Craft Update

The new year is bringing some new projects to the house that I'm excited about.  I had a few things over my head in the fall that I had to finish before I could focus on anything else.  The two quilts I made for my niece and nephew are finally done but not without some major issues.  Remember me writing about the sewing machine breaking down in November  -  well, I was trying to finish the second one up that week.  Both of those were months in the making and should have been a snap, but they weren't.  Part of it was the technique, which was not what it was cracked up to be, and the other was my machine.  Anyway those are done and I was ready to move on.  I was feeling pretty guilty about not having something homemade for the grandkids so I made them pillow cases.  Those turned out really nice due in part to the rolling technique I found to encase the cuff.  I also made some infinity scarves for myself that solves a couple problems for me  -  one is how to cover my scar and the other is adding some pizazz.  This was a very easy project and one I think I'll get a lot of use out of.  So when Christmas was over, I signed up for a Mystery Block of the Month class at my LQS!  This is very exciting for me despite the fact that it will take over 10 months to complete.  I'm looking forward to learning all the ins and outs of quilt making, at least in regard to this paper pieced project.  Of course, that still leaves me with some time to explore other projects and I've already begun.  Years ago my sil gave me some wallpaper and upholstery books from Padden's that they were giving away.  The wallpaper went really fast, what with preschool and girl scouts, and I managed to use some of the material on canning jar lids, etc.  But I still had all this nice floral material that I didn't even know if I could wash.  I had it cut out of the books a long time ago but it wasn't until last fall when I actually washed and dried it.  It came out really well so my mission was to find a quilt to use them in.  I found 2 that would work with the florals and I'm in the process of combining the best techniques of both to make one I like.  I'll keep you posted on that one and my experience in the class.