So Much Progress (and a Finish) to Share

Another busy week draws to a close, but I'm jazzed because I have something(s) to share with you! Happy Saturday, and welcome!

First, a finish. YAY! I finished the Newport Butterflies quilt for Cousin Kim. The fabric line that we both loved was called Newport, and it contains several butterfly prints. Kimmie loves butterflies. Hence the name Newport Butterflies. I had purchased the fabric in a 10" square stack (a Layer Cake), and cut those in half to make brick-sized pieces that would show off the print. I didn't realize until just now that the pattern echoes the brickwork of our house in the background!

The sashing or "mortar" is Kona Snow, and Newport Butterflies finished at 58x72".  After practicing quilting butterflies a bit, I forged ahead and quilted lots of little butterflies and swirly loops into the quilt.

Like the meandering lines, the butterflies are multi-directional. 

They are cute, but definitely not a consistent size or shape. Do I care? Heck no! They are different, just like in nature. I know Kim will love them.

Newport Butterflies was my OMG (One Monthly Goal) for December. That makes 12 of my 12 monthly goals finished for this year! Woo-hoo! That is such a happy thing for me, especially given all our challenges this year. And it shows that sewing is definitely my happy place and keeps me grounded when the world is going crazy around me (or is the world just fine and I'm the one going crazy?) Anyway, I'm linking up to Elm Street Quilt's OMG Finish-Along post. This was also my finished goal #3 for the 4th Quarter Finish-Along. My goal list is HERE.

I made a couple zip pouches for sweet friends. One of them I forgot to get a picture of before gifting it this week. But the other one is stuffed with little gifties and I did get a picture. These are just Bonnae's colors! The zip pouch is sitting on a newly-sewn ironing pad made from a couple of fat quarters.

The ironing pad is two-sided. This print above was a quilty cheater cloth that I picked up for a song on this year's quilt Shop Hop. The other side, shown below, is a wild purple fishy print which was a fat quarter I ordered from Spoonflower last year. It's laying on my newly-covered ironing board pad. Yep, I've been busy!

And speaking of Spoonflower, I couldn't resist their 50% off fat quarters earlier this month, so I bought the two shown below. The cannabis print is to make into a zip pouch for my brother who imbibes (and lives where that is legal). He's an epileptic who has used marijuana for decades (since we were kids living at home in California where he secretly grew it) to control seizures. Oh, I have stories about those days! Anyway. The other print is just one I fell in love with.

Next in line will be to quilt this little nap quilt (bad shot of partial basted quilt) for the grand cats Xbox and Carl. The size is roughly that of a crib quilt. It will be delivered sometime between Christmas and New Year along with the family gifts when we see them.

And then there is this monstrosity - my rainbow selvage blocks from this year. This quilt top has been sitting in Time Out for a couple months. I was hoping that it would somehow either change itself or that I might grow to like it. Nope. If it weren't already sashed, I would've ripped the large 16-patch blocks into four-patches and started over. But I hate it so much that I'm not willing to invest that time in it. Heck, I'm not even going to add outer sashing. Just quilt up the da** thing and donate it. Bam! Done!

And last but not least (are you still awake?) are the four blocks I stitched for the Block Lotto this month. They are hourglass blocks that measure 6.5". As usual, since my friend Nann and I have been running the Lotto since August to keep it going until year-end, the blocks I make are for donation. It's sad, but the owner of the Block Lotto site has decided not to renew the site. I can't say that I blame her. Interest has fallen off over the years, and she has to pay the site hosting fees. So, this will be the last month for Block Lotto.

* * * * *

ALERT!  I just moved Newport Butterflies from the washer into the dryer. Since this was the quilt's first laundering, I had thrown two color catchers into the wash. As I went to put it in the dryer, I checked the color catchers - only to find out that they weren't color catchers, but dryer sheets! WHAT?!? What is happening to my brain? Didn’t it just get back from vacation? Well, it doesn't look as though any colors bled. Whew! Thank goodness I used good quality fabrics.

* * * * *

As I age, I've learned that I don't enjoy or cope well with all the stress of the Holidays. For us, that's about mid-November through the end of the year. So, we've devised alternate routines and celebrations that let us keep things very low key. Thanksgiving is either just us (and maybe a family member or two who doesn't have plans) or going out to family or restaurant. Christmas gifts are bought here and there all year as something reminds us of someone, or else they get gift cards or money. Wrapping is minimal (a bag?), reusable or given in a card. Decorating is also minimal (bonus: we've been able to donate a couple tubs of "stuff" to charity). Christmas baking this year was a two-fer. I made Bruce's favorite cookies, which I do periodically for him, just in time to serve some for dessert at our family dinner gathering last week. Neighbor gifts are jars of jam that I made last summer. Even the kitties got their gifts early (new beds and catnip toys) when I took advantage of a Chewy coupon a couple months ago. I can't decide if it's my age, or if I'm getting smart or lazy or some combination of all of them. But I rather like the toned-down version of things. It allows more time to enjoy people; friends, family and each other.

I've already shown you the picture of our tiny Christmas tree, but now I'm going to treat you to our menagerie nativity. There is no baby Jesus, although we did find a half walnut shell for his manger. Stay tuned for that next year. In the meantime we have a little soapstone elephant (from last year’s Kenya trip), a wood deer (that I got in Austria in 1970), a dough turkey (made by son Shane in 3rd grade), a see-no-evil monkey, a rooster from Portugal, two marble mice (they're the best kind), a pewter rabbit (Austria, 1970), a one-eared bunny that just wandered in, a wood-carved owl (also Austria, 1970) and a smiling Buddha-like character. Eclectic, irreverent, cute. Just like us!

Thank you for reading my blog and sharing your thoughts and friendship over the year. I truly love and appreciate all of you. I wish you and yours the Happiest of Holidays, whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukah, the Solstice, or whatever else (because I don't know all the holidays, to my shame). May you enjoy good company, love, warmth, peace and plenty.