2019 Planning Party

Yvonne, at Quilting Jetgirl, is holding a 2019 Planning Party for all of us to link up and share our goals and plans for the new year.  Thanks, Yvonne!  I admit to not being much of a planner or goal-setter when it comes to my quilting, but this time of year I do get the urge to reorganize and rethink what I really want to work on in the coming year!

Since retiring from teaching full-time in mid-2015, I've pretty much been able to sew regularly every day, and that time has become an important part of my days!  I'm definitely planning to continue that practice throughout 2019.  Sometimes all I can manage is a little hand-stitching in the evening, like this redwork embroidery that has kept me busy the last month or so.

With that in mind, and also with the goal of learning a new skill, I'm going to sew along with Hand-Pieced, the QAL starting in January, sponsored by Patty of Elm Street Quilts and Kristin of Simple Handmade Everyday.

Just a little practice, so far!

I have several WiPs that need to be finished up, and those projects will take priority early in the year!

Happy Birds is ready to quilt, as soon as the backing and batting are purchased.

Squared Away, the Rainbow Scrap Challenge Sampler project for 2018, is in the "working on the borders" stage!  It should be ready for quilting shortly.

Two other RSC 2018 projects are next on the list - Scrappy Sprouts and Sawtooth Stars.

I'll again be participating in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge for 2019, but I won't be starting anything new... Yet.  :)

One of my goals in retirement was contribute more quilts to charity groups, and I will continue that in 2019.   I have two WiPs started from precuts that will become donation quilts this year.

Finally, I'm giving myself permission to Play with fabric and thread all year long!

Those squirrel-y projects that come out of nowhere and just have to be made are my very favorite things to spend time on!

You just never know what you can dream up!

Be sure to check out the 2019 Planning Party link-up at Quilting Jetgirl - there's lots of inspiration to be found there for the coming year!

The Tomte Village

My local quilt group - not a guild, just a group of quilty good friends - has a December tradition of having a gift exchange.  The kind where everyone brings something, and we choose a gift to unwrap or we steal something from someone else who has unwrapped it first.  I'm sure you have a name for this kind of gift exchange - I'm not sure what to call it - but it is fun and there is always lots of laughter involved!

I decided I would sew up my little tomte blocks from the Moss and Lotus Tomte SAL into a pillow to give in our gift exchange.

I turned each of the blocks I had made into a 6.5 inch block, and then added some coordinating fabric to make a giant 9 patch.

I've followed Crazy Mom Quilts' tutorial for making an envelope backed pillow ever since I started making them a few years back, and I did the same this time.

I quilted the top to a piece of batting - 

Made the envelope backing out of a yard I had left of Crazy Mom's Good Neighbors fabric - because it reminds me of candy canes!

Here is the finished pillow, and a friend I found to go along with it!

The pillow was popular at our gift exchange, and even got stolen once!  The best question I was asked about it was, "Did you really make this completely out of your stash?"  Yes I did!  :)

Sharing at Quilting is more fun than Housework for Oh Scrap!

Also sharing at mmmquilts for Sandra's December DrEAMi link-up - because this was a squirrel project that turned into a gift, which made me happy to do!

Scrappy Christmas

While I can't seem to make much progress on any of my Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects at the moment, I do have a small finish to share!

Back in November, I had started a table runner that was meant to be the gift I was bringing to my quilt group's December get together.  I sorted through my Christmas scraps and cut 2 inch squares of the darker reds and olive-y greens.  Combining them with some Moda Bella Cream and a small piece of redwork embroidery, I think this was the last picture I posted of this project.

Not long ago, I finished the quilting on it,

Bound it in this fun green holiday text print,

And it was all done and ready to be gifted!

Except that, in the midst of finishing the table runner up, I got a wild hair, and started a completely different project to take to my group's party!  (More about that in my next post.)  

Meanwhile, this one is staying at my house!

Sharing at SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday!

I Like Thursday #112

Happy Thursday, friends!  Although these weeks are busy, I hope you're enjoying all the seasonal happenings in your neck of the woods!

I spent some time visiting my mom last week, and enjoyed helping her decorate for Christmas.   I love her pretty ceramic Christmas tree.  The "lights" are little birds!

