No late fees incurred - The Library Project winds up!

Well, it's December. Time for all those posts summing up a year's work. This year, Adrienne over at Chezzetcook Modern Quilts challenged all of us to use some of those fabulous quilting books we have in our personal libraries. She even created a monthly link up (with prizes!) to keep us motivated. There's something about a link up that gets me movin'... alas, this month, some other projects took priority and I didn't make the deadline. Oh well...

But, I am undeterred. I will do my round-up post anyway! Feel free to pop over to the final link-up and read about some other bloggers' experiences with TLP! If you're interested in the books mentioned below, I've linked to the authors websites whenever possible.

My first quilt of TLP year was Oh Deer, made for Young B, one of Himself's good friends. Young B loves his quilt and claims to spend far too much time under it! It's from Boo Davis' Dare to be Square Quilting. So many clever designs in this book. Definitely worth a read!

Next up were the Christmas Candy Dish pillows that I made for the Rents for Christmas. I counted them as a half project since they were smallish! They're from a Jaybird Quilts pattern that had been hanging out (unused) in my library for some time. It uses that oh so fun Hex n'More ruler!

Then there's Go Your Own Way. I made this one for the MQG's Michael Miller Challenge using stitch n'flip triangles, a technique described in Jacquie Gering & Katie Pedersen's Quilting Modern.

Next up, J-Boy's Good Old Hockey Game quilt designed by Kristie over at Obsessive Crafting Disorder. I bought it as a digital download on Etsy when I fell in love with it on Pinterest. It's yet to get a Friday Finish Post of it's own but here's a fun pic taken of it by my dad! Post coming soon!

Once I'd finished J-Boy's quilt, I decided that it was time to make something for myself! And what I really needed was a wall hanging for my newly re-designed studio. I went for Honey from Elizabeth Hartman's Modern Patchwork. This quilt has also been finished for some time but hasn't gotten it's official Friday Finish post. Here it is in progress...

All that remains is to get a hanging sleeve on this one and it'll officially be done. If I can do that in the next five days, I'm calling it a 2014 finish!

My goal was to complete four projects and, though they changed over the course of the year and some haven't been fully blogged about, I did it! Yay me! I also kept my new quilt book acquisitions to a minimum, another goal of TLP.

If you're looking for more details (you, keener, you), you can read about my monthly progress here:
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October

Many thanks to Adrienne for throwing down the gauntlet on this one. Like a hit BBC show, this project had a limited run and won't be doing a second season!

J

Merry Christmas from the Edge!

Knowing that this year was going to be, well.... different, I worked ahead to get some presents done. If you can manage it, this is really the way to go. You get the fun of making presents without the stress of last-minute sewing and worrying if it will be done in time. I think there are more sewn presents this year than many others!
The gift of the year was definitely pillows... Christmas pillow covers and pillow cases for the little ones (and some teenager-y ones too!) Last January, I went a little wild and made a pile of pillow cases.
I even wrote a tutorial. You know, in case you want to make some too. That Christmas fabric will soon be on sale!
I also made pillow covers for  Himself's brother and his SO... I blogged about them here. Love this fabric and the Jawbreaker pattern from Jaybird Quilts!

For the 'Rents, pillows from another Jaybird pattern, Candy Dish. This one uses charm squares, but I cut into my Christmas stash instead. These will coordinate with the Christmas tree pants I made a couple years back.

And for Himself's parents, more pillows! These also coordinate with the tree skirt I made for them. I had lots of fun doing those EPP hexies and the other pillow is the plus pattern that started it all!

For two of my favourite crafty girls, Miss E and Miss O, I whipped up some Noodlehead Road Trip Cases. I blogged about the process here. They loved them! I suspect that the one on the right is already fully stocked with Rainbow Loom paraphernalia and the one on the right has some sweet art supplies in it!

The largest project completed for this year is J-Boy's Good Old Hockey Game quilt, one of my projects for The Library Project. There's a Friday Finish post in the works on this one... getting out to take pics has been a challenge for me. Thankfully, I contracted out for a few! I can't wait to hear what J-Boy thinks of this one!

And for Double Trouble? Well, Santa doesn't sew things, but Mamma sure does! When I made their Christmas Big Butt Baby Pants, I decided it would be fun for them to have a little quilty for their first Christmas. You know, for seasonal tummy time...

I have now used absolutely every scrap of that red flannel print. There are some really small segments in that binding!☺
And behold... my first completed project since DT arrived! Christmas bibs!

Honestly, why didn't I think of these months ago? I used the same pattern as the every day bibs. Okay, in truth, I used the every day bibs. I flopped down four layers of fabric (2 print, 2 flannel), pinned the spit up stained every day bib in place, and cut out around it. I was rushing so much that I didn't even slow down to use coordinating thread! DT have a tendency to wake up in the middle of projects requiring hands... there was no time to spare!

I leave you with a couple of my favourite Christmas thoughts...

Hope you and yours have wonderful holiday season!

J

What to do when you have no time to sew...

Buy fabric, of course!

My only goal in stopping by my LQS was to say hi to my pal Miss N. Really. I planned to buy nothing. I need nothing. I am not starting new projects. Then I saw this...

Ann Kelle's latest in the Urban Zoologie line. Weak. I am powerless to resist the new animals! And I know they go quickly... some of those bolts were looking thin!

Foxes, alligators, flamingos. These are going to make some damned cute Big Butt Baby Pants! But come on, Robert Kaufman, for fabric this cute, your selvages are ho hum at best.

It's always going to be a good day when a box with this sticker arrives!

I jumped on the bandwagon and joined the Sew Sisters Stuff your Stocking program this year. Special deals each day for the first week of December? Free shipping, you say? Yes, please!
The first deal I went for was some very reasonably priced notions... I'll be tucking these away for swap goodies!

If I buy needles marked "for the Professional" and the quilt police don't show up at my door, does that make me a professional quilter? Talk amongst yourselves.

And then there was Kona pre-cuts 40% off.  This jelly roll makes me smile. I have no purpose for it all all. None.

 But if I make something with it and use every strip, I can check off all the colours released in 2013 ☺

 And then this little goodie from Tula Pink fell into my virtual shopping cart. Again with the cute animals... and camping themed.

The last deal of the week was a 50$ gift certificate for just 25$... this could be quite useful if a certain new Elizabeth Hartman book I've been eyeing doesn't make it's way under the tree this week! ☺

I'm linking up with the oh so fabulous Molli Sparkles for the penultimate Sunday Stash of 2014!

J

A major WiP turns into two fabulous Finishes!

Can you hear the silence? Yup. Full bloggy silence. For an entire month. Were you wondering if I fell down a well and Lassie failed to alert my readers? Nope. A month ago today, my latest (and long running!) WiP turned into two fabulous finishes!

 

Double Trouble are finally here! Lucas & Cora were born in the late afternoon on Thursday, November 13th. Big brother was 7 pounds 15 ounces and little sister was 5 pounds 13 ounces. 

Lucas Joshua

Cora Margaret

Thank you to everyone who sent good wishes our way on my last post. Our little family is happy and healthy, settling in to daily routine... even if it is a little chaotic! There hasn't been a whole lot of sewing going on... but I did manage to mend a hole in my sweater and sew about 4 inches on a crib sheet!

I can't say how much time I'll manage in my studio in the coming weeks and months, but I hope you'll stick with me, dear readers! We've got some new adventures ahead!

J

P.S. The fabulous newborn shots you see above are not my work. They're the product of two photo shoots by local photographer, Samantha Ryer. Patient, caring, and with a real eye for capturing the unique personalities of little people - we couldn't be happier with her work!