Happy New Year - 2010

Well, it is high time that my unplanned and extended absence from my blog end. What better time to get back in gear but a new year. I have been plugging away on projects even though I haven't updated the blog. I will get caught up on pictures over the next month.

So here is what I do have for recent updates. First, I have used the holiday break to clean and re-organized my stash. Here is my closet now. I didn't take a before picture, but this is much nicer...trust me.

Now that my stash is in order I can work on finishing projects that are in the works. I am also starting a new project. The Quilt Show offers a block of the month project to its members each year. This year there are two free BOM projects, one pieced and one applique. While I love both of them, I am going to make the pieced quilt called Star Crazy. I have seen this mentioned on some other blogs today too! Cactus Needle and Canton Village Quilt Works both have great posts about the BOM if you are curious to see more. I was able to get some time today to sew. Oh right, that is because we have gotten 30 inches of snow in the last 24 hours!!!

So what does our yard look like with the greatest single snow fall on record? That is saying something considering we live in Northern Vermont. This was first thing this morning.

And this was at about 4 pm. Yes, it is STILL snowing.

Quite a birthday present for me. Oh, really mother nature, you shouldn't have!

Well that is it for now. It is nice to be back.

Kristin

A Tisket, A Tasket - BOM 1

I love this BOM already! I have started the free BOM from Anne Sutton of Bunny Hill Studio. Here is my first block, the January block. Each month is going to have the same size basket, but what will be in the basket is a surprise. I can't wait to see the next one. Also, I have decided that one of my goals for this year is to really work on using some of the fabric that I already own! As in, stash management. I found a piece of this background fabric that was big enough for all twelve months, sweet! Backgrounds are now cut and set aside as the next month pattern becomes available. Boy, is that a different and nice approach for me. I am also trying to brush the rust off of my applique skills. I think this will be perfect. Fun, fun, fun! I still have to add buttons to the top, in between the leaves, but I think I will wait to get a feel for a few other blocks before I decide what to use.

I had the day off today, yippee extra sewing time. I worked on the baby quilts that I am trying to get done (seems like everyone is having babies lately). Again, this was fabric from the stash. If you feel like there is a theme with the repeating chain block, you are correct. Originally I made the chain blocks for my 2008 fall mystery quilt, but I didn't like the blue and white blocks with the other fabrics in that quilt. I ending up making a different set for the mystery quilt and put these aside for some other use.


The more I looked at the squares, the more I thought they would be good for the baby quilts that I wanted to start working on. So, here is what I have done with them. I really like how the red and blue top has turned out. I have a soft flannel for the backing. I have to decide what border to put on the blue and yellow top still. I know this burst of getting things done won't last forever, but it sure is nice to get through a few items on "the list".

Oh and speaking of "the list", and I signed up for the next Yankee Pride Mystery quilt this weekend. Yep, add another one back to "the list".

Have a great day quilty friends.

First Finish of 2009

Yea! My first quilt top finish for 2009. I was able to spend a fair amount of time working on some projects during the holiday break. As a result, I finished the Yankee Pride Fall Mystery quilt top. Wohoo...

It seems as though I know a lot of people having babies lately. I decided that I would get started on both a Baby Boy Quilt and Baby Girl Quilt to be prepared with a gift when the time comes. It will be nice to have these on hand instead of my normal of "oh, I need that for the shower tomorrow?". It is a new year, a good time to try to turn over a new leaf. We will see how that goes. As for my stash management, the Baby Boy Quilt is adhering to that approach.

I started this this weekend, and ALL of the fabric came from the stash. I really love the colors in this quilt. I was also how surprised at how nice it was to use some fabric I have already acquired!Hope you all had a nice weekend.