Last finishes of 2011

I finished this in early December but couldn't share it here as it was a gift. I made this log cabin quilt for my mom. It's about 56 inches square - perfect for her to cuddle under and nap on the couch. I had already made her 2 slipcovers for her living room pillows which I blogged about here.

I free-motioned with blue thread in the blue and with black in the black. I used red and quilted a heart in each red square. I tried to get a picture of a heart but it was impossible, you'll just have to take my word for it.

For the back I used some stamp themed fabrics that I have saving for years to use with a quilt for my mom. I always thought they would be on the front but together they make a very nice back. My mother collects stamps. Then she sends them to me and I take the paper off the back and put them in her stamp collection. 

An outside shot. The blue is a lot brighter than it is appearing in any of these photos. My mom helped pick the blue. She bought new curtains and wanted pillows to match. I decided she needed a new quilt too. 

This is about as good as I could get for the true value of the blue. It's a lovely quilt and if it hadn't been for my mom I might have kept it. I am planning on doing a log cabin for myself this year or next - already have the fabrics picked.

I finished this baby quilt on December 30th. I free-motioned and bound it and then washed it the next day. 

I wanted this finished earlier in December but I couldn't decide how I wanted to quilt it. I love the circles in the blue. 

I used brown for the binding.

The dad of the baby studies plants. I had been saving this remnant for awhile and decided it was a perfect back for this quilt. I added a strip of green to the one side.

And this should have been a 2011 finish. This is my brother's Christmas present. I am aiming to get it done and mailed with his daughter's birthday present by the end of this week. I forced myself to only work on this yesterday and I knit about 10 inches. I started the shaping for the armholes and the neck. Not too much left to do - just need to keep forcing myself to finish it. Then I can cast on something else - like a birthday present for my sister or a pair of socks for me. Or I'll just cast on both.

12 12s for 2012

Happy New Year! Hope everyone had a nice New Year's. We took the kids out to supper and skyped with my parents when it was midnight their time (only 9pm here so the kids got to wish them Happy New Year). 

I have to admit I am really happy to see 2011 go. Not sure why I disliked it so much, it just felt like a blah year and I'm glad to see it go. 2012 is going to be a great year. There is also something about the 12 part of 2012 that is encouraging me to set lots of goals. I have made a list of 12 things I would like to do 12 times in 2012. Some of them are crafty, while others are not. I'll be creating a separate page on the blog to get track and will do a post at the end of each month to sum up what I've done that month. 

Some of the socks knitted in 2011.

 1. 12 pairs of knitted socks

4 of my completed 2011 UFO's.

 2. 12 UFO's finished - see sidebar for list.
3.  Read 12 novels.
4. 12 ornaments.

Gifts made for family in 2011.

5. 12 hand-made gifts.
6. 12 new recipes.
7. 12 letters to my grandparents.
8. 12 craft days with my kids.
9. 12 date/ movie nights with my husband with no crafting or work - we were able to accomplish this on New Year's Eve. I have to admit it felt strange to just sit and watch a movie with no knitting in my hands.
10. Give to 12 charities - some with be made, such as quilts and knitted squares, while others will be monetary.

11. 12 tutorials, patterns or giveaways on the blog.

12. 12 crafted items for the home that aren't quilts. 

Some of my favourite completed quilts of 2011.

I think that is enough to keep me busy.

2012 UFO's

I've decided to join Judy again in aiming to complete 12 UFO's in 2012. One a month. I was able to complete 7 of 12 last year with my December one close to being done, so hopefully I'll be able to say 8 of 12 very soon.

1. Lantern Bloom quilt. This was a quilt I wanted to make so I made the quilt top as a UFO last year. Now I just need to quilt it.

2. Patchwork Panche. This was on the list last year. It is a king sized quilt. I was able to quilt the middle section but would like to finish it. It takes up a lot of space. Not sure what will become of this quilt - keep? gift? charity?

3. This is the only block I made of 4 planned using a Just Wing It Layer cake. I had planned on doing a tutorial for the block so I didn't finish it as I needed to take pictures as I went. Need to finish piecing the last 3 blocks, piece the top together and quilt it.

4. Terrain quilt for us. Top done, just needs to be quilted.

5. Billboard quilt inspired by Elizabeth of Oh, Fransson! You can see hers here. I have the quote and fabrics picked out. This project just kept being pushed aside but I really want to finish it.

6. Prayer flag quilt. Lap sized quilt using a Prayer flag and cream jelly roll. Strips are pieced and ironed and some are cut. I would like to gift this to my husband's supervisor before we move this summer.

7. I tested this pattern for my sister but never finished it. Just needs some applique (or embroidery?) in the cream blocks and then quilted. Needs a good ironing too.

8. and 9. Dresden Quilt from Material Obsession. This quilt will get 2 months. It was on my list for 2011 but all I got done was 141 wedges cut. Got myself up to 180 the other night. Need to cut 76 more. I am only making a lap sized quilt (16 blocks). Giving myself 1 month to piece the blocks and the second month to quilt it.

10. Snowbound. This was also on my 2011 UFO list and didn't get completed. Still need to finish the last 7 blocks and quilt it.

11. My sister sent me this quilt top last year at Christmas and it has been sitting on my shelf since then. Going to quilt it and donate it to charity.

12. My sister also sent me this quilt top. I always think of this as the Man Quilt. Don't know why, just what it's been called in my head. Going to add some borders to make this a little bigger and quilt it. Offering it to my parents for their trailer or it will be going to charity.

Do you have some UFO's that you would like to finish next year? Sign up at Judy's by the end of the year.

Merry Christmas!

I know I'm a little late in wishing everyone a Happy Holiday season but I've just been too exhausted to post anything the past week. Here is a little of what we received and gave this year.

