S.W.A.K.: Reflections on 2012

This year has been a hard year.  But as 2012 comes to a close, I wanted to look back at all I've been able to accomplish.  There have been many drafts of this post, but as saw the awesome collages on some of my favorite blogs, I had to one of my own :)  This post is a bit long, but have fun!

(1.  Mosaic Mini, 2.  Valentine's Day Table Topper with Sarah, 3.  Baby quilt for Jen & Family, 4.  RWB Blog Hop, 5.  Starburst blocks for Stash Bee, 6.  Samantha in SF, 7.  Nicholas, 8.  Chemo caps, 9.  One of my bulletin boards--I love the reverse silhouettes!, 10.  Sarah, 11. Me in SF, 12.  Ruffle Quilt Squares, 13.  the 30-miler, 14. My center block for Quilt U Be Mine, 15.  Heirloom necklace remake for Jenell, 16. Holiday Lane Blog Hop.)

In collecting these pics, I realized how truly blessed I am.  I had more pictures that I wanted to include, but this is a good sampling of me.

 My year started off with finally making my blog public.  That was a huge accomplishment for me.  I wanted everything just so and it took me weeks to learn how to do the backgrounds and do all the little design elements.  The direction that it's taken is a little of a surprise for me, but I'm enjoying it.  Hopefully in the coming year I'll be able to return to the more diverse ideas I had in the beginning.  I want to do more with general ideas and a family tracking/history.  I love my sewing and feel like I've truly found my creative outlet there, but I want to include more of the things I love and love to do.  There is so much more to me and my family than my sewing and quilting :)

Just days after I made my blog public, my oldest came down with an intractable headache that has since been diagnosed as New Daily Persistent Headache.  NDPH is a chronic condition that has taught me more about empathy, patience and compassion than I could have ever imagined.  Helping a 15-year-old struggle with chronic pain is a heart-wrenching, soul-stretching journey.  Just last week, we finished 3 days of injections--her fifth attempt to break the headaches.  As we enter the new year, I fervently pray that we find answers for her and her life can re-normalize.

Just after Sam's first hospitalization, my husband was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis.  He's had pain on and off for several years, but it finally became bad enough that it could no longer be ignored.  When they did the blood test, they started his treatments immediately.  His treatment is low-dose chemotherapy that he takes orally once a week.  The side effects seem to have leveled-off over time, but he is still wiped out for 2 to 3 days each week.  I'm amazed by his strength and perseverance.

Our other two kids are adjusting to the new normal.  They've both had amazing achievements of their own.  Nicholas turned twelve and is progressing well in Scouts.  He loves campouts and archery and is adjusting (slowly) to life in middle school.  Sarah is our social butterfly and World of Warcraft aficionado.  She loves playing with Rhett's guild.  Both of these guys tested for TAG earlier this year and are learning to play chess through one of the enrichment programs.

Because of my blog, I have been able to do many new things this year that I could only have imagined previously ...  First and foremost, I learned how to quilt.  While I am far from expert, I have become quite adept at matching points and creating projects (not to mention picking out stitches & seams.)  I also joined an online quilting bee--the Stash Bee--and am challenged each month to stretch my skills and color theory.  I participated in two blog hops, one fabric swap, and three quilt alongs.  I learned that I don't always need a pattern.  I learned that the online community is so fascinating as well as supportive.  I've won several prizes for making comments and participating in other online events and am amazed at the talent and quality I have been able to learn from.

There are many aspects of my every day life that are not shared here.  For one, I am an avid volunteer.  Most of my love and energy are spent working with the Young Women's organization in our church.  I love teaching, organizing activities and doing things with them and for them.  I also volunteer in several capacities at my kids' schools.  I discovered a love of bulletin boards and hallway decor.  My favorite place to be is in the classrooms and libraries, so I hope to get back to that, too.  In addition to volunteering I enjoy the outdoors.  This year I went on a 30-mile hike with the YW and it reminded me how much I enjoy hiking and camping.  I certainly live in an ideal location so near to so many natural resources; I need to take more advantage of that.  I also have other hobbies that I dabble in from time to time.  I enjoy crochet, toll painting, reading and baking.  Hopefully, I'll be able to squeeze more of these into the coming year, too.

