Monday, December 31, 2012

One more "Last post for 2012"!

Well, it's the last day of 2012... I'm pretty sure that I'm ready for a new year! I signed up with a group of quilters that are pledging to finish at least one project every month for 2013.  I managed to finish a LOT of quilt tops, but that's as far as they got. I need some real motivation to finish those babies, seeing as I no longer have the excuse that I can't do the actual quilting. I've also managed to get a picture of the fabrics I'm using for my New Year's Day Mystery Quilt:
The strips are an Amelia jelly roll (all of the fabrics are from one fabric line, and they're precut to 2 1/2"). I'm using a white fabric for my background - and what you can't see is that the design is a loopy flower - which very closely matches the loopy flower in some of the strips; the brightly striped fabric is for my border (I'm already thinking of the finishing touches - which is a good thing!); I'm pretty sure that every colour in the striped fabric also shows up in the jelly roll fabrics! I'm hoping to see you next year!

Sunday, December 30, 2012

A final post for 2012

This past month has flown by so quickly - maybe because I was so "unready" for most of it to happen... It seems like every time I check the calendar, it's at least 3 days later than I think it should be - and now there's only 1 day left! I FINALLY got some time to work on my latest MysteryQuilt4Military - the mystery actually concluded a few weeks ago, but it seems that quite a few of the ladies are having a difficult time keeping up with the mystery this time, so I'm in good company! I also decided to make 2 of these quilts before I actually saw the pattern, so, I'm behind twice as badly! Here are my fabrics - first is a soft teal; a cream solid and then a darker teal; the second colourway is a deep-ish green, white and red fabrics. I really have no blocks put together yet to give you an idea of what this pattern will look like.
I also signed up to do an online mystery quilt on New Year's day - it requires a jelly roll and a coordinating fabric. I should have pics on Tues. or Wed. I also managed to make a Secret Santa gift for one of my online quilting-forum friends:
The trees are probably more appropriate for the Christmas season; the little fabric dish can be used year-round. I also made and mailed a bunch of Christmas cards (forgot to get pics of most of them); and I knit slippers for our SIL for Christmas. Each of us drew a name of a family member - we then had to make a gift for that person; AND, I made 3 kinds of Christmas cookies, and one kind of fudge for our neighbours and a few friends... So, it's obvious why I always seemed to be behind! Maybe I should resolve to do a little better in the blogging department for the new year - at least, I'll try to do better!

Monday, December 17, 2012

Birthday cards!

We seem to have a number of family birthdays in December - so, while everyone else is making Christmas cards, I'm making birthday cards. Once again, Pinterest has been a big help in finding great ideas for cards - look at these 2 cards:
The card on the left is really easy, especially if you have one of the little paper packs that have a whole line of paper in it - the paper all coordinates! (I'm pretty sure that this paper is from Basic Grey.) I used 4 different sizes of circle punches to get a nice assortment of circles, which I then randomly glued to the left side of the card. All that it needed then was a sentiment: I used the "Happy Happy Birthday" one from an old sentiment assortment from Stampin' Up. (It may be the first time I've used that particular stamp!) The card on the right has some designer paper glued on the card base; then I cut 2 sizes of labels using the Labels 4 Nestabilities die from Spellbinders. I embossed the white C/S with a section of an SU floral embossing folder. I added brown "pearls" to the flower centers, and finished the label with a few butterflies from a Sizzlets die. A bit of sheer ribbon and a sentiment finished the card off. I have some more Christmas cards to make yet - I'm hoping to have the cards all sent out tonight or tomorrow - and then I might have some time to work on a quilting project (or 8...!) I signed up to do a mystery quilt that will be going to a wounded serviceman/woman - the final clue was just released on Friday; I signed up to do a New Year's Day mystery too, AND I need to prepare a tutorial for our January quilt guild meeting. Maybe I should post this and get started on those extra Christmas cards!