Hustling Wrap Up

Happy New Year (almost) everyone! I've taken a break from blogging while we are traveling for the holidays, but I did want to get this post in. Thanks to Kelsey for hosting the Hustle, it was great fun to challenge myself and get organized. In fact, some of the gifts I made for the holidays definitely would not have been made if not for this little exercise.

I will post full posts about my latest finishes (both on and off this list) in January, but for now here's how I did with my list (not bad!):

Hand stitching:

Modern Medallion quilt - hand quilting, start -  purchased batting, basted, begun!

Yarn work:

Portland cowl - finish

Aidez sweater - knit enough to know if I want to keep going - yes! it looks like this yarn will work, no plans to finish the whole thing before the end of the year though

scrap yarn blanket for donation to animal shelter - start - will continue adding to this here and there over the next months

At the machine:

Covered bead necklace for me - start & finish

Stuffed animal for baby girl - start & finish

Riding boot bag - start & finish 

Amsterdam quilt top - start

Voile/flannel scarf - start & finish (Xmas)

Tote for Samara - start & finish (Xmas)

Garment bag - finish - purchased zipper and grommet, cut pieces out, got too confused to finish

Baby quilt for Anna - start, finish by February - purchased fabric, know what pattern it will be, will start cutting in the new year

Flannel pjs for me - start & finish

(there's a tank top, too but it hasn't been photographed)

Pencil roll up for Jasmine - start & finish (Xmas)

Fabric necklaces & gift bags (at least 5) - start & finish (Xmas)

For next year: 

Temair throw - finish already! (sew motifs together), Laminated cotton tote for barn, Apron, Embroidery kit - start

Cherry on top

Because I wanted to do something a little different one afternoon, I decided to pull out my jewelry making tools and make a few sets of earrings to go with my latest necklace projects. Here's what I came up with:

All of the beads were purchased at an expo in Chicago a couple years ago. It was amazing. McCormick center was full of accessories, jewelry, and jewelry supplies. My mom, sister-in-law, and I went and had a blast! I still have a small stash left, and it's always fun to bring them out and see what I can do. Mostly I really enjoy combining colors in interesting ways. My wire wrapping skills aren't 100% great yet, but good enough to do the simple wraps required for these connections.

I made the backing cards from some water color paper and some Moo business cards. The holes were punched using a dress maker's pin which makes a perfect sized opening to thread the earrings through. Presto! Cute looking earrings to give.

Basted!

Oh my gosh, I basted my quilt from this summer -- finally! The top has been hanging up in my sewing room since late August. I originally thought I would have to piece a back, but I ended up settling on a print that was wide enough to use on its own. I just caught a wild hare the other night and really wanted to get the hand quilting on this started, so I spent the evening basting. Dave has been asking when this will be done, so he was pretty jazzed when he came home and saw me working on this. 

As it turns out, the card table is actually a great surface to baste on, much preferable to the floor. I had always thought I needed to spread out on the floor to do this, but gravity and the smooth table surface actually really helped the whole process. No puckers, no sore knees, and a nicely basted quilt in the end. No more floor basting for this girl!

I started a little bit of the hand quilting. I'm going to take my time with it and have fun. Jack is very excited about the prospect of me under a quilt on the couch in the evenings, so I have to keep stopping him from climbing on it. I'd like to try to keep it kitty hair free at least until I've finished it! Then he can sit on it and me all he wants. 

Linking up at Freshly Pieced

Baggins for beads

Woo! Three of the five beaded necklaces I finished will be going to aunts this Christmas, and I finished up all three bags last week. I am super pleased with them.

Each bag matches the necklace fabric and has a contrasting print used inside and for the drawstrings. I must say, these are surprisingly quick to make once you get the hang of it and I think they add a nice finish to the gift. I use fabric drawstring bags for a bunch of things: to carry my camera around, to pack jewelry for travel, to store computer cords in... 

Soon these little bagginses will be off on an adventure to their new homes. 

Hop along now

I am a gift-making ninja. That's the only way to describe the evening I had on Sunday when I focused my proverbial eye of Sauron on the list of things I still needed to get done. (We have been re-watching the LotR extended edition DVDs, I get some concessions). Top of the list? Jasmine's art pencil roll-up.

My very first post on this blog was about a project I made for my oldest niece to house some colored pencils in a fashion very similar to one of my favorite art supplies. I was told a few months ago that her younger sister 'really likes the pencil roll' and she had put in a special request for one. Well how can you say no to that? Auntie Alia aims to please. 

I'd been putting this off because I could not find my notes from the last time I did it, but Sunday afternoon I finally found the page I had written on, and away I went. I'm trying to get better at using my stash and larger scraps of fabrics, even though it's always satisfying when you can use small scraps to get the job done. I actually started from the blue dot fabric and figured it went pretty well with the adorable frog seersucker print. That print is from a covered photo album I made for my oldest niece's very first birthday; how nice to remember that bit of history. Combine those two with some pezz and the ever-present green swirl Ikea fabric and I think this lily pad's starting to get somewhere! 

For some reason I fit less pencils in this version, by maybe 6 or so. I had in my notes that I spaced the lines one inch apart, but maybe those were scant inches whereas this time they might have been a bit larger than an inch. I guess this way she'll be able to fit some fat markers in it when the pencils run out? Still, I think it turned out very cute.

An important finish to fill an important special request!

Linking up with my favorite Friday reading, crazy mom quilts Finish It Up Friday

Karenina

I started this project when I started reading Anna Karenina last month. I'm done with the book, but still working on the knitting. The color of this red yarn is dramatic just like Tolstoy's work! 

This began as the solution to a simple knitting craving and has escalated. The simple part being a scarf based on a simple, repetitive yet striking pattern. However, as I was knitting this I kept thinking to myself: 'self, you have a lot of scarves already,' so I decided to stop this one short, quite literally, and make it into a buttoned cowl instead. I hope to find some nice buttons in my stash to make this look classy yet quirky. Oh, and also to figure out how to add button holes to the design. Maybe not necessary with those yarn-overs so nice and equally spaced.... this will depend upon the buttons.

To use up the rest of the yarn, I began a pair of mittens from the other end of the ball. I say other end because I haven't bound off the scarf portion yet. I'm waiting to see if I have enough yarn for both mittens first because the scarf/cowl can always get longer or shorter depending how much I have left. 

So now I have a mass of yarn that is as complex as the plot lines in Tolstoy's book but it should be sorted out soon. In contrast to the scarf, the mitten pattern I chose does not make for a simple project, so it's taking longer than anticipated. But at least they are easier than gloves. 

Holidays in progress

The holidays are fast approaching, and just like last year my workspace is a beautiful mess. 

I started these beaded necklaces last month because they are so quick to put together. This bunch is destined to be gifts for family and friends. I think the matching gift bags will be a fun touch! 

I'm sort of improvising them based on Jeni Baker's drawstring bag tutorial. The improvisation comes in at the sizing, not in any of the construction details. 

I used up the last of my wooden beads, both large and small, but just look at these beauties just waiting to be finished! 

Linking up to Freshly Pieced for Work in progress Wednesday. Check out what everyone else is up to for the holidays.