Looking Back, Looking Ahead

My biggest accomplishment in 2011? Well, there were lots of highlights. But the thing that really stands out for me is that I finally figured out how to finish my quilts.

It sounds crazy, I know. But at the beginning of 2011, I was not at all confident in my quilting and binding skills. Piecing was another story—I felt like I had that part pretty much down. But I couldn't free-motion quilt at all. Let's face it, I could barely even manage straight-line quilting. My basting skills left a lot to be desired, and binding? Well, I could do it, but it wouldn't win any awards for fine craftsmanship or anything.

 

Quilts of 2011 

1. Summer Sampler quilt, 2. Supernova quilt, 3. Do. Good Stitches hexy quilt, 4. Modern Meadow quilt, 5. Warm/Cool Quilt, 6. Supernova complete, 7. Mod Times quilt, 8. Wrapped In Hope quilt, 9. Fall Equinox quilt complete, 10. Urban Lattice quilt complete, 11. Cross-Terrain quilt

I made 13 quilts this year. Seriously! 13! My goal for 2011 was to make 12 quilts. Somehow I actually squeaked out an extra one. And it's amazing how much you can learn over the course of making 13 quilts. Free-motion quilting? Check. Machine binding? Check. Basting—especially spray basting? Check check check. Going into 2011, I often sent quilts out to be long-armed, especially the "important" ones. By the end of 2011, I was confident enough to finish one myself that is going to be in a book. Wow.

Other projects of 2011 

1. ssswap mug rug, 2. AnneMarie's mini quilt, 3. Elizabeth's mini quilt, 4. Lego storage bag/playmat, 5. Strip-pieced zig-zag mug rug, 6. Harlequin pillow, 7. Teacher gifts, 8. Commissioned pillows, 9. MMM swap placemats, 10. Commissioned pillows, 11. DQS10 quilt finished, 12. For Make Mine Modern, 13. Bloom Pillow, 14. Potholders, 15. Mosaic squares shower curtain, 16. Wonky Sun Pillow

Other highlights:
• hosting my own quilt-along (Supernova) and co-hosting another (Summer Sampler Series)
• going to the Sewing Summit and meeting lots of blogging buddies in person
• participating in more bees and swaps than I can count
• making the top five in the Connecting Threads fabric design contest
• hosting WIP Wednesday and watching it grow
• joining the Milwaukee Modern Quilt Guild and making new friends there
• guest-posting on the Fat Quarterly blog
• publishing my first Moda Bake Shop tutorial
• making quilts for charity (one for Margaret's Hope Chest and one via the Do. Good Stitches bee)

How lucky am I that all these amazing things happened to me in one action-packed year?

In fact, looking back at my goals for 2011, there are only a few that I didn't meet. I did not finish my mom's king-size quilt, despite gentle reminders from her. I did not make bed quilts for my daughter or my niece. I did not make Christmas stockings or a tree skirt or finish the Christmas quilt that I started for my family in 2010. Hmmm, are you sensing a theme here?

So that brings me to my goals for 2012:

1. Make things for my family. So many wonderful quilty opportunities came my way in 2011, and I was always so flattered and excited to be asked that I hardly ever said no to anything. As a result, things for the people I love most got shoved way down the list. That's not good. This year, I want to do all of the things listed above that I neglected in 2011. After all, what is this hobby really good for if I can't use it to bring happiness to the people closest to me?

Figgy Pudding fabric that's been waiting for me to turn it into a quilt for a year and a half

2. Make Christmas stockings, a tree skirt, and finish that Christmas quilt. This kind of goes along with #1, but I'm determined to make it happen this year. Pinky swear!

3. Keep saying "no" to things. My goal is to be much more selective about what I say yes to in the coming year. So don't feel bad if I turn you down for a bee, swap, blog hop, guest post, etc. It's not you, it's me. : ) Isn't it hilarious that last year one of my goals was to do more bees and swaps, and this year one of my goals is to not do so many bees and swaps?

4. Make more non-quilty items, like bags, skirts, etc. Since making a skirt with Anna's sew-along, I've got the bug to do more of this! (Yes, I am still planning to post about the skirt, I just need to get my husband to take a decent picture of me in it.)

My oldest (who's now 5!) in a hat I knit for her way back when

5. Do a little knitting again. Once upon time, I was a knitting fiend. Then quilting came along and stole my heart away. But lately I've had the urge to dig up those knitting needles again. You never truly forget your first love, I guess.

6. Design another fabric collection. I'm hoping to set aside some time in the coming year to make this happen. Both my kids will be in school in the fall (one full-time, the other three mornings a week), so I'm thinking of dedicating that preschool time to fabric design. I've got to do something with myself while my babies are away, right?

Um, yeah, something tells me I won't have a problem filling up my free time. : ) So here's to 2012. Happy new year, my wonderful bloggy friends!

Christmas Swap Round-Up

So how was everybody's Christmas? Is the whirlwind done at your house? It is for me—we had a lot of fun and the girls looove their gifts, but I can't say I'm sorry it's over now. : ) I actually have a few moments to breathe again!

