If I was a really cool blogger...

and big people wanted my opinion or take on fabric, it would look something like this.  These little bundles are popping up everywhere, and I can see why!  It was so much fun to put these fabrics together.  There is a contest going on over at Quokka Quilts to make a fat quarter bundle of your choice with fabrics from The Fat Quarter Shop.  I went with greens, blues, grays, and beige.  I like it!  I love cool soothing colors, but there are so many great bundles that have popped up I don't know how they will choose!

  

Also, voting has started for the bag make overs over at The Sewing Summit blog!  Head on over and vote for me...if you are so inclined! ;0)  

Looking Back- 2011!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!  We still have toys scattered everywhere across the house, and we are taking things slow this week.  I am always impressed with people who can hop right back to "regular" life.  I am not one of those. ;0p  I  have a few things I finished this month that I still have yet to share, but I have been thinking a lot about this past year.  Jessica over at A Little Gray is hosting a "A Year in Sewing", and I thought I would get my post written before I get distracted! 

This year I  think my love of quilting and small patchwork definitely took over!  These are all the pillows, mug rugs, minis, and other small patchwork that I made this year!  My love for quilting has definitely grown this year, but I admit that I like quilting mostly on a small scale.  The basting and quilting of large quilts always makes my procrastinating nature kick in!

However, when going back through my Flickr I realized I actually completed 8 quilts!   Most of these were completed the first half of this year.

I definitely stretched my quilting skills more this year especially with joining in on the Kaleidoscope QA and the Summer Sampler QA.  These are the two at the top that I still have not finished.  Kaleidoscope blocks are tricky and stretchy and not friendly!  However, I am happy I stuck with it and finished them.  I also learned how to foundation paper piece through the Summer Sampler QA and loved it!  I really enjoyed making all of those blocks.  The bottom two are my Turning Twenty quilt for our bed and a block from my Fussy Cut Bee quilt.  My first goal of 2012 is finishing these four quilts!

Here are some of the bags, wallets, and pouches I made this year.  I love making bags, and I only wish my closet wasn't exploding already with all the bags I have made over the past few years or you would probably be seeing a lot more. ;0)

I also went through a clothing spree this spring.  I made a number of tops for myself and skirts and dresses for the girlies.  I conquered my fear of knits and fell in love with Lil Blue Boo's Pieced Tunic pattern.  I made four of them!   I am definitely not a seamstress though and have realized that I don't have much desire to make complicated and involved patterns. 

This year I participated in many, many swaps and two quilt-a-longs.  I got to be a part of Mug Rug Madness, and I hosted my first online "event", Finish It Up!  I even wrote a couple of tutorials.  I got to go to The Sewing Summit and meet lots of new sewing peeps.  My sewing has gone through a number of stages this year.  Over the summer I seriously felt a little bit too addicted to sewing, and it felt like an obsession.  This might sound silly to some, but I am sure some of you understand.  It didn't feel right.  However, getting pregnant definitely reversed that problem. ;0p  Now I feel the need to create a little schedule for myself so I can fit some more regular sewing in a bit more. 

I have a feeling 2012 will have a little less swapping, and I would really like to finish up the quilt tops I have going on, so I can start other quilts guilt free.  I am hoping to do a little more stash busting, and just try to make sure I am making things I love and not because I feel I have to!  My life is busy right now, and I want to make my sewing a fun, creative outlet.  

What about you?  Do you have big plans for the new year?  Do you feel the need for a change in your sewing habits or are you happy with where you are at?

-crunch time!-

I don't think I need say more than "stomach flu" for you all to understand what kind of week this has been.  Throw in some random colds and rashes, and I am very ready for something better to happen!  The week wasn't all bad though.  Sukie hosted a Secret Santa Swap over on Twitter, and I got my package the other day from Kate over at Needle and Spatula!  She really spoiled me.  The book is awesome!  I wanted to immediately go to my scrap bin and start putting something together.  She also made me a cute little needle book and zip pouch.  Plus, homemade caramels!  I never make candy, so I was super impressed!

It is getting down to crunch time for Christmas gifts.  I purposely did not put much on my list and thank goodness I didn't.  I cut out a couple of zip clutches yesterday to make to put in gift cards for teachers and the husband's secretary.  

