2015 Year in Review

I'm so excited about this post as I have so much awesomeness to share!! I have broken down all of my finishes from the year into categories and made mosaics for your viewing pleasure. ;) I am just amazed at how much I finished. Figuring it out I completed something - from a small simple pouch to a quilt - about every two days!! However, I finished one more thing after I made my mosaics so it will be listed separately. Also, I finished all twelve months of goals for ALYoF! Hurray for productivity!!

First my ALYoF Goals. I finished all twelve months and they are in order here. You can see all the finish and goal posts here. I'm sad to here that ALYoF is going away but I sure love what it has done for my productivity the last few years.

Speaking of productivity I finished up this mini last night!! This is #9 on my Q4 FAL list. It didn't make it into the mini mosaic below. I tried doing free motion paisley quilting again and I love it! I think I'm really getting the hang of it now.

Here are the rest of my minis and pillows for the year. Counting the one above there are 21 minis I finished this year. Seven of them were for swaps and the others were gifts or for our home.

I finished nine quilts this year including the whole-cloth Knuffle Bunny quilt I made this month for my daughter. I tried some new quilting motifs with many of these and love how I'm branching out this year.

I helped each of my three oldest kids make themselves a quilt this year too! They pieced them together and I quilted and bound them. We all feel so proud of our accomplishments here and it's probably my favorite group of finishes.

I made 42 bags and pouches this year!! Crazy! A few of these were fairly simple but many were more complex. That's a lot of zippers!

I fell in love with the Fancy Sailor Top this year and that led to more confidence in garment sewing. I made seven sailor tops and eleven pieces all together.

These random little projects were hard to classify so they got a category all their own. There are 22 projects here from pillow cases to pin cushions and stroller makeovers. I got out of my comfort zone here too trying new things all over the place like 3D sewing and rope bowls.

I also advanced like crazy in my knitting skills. Since learning to knit in October 2014 I have been driving to learn and grow. I completed 19 knitting projects this year and taught myself how to cable and do color work including some pretty fun fair isle hats. I found a quick and easy favorite in the Cowl and made 10 this year for gifts.

Since I have an Etsy Shop where I sell crochet hats it's not surprise I have a lot of finishes here. I don't think this is all of them but it is all I could find pictures of. There are 37 projects here from tiny newborn hats to adult hats and even a crochet blanket. The crab hat is my most popular by far.

That's my year! Wow! I feel crazy productive! 29 of these projects were made mostly if not all from my stash. That's 164 projects completed in all! That's a project finished every 2.23 days. Thanks for being a part of it and I look forward to another awesome and productive year! Thanks for stopping by and keeping up with me!

Christmas Project Roundup

This is the post where I show all the things I made for Christmas for my family. It's one of my favorites and has the added bonus of a bit of review. I'll do a year in review post on Friday. I have one more thing I hope to finish first! As a bonus one of the things I'm sharing was my ALYoF goal for December. I'll start with that one...

Here is my finished ALYoF goal for December.  These are also #15 on my Q4FAL list. I made these five minis for my kids. They're always swooning over the quilts and minis I make and they each have small animals or dolls they adore so I thought it would be fun to whip them up a little something to put in their stocking.

I tried a different quilting motif on each one. This is my favorite! I've been really afraid of branching out and trying new fmqing but I love it! I'm so glad I was brave.

We have a tradition every year that the kids get to pick fabric and we make a pillow case together. They sleep on it the week of Christmas to help them get all excited. I love to see their personalities come out in the fabric they choose! I try to steer them away from mostly white but otherwise let them have free reign.

Last year my Mom and Step-dad told me they'd be coming for Christmas this year. I knew I wanted to make them quilts. It seemed like a great opportunity. I got started early and finished this one way back in March. I used two layers of batting and it is extra warm and cozy, which is great because my Mom is always cold. I love that it's no longer a secret!

I used the same pattern but different fabric for my step-dad's quilt. It's fun how different they look but how they are so connected.

I went a little crazy making all the cowls this year. I'm pretty sure I've made eleven. Six of them were Christmas presents. Here's for my four oldest kids.

I didn't think the baby would want one. I should have known better. I finished the last one and she came over to try it on. Then she was looking in the mirror saying how pretty she was. We went to the store and picked out yarn that day.

Finally my Mom got one too. She's all about this mustard color lately and was excited to find just the yarn she wanted in the store. It went so fast and she kept saying the whole time how she loved that color. It was pretty cute.

Well, that's me for Christmas. I'd say it was a pretty good set. Most of that was from stash which made our dollars stretch quite a bit further this year. I may have to get going for next year! Until then watch for my year in review post on Friday and thanks for stopping by!

