I needed a spot to do some jewelry repairs and keep an eye on the little guy (my sewing room is definitely not baby-proof), but I think the kitty resented my use of his favorite napping spot!

October is my favorite month for many reasons - fall, cooler weather, Halloween, my birthday... I liked my monthly goals but fell off the wagon a little. I am definitely not as productive as I used to be, but I'm tired of giving late gifts, and as you can see, these all have a deadline!)

October Goals:
1. Top for wedding quilt (wedding was 9/18).
2. To-be-revealed birthday gift for my mom (birthday is 10/14).
3. Baby shower present (shower is 10/18).

Labels: monthly goals

Happy 4th of July to everyone in the States! A funny thing about this year is that we actually went to a Canada Day party on Thursday but had no special plans to celebrate America's birthday. The baby is in bed, and we can see some fireworks from our back windows, and that's about all the celebrating we were up for this year.



I did finally finish the paintings for the nursery. They are definitely an amateur attempt but I am happy with them. I'll probably take them down for some touchups but am not in a hurry. It was fun to try something new! After these were in progress I saw this and this and wanted to totally start over. I guess I still could!



I actually spent a good amount of time in my craft room today since my little man enjoys rolling around on the floor and playing while I sew. Keeping him on a blanket is a challenge - I tell my husband it's not that I have a problem with Ben being on the carpet, just that you never know when he's going to urp up some milk or peas and a quilt is easier to wash than the rug!

Now that I'm back at work I'm going to try really hard to keep my goals for July reasonable:
1. Finish the quilt for my sister's new baby.
2. Make the throw pillow for the nursery glider - my back needs it!
3. Get the fabric cut for my next baby quilt (super excited about this one!)

June Goals:
1. Finish Ben's circle quilt.
2. Quilt top for my sister's new baby. Only a little sashing left...
3. Throw pillow for nursery glider. Nope.
4. Nursery artwork. Done!

Labels: crafts, monthly goals

Today is the first day of June, and that means my last month home with Ben has begun! I am so blessed to have six months off with my new little boy, but in a way I think it is making it even harder to think about going back to work. I am tempted to have an ambitious list of projects to finish for June since it is my last month at home, but I know I'll want to spend a lot of time just cuddling and playing with Ben, so I tried to keep it tame.

June Goals:
1. Finish Ben's circle quilt.
2. Quilt top for my sister's new baby.
3. Throw pillow for nursery glider.
4. Nursery artwork.
Not actually that tame when I write it out...

May Goals:
1. Finish the stroller blankie I put on hold.
2. Clean up guest room.
3. Finish wedding embroidery. Just barely! See above...
4. Nursery artwork. Nope.
5. Throw pillow for guest room.

Labels: monthly goals, needlework

This baby blankie is actually not the one from my April goals, because I got an invitation to a baby shower and needed to switch gears a little.



But I do love it, and as I mentioned, it is probably the fastest I have used fabric that I would typically hoard. Of course, I used less than half of it, so that made it easier to cut.



Fabric is Nicey Jane by Heather Bailey. Pattern is inspired by this quilt of the day on Sew, Mama, Sew. Size is 24" x 32", backed with minky.



Can you see the quilting? Free motion! Go me!! This was such a risk, my first real free motion quilting project on such nice fabrics. But I love how it came out. The stitching is definitely not even and there are some wonky places, but I am happy with it for my first try. I think my new machine made it a lot easier than the first time I tried. I will definitely be doing more in the future!



Finally, the label. It is crooked. I cannot seem to sew my labels on straight. I used this idea from Lady Harvatine and I love how it looks! One of these days I'll figure out how to sew it on straight.


Happy May! My goals for the month might look a little familiar...
1. Finish the stroller blankie I put on hold.
2. Clean up guest room.
3. Finish wedding embroidery.
4. Nursery artwork.
5. Throw pillow for guest room.

April Goals:
1. Stroller blankie for a new little girl. Did the one above instead!
2. Finish binding Red Barn quilt and clean up guest room. Binding is done, guest room is a mess.
3. Wedding embroidery for some friends that got married in March. Started!
4. Artwork for above Ben's changing table. Supplies are ready...

Wow this is a long post, but I wanted to address some technical difficulties - I don't know why comments aren't working and I don't know why my posts are in italics. Working on it! If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to email me at sarah(at)themikkelsens(dot)net. Thanks for your patience!

Labels: 2010 Quilts, monthly goals, quilting, sewing

On our ski trip last week we were lucky enough to get to celebrate our niece and nephew's 11th birthday with them! To save on luggage room I didn't bring their gifts along, so they are going to be a bit belated. I got an adorable cross-stitch kit for my niece (this one) because she loves crafting, and made these little covered button hair accessories. The purple pair are hairbands and the little flowers are bobby pins. These were so fun and quick to make up! Definitely more of these in my future.

Also a bit belated, my goals for April:
1. Stroller blankie for a new little girl.
2. Finish binding Red Barn quilt and clean up guest room. (March fail!)
3. Wedding embroidery for some friends that got married in March.
4. Artwork for above Ben's changing table.

Considering how crummy I did on my March goals these might be extra ambitious!!

March Goals:
1. Buttons for swap - finished and mailed on time!
2. Finish circle quilt top.
3. Bind Red Barn quilt. About half done with hand-sewing.
4. Pick up guest room enough to make the bed! Not done!!

