FAL Roundup

So, today is the last day of the 2013 QAL: and I think I did rather well with 6 out of 8 from my original list

1 & 2:   My DWR AND my orphan blocks went from this

to this - completed and I love it.  2 items ticked off.

3  This baby quilt, which I was making for my work colleague's daughter

Which I completed (and never actually blogged about!)  The block came from Quilters Cache

 

 
 
 
 
 
 

 

4  I had two Christmas projects to finish, but only managed one

 

 

Didn't get this one finished - and hey, there is no rush with it now!!

 

 

 

 

5  I needed another sock.... and got that finished

 

6  This was an EPP block that I needed to do something with

And thankfully managed to turn it in to a cushion (got to love cushions!!)

 And these are the two that didn't make it so they will go over to Q1, which Katy will be hosting.

Sneaky

I am sneaking in one last FAL - because Leanne did say we could :-)

My Carpenters Star is finally finished!  I think it may have been on every FAL list for 2013, so nothing like sneaking in right at the last minute!  This was all EPP'd and I actually have another one on the go as well, although I don't love that one as much

I have also been busy with Lucy's bee block for January: we had the option to do one of two butterfly blocks: I started with this one

Now this one was tricky.  I have never really sewn curves before, but have watched Leannes amazing you tube video, so I decided to give it a go.  After all, it's all about trying something new!  As you can see, the block is a bit wobbly and I don't know if Lucy will be able to use it, so I did the other two as well: much easier.

 And all these nights sitting in front of the telly meant I have completed another pair of socks.  I have another two balls of this wool, so will find another pattern for them.  These were flat knit socks, which were fine to do, but I didn't enjoy sewing the seams much so will stick to knitting in the round if I can

Tomorrow I will put up my FAL round up, I don't think it will be too bad!

December

Well, December did the same as every other month and went by in a whizz.  The only difference being that I had some time off and I managed to get a few makes squeezed in.
I was sadly lacking in the Christmas cushion department so managed to get a few done: two of these were already blocks that I had made with no specific purpose

 Got these cushions made up for my Step mum as per her request - for their new summer house

 I got my friends daughters baby quilt made - she had a boy on Boxing day

 

I am now also in the process of making some of these for her:  so cute and quick!

 

 

I also finished another pair of socks.  This pattern was for making a 'flat' pair of socks, which you then sew up at the end.  I hadn't done that before, so I knitted them in the round using a combination of patterns - which was very confusing

 

 

I am now on to my next pair, which I am knitting flat, so will see how they turn out

 

The next couple of mosaics are really so that I can record for myself what I did in 2013

Finished quilts



cushions

more cushions



other makes

other makes

And I had my bee block commitments on top of this too.  It makes me very happy to look back at all of these: knowing why I made them and/or who I made them for.  Here's to a lot more makes in 2014

 

Happy New Year to you all xx

 







Preparation

Leanne posted a tutorial on fabric napkins recently and I was keen to make some, so I used some of my 'pre modern' Christmas fabrics to make some

So, I now have 5 festive napkins.

I am also making Beccy a quick cushion as she has already had most of her Christmas present (think Top Shop, Oxford Street!!), so I wanted her to have a few things to open

I have used the same fabrics as the bunting in her bedroom

I was up early today to get all the last bits and pieces and pick ups

Which means I am all done now. Tomorrow we are making gingerbread houses and chocolate truffles. And battening down the hatches if the weather forecast is anything to go by!

So, if I don't get to blog again,  Happy Christmas to you all and I hope you have a fabulous time

Cushions for Christmas

So, those of you who follow me on IG will know that I was meant to go to Sheffield at the weekend, but didn't quite get there!! The trains were cancelled and Jenny and I turned round and came back home.
That meant I had a whole weekend without any plans: so I finished off a whole heap of Christmas cushions

I also finished off my Stepmums lemon and lime cushions that she asked me to make for Christmas

I am really pleased with how they have all turned and it took away some of the dissapointment of not getting away at the weekend.

I will be putting these forward to Midge's cushion for Christmas Linky in a few days. You should hop on over and take a look, bet there is a cushion you could put forward too!

Christmas swapping

Over at the Bee a Brit stingy Bee, Sheila, Nicky and Helen got organised and arranged a Christmas swap -a fabric envelope.
My fabulous envelope arrived from Emily

Gorgeous stamping and lovely goodies, including earrings that Emily had made
I made for Nicky

These were really fun projects and I have no idea why I haven't made them before.

Succesful November

Oh yes, November has been a success for me!

 

My best finish has been my DWR quilt.  This quilt was hand pieced all from scraps and the border was made up of orphan blocks made for me by my Bee a Brit Stingy friends.  I LOVE this quilt

 

 

 

I managed to squeeze in a finish for Jenny too - just in the nick of time - now that she is in her own house

 My Bee a Brit Stingy block got sent off to Charlotte yesterday: this is a big block at 16.5".  And it's not quite a finish, but I an nearly there with my folded fabric Christmas tree

Yesterday a whole group of us gathered around our computers for a web chat with Sarah.  This was all very cleverly organised by Rhonda as a baby shower for Sarah.  We had all been secretly making for Bean and yesterday Sarah got to open her gifts while we watched and listened (some of us listened, others watched, some got to do both.  It was very dependant on our computers!!)
I made Sarah some burp/sickie cloths

 There were lots of amazing gifts-no doubt you will see them popping up.  We also won prizes.  Everyone made a prize to donate and no-one went away empty handed.  I made two minis

 It really was amazing to be part of this: to hear Sarah as she opened the gifts even though she was hundreds of miles away in the Shetlands.  And to interact with people from USA, Canada, Europe....I think there may have been someone from Nz as well?  Makes the world a much smaller place

And to finish off - these two popped in last week.  They have been poorly, which is not suprising given the start that they had.  But they are growing and are very well loved.  Not so little anymore

 Tonight I will be sitting down and catching up on about a weeks worth of blog reading!
Linking up with Lynne : have you seen her cute barn quilt advent calendar that you can join in with?