Amelia Canyon Quilt Finish

I'm so excited to share Amelia's quilt with you today! She finished it over a week ago but it's been crazy around here and I'm just now being able to sit and write about it. Amelia is six and this was her first quilt. I helped her baste, quilt, and bind it so I put it on my Q4 FAL list as number three. This was also my ALYoF goal for November. Prepare for an adorable picture overload!

She chose a layer cake of Canyon by Kate Spain for Moda to use for her quilt. We just did simple patchwork for this as it was her first attempt at a quilt. She has sewn other things before like pillow cases and bean bags.

It's just so pretty and she did so well at lining up the seams. We used washi tape on the machine as a guide for her to follow. We also used wonder clips to keep the pieces together. I find they are safer for the kids than pins and much easier to place and remove.

I love putting tags on my quilts and this one is especially cute because Amelia wrote her own name. I did the rest of the tag. It matches so well too! This is from yardage by Sweetwater for Moda.

Amelia picked both the thread color and the style of quilting. I think the meander is the perfect choice for this one. She said she likes it because it makes "little puffy bits I like to poke".

Here she is relaxing on it and enjoying the feeling of accomplishing something big!

Like my other two kids who made their own quilts I let Amelia lead in the photo shoot. I like this one. She looks snug as a bug.

This one is also fun with the quilt flowing behind her. There were a lot of funny outtakes with this one and her little arms were getting tired holding up that much quilt so high while running.

Here's the backing she chose more of that same line - Canyon by Kate Spain. I love the texture of the quilting in this picture as well.

Isn't she freaking adorable?!

Well, That's it for this week! Thanks for stopping by and checking out her finish. I'm linking up with Finish It Up Friday.

Also, this week I was part of a block hop to promote my friend's new book. Check it out in this post and visit the other stops on the hop...

Nov. 16 - Lee at Freshly Pieced
Nov. 17 - AnneMarie at Gen X Quilters
Nov. 18 - Leanne at She Can Quilt
Nov. 19 - Julie at That's Sew Julie
Nov. 20 - Lyn guest-blogging at Flourishing Palms

ALYoF Goal post and Pigs Finish

Another thing off my Q4 FAL list with the Pigs out of the way. I am on a roll and even have something to share on Friday too! But first, my ALYoF goal for November and another little something I've been working on.

My middle daughter Amelia finished her quilt off this weekend. I'm so proud of her! She is 6.5 and while it took a little more teamwork than her older sister she did do a ton of the work by herself. To finish this off she picked the layout, pushed the pedal, and together we guided the fabric through the machine. Several times she felt confident enough to do it completely alone. I'm so happy with her progress! Since she's so young I'm going to quilt and bind this for her. This is my ALYoF goal for November. The backing and binding are in the mail and should be here by Friday. Woohoo!

I've also been doing a little cross stitching. I used to do it all the time which feels like a million years ago but was really just the 90s. Randomly I picked it up again for my Back to the Future swap and have been playing around with it ever since. It's great to do while watching tv and was especially helpful during the 5 hours of online BSA training I did this week.

The pigs are finished and aren't they adorable?! This is #20 on my Q4 FAL list and I'm so happy with this one! I found the pattern here. I picked up some pink fleece as a remnant on sale at Joann's and these pigs were born.

My Sister-in-law teaches third grade and is reading Charlotte's Web with her class this year and asked if I could create two pigs for her. I was a little worried about making them since 3D objects are not typically in my wheelhouse but I made it happen and they were much easier and faster than I expected. I made three all in one day!

This one was the prototype and extra so we are keeping for ourselves. My baby girl just loved it so much it will probably become a Christmas present.

That's me for the week so far! I've been loving this stint of getting things done! More to show on Friday! Until then I'm linking up with WiP Wednesday.

Knit Mittens and ALYoF Goal

I've had a busy week of marking things off my lists again. I finished a pair of knit mittens and a quilt top. I also made great progress with my daughter on her quilt and a mini for a swap. Today I'll show off my mittens and make my September ALYoF goal.

First off I finished these fun mittens for myself. I made a red pair last year that I loved but were a tad too small in the fingers. It was my first pair of mittens and I didn't know that I'd need to increase to fit better. Lesson learned I went back to the pattern with these in blue. The yarn is Knit Collage Pixie Dust Mini.

I was also able to finish up my Hazel Hedgehog top. LOVE! Seriously, a million times over. For September ALYoF I'd love to get this quilted and bound. I already have everything I need to do it but time. I did this in Kona solids and Cotton and Steel basics and I am so happy with how it turned out. This is for my oldest daughter, Miya. She picked the layout and I love how it's balanced. She decided on the first two virticale rows then flipped and repeated them. It makes the middle the same across but the rest are scattered nicely while keeping a pattern.

