WIP #16

Wow. I haven't done a works in progress post since the beginning of December. I shall now remedy that.

I've been working on the scrappy trip-a-long. Some of my favorite blocks so far:

 I think that black print is my new favorite.

So far, I have completed 18 blocks. I want to complete 36, so I am halfway there. Still more to go:

I'll admit: I kind of got burned out a bit from this block, so I switched gears and worked on my Christmas quilt. Yeah, maybe it will be finished by this Christmas! For this quilt, I'm sewing 5 inch squares into a big 25-piece patch. I'm going to make those into half-square triangles (so if you see a lot of fabric repeats in a square, it won't make much difference) and then make a giant star. Out of my fabric, I cut enough for 8 25-piece blocks, but now I realize that that is WAY too big. I only need 6 blocks, so now maybe this gigantic quilt will be manageable.

A few of my 25-piece blocks:

Want to know the amazing thing? All of the fabric used in these projects was pulled from my stash. I haven't bought fabric in months, a first for me!

Finally- thanks everyone for the nice emails about my hand surgery. Recovery is going great. In fact, I'm just about 100% again. I'm still supposed to be taking it easy (yeah right!), but for the most part, I nearly have full function. Yay!

Check out the other WIPs at Freshly Pieced.

Christmas Goodies and Make A List Monday

I think my family has finally realized that my quilting obsession is real. This year, for the first time, I received all sorts of quilty items for Christmas:

I have wanted the Quick Curve Ruler for forever so with some big old hints to my hubby, he surprised me with the ruler and the Urban Nine-Patch pattern. He also got me these books:

He bought me an Accuquilt Go Baby, but I think I'm going to swap it for a full sized one. Also, my mother-in-law gave me a generous gift certificate to an big online fabric store, so I'm super happy about that. All in all, I'm so happy with my loot.

When I returned home from spending Christmas with my family, I found this lovely little lip balm holder in my mailbox courtesy of Benta. Thanks so much, Benta! : )

Since I didn't get to do any sewing after my surgery, I did at least get to organize my giant scrap bin. I sorted everything by color and just as I was about to put everything away, I saw the craze that has taken over blogland and Flickr: Scrappy Trip Around the World. Well good thing I didn't put my scraps away. I started cutting into my scraps, and I currently have about 100 strips. I want to cut about 100 or so more. The cutting is slow-going given my cutting hand is still tender.

So for my "Make a List Monday" I want to:

• finish cutting out strips for the scrappy quilt
• try to make a couple of blocks for the scrappy quilt

So it's not a big list, but it's a start. 

2012 Quilts in Review

Just like last year, I was thinking about my completed quilts for 2012 and it seemed like I didn't accomplish much. Actually, I completed 9 quilts in 2012, 1 more than in 2011. Of course if I factored in all my completed quilt tops that are ready to be quilted that number would be much higher. But I'll save that for a different post.

So I present my finished quilts for 2012:

1. French General quilt for my mom 2. Cross quilt for charity 3. Patchwork Chevron quilt for my niece Candy 

4. "Twisting the Night Away" quilt for my friend Ellen 5. Ghastlie quilt (for me!) 6. Summer House quilt for my niece Abby 7. Lily and Will quilt for my nephew Dayton 8. Ritzy Cracker quilt for my mother-in-law Marge 9. Carpenter Star mini-quilt (actually made 2 of these for me)

I'm proud of what I accomplished, even while dealing with wonky hands. I had the carpal tunnel surgery on my right hand on Dec. 13; stitches came out on New Years Eve. Healing has been better than I expected, even though I may have some permanent nerve damage in one of my fingers because my median nerve was almost flattened due to carpal tunnel issues. The good news is that it shouldn't affect my sewing and other activities. Hopefully the nerve will completely recover though.

My poor swollen hand the day after surgery

I'm looking forward to all the projects to come in 2013. I'm also looking forward to all of your inspiring projects! : ) Can't wait...

WIP #15 (or Sewing with Bum Hands)

It's been weeks since I've turned on my machine. The little sewing I've done has only been on the cross stitch pattern above.

I want to do more, but my hands won't let me. They started going numb in my sleep back in February. Night splints have helped, but the numbness and pain are too much to handle. I've been to the orthopedist and the neurologist, and it's confirmed: I have severe carpel tunnel in my right hand, moderate in my left. That means surgery. Soon. Like before Christmas. That also means no sewing for a while. : (

But I'm just looking forward to starting the new year with good hands (well at least 1 good hand as I can't do both surgeries at the same time). So the above may not look like a lot of work, but trust me, I consider it a major accomplishment.

Check out other WIPs at Freshly Pieced.