WIP Wednesday: How I Felt

This post either be about feelings or, you know, actual felt.  I’ve had a bit of both this week, but here’s the felt for an ornament I’m trying to whip up quickly for an upcoming swap:

I’m also working on a Christmas quilt but those pile of pieces aren’t as exciting to look at this, apparently.  And one day this week I’ll work up enthusiasm on quilting the Quilt of Valor I just pieced, but I need to get it basted first- with the re-arranging it took to fit the Christmas tree in the living room, though, I’ve lost my usual basting floor space!

And of course, I’m getting ready for the virtual Stitch-In on Friday night AND filming the next episode of The Stitch this weekend, hoping for each that the cold I’m coming down with isn’t going to whammy me too bad.

See more WIPs at Lee’s blog!

Snowflake Garden - Finished!

I finally got around to photographing the Snowflake Garden quilt I finished on the first day of my retreat.  It’s a small-ish wallhanging that finishes at 36×42″from Primitive Gatherings from Lisa Bongean.

About halfway to the retreat last weekend I realized I had left the container with all my sewing machine feet & extra bobbins at home, so it was through the generosity of friends that I borrowed a FMQ foot and a spare bobbin and got this done.

I really like the star pattern in the center, and also like how the star itself is set slightly above center.  To keep with the snowflake theme, I stuck to snowflake-like branches for the quilting in the star. The rest of the blue got a gentle meander.

The snowman is wool applique, attached with fusible and a hand-applied blanket stitch.  I did a smidge of quilting on the leaves, but left the rest of of un-quilted so it would keep it’s poofiness.

Soon I’ll get this wrapped up and ready to give to my in-laws!

Tricky Stars - Finished!

I am quite excited to present: Tricky Stars!

She finishes at 66×80″, with lots of Star Wars fabric. No, there are no seekrit Death Stars on this quilt; I had been collecting greys to make a Star Wars quilt for quite some time. And even after finishing THREE Star Wars quilts, I still had a bunch left over.

The pattern is the Cathedral Stars tutorial from Bonnie Hunter, and I’ve been working on and off on this for a couple months, with the lime and white patches as leaders and enders on a couple different projects. Once those were done it was time to power through the rest of the elements and make a top!

I did an overall meander in the center with white thread, and black thread on the setting triangles. I love that dragonfly fabric, and still remember who gave it to me, so I’ll be sure to let her know it’s going to good use!  I finished quilting with straight lines in lime green in the inner and outer borders.

It’s terribly scrappy, but I love it to pieces.  Once I know for sure whether it’s going in a raffle or an auction, I’ll let you all know in case you want a chance to win it to benefit either Good Mews or Ahimsa House, both of which are excellent animal charities.

Bonus picture of the wool felt project I FINALLY put the final stitch on; I thought I’d have this done within a few days of getting back from the Christmas trip to my parents’ house. Obvious missed that one, eh?

At least now I have my pumpkins ready for spring.

My new hand project is a cross-stitch project that will probably only take me a million years. I’m working on a sheep and already want to poke myself in the eye with a sharp stick.

I forgot how annoying it is when doing a semi-realistic cross-stitch and you have a bazillion shades of the same color: white, off-white, whitest-white, honky, light beige, and ultra white. GAH.

 

Sunday Stash: Piffle

Out with a whimper! I barely finished anything this week, which is perfectly fine and expected given our travel schedule for the holidays. I’ll post pictures of both projects this week once I find my camera cord (again- this happens every time I travel!)

  • Used this Week: 1 yard
    • 0.5 yd for backing for Autumn Glory tablerunner
    • 0.5 yd for gifties for friends
  • Used year to Date: 550 yards
  • Added this Week: 0 yards
    • I have ordered some fabric but it hasn’t arrived yet so that just means I’ll start 2013 in the hole. Ha!
  • Net Used for 2012: 236 yards
  • YTD Used for Charity: 157.75 yards (29% of total used)

Small Project Finishes

I promised pictures of this geranium basket felted wool table mat, so here it is! It’s about 18″ across. Not sure where I’ll put it yet.

And here’s how you can ID me at the MidAtlantic Quilt Festival (or any other quilt festival, honestly, since I usually take this bag to quilt shows):

 Check out my new tag! Not really a name tag since it doesn’t have my name on it, but it’s a… tag line tag?