Weekend Update

I love the holidays, but I have to say I'm glad when they're over. I was really missing a bit of peace and quiet! It has always felt natural for me to go into hibernation mode this time of year, retreating into the introverted part of myself and finding great satifaction in spending lots of time in pajamas. This year it may be even more true with the baby on the way.

So I have been getting some much-needed stitchy time in - some sewing, but mostly lots of knitting! I made these wee sweaters awhile ago, but honestly these poor Blythe girls have been getting zero attention lately. I was super excited to adopt a few of these dollies, but a combination of extreme fatigue, the holiday rush and Mark's horror that his wife is playing with dolls has put sort of a damper on this particular hobby. This last fact may actually be a good thing to keep me from attempting to aquire every Blythe I fall for. Anyways, this was a quick little knit adapted from the pattern by NxtDrGrrl, and I used my favorite sock yarn of the moment, HazelKnits, in Herbtopia and Strawberry Lemonade colorways.

What else is going on around here?

I've finally hopped on Twitter! You can find me here.

A friend got me to join Pininterest! Never heard of it? Neither had I! It is so much fun and a great way to put everything that inspires you creatively in one place.

Right now I've got Pasha by Jane Richmond on the needles. It's coming together quickly. I'm on a real kick to knit up a few more wintery accessories before the weather turns warm. I'm sort of obsessed with cowls right now, and this Burberry-inspired (free pattern!) one and the newest knit from the Purlbee (someone stop me from ordering the five skeins of  Blue Sky worsted I'll need!) are topping my list. I also just got the Fiddlehead Mitten pattern - I'm really aching to try some simple colorwork!

My Sherbet Pips Snowball quilt is all quilted up with only the binding to go! It looks like I'll be able to finish a few quilt tops this month and it feels good to knock some UFOs off the list. The Kerchief Girl quilt is ready to be sashed next.

There is now over 500 of you lovely people bothering to read about my little life! You know what that means - giveaway coming soon!

A Good Start

As 2011 begins, I've been thinking about all I'd like to see myself accomplish this year. That is, besides making a whole human being. As you can see whomever has made his or her home in there is growing happily right along! A little bit freakish for 14 1/2 weeks, but this may also have something to do with my unbridled appetite for holiday sweets like the box of Jeni's ice creams we received and the gigantic celebratory dinners I've been indulging in. Weight loss is not on the New Year's resolutions for me this year anyways, although I am promising this little one I'll be making a point of consuming lots of vegetables whether the craving strikes or not.

I was quite prolific in quilting during 2010, and although I still have a long list of quilts I would like to start and others I'd like to finish, I've resigned myself to the fact that with a baby on the way I may not be able to tick off every one on my list. Here are a few:

 A new quilt for the baby. I started pulling lots of boy fabrics for a flying geese pattern in blues, greens and greys. If it turns out to be a girl, this will be a gift for one of the many boy babies we have friends expecting soon.

It seems my Kerchief Girl quilt is ready to be born. Remember these blocks? I just finished my Sherbet Pips snowball quilt top for Lucy and the kerchief girls have taken their place on the design wall.

The Lotus quilt. I started this in 2009 and I think it's time to get going on it.

The Paint by Number quilt. The ladies from the Bee-autiful Bee made some creative and inspiring improv blocks for me, and I just need to sew up a few more to make what I think will be a gorgeous quilt.

This list could really go on and on until I bore us both to tears. I would love to say I'll start my Japanese fairy tale quilt soon and finish my Liberty of London hexagon quilt too, but those may well be goals for 2012. Besides, I'm finding it hard to find time to hand piece lately, as the knitting bug has really set in and all that hexagon time has been bumped for yarn. My Kererra sweater desperately needs to be finished, especially since it is wearable even as my belly eclipses my toes. Speaking of toes, I've also become obsessed with trying out all sorts of sock patterns. The Marlene socks are on the needles right now. I love how they're turning out but you have to actually think to knit them, so I found myself in need of a simple garter stitch project, so the Noro Rambling Rows blanket was begun. 

I've always have a thing for Noro yarns, picking up all the skeins in the shops and trying to figure out what they'll look like all knit up. Watching the yarn change colors and deciding on which colorway to add next will hopefully keep my attention for the duration of this longer term knit.

My other goals of 2011 are these:

To get a handle on crochet. It just doesn't come naturally to me. Luckily I have a fantastic LYS with all kinds of talented teachers on staff so I plan to take a little clinic soon. I'd love to start that Granny Square blanket after I finish the Noro one.

To learn to make macarons. I still dream regularly of the ones I had at Laduree in Paris.

Get back to yoga. I would love to commit to more, but one prenatal class a week with supplementation at home will have to do for now.

To learn to make Waldorf dolls. I've wanted to do this ever since Lucia was born, and I think she is old enough now to start appreciating more handmade dollies.