My middle daughter started her first quilt this week. She's doing simple patchwork with a layer cake in Canyon by Kate Spain for Moda. We're web piecing it and she has all the rows finished and just needs to stick them together.

In other news I finish got all my HSTs trimmed for my Color Dive quilt. This is going to be so awesome! Once I finish up my swap package I think I'll work on this a bit more.

Speaking of swap package here is a sneak peek. This is one of twenty. The pattern is Outhouse by Carolyn Friedlander. This will be done for show and tell next week. I'm so excited about it and can't wait to see them all together.

That's it for this week. Thanks for stopping by! I'm linking up with TGIFF and Finish It Up Friday.

Crochet Hat Finishes and Quilty Progress

I feel like I have my hand in several different projects this week and while I have two crochet finishes I only have quilty progress to share. I am excited about what I've been working on though. The crochet things were hat orders from my shop. I also started my middle daughter on her first quilt, finally I was able to finish up the Hazel Hedgehog blocks and make some great progress on my V. and Co. Color Dive quilt. First up, the hats...

This Sleepy Owl Hat is one of my favorites in the shop. My Sister-in-law ordered this one and as is her custom only told me it was for a baby girl. I always have fun with her projects and they lead me to do what I'm in the mood for at the moment. My daughter was wearing an owl shirt that day in these colors and I thought it would be so cute to recreate in a hat.

This Crab Hat is for another customer order from my shop. It is for her baby for Halloween. I love seeing this hat in any size. The baby ones are so cute and small and the adult ones make me laugh every time.

Now on to the quilty projects.

I finally finished these Hazel Hedgehog blocks. I love her patterns but they include so many little pieces. The blocks always take me  longer than I expect them to. I'm excited to have these done also because they were my ALYoF goal for August. I still have a bit to see if I have time to make them into a top but the goal was just the blocks finished.

So this lovely bunch of awesome is my collection of fabric by V. and Co. for Moda. When Vanessa came out with her Simply Colorful lines the idea struck me to do a Color Dive with her fabrics. I was so excited when I was able to get Simply Colorful II early and got started this week.

I am making the king size version. I know I have enough prints to make it happen and I just adore large quilts. I drew out the color pattern and decided how many I needed of each color. There are 574 total squares.

I was also able to make the HSTs for the color dive and started trimming them. I'll be at this for a while but cannot wait to pick the layout! I know I keep saying it but this is going to be EPIC!

Also this week my middle daughter (age 6) started her first quilt. She's doing simple patchwork with a Kate Spain Canyon layer cake. I'm so impressed with her skill and can't wait to see this one come together.

That's us for the week. I hope to get the hedgehog and color dive quilts larger and maybe even finish the tops before my next Friday post.The kids go back to school on Monday leaving me home with the two year-old. We'll see how much sewing she lets me do without her siblings to play with her. Thanks for stopping by! I'm linking up with Finish It Up Friday and TGIFF.

Paris 241 Tote and Spencer Quilt Finishes

I can't believe how fast Spencer was able to finish his quilt! He started last week and now it is done just a day before his tenth birthday. I also finished my project for my Paris swap which is on my Q3FAL list. We'll start with the swap...

This finish marks off #3 on my Q3FAL list. I had NO idea what to make for my partner for this swap. She didn't post a mosaic for a while and I found this super cute print and grabbed it hoping that when she came up with something it would work. I had a few backups just in case. It's not a perfect match to what she posted but I think it captures the vibe, I hope. I don't know that I've ever been this nervous for a swap before.

I'm really happy with how the 241 Tote came out and the fabric pairings. My kids helped me pick this out. I especially love the Swiss dots in the lining. I really hope she likes it.

Now this I know I love. He started this quilt last Thursday and is already finished. I did the quilting and the binding but he pieced the front and the back himself.

Spencer also picked out the layout. It's got pretty great balance while keeping the prints he liked spread out.

Like Miya, Spencer ran his photo shoot even deciding to take pictures in the front instead of in the back with the grass. I think it works well with the prints and style of this quilt. I love seeing the creative side of my kids!

Here he is pointing to his favorite print and colorway. This is Doe by Carolyn Friendlander. We like the architecture vibe of this print.

Finally the tag. You can also see the quilting and the binding here. Spencer chose both. He wanted straight lines to continue with the feel of the quilt and we decided about 1 1/4" apart was good spacing. The binding he calls it the "trees print." I can totally see it.

Well, that's it from us this week. I love that I've started to share this blog with my awesome kids' creations. We'll see what we come up with next week! Until then, I'm linking up with TGIFF and Finish It Up Friday.