January Roundup - Completions and WIPs

January is almost over. That means only 2 more months until maternity leave ends and I go back to work. The countdown has begun.
Januar er nesten forbi - 2 måneder igjen til mammaperm er over og jeg begynner i arbeid igjen. Nedtellingen har begynt.

I set 3 main goals for this month and am happy to have acchieved them all. These were mostly catch-up projects, so I am looking forward to starting some new projects soon!
Jeg hadde 3 hovedmål for måneden og er fornøyd med å ha fullført alle - mesteparten var saker jeg skulle hatt ferdig før jul...

1) COMPLETE: Finish quilt for baby nephew - done!
Fullført - quilt til min lille nevø

2) WIP: Finish blocks for California Cherry Blossom quilt - done! This is a craptastic photo of the layout - there will be sashing with coral cornerstones and I think I'll use coral binding to pull it all together.
Under arbeid - har blitt ferdig med alle blokkene til dette teppet (hurra!)

3) WIP: Get up to date on 2012 Mystery BOM from Fat Quarter Shop - October, November, December and January's blocks are d.o.n.e.

Under arbeid - blitt a jour med månedens blokk for oktober, november, desember og januar!

And for extra credit:
For bonuspoeng:

4) Assemble Cali Cherry Blossom quilt top - nope (well, I still have 2 days to work on this...)
Sy sammen toppen til Cali Cherry Blossom - niks (vel, har 2 kvelder igjen av måneden...)

5) Get started on Lucky Stars BOM - YES!

I will make 2 mini quilts - one for me (using Chicopee scraps) and one as a gift (using teal/aqua/green/blue). Very happy with how the first blocks came out!
Begynn på Lucky Start BOM - Yes! Har bestemt meg for å lage 2 miniquilter - ett til meg selv og ett som en gave. Fornøyd med første månedens blokker!

Linking up with WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

Now, must start thinking about my February goals...

Mod Squad baby quilt

TGIFF and a Lovely Finish for January. Thank you Nat and Melissa and Shanna for the motivation to get this done!

My first completed project of 2013 - and a little ashamed to say it is a delayed Christmas gift - only 1 month late:) Born on December 18th, I don't think the little recipient noticed he was missing a present from his auntie, so I am not too worried about him holding a grudge!
Første fullføre prosjekt for 2013 - litt flaut at det er en forsinket julegave - bare en måned for sent... Født den 18. desember tror jeg ikke mottakeren merket at han manglet en gave på julaften fra tanta si!

Fabric - Mod Squad by Dan Stiles for Birch Fabrics (organic cotton) and Kona in Ash, Sage and Caribbean. Cut into 5" squares and layed out in a pleasing (to me) manner - 10x10 squares.
Stoffet er Mod Squad fra Birch Fabrics (økologisk bomull) og Kona i Ash, Sage og Caribbean. Skjært i 5" ruter og dandert etter personlig preferanse.

Love the designs on these prints - scooters, Minis, tube signs, guitars and mikes - but what is the green tower with the flat teal roof? I am sure it is an iconic London landmark... And the grey tower is Big Ben, right?
Syns trykkene er kule - scootere, Mini'er, tube skilt, gitarer og mikrofoner - men hva er det grønne tårnet med det flate turkise taket? Sikker på at det er noe i London...

Quilted along the seams with a serpentine stitch found on my machine. Was slow to stitch, but very kind by easing out my wrinkles for me before crossing the perpendicular lines.
Quiltet langs sømmene med et bølgende sting på maskinen - var tregt å sy, men var fint fordi det ikke gav meg rynker i kryssene.

Backed with a soft flannel from my grandma's stash with a strip of prints in the middle to reach the needed width. Bound in Kona Caribbean. I like how the quilting looks on the solid back!
Baksiden er et mykt flanellstykke fra mormor sin stash med en stripe mønstret stoff i midten for å oppnå nødvendig bredde. Lukkekant i Kona Caribbean. Jeg liker hvordan quiltestingene ser ut på flanellen!

Now - just need to wash this and get it wrapped and delivered to the sweetest little baby boy I know (besides Nat's baby MiH, who is adorable, but I don't know him...).
Da må jeg bare få vasket dette, pakket det inn og levert til den søteste lille gutten jeg kjenner.

