The Year of the Bee

This year I participated in 2 bees for myself and one with Sarah.  I really like the satisfaction of finishing these mini projects each month.  Even when I don't churn out a full-sized anything, I still feel accomplished =)

Stash Bee, Round 2
This year there were so many varied blocks!  I got my Random Bamboo blocks put together in March, but am just getting around to having it quilted.  It will be the first time I send something out to be long-arm quilted.  I'm really excited =)

ALOYF December Finish

I'm pleased with my finish this month.  It's a little out of season, I know, but its another finish to help clear off my workspace.  The individual hexies were paper-pieced back during the summer, but then piled up awaiting further attention.

December ALOYF Goal

Yesterday was the bazaar I've been getting ready for, so I'm glad I still have time to get this in.  I can say I've participated the whole year!  That makes me so happy =)

ALOYF--2014 Year in Review

This past year was good for me in so many ways.  Here is a quick re-cap of my ALOYF successes and not-so-successes. (I have links back to the finish posts for the months I completed and linked up my projects.)

November ALOYF Finish

Yay! This in just under the wire ...

'Twas the Night ...

I've done several blog hops over the last couple of years with Sew We Quilt!  This is the first one I've done that is more of a swap ... so fun!  Thanks once again to Madam Samm and Marlene!  Marlene is amazing and I know she spent hours (and hours) getting everything just right. (The complete schedule is here.)

There were a couple of rules to keep in mind this time around ...

1.  We were to make small gifts to be made in hours, not days.

2.  We had to mail it all off by Oct. 31 ... yes, Halloween =)

A Little Random ... Bamboo

For those of you who can remember back all the way to January =) ... These were the quilt blocks that I asked for from my Stash Bee Hive #2 mates (here is that tutorial and here was the preview of all the blocks I received.)

ALOYF November Goal

I didn't get my October goal of finishing up the woven-look baby quilt done.  I ended up having to piece together the backing which I didn't count on.  It's all sandwiched and ready to go, but this month, I have a more pressing project in mind ...

Blogger's Quilt Festival--Compass Rose

I hadn't originally thought to enter this quilt into BQF, but this is truly my favorite quilt to date.  My original blog post on this quilt is here and I talked a little more about it here, too.

Blogger's Quilt Festival--Boo2U2

Welcome!  I'm glad you could stop by for my little corner of the Blogger's Quilt Festival.

Stash Bee--Round 3 Coming!

It's sign-up time again!  

Around the World ... A Blog Hop

I'm a bit late, but here goes ... Thanks to Michele for the nomination!  This has certainly been an excercise for me.

4 Generations of Crafty Women
Sarah, Me, Grandma, Mom, & Sam
(With a bonus of Dad in the mirror)

ALOYF October Goal

This month I'm hoping to finish this baby blanket.  It's made of scraps from Circa 1835 fabrics that I used in the Green Fairy Quilt Along last summer.  I finally finished that top last month (I still need to post ...) but had some scraps left over and this idea in my head.

September ALOYF Finish

I started this bag back in July in the hopes I'd make it into Sewvivor.  I had it all cut out and ready to go just in case.  When I didn't make it in, it sat there on the top of my pile, mocking me.  I decided the best way to just get over it was to finish it =)

The flap was pieced and quilted separately and I really like how it turned out.  I did some outline & FMQ on a handful of the herringbone units.

A Little (late) August ALOYF Finish

My August goal here was to finish the Nautical Quilt in the Sewvivor Sew-along.  I did finish it ... but not until September 4.  Oh, well.

This is my favorite quilt to date.  I had a really difficult time folding it up to give away at a baby shower, but I did it knowing that the recipient would truly appreciate it.

A Sister Thing ... Big Reveal

This post is really 2 parts ... What I received and what I sent. This is the second time I've participated in this swap, and I've love both times.  Many thanks to Michele over at Quilts from My Crayon Box for hosting this.  I love following new blogs and meeting new people this way!

Julianne was my wonderful secret sister this summer and she is amazing!

September ALOYF Goal

August was pretty busy for me.  I did finish that goal ... last night.  So, a little late.  Oh, well.  At least it got done.

This month I want to finish a messenger bag that I started in June.  I plan on using it as my temple bag and I love the black/red.  I didn't realize until after I started on it that it also matches the scripture case I made ages ago.  Its not my usual preference, so I was a little surprised that it worked out that way.