My SIL, made this quilt for my husband. They use to play Mega-Man together when they were little. Isn't it awesome?! He really likes it. It will be going up in either our bedroom or at the top of the stairs.

Flannel pillow case I made for my son.

Flannel pillowcase I made for my daughter. All the fabrics for the pillowcases are from the remnant bin at JoAnn's so together they may have costed me $5. Kids like them.

Wallhanging my sister made me.

Books and circle cutter from my parents. 

Fabric from my family.

Yarn from my son and the calendar was a gift to myself.

A Green Lantern Tea cozy from my sister to my husband.

You may have seen this button on my sidebar. It's been there for awhile but I haven't posted anything about it. When I saw the layout of the quilt it reminded me of a quilt I had designed for my son. Going to do this one instead.

Star and planet fabrics I have been saving for his quilt. I should have enough to make it. Now I just need to start. I don't think I'll have it done for his birthday in a few weeks but hopefully I will have a few blocks to show by then. Go here to learn more about the quilt along.

I'll be back soon to post my 2012 UFO's.

Keeping Busy

Just like everyone else I am busy trying to finish up some Christmas presents and enjoy time with my family. Here's a bit of what we've been up to the last few days.

So Fun Fabrics is closing at the end of the year - everything is marked down 40%. I picked the above Cloud 9 fabrics at a great price. She has lots of other great stuff still available - you should go check it out. I might make one more visit before she closes.

Cardigan for my son. He requested a new cardigan with pockets and a hood and in lots of blues. The yarn is much darker than it appears in the photo. It is a little hard to see since it is still on the circular needles but there is a cable running up each side, beside the button band. I have about 3 more inches to knit before I split it up to make the arm holes. Glad it is a chunky yarn and working up fast. Pattern can be found here.

Sewed 7 more rows onto the chevron baby quilt. Also made it 2 blocks wider than it was.

Here are the next 4 rows trimmed and ready to be pieced together.

Last 3 rows waiting to be trimmed and pieced. I have more if I decide to make the quilt longer. 

Also trimmed 28 of the 35 string blocks I made Friday night. I would go back and forth between trimming these and the little squares above. I'll finish the last 7 when I am done trimming the last 3 rows of the chevron quilt. This is my December UFO. I hope to post my 2012 UFO list later this week. Go to Judy's blog to sign up or see other 2012 UFO list.

Made blocks 5 and 6 for the Fat Quarter Stars Quilt Along last night. Block 7 was put up yesterday and it uses templates! Should be interesting.

And when I'm not crafting, the kids and I made some chocolate chip cookies to be eaten with hot chocolate and marshmallows. This was a new recipe for us - it has hot chocolate mix in the cookies. We also dumped what was left of our chocolate chips and M & M's into the dough. It only takes about 3 cookies before your belly starts aching. They are great for eating while watching Holiday movies.

We also worked on our first 3D puzzle. Bought for $1.50 at Salvation Army it was missing 9 pieces. Oh well. Still fun to do. The kids helped for the first little bit, then got bored and went and played. Even incomplete they were pretty impressed with the final pyramid. My son put a snowflake at the top and called it our Christmas Pyramid.

Of my list of 31 things to do this month, I have completed 15; 6 were eliminated; 3 are delayed (2 of them are started) and 7 are left to finish (3 started). What would I like to have finished by Sunday? - 2 pillowcases (one for each child), my son's cardigan and a skirt for my daughter (which I haven't started yet). The other 3 projects for the month are another ribbon tree, my December UFO and an advent calendar to use every year that could fit chocolates or other little gifts in each pocket. I wanted it done for this year but that didn't happen. Leaving it on the list because I know I'd rather do it now than leave it until next year.

Time to get back to work/ eating cookies/ watching holiday movies.

Friday Night Sew-In Results

Last night was the last Friday Night Sew-In of 2011. I spent about 4 hours at the sewing machine working on projects that aren't for Christmas. It felt great.

I knitted the day away trying to finish this shawl for my daughter's piano teacher. She had her last lesson of the year at 5:15pm. I knitted until 4:30, did the 6 rows of garter for the border, weaved in the ends, put it in a gift bag and then we were off to the lesson. It ended up being about 41 inches long - meaning I knit 18 inches yesterday. So glad it's done and she really liked it.

Close up of lace pattern. 

Had my daughter take this quick picture of me wearing it just before we went out the door. I think she even had her coat on.

Once we got home from piano lessons and had some supper, I headed to my sewing machine - glad to be away from knitting needles. I was able to trim and piece 24 of the hst's I made last FNSI for the first 2 rows of the baby quilt. This is for a coworker of my husband's that is expecting a baby boy during the holidays. I really wanted to work on this but I wasn't in the mood for trimming so I switched to a different project.

This is my December UFO. It is a string quilt I started in 2009. I have 5 rows done with 7 blocks in each row. I wanted to add 5 more rows. Earlier this year I was really nice to myself and cut the remaining foundation squares and made sure I had enough centre strips. 

Last night I made the 35 remaining blocks! I am totally stunned. I really had to push myself to get the last  few done but I am so happy that I did. They need to be ironed, then trimmed, but then I can finish piecing the front. As I was working on it last night I decided that I am going to donate the quilt when it is finished. It should end up being twin size.

Now I have to find room in my scrap bins for the remaining strips (I have several small bins and scraps are organized by colour). The box looks huge in the picture but this is just a shoe box and not even half full. I even tossed some pieces that were small (less than an inch wide and some other small pieces) - it felt great to admit that I was never going to use them. 

Go to Heidi's blog to see what everyone else did last night. Thanks to Heidi and Bobbi for hosting FNSI and keeping so many of us motivated. 

Now I have to get back to the Christmas knitting.