Making progress

I missed writing an October round-up or what my goals are for November, although I think last week's post about all my knitting projects kind of counts. I've been making progress on lots of things the past few weeks which included piecing a quilt top that's a gift and can't be shown here. You'll just have to trust me that I did it.

I ironed this stack of fabric and made 3 quilt backs. One for the surprise quilt, mentioned above (it's roughly twin size). I also made backs for the advent quilt and the Made-in-Cherry quilt. That was a lot of work but glad to have it done.

I finally wrapped these twigs that had been sitting on my desk for months. The little ones will probably end up as gifts. The bigger one is supposed to be for me, but I might gift it too. We'll see. They are already attached to the canvas. Just need to knit the little critters that sit on the branches.

The advent quilt. Ironed and cut all the white strips and got half of them sewn on. I set this aside to finish the surprise quilt which needed to get finished. 

I moved the books to be hollowed out to the kitchen so I can work on them whenever I have a spare minute while cooking. The counter is higher than my desk so I prefer working on them here anyway.

I should have some finishes to share later this week. Blocked the finished Savanna shawl this morning. Had to use pins so it is drying in my daughter's room, away from the toddler. 

Goals? What goals?

With only a week left in October I have concluded that this month totally kicked my butt. I don't know where the time went but I'm not ready for November or for the month after that. I feel like there is still so much to do before the year ends and I don't know where to start. I need to make a list to prioritize the crafts that need to be finished. Like the secret project that is nowhere near done that should be in the mail by the end of the month. Lucky for us the fall sport season is winding down for the kids with nothing on the schedule until next year. It will be nice to get our Saturdays back. 

And my goals for October? Yeah... the Pumpkin quilt still hasn't been touched. I've looked at it and have wanted to start it but there's too much other crap on my desk. Think I might start a UFO list for 2015. There are several quilts that are taking up space and need to be finished. After the holidays I think I'll be going on a stash diet, at least for the first 3 months. No new yarn or fabric unless necessary to complete a project (such as backing for a quilt or if I run out of yarn for a project). I'd like to see a real dent in the fabric and yarn stash so I can organize things properly and not just try to find room for everything. I'm sick of moving stuff from place to place. I'm also starting to think I have too many plans for 2015.

Onto better things. I started the right front of my mom's cardigan yesterday. It knits up fast and I am forcing myself to work on it. I'd loved to finish this cardigan next week and cross another Christmas gift off the list.

I knit a little more of the Savanna shawl I started for myself. The yarn is so soft. It's a delight to knit with.

And I wasn't going to do NaNoWriMo this year. I decided to give myself a day to work on ideas. To see if there were any that were wanting to be written. I found one and wrote the 5 page chapter outline above in a day. We'll see how I feel on November 1st. I may start it or leave it for another time. If I do start it next month, I may participate in the local writing group. The kick-off party is this Sunday at the library and there are several write-ins at the library next month as well. It would be neat to meet other writers crazy enough to do NaNoWriMo but I'm not really a people person or comfortable in a crowd so I'll probably chicken out.

Friday Night Sew-In results

I felt like I did a lot yesterday for Friday Night Sew-In but I didn't even touch my sewing machine. A lot of prep work for two different quilts with a bit of knitting at the end of the night. 

Working on a secret quilt project with my kids. Had them draw some blocks yesterday afternoon after school. Bottom 2 are by my daughter. The one on the top left is by the little guy and the other two were drawn by my older son. Each one required 4 minutes of ironing to set the marker. I also drew 2 blocks but I didn't take a picture of them.

Here's a close-up of the little guy's block. He loved putting the markers back in the box and did that over and over again for almost an hour while I was busy ironing. It helped that the bottom opened and the markers would fall out. He'd just pick them right back up and put them back in the box. Adorable.

Finishing up this Advent quilt is one of my October goals. I really wanted to start a new project last night but I forced myself to work on this instead. All I was able to get done last night were the numbers. Cutting them out took much longer than I had expected. They are ironed on but I still need to stitch over them. Then I can attach them to their pocket backs. I am really loving this. We decided to make an Advent quilt since we have 3 very different kids, that are 3 very different ages and this will allow some custom advent gifts. Most of the days will be treats like chocolate and candy canes but at least one day will include a handmade gift (perhaps hats) and books will be given another day. I also plan on putting in some family activities. 