But before we usher in 2012, I need to share a few last swap goodies from 2011. I swore off most traditional swaps a few months ago, because I seem to just spend way too much time on them, but Sukie suckered me in with her Twitter Secret Santa Swap. We weren't required to send a handmade item, but of course when it came down to it, I couldn't resist making something. After all, my partner was the amazing Katy of I'm a Ginger Monkey and Fat Quarterly! Send her a secret santa gift that didn't include something homemade?? As if.

So here's the gift package I sent to Katy (which she finally received yesterday, so now I can show it to you!) Thangles, a Clover marking pen, some hand-dyed perle cotton, and a FQ from Denyse Schmidt's Picnic and Fairgrounds line from Joanne's. (I was thinking those prints may not be available in the U.K.?)

And I made her this mug rug using Badskirt Amy's x-and-plus tutorial and a newspaper-print fabric. I used wavy-line quilting on it because that's one of my favorite quilting tricks, and I learned it from Katy! I hope she enjoys it!

My Secret Santa swap package came from the talented Amy of Stitchery Dickory Dock. Check out the incredible stuff she sent to me: How adorable is this notebook?? I've loved this fox paper-piecing pattern for ages and she totally nailed it with the colors and prints. 

And that's not all—she also sent me this coffee cup cozy, the travel mug that's in it, and she filled the mug up with candy! Whew!

I love the cozy's Half-Moon Modern prints and handstitching. (You can find a Moda Bake Shop tutorial by Amy for this very cozy right here.) And it just so happens that I have another one of these Copco mugs and it is my absolute favorite, so I'm thrilled to have another one. It fits in my Keurig coffee maker (many travel mugs don't) and it's nice and simple, functioning like a basic Starbucks disposable. Except that this one has a reclosable spill-proof lid, which I've never seen on a Copco mug, and I couldn't even find it on Amazon! So yes, I love it—clearly, the fact that I've gone on about a mug for an entire paragraph should indicate that I will treasure it forever, LOL. Thanks, Amy, I love it all!

I also swapped recently with Becky from My Fabric Obsession. I designed a new blog header for her and she sent me these fun goodies in return—a Jane Market Bag in Neptune, and some coordinating FQs! You guys—it's Neptune! I love this collection so much. I bought a layer cake way back when it first came out, but frittered most of it away on some pillows that I didn't even end up liking (this was back when I still didn't really know what I was doing). I used most of the remaining scraps in my Single Girl quilt. So I'm super excited to get a second chance with this hard-to-find collection. Now I just need to decide what I'll do with it! And the bag is so roomy and useful—I've already used it probably a dozen times. I even packed some stuff in it when I went out of town for the holidays. Thank you, Becky!!

And here's one more Christmas present for me (and my girls). I won a giveaway from Kylie of My Addiction to Quilting. She sent me this soccer ball entirely hand-pieced from hexies! The girls love it—it's so nice to have a ball they can freely chuck at each other, LOL. Kylie also sent some beautiful purple fabrics, and I seem to be eternally short on purple in my stash, so they are much appreciated. Thank you, Kylie—you are so sweet to send these all the way from Australia!

One of my favorite things about having this blog is how I've been able to send items all over the country and the world, and receive things right back. Australia, the U.K., Europe, Canada–what a wonderful exchange. Here's to more swaps in 2012.

My Own Blogger's Choice Bundle

Hey, don't you just love the "Blogger's Choice" fat quarter bundles at the Fat Quarter Shop? And don't you totally dream of the day you get an email from the Fat Quarter Shop asking you to choose your very own bundle of fabric?

Okay, maybe that's just me. : ) Regardless, now we all get to be superstar bloggers for a day. Laura at Quokka Quilts had the genius idea of hosting a contest to choose the next Blogger's Choice bundle. Just choose fabric from the Fat Quarter Shop, post your bundle, and link it up to her contest post.



So here's my entry. I had a blast choosing this bundle. Almost as fun as shopping, but without the disapproving look from your spouse when the credit card statement arrives. And the winner gets a half-yard bundle of their chosen fabrics! Nice! So skip on over to the Fat Quarter Shop to make your own. My fabric names/links are below.

1. Bespoken by Pat Bravo, Orchid Jaquard
2. Meet Me at Sunset by Dear Stella, Pink Gridlock
3. Bella Solids Gray
4. Dazzle by Melissa Averinos, Clementine Flowers
5. Puttin' On the Ritz by Bunny Hill, Grey Princess
6. Yard Sale by Dear Stella, Sky
7. Divine by Rosemarie Lavin, Tangerine Linen Texture
8. Paparazzi by Red Rooster, Light Gray on White Dots
9. Bella Solids Magenta
10. Dazzle by Melissa Averinos, Melon Jewel
11. Cotton Couture Solids by Michael Miller, Violet
12. Ooh La La by Pillow and Maxfield, Sherbet Cercle de Fleurs
13. Dazzle by Melissa Averinos, Clementine Shadow Stripe
14. Palladium by Dear Stella, Gray Gridlock
15. Power Pop by Jenean Morrison, Aqua Girlfriend

Happy Holidays

I was tempted to whine in this post about how busy I've been the last few weeks—and how much I still have left to do. Then I realized, this holiday has the potential to be hard on everybody, in one way or another. And "being busy" doesn't hold a candle to what some people are facing this season. But there is also the potential for a whole lot of happiness. So in that vein, I'm not going to post pictures of my perfect Christmas decorations (because mine so aren't) or dozens of wrapped gifts (because none of mine are wrapped yet, so that would be hard to do).