Linked up as #71.

ALOYF August Goal

This month I want to sew along with the Sewvivor group.  I have a couple of projects that I can work on that follow along with the stated themes.  The biggest of which is a nautical-themed baby quilt ...

ALOYF July Finish

So I did meet my goal of finishing 3 more blocks in addition to the 3 I'd already mostly finished.  I completed the LeMoyne Star, then totally pieced the Sawtooth Star, Churn Dash and Card Trick blocks.

Buzzy as a Bee

This is my vacation stash.  I visited 4 or 5 quilt stores along the way and came home with some fun new fabrics (and other quilty goodies) to play with.  Some of these are mine, some for swaps and other extras.  After playing with these for a little bit, I spent this morning finishing up some bee projects that accumulated while on vacation.  I also figured I should work ahead just a little in anticipation of sewing along with Sewvivor over the next few weeks.

A Little Vacation

 

Its hard to believe that one week ago I was still enjoying vacation by climbing Mount Timpanogos.  This hike/tour was one of the big things I wanted to make sure we did on this visit.  I've done this hike a handful of times over the years, but I wanted Sam & Sarah to have this cool experience, too.

Sewvivor - A Reformed Heath'n - Heather Karr

I was so excited when RachH announced that this year's edition of Sew-vivor is for quilters.  I've only been quilting since 2012, but this is where I've found my creative outlet.  I still enjoy myriad other crafts, but they've definitely taken a backseat to my love of fabric and quilting.

ALOYF July Goal

This month is a month of travel.  I get to spend some time with family and in the great outdoors, so this month is all about some handwork.  Last year one of my B-I-G goals was to learn to hand piece.  I planned 12 sampler blocks to get myself going and bought a traditional pioneer-woman-looking fat 1/8th bundle.  I even got them mostly cut out and bundled together.  I bought Jinny Beyer's Quiltmaking by Hand (which is an awesome reference book.)  And then I was paralyzed by fear because could it really be that s.i.m.p.l.e.?

ALOYF June Finish

I did it!  And then I almost forgot to post and realized that I DID forget to link it up at the beginning of the month ... That's what kind of a month June has been for me.  Oh, well!

ALOYF June Goals

Last month I got back on board by working on a couple of small finishes languishing on my side table.  Since summer is a time for being more outside and less inside, I think that this month I'll continue with that pile.  Next on my list is a mini top that I finished and sandwiched almost 18 months ago now.  I wasn't sure how I wanted to quilt it until I saw all the beautiful spiral quilting like here and here.  I figure a mini is the perfect place to practice.

So ... My goal for June is to finish this mini ... that means quilting and binding.  Bonus would be to quilt and/or bind the other two minis on my side table ... then it would be totally cleaned off and ready to re-purpose.

My May Master List

I had one of these all ready to go for May, but apparently I got sidetracked early in the month and never got back to it ... so here is a recap of my April/May projects.

And because this is my current favorite picture, you get Samantha and Mom ready for prom, which was a huge project at our house.

ALOYF May Finish!

Before I really get down to business, I want to say Happy Memorial Day.  I truly believe that this day is a day to honor all those who fought for the freedoms we enjoy today.  My paternal grandfather, Alma Fife Heath, fought in WWI as a medic and my maternal grandpa, John Elvin Bennett, was on the Enterprise in WWII.  Currently my brother-in-law, Jared Himmighoefer, is in the Army and has already served two tours overseas.  I am so proud of these men and all the other men and women I know who have served so selflessly.

ALOYF May Goal

Last month I did't meet my goal =(  I did work on it quite a bit, but in addition to getting sidetracked by the Modern Traditional Challenge and Sarah's play, I also had thread issues and had to go out and find some new stuff.  Combine all that with nice weather and trying to get outside more and that adds up to significantly LESS time at the sewing machine.

Modern Traditional Challenge

I stumbled across this challenge that was posted at the beginning of this month.  When I saw the theme, I had a couple of ideas about what I wanted to do.  I went to my LQS in search of the right fabrics and fell in love with Dear Stella's Spring Street.  I've been using Sketch for quite a while now as accents in my bee blocks and round robins.  I really like the feel of solid movement that the screen-like tone-on-tone lines create.  A lot of the time they have the same overall feel as quilters linen.

It does happen ...

