Catching Up on Swappy Stuff

With all of the December activities around here - swooning, postering, boxing, wrapping, packing and traveling - there were a lot of things left undone.  One of them was posting all the wonderful swappy stuff I received in December.

First are the four wonderful packages I received in the Trim the Tree swap.  The Trim the Tree swap is the very first swap I ever participated in on Flickr, and I look forward to it every year.  Not as many participants this year as in years past, and a slightly different format, I think meant to reduce stress on the swap mama, but just as fun as ever.  It's always so exciting to see what people come up with, and this year was no different.  Such a fun assortment of Christmas decorations.  Since I didn't put up a Christmas tree this year (as you can see from the photo - this is only a pseudo tree, put up at the last minute because I couldn't stand the lack of Christmasy atmosphere here!) these will wait until next year when I (hopefully) will decorate more.  We're staying home next year.

This adorable jingle bell snowman was from Shelly.  Isn't he cute?  So much so that I examined him carefully to see how she did it.

A giant jingle bell and a child's Christmas sock seem to figure prominently here.  I love it!  I wouldn't be surprised to see a few more of these next year.

Next is are the ornament(s) Synnove sent.  I love the little basket - it reminds me of a May basket, and will be adorable on the tree - maybe filled with Christmas treats?  The crochet heart is fun also, and might just make an appearance at Valentine's Day as well.  But honestly, I am truly jazzed by the fabric Synnove sent.  I haven't seen this one before, so it will be great fun to add to the stash.  Hope I remember it's there and use it next year.

Muriel sent this adorable Christmas pennant.  Won't this be fabulous on the tree?

Muriel also sent a little Sinterklaas, the Dutch Santa.  She explained that the Dutch celebrate this holiday on December 5.  He is super tiny, maybe 1/2 inch altogether, with another inch for the strings hanging down, but oh-so-cute!

The cute little Christmas house is from Nikki.  It is made from 30's fabric.  I love the little cowboy on the door.  Really sweet.

I also received some bee blocks.  This one is from Kat in Australia in the Sew Fun Bee.  I had asked these ladies to help me finish the blocks for my Granny Square quilt, and they really stepped up.  I have enough blocks now, I think, so all I have to do is make a quilt.  {grin}  I love the orange and aqua combination she used.  It has been a favorite since Arielle chose it for her wedding.

This block is from Cara.  I love this one.  It reminds me of a summer day.  Nice!

This package came while we were gone for Christmas.  Oddly, it required ID to retrieve it from the post office, and WH said he didn't know anyone in Indonesia so I had to go pick it up myself, which isn't always easy when you work the same hours as the post office is open.  Luckily, we had a couple of medical appointments yesterday, so I was able to get by the post office on my way to work.

Inside was this beautiful block from Henny.  I almost never sew with batiks, so this will be a unique addition to my quilt.

Henny also made me this fun little pouch. I have been wanting a pencil pouch to fit in my scripture tote, since my markers and ruler seem to escape fairly often.  This is perfect!  So thoughtful!

Here is the package I received from Kristel in the Modern Scrappy Bits Swap.  This package came all the way from Alberta, so it has a selection of things we don't have in the States, I think.

She chose an amazing selection of fabric scraps for me.  Some I have seen, but most are new to me.  I am really going to enjoy these.

And she stalked me so well that she even included one of her favorite needles after she read my rant about needles a few weeks ago.  It's a Bohin needle, which I've never seen before.  Can't wait to try it.

She also included some wool for crewel embroidery.  I used to do a lot of crewel work, but haven't done any in years, so this will be fun!

Finally, I received a fun package from Heather for the December Swap in the Sew Fun Bee.  Since there were only 11 of us, we decided to swap fun little gifts in December.  I don't know where Heather found the time to create all this - she had a baby on December 3, I think.

I love the way this little pouch coordinates so well with the one I received from Kristel.  I am planning to use them to organize the various small projects I have going on.  Zip lock bags are useful, but sooooo boring.