Right now there is exactly one present wrapped and under my tree. So I'm going to post about that, because this is where my holiday happiness lives, crazy wrapping and all. : ) (Pretty sure my daughter got some help from my husband with this wrapping, and the picture of the psycho inmate in the wheelchair was his idea of a hilarious joke. Let's hope, anyway.)

Very happy holidays to all of my blog readers and your families. I hope, no matter what challenges you're facing, that you can find the happiness. There's not a day that goes by that I'm not thankful for this blog and appreciative that people take time out of their busy days to come here, just to see what I'm making. You guys bring me almost as much happiness as the one present that's under my tree.

A Sampler For All Seasons

Reminder: WIP Wednesday is on Christmas break! It will be back on Jan. 4.

I would like to briefly interrupt your Christmas planning to bring you a bit of summer in December—My Summer Sampler quilt is complete! : )

My mother-in-law had hip replacement surgery last Friday. The surgery had been scheduled for January, which I thought would be good timing for me to make her a quilt. When a spot opened up for her to have the surgery earlier, I thought I might not be able to manage it, because I was already so busy. But then I realized, I had the perfect quilt for her, and it was already very much in progress ... my Summer Sampler!

The top and the back were already done, so all I really had to do was quilt it and bind it. But of course, I can never leave well enough alone or make anything easy for myself. I immediately decided that the current size was too small to be useful, and I wanted to make it bigger. So between Wednesday and Monday, I took the borders off the original top, made eight additional sampler blocks and added them, put new borders on, added to the back to get it up to size, basted it, quilted it, and bound it. Whew!

When I decided to add the extra blocks, I wanted to find and choose new block designs quickly, so all of the pictures in the Summer Sampler Flickr group were invaluable to me. Many of my new blocks were inspired by the extra blocks that some of you made. I love Claudia's beautiful red and aqua quilt, and the additional blocks she chose were brilliant, so many of my new blocks came straight from her quilt. Thank you, Claudia, for inspiring me! : )

Here are the blocks I added:

Another Star of Virginia (tutorial here)

Another Greek Cross (tutorial here), but I changed up the colors/values to give it this octagon shape

This fun star-within-a-star block

This HST star, which Isabelle used in her colorful sampler

My version of the Diamond Chip block, from Sarah Fielke's book Quilting From Little Things, as seen on Monica's Happy Zombie blog

Snowblossoms block (free paper-piecing pattern available here)

Another HST-type block

This cute star variation

So here's how the top started out, before the extra blocks ...

And here again is my refashion/completion.

And my MIL seems to just love the quilt. She said it's beautiful work, cheerful colors, and that she will "treasure it for the rest of her life." Wow! She's a very practical woman who isn't at all prone to exaggeration, so that was a wonderful compliment coming from her and really made me feel great. I'm so glad she can enjoy it while she's recovering.

So, that's one major thing off my list. I've also got our Christmas decorations up and made excellent progress on my Secret Santa Twitter Swap item, so I am feeling a lot less stressed today! Score one (or several) for me.

Quilt Stats:

Size: 60" x 74"

Design: From the Summer Sampler Series Quilt-Along, hosted by Kate, Faith, and myself, plus eight extra blocks. For tutorials for the original 12 blocks, click here.

Fabric: Various lines/prints, with background in Kona White

Quilting: Free-motion stippling by me on my home machine

Back: Various lines/prints

Binding: Lotus Full Moon Dot by Amy Butler in Cherry

Christmas Crunch

Well, I am definitely feeling the pinch of the holiday season! On the quilty front, I've got a huge deadline in less than two weeks for the secret project that I sneak-peeked here. I'm also suddenly trying to finish a quilt for my mother-in-law, who had major surgery yesterday, and I've got two Secret Santa gifts to get out ASAP. And in the "rest of my life" category, I still have to do our holiday decorations, all of my Christmas shopping, and my Christmas cards ... and I have to get all that stuff done early, because I'm spending the week before Christmas at my sister's in Michigan! This on top of the fact that my 2-year-old is thoroughly acting her age lately, so it's hard for me to get anything done during her waking hours.

Um, sleep much? Nope, not me.

So this is a long way of saying that posting will be sporadic around here through the holidays. I've also decided to put WIP Wednesday on hiatus until the first week of January. Feel free to do your own WIP Wednesday posts anyway—there just won't be a linky. I'm sure most of us have little time for blog-hopping right now anyway!

Wish me luck with all my stuff—and best of luck with all of yours!