2014, A Lovely Year of Finishes~

Thanks for the encouragement, everyone!

It helped to keep me focused and finishing projects!

These were Lovely Year of Finishes that I posted about:

1) Intention  January

2) Lens Bag  February

3)  Explore  March

4)  Presence   April

5) My red/white and aqua piece  May

6)  Sew-Together Bag  June

7) Fireweed Travel Bag  August

8)  Grand Canyon Suite  October

9)  Ribbon Star Color Adventure  December

They may not have been huge, but they were done!

I did set my goal,  then finished this stocking in November.

Just didn't work to post

.

 I was lucky enough to deliver it to a

special little guy.

I think it was worth being away from the computer 

to be able to see the family!

I didn't even attempt a goal in September after looking at

our trusty calendar.

And there was also one failure ..to..complete :(

in July, but I ended up finishing other projects,

so I can live with that!

It has been a filled year for us all.

Thank you,

Thank you 

to 

Melissa and Shanna

for organizing the 

Lovely Year of Finishes

and to the sponsors 

who made the wonderful prizes possible for everyone.

In May I won Meadow Mist Design's

cute

Paper Pieced Numbers and Pi Quilt

and On a "Jelly" Roll

patterns,

In August I was a winner of one of

Melissa of Sew BitterSweet Design's

creative patterns, Dizzying Diamonds,

and I am looking forward to my October win

from Clover and Violet

The Brooklyn Bag pattern.

The will be fun projects to make in 2015!!

Happy New Year everyone!!

I hope it is full of Lovely's for you.....

Final 2014 Finish for the Lovely Year of Finishes~

It has been an amazing year,

full of sweet blessings 

and, 

(yay!!),

many finishes!

I finished my December block, 

the Ribbon Star by Lee Heinrich

in Honeydew, Cardinal Red and Clover

then had the bright idea to take it to the beach,

for a seasonal picture.

The sand moisture was freezing up on the calm, +20 degree day.

The water was moving in it's slow "gelatin" form,

which I think is neat to watch.

So I thought, "Hey, let's put it by the edge here for contrast.  

What is the worst that could happen?"

The answer came on a breeze as the blocks lifted

and one flew into the Bering Sea.

Luckily, it didn't go too far and the slow-moving water

made it easy to pluck.

The extra weight and moisture helped the blocks 

stay in place for more pictures!

The wet one froze and held the dry block 

securely.

Without the splash of color from the blocks,

the seascape was multiple shades 

of white on white.

I hope you have had a year full of good things,

and finished projects!

Thanks so MuCh to Shanna and Melissa

for again hosting the 

Lovely Year of Finishes!

Please check out the other projects here..

Best Wishes in 2015 to you all.....

Final Finish Up Month and Goal Setting for 2014~

Have you been "elfing" for a while?

Getting everything ready for the holidays?

It is a busy time of the year!

One of my goals is to get the final block finished and 

in the mail for our

Color Adventure.

Here it is half-way done.  

I love it more with every added month.

I hope you get time for yourself
to enjoy

and absorb

this special time of year!

I am linking up

for the final month

with 

Melissa and Shanna 

at a

Lovely Year of Finishes.

Please stop by and check out the other projects!

This Month's Challenge~

In our family,

I get to make stockings for the holidays.

It seems to take as long as 

a full-sized quilt does, but they bring back a lot of 

memories all hung up.

This month I have a couple to start and finish.

The bigger challenge, though, 

might be connecting online at the end of month

when they are done.

Our big plan is to get the family

all together for Thanksgiving!  

Our kids, families, and a few friends

will come from all directions

to celebrate.

I had better get to sewing before it is time

to start traveling!

Do you have plans?

Please stop by Melissa and Shanna's 

blogs to see what everyone is working on.....

Good-bye October, Good-bye~

 I guess, like it or not, 

it is time to kiss October good-bye.

Those rich fall colors have faded into darker tones.

Time to remember days that have past,

in warm, sunny places.

My October block is 

Grand Canyon Suite 

from Judy Martin's Ultimate Book of Quilt Block Patterns.

I used my version of autumn desert colors:

Kona Kumquat,

Corn Yellow,

and Valentine Pink

They were inspired by our trip to 

the Grand Canyon in 

October, 2012.

October is also Tammy's birthday month

so we celebrated it 

with a GrAnd AdvEntuRe.....

I am linking up with 

 at

Hosted by Melissa and Shanna!

Please stop by to check out the other projects.

Maybe you will find the perfect holiday gift inspiration.....

An October Goal~

I have a pattern picked out,

and three colors chosen

from the Kona cottons in my basket.

Did you notice the frost underneath it? ;-)

It is time to get October's blocks done 

for our 

Color Adventure!!

Since the person who will receive one of the blocks

reads this

(Hello!)

I will have to wait to show the details.

But that set of blocks

is my goal.

Time to get back to stitching.....

October's Goal Setting Party 

can be found here ~

Come check out what everyone is doing

now that summer is over!

August's Colors~

For us August is a time of 

back to school and birthday happenings.

In honor of our birthday girl,

I used greens and orange.

The Kona Kiwi and Honeydew greens represent

August's birthstone, Peridot.

School Bus is for the orange..

one of the current favs

of someone back at college to finish one more SemEstER!!

I chose a paper-pieced pattern

(yes, I really did) 

from Fresh Lemons,

Whirling Star.

She did an excellent job with her directions

(thank you..PP makes me

so nervous!)

By time I did both blocks,

I think I was doing better with the process.

Does anyone else feel like they 

are working backwards,

sideways

and upside down

with paper-piecing?

It is a great brain exercise!

Anyway, I was happy with most of the results.

Just need to practice,

practice,

practice...

One block has whirled its way to Oregon,

and 

that leaves just four more monthly blocks 

to go.....