2013 Year in Review

Well, 2013 has been a busy, but wonderful year.  We've had one cross country move, one short distance move, lots of additional travels to see family, a new job for Mr. Trio, health highs & health lows, a new (to us) car, weddings-- whew!  And I'm quite sure I'm leaving plenty out!  The Trio family has had plenty to be thankful for this past year, and we are looking forward to what 2014 has in store for us!

Despite all the busyness, I've managed to get quite a bit of sewing in.  Only four quilt finishes this year.  A goal for me in 2014 will be to turn out a few more quilts.  I'd love to say one a month, but that may be aiming to high!

1. Nautical Wonky Star Quilt (a.k.a. a quilt for my mom) 2. Chloe's Graduation Quilt 3. Modern Maples Quilt 4. Herringbone Quilt

You may remember that at the start of 2013 I started my first block of the month (BOM) quilt group... way back when we lived in Colorado still-- it feels like a lifetime ago already.  Sadly I did not get to far into this project before things got in the way.  Between the move and other sewing obligations this project seemed to find itself on the back-burner.  I refuse to beat myself up over it though, and still have hopes of finishing it up, albeit a little late.

Block of the Month- Blocks 1 & 2, 3 & 4, 5 & 6

2013 was the "Year of the Pillow" as far as birthday gifts were concerned.  They are such fun & quick projects.  I only managed to eek out one Swoon block this year.  I just need to accept that my Swoon quilt is a slow sew project for me-- fitting in a block here and there when I can.  I DO want to finish it this year though.  Our master bed desperately needs a homemade quilt!

1. Jenn's Pillow 2. Jess' Pillow 3. Sherry's Pillow 4. Kathy's Pillow 5. Christmas Pillows 6. Swoon Block

 And finally, lots and lots of smaller, miscellaneous projects.  Some blogged about, some not. 

1. Unnamed Block 2. X & + Block 3. Spring & Summer Table Runner 4. PacMan Zippy Pouch 5. Large Make-up Zippy Bag 6. iPad Case 7. Wine Totes 8. Double Sided Table Runner 9. Perfect Tote 10. 241 Tote 11. Terry's iPad Cover 12. Make-up Rolls

 New Years resolutions aren't really a thing I do; however, I do have some sewing goals in mind...

1. Start a sketch book to capture my quilt ideas.

2. Crank out more than 4 quilts this year.  One of them MUST be my Swoon quilt!

3. Practice free motion quilting.

4. Continue to push myself outside my color comfort zone.

5. Learn to use my new (to me) Serger.

6. Try my hand a garment sewing.  A Wiksten Tova top to be specific.

7. Sign up for another craft/art fair.

8. Return to blogging once a week.

How about you, do you have any goals or resolutions this year? 

Wishing everyone a safe and happy New Year!

W.I.P -- More BOM Catch-Up

Playing catch-up still with the Skill Builder BOM.  March's blocks are almost done!

I slightly modified the layout for both blocks.

The "Woven Star" block came out great... I love it when all the points line up perfectly!

The "Woven Chevron" is going to be more of a general weave then a chevron-- I found the chevron layout really busy and confusing.  It's about ready to start being pieced together.  I think I'm really going to like this one too!

              

Getting back on track

I bet you forgot all about the BOM group I joined back in January!  I'm not surprised either-- I made my January blocks, and that was it.  I got all caught up with other obligations, and with our big move.
I know... excuses, excuses :)

Anyway. While it may be May (the last day of it too), today I managed to whip up the blocks from February.

The Em Dash block

The Mood block

February blocks complete!

  Maybe at this rate I will get the March blocks done by the end of June!
Definitely not this weekend-- its quality time with Mr. Trio this weekend, starting with the new Star Trek movie tonight!  What do you all have planed this weekend?  Hopefully it involves some quality time with those you love!

January Skill Builder

The first month of the Skill Builder BOM is complete!  Well, mostly complete.  I still have to sandwich and quilt each block.  With my current project load the quilting for these blocks will have to wait.  And hey, I have eleven months to get around to it anyway!  I can hardly believe that it is February already!

January actually had two blocks, and I never posted about the second block... nor did I show you pictures of the completed Sound Wave block.  So, without further ado.

Skill Builder BOM: Sound Wave Block

I am really pleased with how my Sound Wave block turned out.  My even, straight columns have shown me that I do nice, consistent piece work.  I find myself quite proud.