And I have been coveting one of these cathedral windows pinnies forever.  I love cathedral windows, but haven't tried to make one for myself yet.  Maybe now I won't have to?

Thanks everyone for brightening my holidays and making all these special goodies just for me.

The Other Christmas Gift

I wanted to share the other crafty Christmas gift I created this year.  BD#2 selected this verse last spring when she and her husband moved into their new apartment.  Sadly, in the craziness which was prevalent here before Christmas as I was doing the finishing and wrapping and packing, I didn't get a really good photo.

My friend Bonnie loaned me her Cricut (3 times) and then finally came over and helped me cut the letters.  It was so much easier to do with someone who knew what she was doing.  We used just the fonts she already had, which might not necessarily have been the ones I would have chosen if I had had unlimited choices, but they really turned out fine in the end.

I was having a terrible time getting the letters straight, and I didn't want to draw lines and then figure out how to get rid of them, so Krista saved the day when she suggested painter's tape.  Now why didn't I think of that!  Perfect.  It worked wonderfully well.  And my 24-inch sewing ruler came in quite handy too.

13 coats of Mod Podge and the project was finished.  The Mod Podge filled in all the roughness and left it smooth to the touch with a matte finish.

And best of all, BD#2 seemed to really like her poster.

I love it when that happens.

And WH got me a Silhouette cutting machine for Christmas.  On to the next project - as soon as I figure out how to use it.

Happy crafting!

Counting 2012

I decided that it might be interesting to count the items I actually accomplished in 2012 (some of which didn't even make the blog, like the tote above - it was completed in December, and there just don't seem to be enough hours in December, if you know what I mean).

Anyway, here goes:

1 Scripture Cover
4 Craftsy BOM Blocks - this was a major fail...  I'm putting the other 8 on my 2013 to-do list
20 Bento Blocks to Swap
62 Bee Blocks
11 Quilts!!!
40 Bow Tie Blocks to Swap
5 Needlebooks
12 Granny Square Blocks - This quilt is on my 2013 to-do list as well
9 Totes - (8 1 Hour FQ Totes + 1 6-Pocket Tote)
48 String Blocks to Swap
12 Pot Holders
1 Apron
3 Pouches
2 Crochet Scarves
3 Crochet Baby Blankets
3 Embellished Dish Towels (seems like there should be more, but I don't have pictures...)
15 GMFG Blocks
1 12-inch Swoon Test Block
4 Pillows
1 Handbag
3 Unfinished Quilt Tops
6 Mug Rugs
7 Mini Quilts
1 Doll Stroller Makeover
20 Baby Announcements
3 Pinnies - (seems like there should be more of these also, but again, no pictures)
4 Cloth Napkins
1 Digital Scrapbook + random pages
1 Basket Block
1 Sewing Machine Cover
16 Lark Swoon Blocks (these were so much work they deserve to be counted separately, I think)
1 Covered Journal
1 Name Tag
2 Knit Tops
1 Casserole Carrier (a tutorial for this is on my 2013 to-do list)
12 Crochet Dish Cloths
1 Key Fob
9 Ornaments
1 Pillow Case
1 Vinyl Poster
48 Anthropologie Blocks

...and a Partridge in a Pear Tree!

No.  Just Kidding.  No Partridge.

But it was a pretty crafty year around the prsd4tim2 studio, and I'm feeling pretty "chuffed" as my British friend says.

On the other hand, there are a lot of unfinished projects on this list.

And LOTS more fabric in the cupboard that's dying to be used.

So here's to a crafty 2013 to all of us!

Welcome 2013 - And a Look Back...

I woke up this morning thinking about this quilt.  If you recall, I made it for a blog hop (you can revisit it here and here), and barely finished it in time (so what else is new?)  But I never really finished the quilting.  I wanted to quilt little Christmas-ish motifs in all of the white blocks.  That didn't happen - yet.  And since we were away for Christmas, the quilt hasn't been used yet.  There's always time, right?

And I spent some time the last few days catching up on my 2012 Finished Quilts and Projects page which had been sorely neglected - it hadn't been updated since May.  And then, on Sunday night, just when I had it almost done, Firefox crashed, and wouldn't you know, I hadn't saved the file in awhile, and I lost about 4 months worth and had to start over.