I was able to get 4 rows of this shawl knit. I only have 8 rows left in the border before this gift is finished but...

... at over 350 stitches per row it feels like it is taking forever to finish.

Go here to see what everyone else did last night.

October Goals - Stocking done!

One of my goals for October was to make a stocking for my son to be used at my parents house. Since my parents were visiting for Thanksgiving this past weekend I wanted to finish it and send it home with them. A couple weeks ago I took some orange Cascade 220 and started knitting a big piece in stockinette. When I was finished it could stretch to about 30 inches square. I then felted it in the washing machine (took 2washes) until it was how I wanted it. 

I used the stocking template my sister offers and that I have used for other stockings in the past.

I used a sharpie to trace a stocking shape and sewed near/ on the line. I then cut off the extra fabric and turned it right side out.

I had a Great Gonzo appliqué that I attached using my free-motion foot. The stocking was impossible to take a picture of to get the true colours.

Here he is with his new stocking. He's happy with the Gonzo appliqué. Gonzo is one of his names.

We put toys inside to test it out. I think it will work. My mom is happy that it isn't too big.

And if you have time, tonight is Friday Night Sew-In. Go here to sign up. I'll have a post tomorrow of what I'm able to accomplish tonight.

Hollow Books

I worked on some holiday gifts this week as part of my October goals.

I took the plunge and started hollowing out some books. I picked four which included my test book. I followed this tutorial, except for drilling the corners. After finishing one book, I decided that drilling the corners is actually a great idea and did it to the remaining three. I didn't drill the first book partly because both my sick husband and toddler were sleeping while I was doing this and I would have had to dig around for the drill and bits. I also wanted to see if that step was really necessary and now I think it is. I did hollow the book without drilling the corners but it would have been easier with a cleaner look if they had been drilled. 

Here are the books after I mod podged the pages together. The pages and front cover that I don't want glued down are wrapped in saran wrap. The pop cases were the heaviest things I had to cover all four books.

Here is my test book about halfway through the carving. I wish I had a better knife and if this was something I was going to do a lot I'd invest in a quality one. I bought a cheaper one at Michael's that came with several replacement blades.

Both outside corners separated. I am hoping the drilled books won't have this trouble as I won't be tugging at them as much. I think this will be a great gift for kids because who doesn't like to hide stuff from their parents? When I glue the next batch of books one thing I will do differently is look to see if there is a page I want to stop carving at. With the first four I didn't check how many pages there were or if there was a page I wanted to leave uncarved to be the bottom. I think I am done cutting pages from the test book but I still need to glue the edges, both inside and out, and clean up the inside edges so no final pictures yet.

October Goals

Somehow it's October. A new month means time for new goals. Some of these pictures have been on here before because the projects still aren't done.

Knitting Goals

Besides finishing the Dundurn cardigan for my mother and the Sun Rose sweater for my myself, I need to get a start on the sweaters for my 2 boys for Christmas. Both need to be on the needles by the end of the month. The scarf for my daughter might be a good distraction with all this sweater knitting. Have I mentioned that 2015 will be the year of the sock? It is because I think I will need a break from all this sweater knitting in the new year and I need more knitted socks. 

Quilting Goals

The Pumpkin quilt was a goal for September but didn't get touched. I would love to finish it this month.

I would also like to complete our Advent quilt. At least the top. I can quilt it in November.

As much as I would love to have either the Made in Cherry or Terrain quilt on our bed by the end of October, I'd be happy to have the back pieced and the quilt basted. Honestly, I'd like one of these done by the end of the year, the other can wait for January/February.

Since I've sewn all the 2 and 3 inch squares I had cut into blocks for charity quilts already, I've started to cut some more. I haven't been able to spend a lot of time at this, just 5 minutes here and there, but I'd really like all the scraps I have sitting on my desk cut up in the next week or so.

And here's that stack of scraps. They are taking up too much space but I refuse to put them away. I have to deal with my scraps. It would be great to start 2015 with an empty scrap box.

My Rebel Flock quilt still needs to be quilted. If I can decide how I want to quilt it, it will get finished this month. If not, it will wait.

Writing Goals

 Write everyday. So far I've completely failed at this but October is only 3 days old. Maybe the goal should be to write more days than I don't. 

Christmas Gift Goals

Besides starting the sweaters for my sons, I need to get some cousin gifts started and finished. Or decide I'm going to buy them gifts this year.

