Goodbye 2016!

Another year has passed....and quickly it seems (but I say that every year lately).  2016 was another interesting year when lots of memories were made.

In the sewing department, relatively speaking, 2016 was a less productive year.  My primary focus was trying to finish the decorating in our newly renovated home.  Lots of pillows, window seats and a couple of window treatments were completed.

I really love making small projects for gifts and donations.  In addition to the Christmas gifts in the last post, here's a sample of other little finishes during 2016.

A few sewing accomplishments I am quite pleased with are the completion of the 2012 Craftsy Block of the Month...

...completing the Tula Pink City Sampler quilt top...

...and making all 88 of the Splendid Sampler blocks to date!

I just noticed that all three of these are sampler quilts.  Interesting!

So not my most productive quilting year but I am OK with that! Wishing you and yours all the best in 2017!

Linking up with:

Just a Little Christmas Sewing

I've had a wonderful Christmas that we managed to stretch over 6 days and three states.  With my temporary mobility limits my gift sewing was limited this year.  I did finish a few little pouches.

In addition to the double zip pouch I shared with you a few days ago, I made three boxy pouches for my three men. 

How nice I had just the right fabric in my stash for my baseball fan, movie critic and star wars fan.  I used this easy to follow tutorial by The Seasoned Homemaker.

I couldn't resist purchasing Gilmore Girls fabric from aprilcobbsdesign on Etsy for the women in my men's lives.  Very timely I thought!!

You recognize this as Anna's wide open pouch tutorial of course.

So that's it...7 pouches, 8 zippers, 36 boxed corners and 7 happy recipients!

It's time to start thinking of 2017 sewing goals!  I have a LONG list that I need to prioritize!

A Block Here and There

I am slowly getting my sewing strength (and coordination!) back.  Working on a block at a time is the perfect pace right now.  I've been catching up on the Splendid Sampler blocks.  Did you know there are over 40,000 people worldwide participating in this?!

#79 - Spool of Inspirational Thread

#82 - Under the Apple Tree.

 #83 - Minnesota Maze

# 84 - The Early Bird.  One of my favorite blocks!

#85 - Flow 

 #86 - Unity Star

Then I found this #uglychristmassweater on IG and couldn't resist giving the pattern by Kerry at KidGiddy a try.  I even dug into my very precious stash of Dear Mr. Claus for this cute little block.

And for a laugh...we did a little shopping with my almost 90 year old mother-in-law the other day.  Here I am trying to keep up with her at Sam's Club!  She left me in the dust!!

Linking up with Lorna's Let's Bee Social Party!

A Little Sewing Therapy

I'm thrilled to report that I am recovering quite nicely from that silly hip surgery.  Thanks for all your healing messages and thoughts!

I've even managed to squeeze in some therapeutic sewing time.  Of course, it is the time of year of secret sewing projects, but there are a couple of ones I can share with you.  First is a little table runner that I started in a class with my local quilt guild.  Cute wonky Christmas trees.

This has been shipped off to Chicago to be part of my son's holiday decor.

I also snuck a little tree ornament into the Chicago package.

I made yet another of Svetlana's two in one pouch.  It's an easy to follow pattern with a very neat finish.  One of these days I will have to make one that I actually keep!

Love all the Cotton and Steel black and white fabric.

 I've fallen a bit behind on the Splendid Sampler project...and I am perfectly fine with that.  I have enjoyed making each interesting block (OK, enjoyed MOST blocks) and its kind of a treat to set aside some time to work on one.

#76 - Little Things

#77 - Prism.  It took longer to pick out the fabric than to sew this one!

#78 - Jersey

#80 - Heartstring Star

#81 - With Love From

Winter has started here by the lake.  If I have to sit around and look outside, well at least the snow is lovely.

Have a great day!
Kathy

Recovery Sewing Strategy

It is important to stay busy.  A few weeks ago I was told I needed surgery to replace the seven year old hip replacement that had failed.  So, that's what I was doing last week!  I'm told the procedure went well and in a few months I should be better than ever.  I'm very excited about the prospect of no more limping, no leg lock ups when walking and the elimination of leg pain!

Due to the nature of the procedure, I have to stay off the leg for 3 months forcing me to adapt to alternative modes of getting around.  With a little help I was still able to get some fresh air this week on a spectacular day.

I had a little notice that this adventure was coming so I was able to think about some hand sewing projects to keep me entertained.

One of the most recent Splendid Sampler blocks has already been embroidered this week.

I've been carrying this cross stitch project around for quite some time.  It's colorful and easy (not too many 1/2 stitches) pattern that I am stitching on a larger thread count aida to minimize the stress.

One of my scrap management strategies is to cut scraps down to useful sizes.  I have a nice little package of 2.5 inch squares and I've started to hand piece them together.  This is really slow work but hand piecing is a technique I would like to develop some proficiency with and this project should help.

Then I have some crafty books that I have set aside for bed time reading.

You can imagine my excitement when the physical therapist said I could be machine sewing (for short periods of time) soon!  The day we returned from the hospital my son had already extracted my sewing machine from the sewing suite downstairs and set it up on the dining room table.  My kids know me well!  I hadn't planned on being able to use the sewing machine, so I don't have any projects ready to go but that just gives me something to ponder in these first few days.

My family and friends have been wonderfully supportive through this and I'm even getting some napping time with the Grand-dog!

I'm also looking at this as an opportunity to catch up on my blog reading (sorry!) and maybe even do a little long overdue maintenance to this blog!  Thank you all for continuing to generate so many beautiful things for me to look at!

Whether hand sewing or machine sewing, it looks like I will have lots to fill my time as I work at healing over the next three months!

Have a great day!

Kathy

Splendid Sampler Update - #60 - 74

The scrappiness continues!  Here's the latest batch of Splendid blocks!  I love projects where I am stretched a little and learning new things.  This project certainly qualifies!

#60 - Hearts and Flowers.  This project has rejuvenated my love of embroidery.

 #61 - Traveler

#62 - Hen and Chicks

#63 - The Icing on the Cake.  More hand work, this time needle turn appliqué.

#64 - Rising Star

#65 - Stripes and Flowers.  Yikes.  This was a surprisingly tricky block for me but I am pleased with the outcome!

#66 - Happy Thoughts.  This block reminds me that I need to focus on color value and saturation more.

#67 - Bobbin Chase

#68 - Wild Roses

#69 - Full Circle.  From this block I learned that I need to practice curved piecing!

#70 - Bows.  Now, I am a big fan of paper piecing but this little block was really a challenge.  My lesson on this one is to really, really lower your stitch (2.0 was not small enough) to ensure the stitches stay intact when removing the paper.  Oops.  Lots of repair work needed!

#71 - First Stitch

#72 - Full Circle Star

#73 - +Love

#74 - Button Basket

And this is what these 74 Splendid blocks look like together:

Have a great day everyone!  And to my American friends, if you haven't already, please do vote next week!  It is important that whatever the result is, that it reflects the voice of the people.

Kathy