And look what's on the couch next to the tree!  Mom really liked the redwork pillow I made her.

When we got home, I decorated our tree and that always leads to Mike getting out his camera to play around with photographing the lights.  These two photos were my favorites.

Doesn't everyone have Starbucks and M&Ms on their tree?!  :)

I have to share my Nativity, all set up.  My dad made this for me when Mike and I were first married - 1976!

A couple years ago I wrote a post all about this set, go HERE if you want to know more!

So, speaking of the Three Wise Men...  I liked this cartoon, found on Facebook the other day.

I'm enjoying this book right now.  If you are a fan of Mary Higgins Clark, you might know that she has a new series (5 books now) that is written in partnership with another writer, Alafair Burke.  This is the latest one.

This series is about a producer of a TV show that solves cold cases.

Thanks for visiting today!  For more I Like Thursday fun, head over to Not Afraid of Color!

Practice

I'm planning to participate in the Hand-Pieced QAL, sponsored by Patty of Elm Street Quilts and Kristin of Simple Handmade Everyday, coming up in January.   For the last few weeks, both Patty and Kristin have been offering tips and tutorials for hand-piecing on their blogs, and I decided it was time for some practice!

Throughout 2018, while making my Scrappy Sprouts blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, I piled up a bunch of 2.5 inch squares in both neutrals and rainbow colors.

They were just thrown into my Little Penguin fabric basket at the side of my cutting table, so I pulled them out and sorted them into two piles.

I gathered up the rest of the supplies I thought I would need - needles, thread, scissors, a pincushion, and a zipper pouch to keep everything in.

And found the tutorial from Patty on marking and hand-piecing a seam.

Here's my first one - a 1/4 inch from the edge, ready to stitch!

Patty says my stitches should be 5 - 6 to an inch!  And I am laughing here, because I got THREE!  Lol!

But, hopefully, practice will make me better (if not perfect) so I will keep going!

Working on my first 4 patch - definitely getting those smaller stitches!

And look at that!  

Hand-piecing will be fun to try, portable, and hopefully, a great new skill!  I have already appreciated Patty's great step-by-step tutorials and Kristin's videos - I can tell I'm going to learn a lot!

Sharing at Soscrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday 

Quilting is more fun than Housework for Oh Scrap

and Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.

I Like Thursday #111 - It's the Holiday Season!

I like Christmas music playing on the radio, and I'm always singing along!  This one gets stuck in my head now and then - 

"Happy holiday
Happy holiday
While the merry bells keep ringing
Happy holiday to you!
It's the holiday season
And Santa Claus is coming back
The Christmas snow is white on the ground
When old Santa gets into town
He'll be coming down the chimney, down
Coming down the chimney, down"


Evidently this song was written by Irving Berlin.  Click here if you want to hear Andy Williams singing it!

I like listening to holiday music sung live, and got to do just exactly that when my friends and I went to our dinner theater evening out last week.  It was a really fun show!

I like this cute Rudolph towel that a friend gave me!  Can you see the dangly legs?!

I found my favorite gingerbread men cookies at the grocery the other day - yum!

And a favorite part of my holiday season is getting out the special mugs - here's one that I really like!

Hope you're having a great week, friends!  

Joining in with LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color.

Early Christmas Gifts

I'm going to be seeing my mom and one of my sisters this week, so I thought it would be a good idea to bring them a little something Christmas-y!

After finishing up the Gail Pan "Joy to the World" embroidery earlier this week,

I decided to turn it into a little pillow for my mom.

This festive red fabric that I found on our Thanksgiving trip became a border for the embroidery.

This photo makes the red look a lot brighter than it really is.

A little bit of quilting, both by hand and by machine, holds the layers together.

This is more true to the actual color - dark red!

I used the same fabric for an envelope backing.

And voila!

I also made one of the other embroidered pieces that I finished into a mini quilt tor my sister.

Borders, backing, quilting, and binding - it all went together really quickly!

I'm going to have to trace a couple more of these sweet designs to work on - they're kind of addicting, and I might as well keep going on them!

Happy Sunday stitching to all!  

Sharing at Quilting is more fun than Housework for Oh Scrap and

at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.