Do you have any goals for this month? Are you making gifts for Christmas? If so, have you started making them yet?

September Goals - How'd I do?

You can go back to this post to see my original goals for the month. Here's how things went.

Knitting Goals

I made some serious progress on the Dundurn for my mom. I wanted to finish it this month but finishing the back feels almost as good. This took months. It wasn't difficult, I just can't cable with a baby which leaves it to either nap time knitting or late night knitting and I just didn't get it done. So happy to be this far. I feel motivated to finish the whole cardigan up.

Cast on the second sleeve and am making good progress on that too. I finished the first sleeve last year. I started this cardigan last July to give to my mom for Christmas - last year. Maybe this year? 

And I did cast something on for myself even though I didn't finish Dundurn. I couldn't help it. This  sweater is for me and is the Sun Rose pattern. I tried it on last night and decided to add another 1.5 inches to the body before starting the hip increases. 

Quilting Goals

I finished this baby quilt. My sister gave me the quilt top, although I don't believe she made it. I think she won it - I'll have to check with her. It came with the binding. I only had to provide the batting and backing.

I did a very loose free-motion flower quilting all over. This is for a baby girl (a friend's niece) who has a neutral nursery with giraffe accents. I think this will work. The mom didn't want anything really girly.

Pieced 2 green fabrics together to make the back. Glad to have something complete. Only took 4 years.

Finished the Made in Cherry quilt top. Happy with how it turned out. Still need to even out the edges.  I didn't have to buy any greens for the top, all from stash. And I still have some greens left.

A rabbit came by to check out the quilt while I was taking pictures.

I can't wait to quilt this and use it on our bed.

I didn't get the Terrain quilt finished as I ran out of batting and never got to the store to buy some (wasn't on sale anyway). I basted the Rebel Flock quilt but wasn't sure how I wanted to quilt it so I haven't yet. Might need to buy thread for it, too. I haven't bought thread in over a year! 

I also didn't touch the pumpkin quilt. I wanted the pieces ironed and cut this month so I could piece and quilt it in October but that just didn't happen. I did finish up another UFO that I'll post later this week. Sewing the binding down by hand so it's taking longer than usual so it wasn't ready to be photographed this weekend.

Christmas Goals

I did a post last week on how Christmas plans are progressing. 

Writing Goals.

I did some writing. Not enough and definitely not everyday. Will try harder in October. Did have fun with Blackout poetry.

Goals for September

     Friday is a great day to think back over the week and evaluate what I accomplished to what I had planned to do. I'm pretty happy with what I was able to do this week. I finished the test-knit I was working on (it is currently being blocked on our kitchen counter away from little hands), I finished piecing a quilt top, sewed more charity squares together, finished reading 3 books and even did some writing. But to know if I really had a good week, I need to have goals for the month to help keep me focused. Fall is definitely the busy season for any crafty person who likes to make Christmas gifts instead of buy them so I need to find a way to balance gift making with everything else. I need time to make gifts for others and time to make for me, plus time to write and be a good mom. Oh, and time to be a good wife. It's tricky to keep all those things balanced and planning ahead is definitely key. Weekends are good for prepping what I want to do the next week and for doing the things I might not be able to do easily during the week, such as basting quilts with a toddler around. Keeping an eye on my goals for the month also lets me know what I should be using nap times for. Here are my goals for September. 

Quilt Goals

I have three quilts tops I'd like to quilt. One is a baby quilt, one a wallhanging and the other is a full-size quilt for our bed.

I have this stack of fabrics to iron and piece into backs for the above quilts.

Iron and cut these fabrics for a pumpkin quilt I hope to piece and quilt in October.

Finish piecing the Made in Cherry quilt I started a couple years ago. This is just one corner of the center made using 5 inch squares.

Knitting Goals

With two major finishes this past week (my Sweatshirt Sweater and the test-knit) I really want to cast on something new but I need to finish up the Dundurn Cardigan for my mom and the sweater for the Little Guy. I'm going to stay faithful to these two projects for as long as I can take it and then start some holiday knitting.

Christmas Gift Goals

These two shelves are full of supplies and ideas for Christmas gifts. They're a mess. This month I need to make a list of what I'd like to make, what supplies I have/ need and get started. Maybe there will be a post on my progress around the 25th.

Writing Goals

I have been writing this week which made me happy. I need to make this an everyday habit when the older kids are at school and the Little Guy is napping.