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. 

Mothers and Daughters

Today's finish is a somewhat unexpected project. It just happened. This just might be the best kind of starts and finishes.

My niece, owner of the quilt in this post, has a mother that is a baker. (This, by the way, is a dangerous sort of person to have in the family... calories seem to migrate this way much too frequently.) She is a wonderful sister-in-law, and to see her and my brother's family grow has been so precious.

It occurred to me one morning, while snuggling my littlest, that the tiny little fingers belonging to my niece will soon be wanting to help her mama in the kitchen. And that means she needs an apron. And ...  I just happened to have some leftover fabric from her quilt.

 

I didn't want to go out and buy a pattern. It seemed like it would be a simple enough thing to draft my own and create it. Completely unexpected was just how much I loved this process. Within an hour or two, her apron was made with just a couple finishing touches left to do, the little bits that make it special.

It is made in a toddler size, that could go up to about 5 or so. I took a couple shots of my daughter modeling the apron (as I don't have an extra toddler about), to give you an idea of size.

This post is about family and growth and traditions passed on, memories made. We are so blessed to have the newest little hands in our family.

 

 

Linking up to CrazyMomQuilts for Finish it Up Friday.

Hexagons

After my last finish, I was seriously missing hand quilting. Within a day, I dragged out an old work-in-progress, my Chinese Lantern Hexagon quilt. I love this quilt. Really I do. But I hadn't quilted on it in months - mostly due to hand quilting fear. Happily, I'm much more comfortable with it now.

 

This is a quilt I started a couple years ago. It didn't have a pattern. I just drew a large sized hexagon template, cut them out, and y-pieced the rows together. At about the same time, I went back to work after a five year baby-making/home-making mama leave. Hence, the drag in it's completion. I'm back on maternity leave and am really enjoying getting to craft when I can. (Not to mention, being able to be a stay-at-home mama for a year!)

 

 

Can't wait till this one is done!

I've also been fitting in some time for knitting while watching the occasional show with my husband and waiting in the pick-up line at school. I'm working on a little romper from Bergere de France for my little niece. Hopefully she'll be able to wear it next summer. I'm just about half way through and loving it.

The vintage feel to this pattern really appeals.

Hope you've had a crafty week too! :)

Linking up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced and WIPW with Tami's Amis.

Labour of Love

My finish for this week is something I started back in late June. My niece was due in August and I wanted to make a baby quilt for her – something special that she can use for years. It took me a while to figure out the perfect pattern for the fabrics I chose for her as the fabric line had some pieces that I wanted to showcase. The fabric is Owls by Adornit. It is absolutely lovely and has just the right colors. 

 

 

I ended up fussy cutting three large owls and raw-edge appliqueing them to plain white squares. The other center blocks are simple squares with white borders, all divided by a sort of dots and dashes sashing, mixing in a bunch of the fabrics. It’s a simple and clean look.

 

 

 

This is the first quilt I’ve ever completed using hand-quilting the entire way. For the thread I used a DMC red perle cotton. I experimented with different shapes and quilting in each block and did a simple outline quilting on the edges of the larger block. I love the look of the quilting.

 



 

 

 
The block above might be my favorite bit of quilting. I'm pretty sure this design is going to be reappearing in future quilts.

 

The stitches aren’t perfect but they got better as I went along. I started out using a large hoop, but by the end, I was quilting without it. It seemed easier and I don’t feel the fabrics shifted too much as I both spray basted and pinned the layers.

The backing was pieced using a few different fabrics, and on a whim, I added a fussy cut tree branch and appliqued it to the edge.

 

It was shockingly difficult to let this quilt go ... it had become a sort of friend of mine. I was sad that it was finished, it was such an enjoyable quilt to make. But it makes me happy to know my niece will love it through the years. And she will know that each stitch was stitched with love. 

 

I've linked up to Finish it Up Friday with Crazy Mom Quilts.