Jumping in - A Q4 Finish-A-Long

Alrighty folks. Brace yourself. This is one of those embarrassing moments (somewhat akin to discovering your skirt has been stuck in your pantyhose, or maybe like having someone drop in on a definitely not company ready house). This is me, laying out my work-in-progress items. Feel free to gasp, sigh, or turn away disgusted. It's ok.

I'm leaping into this Q4-FAL late, having only just heard about it, but I think it's a fantastic idea. What better way to hold yourself accountable, to actually finish something, when it's all hanging out there for everyone to see? 

Lets begin.

1. This is a romper, in progress, for my neice. Its for next spring/summer. Those of you following my blog will be familiar with it. We are just over halfway there. I love these stripes.

2. This sweater was started last year. It's my "Low Tide" from Tin Can Knits. I love it. I have had it almost done for too long. My progress came to a halt, roughly around the time I realized that it wouldn't fit me pregnant. (Ahem. Long story. Roughly 9 months long.) Anyhow, it fits me now. If I could only carve out the time to sew in ends and put buttons on. On a side note, beware of art projects covered with glitter. Knits will stick to them. And require washing, and re-blocking. Again.

3. This one has been in the works for a year and a half. Two Mays ago, for our ten year anniversary, I stumbled across some beautiful nautical prints and thought of my sea-obsessed boy. He's been patiently waiting for me to get my act together. We'll be making the Fireworks pattern from Thimble Blossoms out of this sweet stack.

    

4. This is my "Pop" blanket for my son (my newest). He too has been patiently waiting, as patiently as a 7 month old baby can be. I started it in Cannon Beach and love the yarns. This blanket was really fun to make. Right up until the part where you crochet the rows together. The first couple times I assembled it, I was really annoyed by how tight my rows were. This caused a third reassembly, and the acknowledgement that while it is better, it will never be flat. But, I'm guessing that's why its called "Pop". Its become a bit of a nemesis blanket. The remaining ends need to be dealt with. Again. (You'll notice that my least favorite part of knitting is finishing. Finishing and I have a love/hate relationship.)

5. This is one of my oldest projects to complete. It is a low volume quilt (before I ever knew what that was) made out of really sweet fabrics. In retrospect, I should have chosen better quality fabrics, but live and learn right? It's too precious not to finish. It just needs time. And a few good movies.

6. My Chinese Lantern hexagon quilt is also a time-requiring quilt. I'm hand quilting the whole thing. It is quite fun to do. But, I would like to see it done. :)

7. This quilt (or box) is a surprise quilt for my daughter. I make all my children surprise quilts when they go to Kindergarten. I'm using Aneela Hooey's Walk in the Woods line. Its so fun to work with.

8. Next in line is my "Swoon" quilt. I'm either two thirds of the way there, or halfway... haven't decided yet. But either way, it's going to fit my king size bed. I cannot wait for this to be done.

9. This next one is near and dear to my heart. It's my Star Flower QAL quilt. I love it. I love it so much. I love the colors, the retro feel... it's just SO happy. I anticipate this one being done first.

10. Somewhat recently, my husband started dropping hints. Really, really big hints. Then he asked for a quilt. I almost fell over. He has made no indication of wanting anything handmade by me in the past (not being a sweater person, and such). The only stipulation was no pink, purple, or flowers. So, I went shopping. I love all of the finds for his quilt. It will be one of my own designs (loving this aspect especially). You can see a tiny bit of the beginning of this quilt on the bottom of the stack. I have a lot of work still to do, but since it's a "surprise" quilt, I'm limited on when I can quilt it.

11. These are my baby brother's socks. He periodically drops hints or reminders. I'll finish them. I've just been busy having kids, and doing stuff. You know. Anyways, they've made my list, so I remain optimistic. :)

12. These are socks for my oldest. He LOVES my handknit socks. So I try to make them regularly. If only his feet would stop growing. The yarn is fantastic - it's a self-striping yarn by Turtlepurl Yarns. I'm still in the swatching stage, but I anticipate these to be a quick knit.

      

         

13. This is my Cotton Blossoms quilt. Apparently I fell in love with Bonnie and Camille with their first line of fabric, long before I knew who they were. I saw it at a craft show and had to have it. I've been working on this for too long and am dying to see it finished. It's the perfect season now too for the colors - all those lovely rusty oranges, and creams, and blues and greens.

14. This little container of fun is hands down my oldest WIP. I started this back when my oldest was a tiny baby, making this about 7+ years old. I was just learning to quilt, and had so many issues with figuring everything out. At one point I undid every block and redid it and backstitched the ends, because I was worried it would unravel (I have learned a LOT since then). I made this with less than stellar fabrics (back in the days when Walmart sold fabric) and I know it won't last forever, but I need to finish it on principle. I have already spent so much time making it, and the backing is sitting there waiting. So, it's time. 

15. And we've reached the final one. This is an ambitious quilt I started soon after I started number 14. (The farther I get from my first quilts, the more I realize how ambitious I was when I started out. One day I'll show you my first quilt.) This quilt is foundation pieced, and I really do love it. I've outgrown my love for batik, but the colors are so beautiful, and I know just the perfect person to gift it too, when I'm done. 

I know this list is huge. But, what can I say? It would seem I am still ambitious. Even if I only get half of it done, I would be ecstatic. 

So, it's shaping up to be a busy few months. Just the way I like it. 

good intentions vs. a new project... and finish

Today's project is something I've been thinking of making for a LONG time. It could even fall under the category of "necessity". My daughter has needed a bag for our congregation meetings so she can hold her books and pencils and pad for a long, long time. She had been making do with a little purse I had made her when she was even tinier, but it could only hold a small amount of things, and they had to be small things, at that. There is a distinct shortage of bags out there for children that are not heavily branded with logos and cartoon characters.

I've been mulling over HOW to make this bag for awhile now. I knew it needed to be versatile, tall enough to handle large notebooks, have pockets, and be able to go with most outfits my daughter would wear. I'm really annoyed I didn't find any solids that were pink or purple in my stash to incorporate, but I think it turned out well, regardless. And of course she found the only bit of pink in the bag.

After massive amounts of Pinterest exploring and pinning, I was inspired to make a Chevron Zakka style bag. I was drawn to a few that I saw using solids. I decided to do a fabric pull and gather solids that went from dark and cool to bright to warm and dark, in a sort of inaccurate rainbow. I incorporated navy, brown and a few blues and a few yellows/orangey reds. For fun, and to tie it all together, I used a great print called "Paint Box Primary Pointilism". It's fantastic. And it has pink (I mention this twice - it is that important.)

After reading up on a few basic bag making pointers, I went to town. This was such a fun challenge. More and more lately I find I'm letting myself design things without patterns. In the old days, I would have been unable to make this without a pattern firmly in my grasp. There were a few trial and error moments, but for the most part, it came together perfectly. I wanted the finished product to be quilted. I chose a light aqua thread and did some improv straight-line quilting. For sturdiness, I used fusible fleece. And for the inside pockets, I used a heavyweight interfacing. 

I made the pocket with four different colors, to add a little extra zip to the inside of the bag (as though the lining weren't enough).

Another favorite feature is the handles. I LOVE them SO much. 

Probably the hardest part was lining up the offset triangles to make the chevron. If I were making this again, I would use a different method to do that. 

I suppose the upside to abandoning my pile of WIP's to make this is that it's finished. 
I think it should be called "Seasons".

It's a little bit of fun, a whole lot of color, a tiny bit of art, and best of all, practical. My job is done. And my daughter loves it. 

Linking up with Amanda at Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish It Up Friday.