Once I finished the second block (called Magnum), I decided that I really didn't want my borders to be the same solid black as my background fabric.  I wanted the borders to really frame and set the blocks apart, instead of blending with them.  I was nervous at first about this decision, but in the end I am thrilled with how it turned out.

Skill Builder BOM: Magnum Block

 This week Alyssa at Pile O' Fabric posted a series of seven instructional videos on free motion quilting (FMQ).  The videos really help take the scare factor away.  Since I have never even attempted FMQ I will need to practice quite a bit before I make the attempt on my completed blocks.  As I said earlier however, I will have put the quilting on the back burner for now until I complete my other projects.

Skill Builder BOM: Month One Complete!

 While I may not be ready to start quilting, I have at least picked out a few of the backing fabrics.  At the moment they are mostly low volume black prints, but I plan to mix in a few brights along the way.

Backing fabrics

 I can't wait until the 14th when the next block lesson comes out!

In the mean time I am working on a top secret project that I cannot wait to share later this month.

Boone has seen it, but he's sworn to secrecy!

Mostly wordless Saturday

I know in blog world it is usually 'wordless Wednesday', and in quilt blog world it is 'WIP (work in progress) Wednesday'... but Wednesday this week was really busy, so...

I bring you a mostly wordless, WIP filled Saturday.

First off, I tweaked my colors for the Skill Builder BOM.

The first block for the BOM was released on Thursday. Yay!  Tons of fun playing around with this block.

  

She really talked up using starch when piecing, and the idea kind of freaked me out.  I opted for this lighter kind of starch called Mary Ellen's Best Press which my mom clued me onto.  I'm a convert.  This stuff is awesome.

I just need to get the border put on my "Sound Wave" block and it will be done!

And sometime soon I'll show you more complete look at this other project I just completed.  But for now all you get is a little sneak peek.  Happy weekend!

Smitten with a new cookbook

Earlier this last year one of my favorite cooking bloggers released her own cookbook.  I was lucky enough to get said cookbook (The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook) for Christmas.  Eek!

If you are not already familiar with Deb over at The Smitten Kitchen you should be. Never has a single recipe of hers failed me.  Last night I made my first recipe from the new cookbook, and true to form, it did not disappoint. 

The wild rice gratin with kale, caramelized onions, and baby swiss turned out amazing, and was served up with a roasted chicken, and Panko crusted fried squash.

It was epic.

My finished gratin certainly did not come out as picturesque as in the book, but was seriously amazing to taste.  We will definitely be adding this to our regular recipe list.

In other news, I spent the morning pulling fabrics for the Skill Builder BOM.

If you frequent this site you may remember my inspiration color card from this post.

Overall I am pretty happy with what I have pulled.  It does need a bit of tweaking though... one of those greens in particular is just not working for me.

I've been consulting Boone and I think he agrees. 

 

The end of my stay-cation...

My stay-cation has come to an end, and tomorrow I return to work :o(

I must admit that I hoped to accomplish much more than I did over my week off. I had high hopes for the amount of work I could hammer out.  There was a day or two thrown in there where I didn't do squat, but that's what a vacation is all about anyway... right?

I did manage to make some progress on the t-shirt quilt for my niece.  It took a surprisingly long amount of time to get this much put together.

If you need a size reference-- that is laid out on a queen bed.  This quilt is going to be huge.

I've been throwing around ideas for what colors I will use on my Skill Builder BOM quilt.  I keep wanting to push myself out of my comfort zone, but the bottom line is that I have A LOT of blues, greens, and grays in my stash... and I could due to put a dent in them.  I'm currently leaning towards this one:

http://design-seeds.com/index.php/home/entry/color-cove2

I have a whole Pinterest board of these color cards from Design Seeds.  They are a great resource for color inspiration!  As someone who is terrified of mixing and matching colors, I have found this site to be incredible useful.   Maybe I will get some more sewing in on New Years day.

Happy New Year to you and yours!

Skill Builder Block of the Month

I'm super excited to have found out about, and joined, a block of the month (BOM) event for 2013!
This particular BOM is designed and hosted by Alyssa over at Pile O' Fabric.
It is designed so that each block throughout the year will help you to build new skill.
I'm excited to tackle piecing curves finally-- a technique I have previously been terrified of!

Hop on over to Pile O' Fabric to sign up, and get your button!
And don't forget to join the Skill Builder BOM Flickr Group.