Labels: crafts, monthly goals

I feel like I have a new appreciation for the expression "time flies" now that I am watching my baby grow. It is hard to believe my little boy is already two months old! The days go by so quickly, and I never do everything I think I can accomplish looking ahead each morning.



For example, I only have a few seams left on the circle quilt but these strips have been sitting here for over a week waiting to get sewn together.



I also got the Red Barn quilt back from the quilters and it is waiting to be trimmed and bound. Of course, everything that was stored in the nursery is now stored in the guest room where this quilt will live, so I have a little work to do to make the bed ready for its new covering!

To give me a little more crafting motivation - to get back on the horse, so to speak - I joined the button swap at Feeling Stitchy. I can't wait to get to work!

In the spirit of looking ahead, I think I will post some March goals. I am keeping them quite simple, because my to do list often gets filled with baby snuggles - and laundry! - instead of sewing time.

March Goals:
1. Buttons for swap - finished and mailed on time!
2. Finish circle quilt top.
3. Bind Red Barn quilt.
4. Pick up guest room enough to make the bed!

Administrative Note: I've upgraded to threaded comments! From now on I will be replying in the comments, and it will show up tied to the original comment on that post. If you include your email when you comment I believe you should be notified that I've replied. Hopefully it works smoothly!

Labels: monthly goals, quilting, sewing, swaps, wip

My pile of addressed Christmas cards, waiting to be stuffed with our letter and stamped. Holiday stamps and new return address still on their way in the mail.

Monthly Goals
I say this every month, but I can't believe it's already December. The month of Christmas. The month before I meet my baby. Crazy!
1. Finish crib circle quilt.
2. Christmas presents - not making a ton this year but have a few plans.
3. Finish nursery - I'm full term Christmas week!

November Goals:
1. Rainbow Sherbet Quilt
2. Finish circle crib quilt. Um, nope.
3. Bind Red Barn quilt when it comes back from the quilters. Not back yet...
4. Do prep work for my Christmas gift project.

Labels: etsy, homework, monthly goals

I think I can truly call myself a quilter now. Who else would get this excited about a new iron? I'd been using my ~$20 iron from college until now, but I finally had to replace it. It had developed a crack by the handle that released hot steam right onto my knuckles, not good. I love my new iron.



It even has a digital display, so fancy!

Monthly Goals
I can't believe it's November! I seem to be consistently ambitious with what I think I'll get done each month and I don't think I've done any better with my November goals...
1. Finish Rainbow Sherbet Quilt.
2. Finish circle crib quilt.
3. Bind Red Barn quilt when it comes back from the quilters.
4. Do prep work for my Christmas gift project.

October Goals:
1. Finish Gma's handbag.
2. Bind and label QBB quilts.
3. Finish Rainbow Sherbet quilt - top, quilting, binding, the works!
4. Finish Red Barn quilt top.

Labels: monthly goals, quilting

Thanks for all the book recommendations yesterday! In addition to reading the "classic" Interview with a Vampire, I spent a little time in my sewing room.



I made some progress on the piecing for the Rainbow Sherbet quilt top. We're not actually going to have a twin bed in the nursery after all (the room is too small) but this will make a great cuddle blankie in the rocker. Finishing this top was on my September Goals list, needless to say it isn't finished on time!



I also got started on my Grandma's handbag, another unfinished September goal... My grandma always requests colorful fabrics, I think these fit the bill! After the bright Sherbet quilt fabrics, I'm loving the more muted colors.

Monthly Goals
Hard to believe another month has gone by! My October list is primarily finishing up my September goals...
1. Finish Gma's handbag.
2. Bind and label QBB quilts.
3. Finish Rainbow Sherbet quilt - top, quilting, binding, the works!
4. Finish Red Barn quilt top.

September Goals:
1. Family Projects - Karyn's necklace & Gma's handbag.
2. Three quilt tops for Quilts Beyond Borders.
3. Red Barn quilt-along quilt top done. Nope.
4. Rainbow sherbet quilt top done. Nope.

Let's see if I can do a little better this month!

Labels: monthly goals, quilting, sewing, wip

I can't believe it's already September! Since I did so well holding myself accountable for my August goals, I'm doing the same thing for September...



1. Family Projects - Karyn's necklace & Gma's handbag.
2. Three (yes, 3) quilt tops for Quilts Beyond Borders.
3. Red Barn quilt-along quilt top done & to the quilters (I'm outsourcing the quilting on this one).
4. Rainbow sherbet quilt top. That's what I'm calling the nursery quilt for now...

In addition, we also plan to get the nursery painted and are going out of town for the long Labor Day weekend. It's going to be a busy month!

August Goals:
1. How-to's for baby blankies and quilt labels are done.
2. Flutterby quilt is finished.
3. Rainbow sherbet fabric is cut!
4. Nine patches are done.

Labels: monthly goals, wip

I know we're already a week into August, but in the spirit of accountability and crossing things off my to-do list, I wanted to post my August goals. I never get as much done as I want to, so I'm going to try to keep it fairly simple this month!



1. Catch up on a couple bloggy things - mainly my baby blankie tutorial and how I do my quilt labels.

2. Finish my flutterby quilt. I can't believe I've had the top done since February.

3. Get the pieces cut for the quilt using this fabric. It is for the twin bed we hope to have in the nursery.

4. Finish the other 11 nine-patches for this set.

Bonus goals: More progress on the Red Barn quilt and a custom order necklace for my aunt. But that might be ambitious!

Labels: monthly goals, wip