2015 - it's a wrap!

This morning, just as the sun was rising, Hubby and I stood bundled up at the finish line for a local  race watching the runners come in. And then we saw her.... 

Ally completed her first 5K this morning with a big smile on her face and a hard earned medal around her neck. Suddenly, anything I had accomplished this year totally paled in comparison. This girl had the biggest victory of all of us and I'm so proud!

If you don't know Ally's story, she shared some of it here and in other posts on The Unbroken Smile where she is a contributor. My girl is a warrior!

It seems most of my finishes were smaller items this year. I am pretty proud of my mini quilt finishes...

I had minimal big quilt finishes...

I did make TWO of those blue plus quilts, so that's something, right?

And lots of "things"  and bags got made....

Bee blocks were tons of fun!

For the record, I recently completed TWO large quilt tops and sent them off to the quilter, so I'll have a good jump start on 2016, right? 

It's been fun sharing with you here. Can't wait to see what we all come up with in the coming year! Happy New Year friends.

January Calendar Page

Whew, where the heck did 2015 go? I don't know about you, but I'm ready for a fresh start! I hope you'll journal along with me in 2016. Here's a January calendar journal page you can download for free. 

I hope you'll share with me how you get creative with your calendar journal this year! Happy New Year friends!

Christmas flashback

I'd like to share my favorite Christmas present with you! It's from my mom... sort of. Actually I originally gave it to her years ago and this Christmas she sent it back to me! It's this lovely group of carolers...

There was always crafting going on at my house when I was a child. In the early 70s (the Santa in the back is dated 1974, painted by Mom) Mom painted beautiful ceramic pieces. Of course I decided I needed to try it too! I loved these sweet carolers and their puppy. I have never had a steady hand for painting (as evidenced in the black lines on the first sweet girl's skirt) but I did my best. Hey, I was in my early teens after all! (not that I could do any better today. Ha.) Also, I confess that I refused to paint the faces. They totally intimidated me! Mom did those for me.

Anyways, these singers, complete with my initials on the bottom, have come to live with me in Texas and I will be so thrilled to pull them out every Christmas and remember my crafty childhood years.

Did you craft when you were a child?

last minute Christmas make

When I saw the mug rug Debbie was making (here on her blog) I knew I had to make one for Ally for Christmas!

the red cup pattern is free on Craftsy and it's a great one! Ally is a big Starbucks fan (who am I kidding, so is her mom) and she loved this as much as I thought she would. This would make a terrific gift for a girlfriend with a Starbucks gift card or a new mug, don't you think?

Hope you had a Merry Christmas!

one last gifty make

Kristyne over at Pretty By Hand designed an adorable Christmas mini and offered up this pattern for free! Never mind that it is three days before Christmas, I decided I really had to make one for a friend I'll see tomorrow. 

 Gosh this was a fun and quick little make! I took some liberties with mine, quilting in (just a few straight lines) in a traditional way and adding binding, and leaving off the ribbon borders (which look adorable on hers but frankly I didn't have anything that worked in my stash and I was too lazy to head to the store!)

I used a piece of subtly striped natural linen that I had picked up at Purl Soho in NYC earlier this year and quilting cottons from my stash. There is a white grunge cuff at the bottom of each hat but it doesn't show too clearly in the photo. Also, I dug in my button bin for a variety of old shirt buttons and I love the effect! 

I still have a couple of days left, what else shall I make? Kidding (I think!). 

what to do with a thimble

I couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to be given several old metal thimbles. Having seen this tutorial I knew exactly what I wanted to do with them! Add a ring and chain, some felt scraps, poly stuffing and some straight pins and just like that, I had gifs for some friends! 

They were so much fun to make. I couldn't stop at one...

Are you still making Christmas treats?

a Christmas forest

I've been having fun making up some mini quilts lately for gifts. When I saw Amy Smart (Diary of a Quilter)'s  tutorial for fun little improve Christmas trees I had to give it a go. I used all fabric from my stash and (of course!) mixed some turquoise blues in with my red and green...

My little quilt measures 8 1/2" X 13" and I straight line quilted it on my domestic machine. What a fun little project! I have a feeling there will be more little trees in my future! This one will make a perfect hostess gift for a friend this coming weekend, don't you think?