November 2016 Accomplishments

Wow, November was a great month! I found myself spending a little more time in the sewing room and also doing some stitching and starting a new crochet project. I was off work most of the week of Thanksgiving, so I made sure that I made a little time each day for at least two crafting projects - I think I stitched every day, crocheted most days, and quilted 4 of 6 days. 

Let's start in the sewing room - the first thing I worked on was making some QOV (Quilt of Valor) blocks for Dar's Patchwork Garden. I need to get them in the mail to her soon - they were quick and easy to make, and I am glad to know that my scraps will wind up in QOVs. 

Next up was working on my project for November for the APQ UFO Resolution Challenge. I have had spotty performance on this challenge over the course of the year, but I did get my top finished - I had great plans to get it on the frame and quilted, but had to put a couple other quilts in the queue in front of it. 

The rest of the month was focused on quilting - I did two quilts for others. The first one is a comfort quilt for a colleague at work who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. Another quilter friend at work pieced the top and cut the back and I did the quilting. I think it turned out pretty cute and the recipient loved it - we gave it to her the morning she was going to see the doctor and find out the results of her tests and the course of action. 

The final quilting project of the month is a top my mom made for her best friend for Christmas. I got it onto the frame and quilted in a couple days so she'd have plenty of time to finish it. When I pulled threads to audition for this one, I really thought I'd just use white, but it was a little too stark and an ivory looked much better. I quilted this one with my holly leaves and poinsettia pantograph. 

Quilting shows better on the back

Next up are my two stitching finishes, both snowmen this month! 

The first is Feeling Frosty by Miles to Go, a kit that I bought last year. My mom and I bought the same kit and she finished hers a few months ago into a cube. It turned out pretty cute, and I am planning to finish mine in the same way. I love this snowman because he isn't Christmas colors, so will be great to stay out all year! 

Next is my ornament from the Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornaments magazine - November's choice is the cute snowman and his snowflakes by Val's Stuff. I need to pick up some felt so that I can finish this one, but I think he's pretty adorable too! 

I don't have a picture of my crochet project, but I started a new hat. My mom knitted me a hat several years ago and I love it, but it has stretched out. I found out that I could use the search feature on Ravelry to narrow in on the amount of yarn + type of pattern I wanted to crochet, and that's how I found Everyday People. I am making it with some yarn I bought on sale a few years ago before I really knew what I was doing. I have been working on it a little every few nights, and am about halfway done, so I hope to have a picture of it in my December wrap-up. 

I also took some time the week of Thanksgiving to pull out all my stitching kits and patterns and go through them to really prioritize what I want to work on next year. I've enjoyed the ornament stitching this year, but I am ready to get back to some other projects and seasons. I have 12 projects pulled for next year and a list ready to take to the cross-stitch store of all the threads and linens I need to finish them. I am pretty excited about the variety of projects I have pulled to work on, and especially excited that some of them are patterns I've had for many years.