It's kinda fun though to look back and see what I actually did do in 2012.  It was a really busy year, in the quilting department.

I had actually forgotten about some of these projects, so looking back was a lot of fun.

I finished a bunch of stuff - at least half a dozen quilts...

lots of pillows...

and mini quilts...

and mug rugs...

and bee blocks...

and kitchen-y items...

lots of totes...

And even a few bona-fide gifts.

I've participated in too many bees and swaps to count.

But I also have a ton of unfinished projects

and bee blocks...

sitting in the WIP pile.

And I made virtually no progress on The List which was posted on August 1st.


So this year, while I love swaps, and plan to do a few of them, I'm resolved not to go overboard.  Pinky promise!  I really have to make some room.

Here's The List, revisited:

 1.  Jelly roll quilt - top is finished; needs to be sandwiched, quilted and bound

EDIT:  March, 2013 goal
EDIT:  Finished March 9, 2013

2.  Fairy Tale Friends - ditto *** and this one is my January goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes on Flickr.  Wish me luck!

EDIT:  Also my February Goal
EDIT:  Finished - February 21, 2013.  Donated to Project Linus.

3.  3x6 Bee Blocks - I have accumulated enough blocks to make this quilt!

EDIT:  This one is going to be my May goal.
EDIT:  This one actually made TWO quilts.  FINISHED June 8, 201.  Both donated to Project Linus.

4.  Citrus Quilt - I have 10 of the 12 blocks I need 48 blocks!, so the plan is to make 2 more blocks, then sandwich, quilt and bind


EDIT:  I requested more blocks in the 3x6 Bee 2Q2013 and also from the Bees Helping Bees forum on Flickr. I have enough blocks now to make this quilt - maybe even two.

EDIT:  Finished August, 2013! - I ended up with 48 citrus blocks and made 3 finished quilts.  I have requested more blocks from the 4th quarter 3x6 bee, which will give me 18 to finish these.  The last quilt will be a 2014 goal.

5.  Granny Squares Quilt - I have 12 of 18 blocks I need, so I'll make 6 more blocks I got my 6 blocks from the Sew and Be Happy Bee, then sandwich, quilt and bind


EDIT:  April 2013 goal

EDIT:  Finished April 23, 2013!

6.  String Blocks Quilt -  I have 40 string blocks, so that should be plenty, so make the top, then SQB

7.  Bow Tie Quilt - I have 80 bow ties, again, plenty, so make the top, then SQB

8.  Bento Block Quilt - I have 40 bento quarters, again plenty, so make the top and SQB

9.  Breath of Avignon Quilt - I'll have to see where I am with this one, but I think I can get it done as well. (Nope - I can't find a photo of this one...)

And since I wrote that...

 10.  Ari's anthropologie duvet cover is about half done.
EDIT:  Finished April, 2013

11.  I have all the blocks I need for my GMFG quilt now, so it's time to start putting it together.

12.  I have enough leftover HSTs from the Swoon quilt for a Lark pinwheel quilt.
EDIT:  I have made 2 Weekender Bags from the leftover HSTs from the Swoon quilt, so I will need to see whether I can really make a quilt from the Bonus HSTs.  However, I do have the Craftsy BOM quilt from 2012 started in Lark, so maybe I will combine them and finish this after all.
EDIT:  I'm going to count this one as Finished, July, 2013.

13.  I have the basket blocks for my basket quilt now since the ladies in the Bee Awesome Bee helped.

And I know there are more blocks and projects in there, but this will do for now.  And it totally escaped me the first time but I'm looking for 13 finishes in 2013!  How's that for poetic?  And I'm linking up with Shanna and Melissa for




So Welcome 2013!  I hope you are a productive year, and that in December I find that the WIP pile is significantly less overwhelming.

Meanwhile, to those of you who may read this, I wish you a happy and creative year.  May the Lord bless you with all of the His richest blessings in the coming year.