Linking up today to:

TGIFF hosted by the sweet, funny and stylish (kind of a given because she is French) Nat of Made in Home.

January Finishes Party - which you can link up to here or here.

All caught up!

This year has had a rough start with little time and energy for sewing and blogging. Company in my sewing room from December 26th until January 13th followed by a week of sick baby and sick me did not make for an active crafter!

Well, now all is more relaxed here and I am determined to look forward and get back in the sewing/blogging groove.

And what better way to start than to complete one of my January goals - get caught up on my Mystery BOM from Fat Quarter Shop. Mission accomplished! I even got this month's block made up.

Here they are - all finished and nicely pressed!

Block 5 - October 2012 - a very pretty block using quite a few of the colors in the collection

Block 6 - November 2012 - a bit simpler, but still quite nice looking

Block 7 - December 2012 - love the look of this 2-tone block, but wonder how it will fit in with all the more colorful blocks...

Block 8 - January 2013 - simple, but I still managed to make a mistake in the direction of one of the prints... But too excited about being done that I decided to leave it. Who will notice in the midst of a whole quilt?

So - now it's on to my main January goal - finish a quilt for my first nephew - it's a Christmas gift (from 2012) so a bit over due. But in my defence, he wasn't born until December 18th and I didn't know the gender and didn't want to make a gender neutral quilt. It's all basted and ready to be quilted. Hoping to have it done by Friday for the TGIFF linky party hosted by my bloggy friend Nat.

Linking up today with:

The Let's Get Acquainted Monday Link-up, hosted today by Heidi at Fabric Mutt

BOMs Away Mondays at What a Hoot!

If you haven't been there already, hop on over and get inspired by what others are up to!

January Goals - Just 3/Lovely Finishes

I might not always be good at getting the things on my lists done, but none the less, I am a list maker and writing down my to-dos and goals helps me stay focused.

I am thinking for my monthly goals I will combine the ideas of A Lovely Year of Finishes (hosted by Melissa ofand Shanna of Sew BitterSweet Designs and Shanna of Fiber of All Sorts) and Just Three at Tracey Jay Quilts - one main/large project to finish and two medium/small projects for progress/partial finishes.

My goals for January 2013 are as follows:

1) Finish quilt for baby nephew - quilt top is done, so needs to be basted, quilted and bound. Should be do-able.

2) Finish blocks for California Cherry Blossom quilt - I started this last summer - time to get this done! The quilt only has 9 blocks, but I can't even remember if I've made 4 or 5. I think it's 5...

3) Get caught up on my Fat Quarter Shop Mystery BOM - I have October, November and December's fabrics all ironed and ready to cut. Maybe I'll get January's block done this month too.

And for extra credit:
4) Assemble California Cherry Blossom quilt top
5) Get started on the Lucky Stars BOM from Don't Call Me Betsy - just need to pick a color scheme

Considering I probably won't get much sewing done until mid-January (have company all week), I think I should be more than happy if I reach my goals this month.

So there - the January goal list is made - time to get started on this year's sewing!


Linking up with:

January's Goal Setting Party for A Lovely Year of Finishes
 

January's Goals link-up for Just Three

A New Year - A fresh start

Christmas was wonderful and busy. We've had overnight visitors since the 26th and will continue to have one or another spending the night until January 13th. That's a long time to be a hostess. And a long time to have to use my sewing room as a guest bedroom...

But a new year is upon us and it is time to look forward. I am going to document my goals for the year - it might be interesting to look back on next year.

CRAFTY GOALS:

• Improve embroidery and hand quilting skills
• Master the 1/4" seam allowance
• Learn to use my new serger (will share details later)
• Open an online shop and (try to) sell handmade items - this will be for Norwegian market only as international shipping from Norway is beyond what anyone would be willing to pay
• Draft a quilt pattern
• Make a sewing machine table so I can recess my machine and have it at a more comfortable level for quilting

SOCIAL GOALS:

• Continue to participate actively in linky parties - a fun way to connect with new and old blog friends
• Participate in a few swaps - another way to connect and I find I always push myself to do some of my best work when creating for others
• If possible - participate in a blog hop or two
• Make new friends at the Fat Quarterly Retreat!!!

So there - the word has been written. Time to get back to sewing, blogging and getting caught up on blog reading.

Happy New Year!