Looking back, I know that I am so blessed.  Rhett teases me about using that term too freely--but I really feel like I am.  My kids are older and pretty self-sufficient so I can take a break when I need to and and not worry about everything falling apart before I return.  Rhett works hard to provide the necessities in life and I have a job that allows him to be home when I'm not.  I have a great relationships with my immediate family as well as our extended families even though they're far, far away.  I could go on and on.

Thank you for being part of my journey in 2012--I hope to see a lot more in 2013!

Quilt U Be Mine--December

Yesterday I finished my work on the round robin for December. I love seeing everyone else's work!

This one really stretched my ability to "see" the next step.  Since it's a secret until February, here are a couple of sneak peaks :)

       

Rachelle asked for a signature block, so here's mine:

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and is looking forward to another long weekend celebrating the new year.  I, for one, can't wait.  I'm off today for the start of another round of treatment for Samantha.  Wish us some luck that this will do the trick!

Tipsy Tutorials: I Can Re-position Wonder Under!

So, first of all, I'd like to thank everyone who stopped by for my day of the Holiday Lane Pillow Hop.  I had so much fun and am still enjoying the comments that keep coming!  I will answer every one, but it will take a little while.  I can't imagine those bloggers who get hundreds of comments on posts--they must be much more full-time on the computer than I am.  I did end up buying a new backing for the wall hanging when I was at the quilt store in town on another matter :)

Another bigger project that I took on a couple of months ago was an advent calendar.  I love Christmas Countdowns, and have wanted a nice one for a couple of years that is more versatile--to put love notes in, activity suggestions, service projects, candies, or whatever strikes my fancy for the year.  I have some really cute smaller ones that simply count the days, but I. want. something. more.  (No snickers from the peanut gallery :)

Sooo, back in September I printed out the directions and bought the fabric.  Here is the original tutorial and picture:

Picture via Sew, Mama, Sew! and Elizabeth at O, Fransson!

After some shopping around, I settled on fabrics from the Blitzen line by Basic Grey for Moda.  I was doing great until it came to sewing on the numbers for the pockets ... or rather I didn't even get quite that far.

I'm so used to the quarter-inch mantra I've learned this year that I didn't double check the instructions before I started ironing things and, well, I ironed all the numbers too close to the edge to properly sew the pockets together.  Of course, I didn't even realize this until I was on #23--really!  See the nice small space between each of the numbers and the seams above--mine would not have that.  So, as is typical of me, I set the project aside and buried it so I didn't have to look at the frustrating failure until I decided what to do.  (I don't have enough of my chosen solids to just make whole new pockets.)

Working on my Holiday Lane Pillow put the advent calendar back in the forefront of my mind.  I started thinking and thinking ... well, you don't need all the crazy details, but I did come up with one idea.  I decided to see if I could re-position the numbers.  Not terribly original, but hey, I've never appliqued before and never used wonder under either.  That stuff seems like it sticks pretty hard and fast.

So, the other day, I started peeling.  For the most part the numbers come off not too bad.  Of course #1 peeled right off, no problems--no fraying, no glue left behind--just a nice clean pocket and perfectly shaped number.  I could still feel the sheen of the adhesive on the back, so I thought, "Still in business ..."

I fired up my iron ... well heated it up, anyway ...

re-positioned it to the proper 1/2-inch from the edges ...

and pressed good and well.

Voila, it stuck again!  Success!!

Who knew?  I certainly couldn't find any tips like that in my searches, so I share it with you now :)  I probably wouldn't do this if I wasn't already planning to machine stitch around the edges, but for this project I think it will work out OK.

A couple of tips I figured out:

* Try to use the pads of your fingers to help peel off the old placement.  Using the tips of my fingers/fingernails tended to fray the edges a bit.  If it ends up bothering me too much, I'll just re-cut-out a few of the numbers rather that re-doing everything.  I can live with that :) 

* On some of the numbers, a little glue was left behind.  I found that lightly scraping with my fingernail or the side of my bone folder distorted the fabric locally, so I stopped that right quick.  I ended up just leaving it and ironing over it.  That seemed to take care of it.  There wasn't really a residue left on my iron, either, so that made me happy.  I'll probably clean the plate of my iron when I'm done with all the pockets just to make sure no gummy residue is left to transfer to other projects.

* Go slowly!  You don't want to stretch your pieces out of shape or leave behind too much adhesive.  It might have taken me seconds to make the mistake, but as with anything, a real fix will take a bit of time.  I put on some Christmas music and reminded myself that it's not a race :)  There is no deadline, so if I don't have it ready for advent season this year, its OK.

