Off to a Productive Start!

I spent some quality time with my sewing machine on New Year's Day and managed to finish 2 small projects. Today (January 2nd) is my Mom's birthday. She had mentioned a few years ago that she'd like one of these hanging cases that she had seen in a catalog. At some point I ended up finding a Kwik Sew pattern to make one. After procrastinating for a few years, I finally made her one yesterday. She wears a lot of floral print shirts, so I thought this print would fit in well in her closet. I already had the fabric in my stash, so I'm giving myself bonus points for not running to the store to find something I thought she'd like! I'm usually really bad about doing that!

After finishing the hanging case, I decided to keep up my momentum. I've had 6 or 7 fabrics to make pillowcases for my kids and my nieces and nephews for probably 3 years now. I dug it out and made my first of the pillowcases. It's Christmasy, so I'll have to wait until December to gift it, but it was fun to see it finished and to check another stash project off of my list. Be prepared for more pillowcase pictures in the near future!

Our Christmas vacation is coming to an end. We start homeschooling again on Monday. I've enjoyed the time off to just relax with the kids, but I'm also looking forward to getting things back to normal. I just wish there were more hours in the day. I spend my time on school, housework & cooking, so I don't have as much time to sew as I'd like. I hope that changes at least a little bit this year.

Happy New Year! Time to Recap 2014's Projects!

I haven't blogged in almost a year and I figured a new year was a good excuse to start up again. 2014 ended up being a really busy year and I hardly sewed anything after finishing my fair entries in August. I wanted to make a list of the things I finished this year and figured this is a great place to do that!

The year started off with this Rock Candy quilt for my Mom on her birthday. It's made using Kona solids in their "Sunset" line with Kona lavender as the background.

After making a Rock Candy for my Mom, I decided that I needed one for myself. This is the one I envisioned when I bought the pattern, an ombre in pink for Valentine's Day.

I made this mini for an online quilt swap. The solids I used were textured solids. I had never worked with them before and I love the look they gave the quilt. I came up with this pattern when I couldn't find one I liked for the fabrics I had chosen.

I sewed 4 pillows to use on my couch, in hopes of brightening things up during the cold, dark months of January & February. I used the fabric line "Summer Breeze" along with a variety of solids from Kona and Moda.

I was inspired in late spring to make another version of the Rock Candy quilt. I made one for me and one for my Mom, with a slight change in fabric layout.

I sewed this charity quilt at my annual quilt retreat in Nebraska in April. It was donated to an organization in Africa through my aunt's church in North Carolina.

This quilt was sent to the same charity.

A finished picture of the Rock Candy I made for Mom.

I made these doll pajamas for my daughter's 18" doll. I entered them in the local fair and won a first place ribbon!

These pajamas were made for my nephew for his 13th birthday. I have made him more pairs of pajamas than I can count in his life, but this was the first pair I had given him in a long time.

This nightgown was for my daughter. She has 2 brothers, so cars have always been a big part of her life. I was thrilled to find this girly car print knit fabric a few years ago.

I quilted this Valentine's panel. It has more quilting on it than any quilt I had made before. It won a 2nd place ribbon at the fair.

This is my favorite accomplishment this year! I sewed this tiny baby outfit and entered it in the fair. It won Best in Class for the infants division!

I entered one of my favorite bibs I've ever made and it won a blue ribbon.

This was a last minute fair entry. I've always wanted a sewing apron, so I made one and it also won a blue ribbon!

My plastic bags were out of control, so I made a holder for them. I just love this orange floral fabric.

This is a "Lots of Pockets Tote" (by Michelle Patterns). Aqua is my favorite color and I just love it in this gray pattern. This bag also won a blue ribbon at the fair.

This is a divided basket (pattern by Noodlehead) that also won a blue ribbon.

I made these boxy pouches in the last days before we left on vacation in September. Each kid loved having a place for their own toothbrushes & things.

In September & October, I helped teach a crochet class to 5th and 6th grade girls at our homeschool co-op. As an end of class gift, I made each of the girls their own water bottle cozy. They were a big hit and I think each of them got a color they liked.

This was probably my most tedious project of 2014. I remember making a Christmas ornament this way when I was a kid, but I didn't remember it being such a chore! I had intended on making more than one of these, but one was enough. I do love how it sparkled in the Christmas lights, though. Maybe I'll make another one next year. Maybe....

This Frozen tote bag was a gift for my daughter's friend on her 8th birthday. She (like most girls) loves Frozen. We even found out when we got to her party that the party was "Frozen" themed. Our gift fit right in! I didn't see her open it, but my daughter said she loved it.

I sewed pajama pants for my 3 teenage niece & nephews for Christmas, but I forgot to take of picture of them before I gifted them. They were all I managed for handmade gifts this year. I'm hoping to do better for Christmas 2015.

Thank you for looking through my project recap of 2014. Here's to 2015 being a much more productive year! I've joined in the the group that is sewing through their stash in 2015. Check out the hashtag #SewMyStash2015 to see my projects and lots of others.