The only big thing on my list is finishing this quilt.  I am showing this one off at the modern quilt guild meeting back in October.  I just need to add a couple of borders, and I would really like to get this sent off to it's rightful owners.  How is your list looking?  Are you ready?

Also, AnneMarie over at Gen X Quilters was kind enough to feature me today on her blog, so go check it out!  I got to meet her at The Sewing Summit, and as she said we bonded over our pregnancies.  She is super sweet, and it was fun to get to chat with her a bit!

-habitat challenge quilt complete!-

I finally finished my Habitat Challenge quilt a couple of weeks ago!  My little assistant tried to raise her arms high enough...

but alas, she was a wee bit too small.

So we hung it up on the fence.  If you haven't heard about the challenge, the modern quilt guilds were offered the challenge of taking a bundle of Habitat by Jay McCarroll and making something with them.  Our guild decided on small quilts.

I knew I wanted to cut it into small pieces. It is such busy fabric, and I also wanted something simple and modern.  I found Kate Conklin's pattern called Scattered Showers and knew it was perfect for what I wanted to do.  It was an easy little quilt and came together very quickly.  I could also see fussy cutting some of my Heather Ross little scraps and using them in this pattern. 

I kept the quilting simple and modern as well with some random straight line quilting in a slightly darker grey thread.

I used Kona ash for the background and then used Kona charcoal for both the back and the binding.

One quilt top turned quilt!  Five more quilt tops and/or completed blocks to turn into quilts!  Why do I always get burnt out after I finish the tops?

-hoodie!-

I finished Juliana's little hood earlier this week while laying sick on the couch!  It turned out so cute.  Juliana tried it on.  I told her she looked like a little elf, and she was sold.  She has worn it every day since.

The pattern by Bonita Patterns is mostly the crocodile stitch, a v stitch, and a half double crochet.  The crocodile stitch takes more time to complete, but definitely offers a unique effect.  I would certainly recommend the pattern.  She offers good instructions, and if you need even more visual help (like me), I found several tutorials for this specific stitch on Youtube.

I did make the mistake of taking the girls with me to pick out the  yarn for each of their hoods.  Juliana and I disagreed quite a bit about what color.  She preferred bright magenta pink with metallic sparkles.   I picked out a fun apple green. We compromised on the light pink.  Now Felicity watches me with great interest as I work on her blue one.

-crazy-

That is what life has felt like the past week or so.  So much happened, and then I got sick, so rottenly sick.  Pregnancy always seems to make me so much more susceptible to catching things no matter how much I wash my hands and how careful I am.  

- My husband and I decided to get each other a new camera for our anniversary. Our first DSLR!  I love it so much.  Our anniversary isn't until New Year's but there are always great deals this time of the year, so we got it a little early.  I have no idea what I am doing, but I am excited to learn!  If you have any photography tips, books, websites, etc...please share!

I have been playing around quite a bit with it though and taking lots of  picture of the kiddos.

Josiah

Juliana

Felicity

-We also received some sad news.  A friend from college passed away last week.  He had been in the ICU for 47 days and although we knew he was horribly ill, there was so much hope that he would pull through.  Thousands of people were praying for him.  Matt was a great guy.  He will be greatly missed.  May he rest in peace.

-Juliana got to be in our town's local parade through her Little Flowers Club.  She *loves* parades and was so excited.  She had a great time, but as we were driving home it was clear all of the waving and saying "Merry Christmas!" over and over had been a bigger responsibility than she anticipated. ;0p

-Somebody turned 32 last week (and it wasn't me!)  I found this recipe for a Chocolate Stout Cake, and it was amazing.  Perfect cake for the men in your life!  

- Late last week I got a call from my OB saying he wanted to refer us to a specialist because of different things that had shown up on the baby's ultrasound.  We knew about these things, but were told not to worry.  My OB was out of town at the time, so I really didn't worry too much.  However, when we got that call, I admit I felt scared.  We got to see the perinatologist the next day though.  He was very reassuring, and he thinks that everything has a good chance of turning out fine. I will be monitored more closely though, especially in the third trimester.  Please keep our little one in your prayers.

- We got our Christmas tree and finished off most of our decorating!

  I finished the table runner I started last week.  It is called the Simple Table Runner.  I had made it before, and I like the size and simplicity!

Instead of using ric rac though.  I used this cute little red pom pom trim in my stash.

Thanks for reading this rambling post!  Hope all your Christmas sewing is going well!!