February "Lovely Year of Finishes" project

A few weeks ago, I signed up with Melissa over at http://blog.sewbittersweetdesigns.com/ - she and another quilting friend decided to challenge quilters to finish one quilting project per month in 2013.  The idea sounded like a great one, so I put my name down, and then promptly missed the first deadline!  I really didn't want to do that again, so I'm posting this right now.
I belong to a group of ladies that create quilts for injured military members; one of the members designs quilts, and then releases the steps for making the quilt one step at a time, usually every week.  The last quilt was just before Christmas, and I was SO crazy busy with all sorts of things, so I didn't get much more than the first 2 steps done.
I FINALLY had some time today to finish step# 4, and have decided to finish this quilt in February.  Now that I've told you all about it, I need you to keep after me to finish it this month!  My quilt will be going to Quilts of Valor, a Canadian organization that provides comfort quilts for wounded Canadian servicemen and women.  I chose to use red, white and green for my fabric colours (the Mystery Quilts 4 Military is an American organization, so their quilts tend to be designed for red, white and blue quilts).  The picture is of the Step #4 blocks - they're all done, and I've started block #5 (of 7), so I should be able to get the quilt done.....hope that isn't wishful thinking!   The next quilt mystery will be going up next month sometime.
Anyway, here is step #4 completed:

We have a visitor!

Some of you may know that hubby and I have long been "sheep people" - at one time we farmed and had 150+ ewes (before lambing!), and were hoping to expand.  Unfortunately, that didn't work out - so, we sold the flock, sold the farm and moved into town.
Shortly after that, one of our former neighbours offered hubby a job, working on his beef and chicken farm - a job that he's had ever since.  Two or three years ago, hubby asked his boss if he'd be able to rent a bit of land from him, so that we could have a few sheep again - and the answer was "yes".  We purchased 3 ewes, and the 2 lambs that came with them, and settled them into their new home.  Last year, we waited with bated breath, but even though it appeared that a lamb or two might make an appearance, nothing happened.  Then,  on Saturday, hubby came home, beaming, and showed me the camera-phone video of our first set of twins!  All was well....   Then, yesterday morning, the boss phoned to say that we had another set of twins - yippee!  However, there were a few concerns about the one little lamb - she has 2 obvious "defects", and we have no way of knowing if there are others that haven't shown up yet...  Tonight, hubby came home, quite concerned, because mama has decided that she's not going to accept this little girl - won't let her nurse, butts her out of the way, etc. - and with her being on the farm, and us in town, we didn't have a lot of options, aside from bringing her home.  So, she's going to live in a box in our family room for a few days, until we can come up with a better option...   and our cat is having NOTHING to do with it!
In case you've never seen an adorable little lamb, here's a pic:

There's nothing wrong with her lungs!  Hope she'll let us get a bit of sleep tonight!

Placemats!

Our quilt guild meets the 2nd Monday night of the month, so that would make today quilt guild night.  At our last meeting, we were asked to make placemats for our local Meals on Wheels, so they could hand them out to their clients with their Valentine's Day meals.  I managed to make 4 - 2 before the meeting, and finished the other 2 after I came home.  Of course, I forgot to take pics of the first 2, but they were the same (only different) as the 2 pictured here.  I used a "Reunion" charm pack and my Twister tool to make them (first time using the Twister tool)....  I think that 5 charms for one placemat were too many - they were a little wide - so, the next time I make new ones, I'll only use 3 or 4.  I found a red print for the upper and lower borders, and a red-on-cream for the backing and binding.  Of course you want to see them, so here they are:

I just might put up a card or two for my next post - just to keep you on your toes!

...and it's (almost) done!

So, it took a little longer to make my New Year's Day mystery quilt than just one day, but I finally have the top done!  It was actually done on Sat. night, but it wasn't until I took a picture of it this morning, that I realized that I'd sewn the bottom 4 panels on upside-down...  Sew, I got out my trusty stitch ripper, removed the incorrect panels, reattached them correctly, and voila! 

Now to get it layered and quilted - and then add the great striped fabric that I bought for the binding - and then...?  It's rather large, and I didn't really have a recipient in mind.  I'm seriously considering making this again, but I'll make the strips a little shorter (they were all cut at 20"), so the quilt will be a more usable size for donation.
Suggestions for recipients will be gratefully accepted!

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!

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!

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!