Please feel free to add your own Wonder Under tips/stories to my own :)  You know that misery loves company.  I don't feel so new when I know other more experienced souls have had similar blunders learning experiences.

Holiday Lane Blog Hop

I'll get the business out of the way first :)  Today is the next-to-last day of the blog hop, but go check out the other super-cute iterations of this adorable pattern from Jillily Studio.  It's a free PDF download, with the applique patterns in an attached JPG file.  Madam Samm (Sew We Quilt) and Pauline (Quilt N Queen) are the amazing women who organized everything and kept us excited about this journey down Holiday Lane.  Here are the links to the rest of today's bloggers:

Thursday November 29

Words & Stitches

Trying to Blog

Peanut's Patchwork

Moosestash Quilting

A Loose Thread

Stitch, Stitch, Stitch

In Stitches & Seams
Hooked on Quilting

A Reformed Heath'n (you're here!)
As Sweet as Peaches

Geema's Wonderings

I have been looking forward to this since September!  This pillow pattern is so cute.  Of course, I waited until the beginning of November to get going ... I bought a fat quarter bundle of Blitzen by Basic Grey to make an advent calendar and had enough fabric left over to make the pillow too.  I'm super happy with the way this turned out.

I love how these two trees look like they're sharing a secret--shhhh!

 Once I realized how large it is, I decided I wanted it to be a wall hanging.  I got the top done, but I'll have to finish up the quilting and binding over the next week or so.

I wanted to practice learn some applique.  I haven't used any of my hand stitching skills except for hemming dresses in a very long while.  I read tutorial upon tutorial and watched several YouTube videos before I finally figured that I just needed to make the leap and do it.  If there was one stitch I learned from my mom, it was the blind stitch ...  I'm sure I have a long way to go, but I am quite pleased with how it worked out.  I used the blind stitch and needle-turned almost all the cotton pieces and blanket stitched the wool snow pieces.  I did use the machine to put the shingles on the first house--my fingers were worn out.  I learned a lot about pinning and holding, though.  On my last tree (below) you can see I was finally getting the hang of keeping the curves curvy.  I would *love* to learn tips and tricks from anyone and everyone who knows more than I do, so please ... SHARE :)

Working on this project is one of the things that has pointed me toward a goal for the coming year.  I'm going to learn to hand piece.  I love the feel of the fabric and the relative ease of the basic running stitch.  I've picked out a project and bought some bundles and am ready to get going.  But that's all I'll say for now.  Ultimately I hope that project will be a gift.  Now that I've said it, I'm accountable, right?  I'm still going to practice all my machine skills, but I'm looking forward to also having a portable project to fill in those time gaps that creep up on me during my waiting times.

Happy holidays to you all!  May you all enjoy the beauty and generous spirit of the season.  Thanks for stopping by and for being an inspiration to me this year as I learn to quilt!

A Quick Update

Today I send off my November block for the Stash Bee.  I really liked this one.  My stash is seriously lacking in yellows, oranges and pinks, but I managed to pull some together.  I'm having a hard time giving this up, but it is one of the blocks I've been wanting to try, so I'm glad I had the chance.  If my sewing machine and ironing board were not on opposite ends of the house, it would have come together a bit more quickly, but I did it in an evening and a piece of the next morning.

I also sent off my Quilt U Be Mine project last week to the next person.  Here's a sneak peak.  That's all there will be until the reveal on Valentine's Day :)  I really like the way it turned out, I hope Pippa does too.  I got the next square and am working on ideas for that one now.

Finally, later this week, I'll be posting for the Holiday Lane Blog Hop.  I've never appliqued before, so I underestimated how long it would take.  I'm loving the way its coming along, but doubt I'll have it quilted by the time I post.  I'll be finished with the flimsy, but not the project ... Oh, well.

This-is-so-COOL: Blogger's Quilt Festival

I know this is a little last-minute, but several of the blogs I follow have been linking up to this and I have been so inspired by both the stories they share and the amazing quilts they link up. I know I can't compete with years of experience, but I am especially proud of this finish from just a couple of weeks ago.

