Saturday, January 7, 2012

New Year, New Project

Welcome to 2012. The title of this post is a little misleading, but I'll get into that more shortly. For the first time, in 2011, I took photographs of all the projects I completed throughout the year. Turns out I actually do do something! ha! Here is a quick rundown of my accomplishments. I'll include photos of the projects that were not spotlighted at some point last year.

2011 started off with me knitting socks...lots of sock! I think it's a total of 8 pair, if I'm not mistaken. Here is a photo of most of them as well as a photo of the last pair I finished right before Christmas.



I also tested four patterns for The Quilt Pattern Magazine. Three of the patterns have been published; the fourth pattern has not yet been published. Here are photos of the three that have been published:



Then there was the witch wall hanging that I made for fellow SWAN, Teresa. That was shown in an earlier post, too. And the knitted scarves, also mentioned earlier. The bigger project was the baby quilt that I finally finished in October. As with all of my quilted projects, it was done by hand and took most of the summer. Of course, along with the quilt, I was testing patterns and working on socks. I always have at least 3 projects going at once.

The year ended with a wonderful SWAN Christmas party and ornament exchange. This was my first experience with the ornament exchange so I wasn't sure what to expect. What I found out is that my ornament is really simple compared to what the other ladies did. Teresa and I unknowingly exchanged ornaments. The one I made is on the left below, the one Teresa made and I got is on the right. See what I mean???



The last completed project that I want to mention is a snowman wall hanging I made for SWAN Sarah. She gifted me with the cross stitch "quilting" piece this summer and I wanted to do something to thank her for her generosity. I felt pretty sure she likes snowmen so I decided to make this wall hanging for her.



Now on to 2012. Just before Christmas, I finished appliqueing Dresden plate quilt squares that I started a few years ago. My "new" project for 2012 is to make a quilt from those blocks. My initial plan was to alternate plain and plate blocks to make a full-size quilt. After doing a couple of full-size bed quilts, I decided not to do that again! So my plan now is to make them using the pot holder method that I've used in the past. It will make a quilt that is better sized for a twin bed than a full bed, but that's OK. I still plan to keep it and use it on my bed. I was taken a bit by surprise when I pulled out a photo of the first two blocks I appliqued. The photo was dated 2/3/2002...10 years ago! This is one UFO that WILL be finished this year. I will take a photo of those same two blocks when they are finished so you can see how they will turn out.

This is my big project of the year...so far. That may change as the year goes on. I'm also working on another pair of socks and have lots of sock yarn that will be transformed into wearables later on. Who knows what other projects will come my way throughout the year. I'll probably do more pattern testing for TPQM although I have no definite plans at this time.

Thanks for following along with me and my ramblings. Onward and upward to a fantastic 2012!
Amy