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.

Friday Night Sew-In Results

Last night was the school carnival. One of the activities was too make a sheep with some real wool, sheared from the teacher's sheep. My daughter's is at the top, son's is on the bottom.

After the carnival is was time for the kids to go to bed and then I finally got to do some sewing. The top above is a vintage quilt top I bought on etsy a few years ago. It's just been sitting around, waiting for me to do something with it. Last night I added the border.

And pieced a back for it. Hope to quilt it this week and mail if off as a Christmas present.

Started a tree skirt for my SIL's family. Going to add some applique to the blue triangles. 

Made these pillows for my son and nephew. Still need to stuff them.

Go visit Heidi's blog to see what every else did last night.

Friday Finishes

Linking up at Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish It Up Friday. Go here to add your finishes or to see what others have finished this week.

I finished this little wall hanging yesterday. It was our 10th anniversary yesterday and we had decided no gifts but I thought of this on Monday and had the Superman and Green Lantern done by that afternoon I had to go buy some yellow and black before I could make the Batman and Wonder Woman blocks on Wednesday.

It is currently hanging at the top of our stairs. 

I know it's a Halloween quilt, but I finally finished it this week.

Since I'm so late it getting it quilted it just got stippling all over in black. Nice to have it done and put away.

Finished Block 3 and...

... and Block 4 of the Fat Quarter Stars Quilt Along hosted by Moose on the Porch Quilts.

Here are the first 4 blocks all together. You can check out more details, here.

And tonight is Friday Night Sew-In. Not sure how much I will get done as we will be spending part of the evening at the School Carnival. Fingers crossed that I will have some energy left to do something. Go here to sign up.

In Progress

I started this scarf at the end of last week. It will be a Christmas gift. This is how far along I was Saturday morning when I pulled it out to work on while my daughter was doing gymnastics.

This is how long it is today. I finished the first skein and just started the second. It measures 26 inches so far. I have a third almost full skein of this yarn, so by the end it should be around 65 inches long. Plenty long for a man.

I love the colour pattern of this yarn. It is a simple knitting pattern. 10 rows of stockinette, followed by 4 rows of garter. 3 stitches on each end are worked in garter for the whole scarf. 

My mom asked for a pillowcase to match the Christmas Avalon quilt I gave her. Unfortunately I don't have any pieces big enough and I didn't want to piece to much (no one likes to sleep on seams), but I did have a big piece of this tartan fabric. It's a light flannel, I think. I think she'll still like it and she can use it year round, not just at Christmas.

Started quilting my November UFO, #3. I barely touched my October UFO (#5) - just ironed fabrics. This one is looking like it might end up being a finish!

Friday Finishes

It's been a busy week here. Kids only had 3 days of school. Parent-teacher conferences and all the other fun things that come with days off, like little friends over. Somehow this week, I found the time to finish some projects and it felt great to cross something off my list. Above is an owl rug I made for my niece's birthday. Her birthday is on Monday and I know it won't arrive on time, but it is in the mail and should arrive next week. I first saw a picture of this on pinterest, here and discovered it had been sold by Peanut Butter Dynamite on etsy (not sure if she still makes it). I decided that I could figure it out without a pattern and was able to use yarn from my stash. I think it's cute and am tempted to make another.

The big finish for the week is my log cabin quilt. I call it my charmed log cabin as I used charm squares for the middle. The logs are from 2 jelly rolls and that's all I needed other than backing. There were enough pieces of the jelly rolls leftover to do the binding. I love this quilt! I finished it Wednesday afternoon and ran outside and took pictures right away since it was so sunny. It's been overcast the past 2 days so I'm really glad I did. Still need to wash it. It's a large twin, a little too big for on the couch since it is so long.

When the "Origins" fabric line first came out, I didn't really like it. Then I saw it in person and I fell in love. Which has kind of been good because by then people were trying to move it and put it on sale. I hope to write up a quick tutorial of how I made the blocks but it is pretty straight forward.

I think it looks good on the back of the couch for now. Adds a little colour to the room. I offered it to my mom for the twin bed in her guest room. The walls are a pale yellow and I think the quilt would look great in it, but... I'm not sure I can let it go.

Finished the Terrain quilt top last night. I decided on sashing and squares between the blocks.

I was a little worried when I finished it last night and laid it on the floor but I put it on our bed this morning and it looks like it will fit. There is enough to tuck in and it goes over the side. Guess it won't need any extra borders. Going to start saving up so I can buy Terrain yardage for the back. I have already folded the top up and put it away; there's no time to quilt it now. I hope to have it done by late spring, early summer next year. I think it will make a great summer quilt. 

I used a tutorial from Moda Bakeshop. I added more blocks so it would be bigger and I changed the sashing. I also used jelly roll strips for the blocks instead of 1.5 inch strips to make the blocks a little bigger.

I love the secondary pattern that the sashing creates. It almost looks like the square is the middle of the block. I am very happy with how this turned out.

I cleaned up my sewing area last weekend and came across all the triangles I've saved when making different blocks. I also found some white that I had cut up but didn't end up using. I played around last night and ended up creating this little mini quilt. I think it is about 8 inches square.

I almost like the back better.

Here it is sitting on the mantle with a fall tree my son made at school and a Thanksgiving card from my parents (for Canadian Thanksgiving last month). 

Time to prioritize

Here's the quilt I had hoped to have done this week and put in the Blogger's Quilt Festival. As you can see, it's not finished.

Of the 40 blocks, only 8 are quilted in these free-motion flowers. 

Events happened this week, that made us sit back and think about what was really important. On Tuesday morning I got a call from my daughter's school - seen in the picture above, photo taken from our back porch - that she had been hurt at recess and was probably going to need stitches. I contacted my husband at work and then ran across the field to go get her. Playing during recess, a friend had bumped into my daughter's chin, causing her teeth to cut her upper lip and inside her mouth. There was lots of blood, her winter coat had to be thrown out and she indeed needed stitches. At first she got 3, but we went back that night and 4 more were put in. She has been super brave, completely amazing and stoic. We have spent a lot of time this week spoiling her - letting her eat ice cream and drink Mountain Dew - and last night we took her out to buy a new winter coat and a toy of her choosing. 

So, this week it was time to prioritize what was important and quilting wasn't one of them. We hope to see her big smile again soon.