I sent in my charm swap package complete with charms and self-addressed-stamped-envelope.  Then ... A couple of days ago, Rhett was sorting out the mail and this was at the bottom of his pile:

I couldn't believe it.  My charms that I had secured in a re-used ziploc baggie.  (It had my address on it because a bee block had been sent to me in it.  I figured it would make it easier to return my charms to me when that time came.)  I had mailed them a week ago and assumed that they'd already gotten to their destination.  I quickly e-mailed the intended recipient to let her know what happened and that I would re-send.

She returned with an e-mail saying that she had gotten the two envelopes last week.  The original packaging contained my self-addressed stamped envelope and was perfectly sealed.  Somehow my little packet of charms escaped and decided to find their way home ...  Too bad for them that I really want to trade up =)

My April Master List

Making a list worked really well last month, so here we go again =)

Sarah's Primary Bee Block--the Pennsylvania

Of course, my child is the one who doesn't want to select from the list provided =)

ALOYF April Goal--Sam's Trek Quilt

This one I've been putting off not just since January, but for about two years now.  This month I'm going to tackle the first quilt I designed and executed--before I had a clue about what I was doing.

Just in the Nick of Time ...

My ALOYF March Finish (barely)

March Stash Bee Blocks

I finished my first block right at the beginning of the month, but because it was realitvely small, I wanted to do two, plus I'm just plain bad about mailing anything.  So it sat, and it sat ...  But I was so UNinspired for some reason.  It wasn't the block's fault--it's one of my faves and I hope to make a whole quilt of them someday.  It wasn't the colors that were requested--bright, colorful, happy colors.

Triple Zip Swap

This post is a bit late ... I received my pouch a two or three weeks ago now and I've been enjoying it without sharing =(

Thanks so much to Mary Moon Designs!  It doesn't have to be purple for me to love it.  So many little touches that add to the fun and make it "me".  How did she know?

Star Light Star Bright Top

I've had a rough couple of weeks!  Although I haven't been working too much during the day, there are so many other things cropping up to keep my mind, body and emotional cups full to the brim.  Without going into details, I had one child home for almost a week, one car accident and another fender bender 10 days later (both times our car was rear-ended), and several back-to-back appointments for several days in a row.

By some miracle, I've managed to stay somewhat on top of things at home and also with this quilt along.  I finished this top this afternoon just as another storm is rolling in and it got dark and windy outside.  Not the best for pictures, but this is too big to even attempt to get a picture inside the house.  I love the size and can't wait to get going on the quilting.  I've drawn out what I want to do for each of the nine blocks, but the sashing is stumping me a bit.  I guess I'll have to see what I end up with ...

And here is a quick peek at my  ALOYF progress for this month.  I still need to press, trim and sew.  It's a good thing I don't have any other plans for spring break :)

My March Master List ...

I've been noticing that I lose track of things I'm working on and get easily sidetracked, so I'm going to try a little on-line list making to help me focus.  When I made my annual goals post, I really wanted to keep track of things--and I need to do a little better.

ALOYF March Goal

This month, my goal continues my work on Rhett's Hello Handsome quilt.  Since I don't have as many sewing commitments, I hope to get a lot more work done on this.  With the cutting, sorting and marking out of the way my goal this month is to sew and trim all the HSTs and put them together into their 4-patch blocks.  Bonus for me would be completely piecing the top together.

(Linked up here as #24)

A SLSB Week

Because I finished the center stars quickly last week, I was able to also do the chain piecing for the side and center units.

Sew *SWEET*

I got awesome mail today!

ALOYF February Finish

So neat and orderly ...

Progress is Progress

I've been working (subbing) more lately, plus the family schedule has temporarily exponentially increased in intensity for at least the next six weeks.  I really feel it when I look at the WIP sitting on my sewing table.

Keeping Up with Star Light Star Bright

For some reason, I've been sitting on this for about 5 days.  The snow and ice here the last week has really thrown my routine out of whack.  Here are the flying geese that came together for this week's assignment:  I can't wait to see these come together over the next few weeks.

January Stash Bee--A Random Bamboo Preview

Time for me to brag just a little bit :)

Stash Bee--February Polaroid Blocks

Abigail picked a super fun block this month.  Like the economy blocks that are popular right now, these blocks feature fussy cut pics.  I did have to go out and find a fabric that I thought would be fun.  

I love Norman Rockwell!  His irreverent take on Americana was often featured in my home growing up.