2012

It's the last day of 2012 and it's time to look at where I've been and where I'm going.

I've just finished tallying up 2011. I've quilted and bound 3 full sized quilts, made 25 doll quilts, knit 24 pairs of socks, and knit 39 items for charity. I've also read 159 books. Good grief!

I have over 50 doll quilts now and have made more than that as I've given a number of them away. I still want to make them, but not quite as many. I'm aiming for one a month this next year although I may end up making more than that. They're so addictive and fast! I'm mulling over whether I want to do the one house a day project or not, but haven't decided on that yet. I suspect probably not.

I am an avid sock knitter and have tried to make three adult pairs and one baby pair every month which is just too much. I have almost 100 pairs of adult socks (not counting those I've given away) and about half that many pairs of baby socks. I don't want to stop knitting socks, but I'm going to aim for one or perhaps two pairs of adult socks per month. See my blog, Knitting Only Socks, to see my progress.

I will continue to knit for charity--see Knitting for Peace but I want to do other knitting as well. A brand new blog on knitting mittens Knitting Only Mittens has its grand opening tomorrow and I've begun another blog, My Other Knitting, to document hats, scarves, and other items which are not for charity and not socks or mittens.

So what about quilting? I'm going to work a bit more on large quilts. I have at least 40 tops made by my husband's great-aunt Clara which need to be quilted and bound and I have kits and patterns for many others.

I have decided to make a serendipity scrap quilt which will be full sized and hand-quilted. I hope to finish it by the end of 2012. Progress will be detailed weekly on my blog (yep--you're right!-- another blog) All the Rest of My Life.

Happy New Year everyone!

Christmas Boxes

This quilt is by Essie Bendolph Pettway.
Multiple columns of rectangular blocks and bars, 1980; corduroy
93" x 75"
green/white/red

I love this quilt and so I made a doll sized version of it in cottons. It's 16" x 20".

Waiting for Christmas

No snow here, but I can dream! I'm not doing any quilting now until after Christmas. There's a ham and a turkey in the refrigerator, pies and cookies baked, candy dishes with chocolates and nuts, wrapped gifts piled high under the tree, and we are enjoying the company of our house guests--two sons and a daughter-in-law. One son and his wife live across the country and can't be here but another son and daughter-in-law will be here on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. So quilting will have to wait. Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!

Building Houses from Scraps

There's a new icon on my sidebar. It's from building houses from scraps. This a sew along where quilters will piece one 3" house block each day in 2012. I'll be (hopefully) getting the block as a .pdf later this week. Here is the webpage address. Note the Google translator button on the left. The translation isn't perfect, but it helps. There are over 800 people signed up so far. If you want to join, send an e-mail to Jeanneke at mail@jeanneke.com If you have a blog, include the address and she'll add it to her sidebar. She'll be emailing all those who join the pattern on December 15th.

I'm a little nervous about this as it seems daunting. Each 3" square has 16 pieces and will need 8 different fabrics. It's the number of so many small pieces that worry me, not the fabrics! I have plenty of those and have begun pressing little pieces in readiness. I will use only blues for the sky and yellows for the windows, but I'm going to use the everything-but-the-kitchen-sink when it comes to the rest f the fabrics. I know some organized quilters will use only 1930s feedbacks or only batiks, but no, not me! I'm going to use everything!

Red and White Doll Quilt

There's been a lot of discussion on quilt blogs over the past few months about red and white quilts brought about the beautiful exhibit in New York City last March. I'd been thinking about making a red and white quilt and then, while looking through boxes trying to find my Christmas ornaments, I came across an unfinished red and white doll quilt top. I have no idea when I pieced this. I quilted it and here it is, just in time for Christmas! It's 14" X 20".

Ebay Items

Last year I posted on this blog that I would be de-stashing and selling some BOMs and quilt kits on Ebay. Well, finally I've started to do that. You can find what I've listed so far here. Items include a vintage doll quilt, a couple of Cheri Saffiote patterns/kits, an Elly Sienkiewiczf kit for A Sampler for All Seasons Block, and Around the Town BOM. I love all these items still, but I know I'll never get around to making them and want to find them good homes. Go take a peek if you're interested. I will be listing more items in the next few weeks and months.