to make or finish by Christmas. Most of those in the next 2 weeks so they will arrive on time to family in Canada. I brought everything into the living room and made a big pile to figure out what I actually had. I was able to eliminate 1 thing from my list.

Finished these capes for 2 of my nieces several weeks ago, all they needed was snaps and buttons. Done. Cross it off the list.

Needed something small for another niece. Made this cute little basket yesterday. Cross it off the list.

Stuffed and closed these pillows for my son and nephew. Cross them off the list too.

I finished this table topper a couple weeks ago and decided to give it away as a present - preventing an item from being added to the list is just as good.

When I need a break there are a few other things to keep me busy. Like the latest issue of Interweave Knits. Does it look a little strange? My son dropped it in the snow and I found it 2 days later.

I dried it out, but it's a little big.

I forgot to post that I have Issue 3 and 4 of the 100 Blocks magazine because my sister has a block in both and gave me a copy. What a great sis!

Here are her blocks.

Comparing the 2 Block magazines to the 1 knitting magazine. You have to admit it's kind of funny. When I asked him about it, he said, "I thought I dropped something." My husband can't believe I kept it.

And last, but certainly not least, I participated in National Novel Writing Month this month and... I wrote the required 50,000 words. It's not finished but it felt great to write. Hope to finish it up once the crafting marathon is over. 

Finish It Up Friday?

Linking up at Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish It Up Friday. Better late than never, right? 

Last Saturday I cut 8 spools of ribbon into 4 inch pieces.

I sewed the ribbons in half and then pinned them on styrofoam trees. These are teacher gifts for my sons 2 kindergarten teachers. Still need to buy something to stick in the top. I'm still working on a bigger tree to give or keep but ran out of ribbon.

Last weekend, my kids worked on making ornaments to give relatives, friends and teachers. Here is my son with 5 of the 8 that he made. He was pretty proud of himself.

I finally finished this scarf. Christmas present. 

Finished this shawlette but since it is for a child it will fit more like a shawl. This is a Christmas present for a niece. I made one in light purple this summer for her sister.

I love the leaf lace design in the middle.

Hopefully next week I will have some quilted finishes. I have several projects that need to get finished in the next 2 weeks so they will arrive in time for Christmas. Fingers are crossed that I get everything done in time.