I'm still waffling on whether or not to commit to 365. I think it will help in so many ways to make me a better photographer and I love the idea of recording our daily lives.  I'm onto a good start now so we'll see how I keep up, although I'm sure some IPhone pictures will have to do from time to time, like the first one up top.

I hope this list isn't too lofty and unattainable. I really should be adding "keep the house cleaner" "spend less money on yarn and fabric" and "remember to wash face at night", but those don't really sound very fun. Maybe in 2012, hehe!

Happy New Year, all! What are your goals for this year?

I guess I really was busy this year....

As 2010 is coming to a close, I've been spending a little time looking back at all my handmade adventures this year and realizing I really have accomplished quite a lot that I set out to do. I have finished twelve entire quilts, found my knitting mojo again and completed a ton of other little projects. I still have about a half a million UFOs lying around and even more ideas that are bursting to be born into real fabric and yarn actuality, but all in all I'm very proud of the progress I've made in most facets of the needle arts.

I just wanted to share with you some of my most favorite creations this year~

My first completed quilt of 2010, the FMF Wonky Log Cabin, which I started during the Old Red Barn Co. quilt-along using the tutorial by the fabulous John (aka quiltdad). So much fun to piece, although this one has been slowly having the shoddy pre-Bernina quilting ripped out. Hopefully it will be all done and couch-worthy again soon.

My Far, Far Away quilt is dearly loved. The double gauze is so soft and I went the extra mile piecing the back on this one.

I was a little reckless cutting into my Bohemian fabrics, but came out with one quilt for our newlywed friends and one for me.

I love seeing all these Munki Munki prints all in one place,

and spending lots of time under this one, which wins the prize for most-used.

I finally finished knitting

my first-ever sweater for me,

and gained enough new knitting skills to be confident starting new, more complex projects like cabled hats, mittens and socks.

Lots of smaller, yet satisfying projects were made, 

 and there are still lots of long-term projects waiting their turn to be picked up again, like my "Ode to Denyse Schmidt" spiderweb,

and my paper-pieced Liberty of London hexagon quilt.

Hard to believe all that was done during naptimes and nights while Lucy grew from this little babe,

to this big party girl.

Maybe there were more nap times than I thought!

Thank you so much to all of you for your supportive words over the last year and for all the inspiration I receive daily from you sharing your own work. It's truly what keeps my creative fire lit. I can't wait to see what you can do in 2011!

The Joy of Christmas Baking

Okay, I'm cheating a little, but I did actually bake ALL these Christmas cookies - only it was two years ago. I was in the midst of a strong burst of second trimester energy while pregnant with Lucy during a snow storm that left me stranded at home for three days. And I must've lost my mind. 

So far this year I have only been able to pull off our favorite, my Grandma's thumbprints, and I'll try to bust out a couple more tonight while Mark is out with the boys Christmas shopping (read: beer drinking). At least he'll be out of the way so I'll have something to show for my efforts instead of him pillaging each batch as they cool and leaving lots of crumbs behind!

Some of these are recipes that have been passed down through my family, and some are from various other cookbooks or websites. From the top:

1. Grandma's Pecan Tartlets (yum!)

2. Magic Bars (so easy you can't not make them)

3. Thumbprints (our fave)

4. Chocolate Peppermint Sandwiches

5. Russian Teacakes and Peppermint Snowballs

6. Chocolate Mint Thumbprints

7. Creme Wafers (our other favorite, melt in your mouth goodness)

8. Eggnog Cookies

9. Lemon Glitter Sandwiches

If you're interested in any of the recipes, just leave me an message (but make sure I can reply to it!) and I'd be happy to share - even Gram's old recipes!

I hope you all have the merriest of Christmases, full of plenty and surrounded by those you love!

Christmas Pickledish Quilt!

It is absolutely nothing short of a small miracle that this quilt is all stippled, bound and freshly washed before Christmas. It seems I got a little holiday stitching fire inside of me, despite my pregnancy-induced chronic fatigue and mental psychosis! Or maybe because of it.....either way, it's all done and waiting to be cozied up under with hot cocoa by the Christmas tree.

I had a blast piecing the pickledish blocks. I don't know if it was the excitement of getting to use all these cheery holiday fabrics or the satisfaction of successfully pulling off these moderately challenging blocks, but I really do think this was the most fun I've ever had piecing a quilt top.  Aneela put together a fabulous tutorial complete with templates and clear, concise directions for her Pickledish Quilt-along. If you feel comfortable with curves, or have been wanting to attempt them for your first time, I whole-heartedly recommend giving it a try. Even just one block would make a great pillow cover. This will certainly not be my last pickledish quilt.

The quilt I made measures roughly 55x55, using everything from Munki Munki flannels, some Shinzi Katoh Christmas prints I'd been hoarding, Sherri Berry, Minny Muu, Flea Market Fancy, Bliss, Amy Butler Lotus and more. I bound it with a green, yellow and red plaid from American Jane and the back is a super cozy flannel red and white polka dot from the Bliss line.  I did get a few mild puckers on the back due to some hasty basting and the lack of adhesive spray (I'm going to have to train someone else to do it for the remainder of my pregnancy), but another Christmas miracle washed them almost completely away! I truly LOVE LOVE LOVE the way this one turned out! It will be sad to put away each year after the holidays, but I hope it will be a happy tradition to bring it out again each year with all the other decorations.

