2 of 48 Completed

I've gotten a little sewing finished this week. I've been working on my Dear Jane blocks. I have 48 square blocks to finish in 2014 - now 46 since I've finished two this week.

F9

 F9 is a lovely little block. I took a few pictures of my mistakes - where I thought I was smarter than the blogger who has made several Dear Janes and had a great blog about it. Turns out I'm never as smart as I think I might be. Then I pushed the wrong button on the computer and the photos deleted. What I thought I could do was take the outer white portion and applique it on in one giant piece, rather than four.  A great idea till I got to the point where the curves reach a point and I realized there was then no seam to turn under. Ah well, the block is finished. I may or may not rip out one of the petals - top row, left side - because it will fall into the seam allowance and cut the end off. I may or may not care about that.

L3

A paper pieced block. I didn't read any online instructions, but thought I'd be smart and just trace out the whole block - maybe it's just tiredness. Then I realized that the outer borders have to be separate pieces because of that darn corner that sticks out from the inner squares. It turned out fine anyway.

2014 Here I Come

My friend L has already reviewed her quilts of 2013 and set her goals for 2014 and she's 8 1/2 months pregnant. She's amazing and my hero!

I am not by nature super organized and I'm okay with that (if I got super organized I'd never have anything to set as a theme for the year). Here's my review of 2013 and goals for 2014 all in one big post.

2013 Review:
Dear Jane - I seem to sew and sew and sew and it never feels like I get much done. Two women in the class are actually finished all 169 square blocks. I'm not there - yet.
I finished 33 blocks this year (doesn't sound too great), which equals 743 pieces (sounds better).


I made some really cute baby shoes - some for gifts and some I sold.

I finished this quilt top for my niece

2014 Goals:

Dear Jane
I have 48 square blocks and 44 triangles left to go - that equals 7.6 blocks per month in 2014. So, I'll aim for 8 blocks per month.

Quilt my niece's quilt - before the end of Feb so I can show it at the guild meeting on Feb 27th.

Make the drapes for my family room before the end of January. I've figured out the math I think

Make a baby quilt for someone at work - before  March 2nd cause that's the baby shower date. I'm thinking low volume and have a simple pattern picked out.

Make a crosses quilt for a 1 year old - during March break.

Be more chatty on my blog. I'm not chatty by nature and I think I'm too vague on my blog and that my personality doesn't come through as much as I'd like it to.

Finish a red and white hunter's star - by June 15th - in case the recipient comes home for a family gathering.

Those are all the sewing goals I'm setting for this year. Life will create more as I go through the year. Everything else that gets finished beyond this will be a bonus.

My personal theme for the year is health and wellness and meeting those goals will also take some time.

Wish me luck!

Mini Retreat At My House

I invited some friends over for a day of sewing at my house - C made it. We had a great day. She arrived about 9:40, with two coffees in hand (I'm not a coffee drinker so none in my house). She set up in my dining room and we got down to business.

Notice a coffee and a giant drink of water

C sewed away on sugar block of the month. They look great but are pretty finicky.

I finished this quilt top this morning - the one for my niece.

for some reason these are flipping when I insert them and I can't get them straightened out - kindly tip your head

Once I'm back to work next week I'll get it sandwiched then I'll start quilting. My machine likely needs a tune up before I start quilting though.

For lunch I made us homemade roasted red pepper soup - delish but I forgot to take a picture.

My afternoon sewing consisted of gifts for people who read my blog - I took pictures and will show them once the gifts are given.

I'm linking to Patchworktimes - check it out.

Boxing Day Moving

I moved my design wall downstairs tonight. It was a much easier job than I thought it would be - it always is. And I re-arranged and tidied the sewing room up a bit too. Tomorrow I have to get some marking done - then on to some sewing!

Cabinets with assorted fabrics - and dining room chair holding more fabric. I want to get a clothes drying rack to hold the fabric of works in progress.

Design wall - directly opposite cabinets

work table - in doorway to dining room, between cabinets and design wall. Switched the locations of ironing board and work table - like it much better.

Design Wall Monday

There's not much on the wall this week - cause the wall is still upstairs in the old sewing room.  I want to get it moved downstairs but need to finish cleaning my house first. And get ready for Christmas.

I finished this for my sister-in-law for Christmas. She's just started her Masters so I'm putting some nice pens, sticky notes, cash, etc in it.

the front - Charley Harper fabric

the back - also Charley Harper fabric

the pattern

 This went together really quickly - so quickly that I thought I'd made a major error. I hope she likes it.

You might remember this tablerunner from a few weeks ago:

I started appliqueing around the shapes and letters - a bit hard to see in the photo.

 The appliqueing is going well, except when my cat jumps up on the sewing table, sits on it, and weighs it down so I can't move it. One of these days she's going to get her tail caught under the needle.

We've also just had a major ice storm go through my area. Lot's of damaged trees and power outages. My big tree is so far okay, with only some small branches coming down. My lilacs are a bit weighted down but I hope when the ice melts (next weekend maybe??) they spring back up. Here's a few shots:

a good 1/2" of ice

lilacs - finally the sun has come out

more lilacs with sunshine

Merry  Christmas!

It's been over a month

I knew I hadn't posted for awhile but I didn't realize how long it's been since I last posted. I've been really busy though.

Crafternoon with my nieces and we made ornaments for the family. They are coming over Friday for the day to finish off.

Baby shoes - for sale and hopefully sold.

Baby shoes for sale and also hopefully sold.

Baby shoes as a gift

Owl hat - sold this one already

Another owl hat - this one sold too.

Table runner for me. It needs buttons, which are on backorder so I'll have to wait a bit. It needs applique around the shapes too.

 

I've also done some marking (since my boss reads my blog) and planned a giant volleyball tournament.

 

My first day of Christmas vacation is Friday and I can't wait.

Design Wall Monday

I must be busy cause it's been awhile since I posted. My friend L asked if I was okay. I am, just busy with work I guess. And I had a cold too.

My design wall update is on the floor this week because the design wall is upstairs still and I'm too lazy to go up there.

Here are two more rows for the quilt for my niece

My blocks all seem to be off square and wonky - oh well. A little trimming goes a long way and hides a multitude of sins.

Head on over to Patchwork Times to see what everyone else is up to.