Winding down in 2014

Just a little end of the year sewing . . . and it was 4 more of these Traveling Stars blocks.  I still have quite a few of these to make from 6" squares shared by guild members.

Yesterday I prepped and sewed on several pillowcases from my stash fabrics. 3 of them have snowman fabrics, 2 pillowcases have motorcycles, 1 is bright yellow with kitties, 1 is butterflies, 1 is smiley faces, and 2 more are florals.  I have the tops on 5 of them, have 2 more pinned into the "tube" and ready to sew. The rest are cut and ready to go. 

And this morning I've been doing a little organizing in my sewing room and working on my 2015 UFO list.  I've found the past 3 years that having a list of UFOs to work on has helped me focus.  When I have a little time to sew and nothing planned, then I can check that list and choose something to work on.  2014 saw a LOT of projects checked off the list and that definitely made me happy.

We're going to spend New Year's Eve having supper and watching the kids open Christmas gifts at our older daughter's house later today. They had a house full of influenza over Christmas, but everyone is healthy again and we are looking forward to spending some time with them.

Happy New Year!!

House Warming Party

This is month 4 of the House Warming Party quilt and is actually the last of the border blocks. Now the fun begins with the large center section of this quilt.  

The little red birds show up again in that center section.  I think there are 10 of them total, with 5 scattered in the border blocks.

Housewarming Party blocks

Month 3 of the Housewarming Party BOM was to make 4 of these blocks. Done!  And I looked ahead at Month 4. Can't wait to start those blocks, which will have more of the appliqued birds.

Trying to catch up

I have received quite a few "traveling squares" at the past couple of guild meetings and really need to get caught up on making the star blocks with them.  So, a little time on Christmas Eve morning and Christmas Day afternoon spent in the sewing room and there are 4 more Traveling Stars blocks done. Only a few more to go . . .

The blue fabric above is from Israel.  And the next 2 are from Sturgis SD (famous for its motorcycle rally every August).  The final star is made from a "fishy" print from a vacation to a tropical locale.  And I counted the ones left to do - 14 more have the star points and white background cut and ready to sew.  I'm getting closer to a queen-size quilt.

A new project for this week

Tonight I cut all of the pieces for a new project to work on this week. This will be a baby quilt for a friend of DD#2 who is expecting a girl in April.  The new mom sports the nickname of "Frenchie" - and that inspired the fabric I chose for her.

I'll share more about the pattern as I sew this.  It's a really great pattern for a fast finish.

Working on gifts

Another travel pillow done. A niece is having a new baby any day now and this pillow is for her toddler daughter so that she gets a present too.  I need to find the perfect book to add to this.  She is a little cowgirl, so this should be appropriate.

I also made a mint green flannel self-binding baby blanket this morning - in case the new baby is another girl. And I have a blue one ready to sew this afternoon in case she has a boy.  

Just a tiny glimpse

I'm not really giving anything away with this tiny look at the latest round robin addition for our guild project.  We are all supposed to add at least 1 star somewhere this month.  I have this little star all ready to use. Now I just need to figure out what else I'm going to add to this.

Round robins are so much fun, but can be a little intimidating too.  Each month it's a surprise when I open that bag or box to see what I'm working with.  We need to add something that enhances the flow of the design and hope that we are going to make the original owner very happy when she gets the quilt back.