Thanks for all your supportive comments regarding my last "first trimester monster" post. I don't think I'm totally out of the woods yet, but I'm getting there. I've got some serious baking to tackle tonight so I'm hoping to sneak in one more post before the big day to share some of my grandma's delicious cookie recipes with you. I hope all your holiday preparations are smooth and stress-free!

Finishing up and finding balance

Today was the first day in weeks that I have felt like my old self. At twelve weeks along, I'm officially (depending on who you ask or what book you consult) into my second trimester, so maybe my body has finally exited off of the major hormonal roller coaster it's been riding. I know I should be grateful I haven't been subjected to morning sickness, but I think I've made up for it in the crazy, weepy, insecure, irritable head I've been living in lately. Let's just say I haven't been a barrel of monkeys to be around. Besides these fun pregnancy side effects, my bionic fatigue has been compounded by my sweet little girl who has become downright nasty at naps and bedtime, leaving me riding about six hours a night of sleep, some of which has been spent on her bedroom floor, desperately trying to get her into a calm slumber. Add in the constant internal obsession I have to be constantly creating but no time in which to do it and top it off with crafting deadlines and the pressure to make a perfect homemade holiday, and it stands to reason that all I've really been feeling like is a big hot mess. Oh, and did I mention that I've already gained seven pounds (thanks to dear Mark's successful attempts at trying to perfect his pasta making skills, and my intense craving of anything sweet, gooey and baked)? Not quite so cute and pregnant looking yet, just really paunchy! It's no fun feeling this crappy anytime, but especially not at the most merry and bright time of the year.

Okay, enough complaining already! Today the sun came out and I didn't cry even once. I had the energy to do a little Christmas shopping and finish up my pillow for round four of the Pillow Talk Swap. Those curved hexagon stars didn't really lend themselves to the traditional square shaped pillow, so I stuffed it myself in a hexie shape. For the back I went with a simple grey and white dotty print from Momo's It's a Hoot line and bound it with some Kei dots. I like how it turned out pretty well, and I hope it's to my partner's liking, too.

It feels good to have a couple of things finished or in the final touches stage. My Honey Cowl is all done up and getting lots of wear - they say the cowl is the "must have" winter accessory this year! Mine is knit with some luxurious Madeline Tosh Pashmina in cerulean and it's super soft.

I've also finished a couple of bee blocks and believe it or not I'm already quilting my Christmas Pickledish quilt. I'm hoping to finish up another dolly for Lucia from the Wee Wonderfuls book for Christmas, but other than that I'm going to take a big, huge break from expectations on myself and try to enter 2011 with a fresh crafty slate. Until then, keep your fingers crossed for me that the hormonal monster doesn't return:)

Bliss Daisy Chain Quilt

This one has actually been finished for almost a month now, but I've had a dreadful time getting any good photos of it so I've put off showing it to you. The weather and lighting has been dark and dreary up here for a long time now, making outdoor quilt photo shoots out of the question. You'll just have to take my word for it that this one is much prettier in person.

It's easily the most "traditional" of all the quilts I've made, so a big departure from my usual style, but I really ended up liking it. I had a couple of jelly rolls of Bonnie and Camille's Bliss line, with no real direction to go with them until I was browsing around my LQS and found the book "Jelly Roll Quilts" by Pam and Nicky Lincott. I'm not usually a fan of using pattern books or regimented cutting and piecing instructions, but when I saw the Daisy Chain Quilt pattern and remembered Brioni's gorgeous quilt, I decided to try it out. It was a very simple pattern to follow and came together quite quicky for all those little squares. The neutral is Kona Bone.

This was actually a birthday gift for my mom back in October, but due to the quilting time I grossly underestimated, she didn't get to take it home until Thanksgiving! Good thing moms are patient people. I think the timing was okay, though, because it sort of has a holiday feel to it, don't you think?

I quilted it with a free-motion cathedral circle design, something else that was inspired by Brioni's quilt. It was surprisingly easy to do once I got in the groove, just time consuming. But totally worth it and I think it adds to the old-fashioned charm.

I was thinking I haven't shown you a glimpse of old Norm in ages! The poor guy is having a bit of cabin fever these days and really isn't interested in mom's new fabric or quilts. For his Christmas gift this year, he's asking Santa (aka Mark) to take him one day a week to Camp Happy Paws for some play time, so if he can manage to stop eating off of Lucy's high chair and running through our backyard mud puddles, he might just get his wish. 

This pretty stack of fabric is from Tula Pink's new Parisville line, and let me tell you how beautiful it is in person, especially if you love bright gum drop colors. I have a pattern all picked out for these, but for now they are just going to sit on my shelf and look pretty.