Stop the presses!

Whoa!  Can it be the first of the month and I haven't missed it?!  Shocking.  For those that don't know, the 1st of every month is Fresh Sewing Day over at Lily's Quilts.  And I have quite a bit of September sewing to display.

There are so many favorites in there.  Even the batik quilt, which was sorely neglected for 4 years is now on my list of favorites because my mom will love it and I'm so happy to get it out of my sewing space.  I'd like to get back to the Farmer's Wife project in October, but the siren song of the hexies is still calling me.  We'll see.  And we'll see when I next remember to participate in Fresh Sewing Day.  Now click on over and check out all of the other yummy sewing that has been done in September!

If you are up for a little more trivia about me, check out my 50 Questions photo over on flickr today. I was tagged by a friend to answer the questions and then tagged another batch of friends. 

2011 in Review

Finished Quilts

1. modern vintage quilt--closer, 2. breeze, 3. extra, mini quilt, 4. Bright Return--back, 5. front, 6. 4 in a row, 7. Oliver's I Spy quilt, 8. front with sun, 9. mittens and mushrooms, 10. Henry's Swimmy Quilt, 11. swimmy quilt for Miles, 12. outside

One look at my finished quilts mosaic and all I can see is right angles in almost every single project. My bee blocks and my quilt designs have gotten so creative over the past year with more angles and curves than I ever knew I could make. But I didn't finish any of those quilts.  I could write a resolution to stay away from square angles in 2012, but I like them too much.  I see some old projects that finally were pulled out of oblivion and finished.  Eight of the quilts above were gifts (two for Henry), four of them are I Spy quilts, the mini tree quilt was for a swap and six of them were sent to charity to warm up new babies.  Not one finished quilt for me, although I do nap with Henry's I Spy quilt on occasion.

Finished Small Projects

1. tea cozy front, 2. swap extras, 3. workshop potholder exchange, 4. housewarming potholder, 5. bag side 2, 

6. pretty little pouch front, 7. growth chart, 8. hand sewn rattle ball, 9. coasters for swap, 10. potholders for swap, 

11. ornaments, 12. C is for Charise pincushion, 13. Bubble Pouch front, 14. Cubs ornament for the hubs, 

15. mom's pillow, 16. dr. seuss jammie pants, 17. knitting needle case, 18. Keychain Clutch closed

I did finish a number of small projects this year.  I designed the tea cozy, potholders, pouch, knitting needle holder and ornaments.  I also finally made another piece of clothing for Henry.  And I made my first pillow!  I hope to branch out and do more non-quilt sewing in 2012.

Favorite Bee Blocks

1. kelp quilt strip for neshamamama, 2. string block for lucky_charm, 3. simple, square, improv for bix and bee, 4. 3x6 for i like orange, too, 5. book block for Vicky in the Sew Buzzy Bee, 6. caretaker swap, 7. 3x6 for snail girl, 8. June Easy Bee-ing Green Block, 9. house block for innerpiece, 10. block for Vanessa, 11. bee block for knittykaren, 12. angel block, 

13. veronique block 1, 14. cocorico bee block, detail, 15. October Orchard Themed Block, 16. November Ski Sweater Block

I made 43 bee blocks in 2011!  That seems like a crazy number. I started out the year in four bees and now I'm ending the year in four completely different bees. I may pull out of one because right now I'm signed up to make 60 bee blocks in 2012. Yikes!  The bee blocks have helped me grow and learn new skills and make new friends.  But it can get to be a bit much....

My biggest plans for 2012 are to continue to work on my block design skills and to make quilts out of all of the blocks I've received in various bees.  That should keep me busy!

I'm linking up to Lily's Quilts Fresh Sewing Day.  Come check it out!