2017 A Look Back

This year I did very little quilting and lots of small projects. There was some garment sewing and baby gifts were made. Today I worked on Ava's busy bag but did not finish it. This is my 37th blog post of the year. Not quite one per week. I learned to knit and rediscovered embroidery this year. Some of my most recent work follows.

The patchwork side of Ava's bag with lots of Eye Spy things to find.

The little house with windows and door to open.

The first Calendar Girl is finished, washed and ironed. I hope my stitches improve or maybe it's time for eye surgery. ;-)

I started February Girl.

Close up of details of the wall hanging.  

Not sure if the big stitches on the garland and the tree top star are visible in the photos.

I used a yellow-gold perl cotton on the garland and star above.

White perl cotton for the snowflake below.

Looking forward to a new year. Hope 2018 will be filled with sewing and fun times with family.

Last project for 2017

My last project for 2017 is a busy bag for Ava. 

Lots of photos follow.

First I prepared the embroidered animals, window covers and door.

I fussy cut a little girl reading a book for the inside of the door.

Both sides of the door have iron-on interfacing.

Next I sewed some lines on the windows to make them more window-like.

The door and window section were sewn together.

The window covers ready to go on next.

This the view with the door open.

The pink strip at the top holds the window covers in place. 

Door and windows open

Trying out the roof piece.

Snaps have been attached to the window covers.

Trying out the grass and path.

It's hard to see with all the shadows but the bottom, top, and sides have strips of blue. 

The roof now looks right. There is a big button for the door knob.

Now to work on the patchwork for the other side of the bag. 

Hope to finish before New Years Day.

Check back for the finish!

Friday before Christmas

On the Friday before Christmas I did a little sewing. I made this cute needle case after reading a post about 12 last minute gifts for Christmas on the blog "Days filled with joy".

Both the front and inside came from the same fat quarter. I'm using the needle case for my Calendar Girls embroidery needles. 

On the Thursday before Christmas I sat around thinking about how to quilt this wall hanging.

I quilted the borders on Friday using a pale gray thread on top and bottom.

I decided to sew small jingle bells on the tree instead of quilting. It will take some time to sew all the bells in place. Then I want to use perl cotton to sew over the snowflakes and some other features.

On the Saturday before Christmas I sewed on the binding, corner triangles, and label.

Red corner above. 

Tan corner below.

The label is caught in the binding and I will hand stitch the other two sides.

Having the binding done will make it easier to work on the handwork in the middle.

This may turn into a Twelve Days of Christmas quilt.

Hope your holidays are merry and bright!

Mid-week update

On the Monday before Christmas I pieced the backing  of my Christmas wall hanging and pin basted it.. 

When I flipped it over there was a crease in the backing.... I had to unpin and do it again.

So on Tuesday before Christmas I pin basted the wall hanging on my dining room table again. 

Then looking for a quick finish I cut out and assembled an advent quilt.

The fabric was not square. Don't look too closely at this finish.

Mr. M encouraged me to hang it. The pockets are just right for small candy canes.

On the Wednesday before Christmas a young friend came over to work on doll clothes. Fun time working with a new sewer.

 I finished the January Calendar Girl! Lots of french knots.

Buttons will cover the circles / ear muffs.

Now to see if the stabilizer comes off easily.

On the Thursday before Christmas I ran errands and sat around. There is still time to quilt the wall hanging. Will I get motivated to get up and do it? Stay tuned for late-breaking news.

Embroidery Update etc.

January girl is almost finished. Just need to do her hat, ear muffs, and french knot accents. I watched a video on french knots and feel confident I can do them. I can work on this while watching TV.

The Christmas wall hanging will be finished this week. The backing fabric came and it is not quite big enough. So I will use some of the leftover fabric to make a pieced back. 

I have one more thing to finish before Christmas. I have a plan to make a bag for baby Ava.

On one side I plan to make a patchwork house with these animals at the door and windows.

I hope to fix it so the door opens and there is the fox.

The windows will reveal the owl and hedgehog.

The other side will have a zipper for her to zip. If there is time I want to make felt objects that would be in a pocketbook like cell phone, compact, and lipstick.

No school this week so let the sewing begin!

Getting ready for Christmas

Here is the box we sent to Liam & David and their parents for Christmas.

Mr. M. made cookies and peanut brittle - he's the baker & candy maker at our house.

The box was mailed Friday and should get to NYC before the big day. Wish we could be there, too.

Surprise snow! When I woke up Friday everything was covered in a beautiful blanket of snow. 

Middle Mississippi is never prepared for snow so most schools were closed.

I love this photo of our side yard wreath with a snow trim.

And you ask, "Did any sewing happen this week?"

I worked on a baby gift for a first time grandmother. Jolyn is a long-time friend and we now teach at the same school. Her first grandbaby is due in March. I had to make her a giant 9 patch floor quilt.

The love bird fabric has been waiting for the perfect person.

I found the cherry print last week on my way to the conference. Sorry for the blurry photo.

It will be a great backing for the love bird quilt.

How is everything in your part of the world?

A Little Christmas

Mr. M was busy this week putting up Christmas decorations.

Here and there...

And over here.

I finished 6 soup bowl cozies. Happies for the ladies in the office who help so much.

Two schools with different school colors.

And for a laugh - Mischief the cat likes to drink her water from the bird bath.

So silly.

How was your week?