I'm following along with the It's A Mini Quilt-Along at Moose on the Porch Quilts. This was the first mini that we did. I made it from Kona Coal and scraps from my stash. I wasn't terribly excited about the design because it seemed plain to me and I wasn't sure where to focus or how to track my eyes. The simple row construction makes me want to quilt straight lines. When I finished the top, I mulled for several days wondering how I could really make mine unique.

One morning, in the twilight zone, I saw my finished mini. I knew the geometric echo quilting would not only complement the design, but add a whole new dimension. I chose a light grey thread that would contrast with the dark background and emphasize the quilting even more.  I *love* this finish. I was going to turn it into a pillow or table topper, but I love it so much that it is tacked to the wall next to my bed so it can make me smile first thing each morning.

Here are the Bloggers Quilt Festival Stats:
Finished quilt measurements: 12-3/4" square

Special Techniques:  None, really--pieced and quilted with my home machine

Quilted by: Heather Karr (me)

Best Category:  Doll/Mini Quilt, Home Machine Quilted,

This-is-so-Cool: Wonky Blocks

          

These are my two quilt blocks for Stash Bee this month. I've seen these done on other sites and thought, those are cool, but too much effort ...  THIS is one of the big reasons I wanted to do the Bee thing:  it forces me to do what I otherwise put off as being too difficult, too time-intensive, too fussy, too elaborate ... You get the picture :)  There are lots of other reasons, but that's a biggie.  Both months, so far, have been blocks I've looked at and put on my far-off future to-do list.  Now I can check them off.  And you know what else?  They were FUN to play with.

Mosaic Mini

I know its been a while, but I haven't fallen off the face of the earth yet!  With school starting again, another trip to SF and working again, I'm still re-working my routines.

A couple of weeks ago, the folks over at Moose on the Porch Quilts started a Mini Quilt Along in conjunction with their new book Simply Charming Minis.  I already had the book and am excited to sew along.  

The first is this one entitled, "Mosiac".  I went totally scrappy with this one and am in LOVE with the finish!  I used light gray thread over the Kona Coal background and it really makes the quilting pop.  The echo design emphasizes the tile pattern and the binding even feels like it echos the overall pattern to me.

I'm really glad I decided to push myself to finish it with their deadlines.  It's great to have a finish amid the chaos of my sewing table right now.

Moda LOVE, Pin & Win!

http://www.modabakeshop.com/2012/02/salt-air-diamonds.html

Last week, the Moda Bakeshop website posted another contest that is right up my alley.  Basically all you have to do is pin your favorite inspirations with the hashtags (#modabakeshop  #modafabrics  #lovepinwin) and those pins will be entered into the contest.  Post about my favorite, and I can earn another entry, so here you go ...

My favorite recipe from the Bakeshop is "Salt Air Diamonds" by Kristy @ {http://handmaderetro.blogspot.com/}.  From the first day it posted, I LOVE this quilt!  I don't know if its the backdrop, the fabric line or what exactly, but it calls to me to make it! Someday I will.  For now it sits as the board cover on my Pinterest Quilt board and makes me smile every time that I see it.

The one thing I have made from my Moda pins is Verna's Garden Cutting Table Runner.  I used fabrics from the Summer Breeze line and I really, really like it!  I just need to finish the quilting and binding.

S.W.A.K. ... Something New

I recently started learning about online quilting bees.  Many of the bloggers that I glean inspiration from talk about different "bee blocks" that they're working on or sending out or receiving from their groups.  I really enjoy their creativity and am more than somewhat jealous of their extensive stashes.

Last week one of these bloggers gave a link to their group called Stash Bee.  I got over there and I think I got lost :)  In a good way ... To make a long story short, I ended up in an e-mail conversation with one of the "Mammas", found out they have openings and I'm taking the plunge.  Each month I'll be making at least one block and next June (2013) it will be my turn to submit a block and have everyone send me back their version.  I have no idea how I'll make that determination.  I look forward to the challenge of making quilt blocks I wouldn't otherwise touch and trying new color schemes.

Here's a taste of what I'll be working on for Danny's quilt blocks this month ...

http://www.filminthefridge.com/2010/11/10/a-finished-starburst-quilt/

If you're interested there are several openings that they're trying to fill right now, so it's a good time to jump in.  I really like this one because we use our stashes rather than mailing or requiring specific fabrics.  Hop on over and check things out ... their rules page is clear and you can browse past months to see what everyone was working on.  Hope to see you there ...