finishes and exciting news!

Work has consumed me these past few weeks, but it's starting to ease up now! It's a good thing, too, because I'm spending way too much money on wine lately!

I have a few finishes.  I worked on the first round of the BMQG Round Robin Swap, which was fun!  It's a blind swap, so I can't post full pictures, but here's a sneak at my 2-inch border for round one:

I also finished up my block for the first month of the Modern 99 Swap.  This one was "Mondrian" on p.116 for Julie.

Lastly, I whipped up a baby quilt for our friends.  They're expecting a boy in a few weeks, and the daddy is a fisherman, so I thought that Storyboek by Jay-Cyn Designs would be perfect for him! I used Elizabeth Hartman's Little Plates pattern from The Practical Guide to Patchwork. Love how this one came out.

On a WAY more exciting note...remember the orange, tangerine, and gray color combo that I put together for the Quokka Quilts' Blogger's Choice Fat Quarter Bundle Contest?  It was this one:

Well, the competition was AH-MAZ-ING.  Seriously - 242 entries from quilters all over the world.  And guess what?

I won.

That's right - EEP!!  I won!  I was one of the three people selected by Cara of CaraQuilts, Amy of Amy's Creative Side and Kimberly of the Fat Quarter Shop to win a half-yard of each of the fabrics!  Can you believe it??  I never dreamed that I would win, and I'm so amazingly excited.  My sincere thanks to all of the judges, to Laura for hosting, and to Kimberly for sponsoring the contest.

Now to figure out what I want to make with all of this delicious fabric when it arrives!

ta-da!

I was so excited to see all of the the One Little Word quilts at the BMQG meeting this afternoon!  Everyone did a great job and I love seeing how all of the mini quilts were so different from one another!  No one had the same word, either.  I didn't bring my camera, but hopefully Heather and/or Dawn will post some pictures soon.

Here's mine:



I am in love with how it came out.  I love the wonky stars, I love the paper-piece letters, and I especially love the new (to me) FMQing.  LOVE.  I am hoping to partake in a bit of Leah Day's FMQ Project this year.

We also started a Round Robin Quilt this month.  Here is my center block, which has been passed on to the first participant to add a 2-inch border.  I won't see this fella again until June, and I'm so excited to see what he turns into!



I was also able to finish up my socks over New Years...they're a bit tight now that they've been washed, but I love them nonetheless.  Not bad for a first effort, eh?





I signed up to take a toe-up sock class at The Knitter's Nest and we had our first class yesterday.  I chose to work with this yarn for this project:



Can you say, LOVE?????  I am so excited about these socks I can hardly contain myself!  They are made with Judy's Magic cast on and the Magic Loop technique...MAGIC MAGIC socks!  I have the toe done for one and am working my way up the foot right now.  I already like this technique better than top-down.  I will share pictures of my progress soon.

journey.

That's it.  My One Little Word for 2012.  This word has so much meaning for me...

Spiritually | I started reading Eat, Pray, Love, and am so inspired.

Emotionally | I really want to be in a better place.

Physically | We are traveling to Europe as a family in June (eep!).

Creatively | I am venturing into unknown territory...knitting and free motion quilting..and it's so exciting!

I am participating in Ali's class again this year.  I didn't keep up last year, but I'm starting fresh with the best of intentions.  We'll see where it takes me.  I am so inspired right now.

          jour·ney  (jûrn)  n.

          1.  a. The act of traveling from one place to another; a trip.

               b. A distance to be traveled or the time required for a trip

          2.  A process or course likened to traveling; a passage: the journey of life.

The BMQG is also hosting a One Little Word Challenge.  I finished up my journey quilt last week, but can't show it quite yet...here's a sneak, though:

We're sharing them next week, so I'll post more pictures then.  Notice the FMQing! It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, and I'm very excited to try this on a bigger project soon.