Accomplishments of 2012

This year, as many of you who have been reading are aware was filled with many new changes for me. In June, my boyfriend and I decided to move 6,000 miles away from family and friends to Hawaii which has been the most amazing experience for us.

Then, I decided to fulfill a dream of mine to open my own business. The challenges that have come with that are exactly what I needed in this phase of my life and though it has only been 3 months, i'm very excited to see where it will go. 

Lastly, in October, Hurricane Sandy hit home and hundreds of families were affected. I started my crusade to make quilts for families affected and was astounded at the outpouring of love and determination to help. We made 15 quilts that were given to families affected by the Hurricane. The Star Ledger wrote about our endeavors which you can read here. I hand delivered 6 of the quilts, but not all wanted their picture taken. The rest were given to my aunt whose church has a list of affected families. The church has been going to visit the families and help with anything they need around the house to help them return to a sense of normalcy. My aunt will be bringing the quilts when they go to houses. 

My aunt and cousin showing off one of the quilts

former high school teachers in their rented place until they can get back to their house

sister's best friend and her mom, they're in their house but had to gut the entire first floor

My big accepting for her brother and wife

This project was easily the biggest accomplishment for 2012. I appreciate every kind word, thought, block sent, etc etc. The help was AMAZING. I still have 2 quilts to finish that I wasnt able to get done in time, so I can't even imagine how it would have been without the help of my amazing quilters, Diane, Toni, Rebecca, Shanley and Rachel. Thank you thank you to everyone involved in this amazing project.

I will be doing a full post tomorrow showcasing each of the quilts we made!! You don't want to miss it!

Goals for 2012 - Lookback

This year was my first full year of blogging, and when it started I made a list of goals that I wanted to achieve for myself..

1. Learn to paper piece 

This was the "2 months of EPP" but I did learn how to do it! I even participated in the blog hop that Laura and Katy hosted. More will definitely be happening in 2013, i've developed a serious addiction, such a portable thing!

2. Guest blog on someone's blog

So, though I technically didn't do this, I did start Follower Fridays on my blog and had a lot of people featured. Speaking of, we'll be starting back up in January so if you'd like to be featured send me an email at knot.threads@gmail.com

3. Improve my FMQ'ing skills

Slow and steady wins the race with this one. I've worked on stippling, but i'd like to expand more this year and get more adventurous.

4. Host a swap 

I hosted 2 swaps! And it gave me a MUCH larger appreciation for the women that host swaps... its a ton of work!

5. Participate in a quilt-a-long 

I participated in Sew Happy Geek's QAL in January, as well as the Retro Flowers QAL later in the year. I'm already looking to join some this year too :)

6. Write more tutorials

This one is a struggle for me, I feel very unoriginal and that my techniques are much like many others, so this hasn't been a priority for me, but I know how helpful they are for me, so i'd like them to be available for others too.. i'll work on it.

7. Use up my stash! (hehe, isn't that always on everyone's list??)

So, not only did I not accomplish this one, I opened my own shop! Which means the fabric collection INCREASED!

8. Participate in a craft fair

This will be moved to 2013. I've already started looking into some.

So, looking back, I did well with my crafty goals. I think my personal life changed so much this year that my sewing may have suffered at times, but all in all, great year. Can't wait for 2013!

Finished it Friday

Just a quick post with a recent finish for the apartment.. I've been wanting to make nesting bowls for  a longggg time.. so I finally did! I made the 4", 5" and 6" version..

These were made using A Cuppa and A Catch Up's pattern - seriously amazing!

Such a great addition to the apartment :)

Mr. & Mrs. Christmas Gifts

It's been a bit quiet over here, i'm home for the holidays and enjoying every jam packed second!

So, this past October my brother and his girlfriend got engaged! I wanted to make them something to commemorate their first Christmas together. Since I don't know his fiancé's tastes very well I asked him for some help - I was told, she likes vintage. Yeh, great, I'm a modern quilter.

After some  searching I came across Moda's line, Dear Mr. Claus. Boom! Perfect balance of greens and reds with vintage style ornament prints and really cute retro santa's! I was planning on making stockings, but found out her family would probably be getting these as they all have the same ones as part of their tradition. Then my brother made a request. Now, he really isnt one for my quilting/ one for requesting anything, so when he made the request I jumped at the chance to fulfill his request. 

He asked for a tree skirt. Great, never made one of them before, I wanted to make tree pants after seeing them last year and loving the square shape.. wait, back up, she likes vintage, square is not the way to go.. back to square one. 

After scouring the internet, for something a little different than a run of the mill tree skirt, I found this. I was able to modify it to meet my needs and I came up with my own version..

Then, I decided matching stockings were a must :)

Hand-embroidered names, perfect touch and vintage-y feel, I thought so..

Yesterday was the engagement party so I was finally able to gift them. They loved them, and I couldn't have been more pleased!!

photo credit - Brian McGee Photo

Congratulations Dan and Amanda! Can't wait till next year!!

W.i.P. Wednesday

Mostly wordless this week, busy getting ready for travel!!

Lots of EPP happening here..

Lots of color going on here..

More soon..

I'm linking up with Lee!

Celebrate! do. good

I'm sure many of you know about the quilting bee, do.good stitches. Rachel is its creator. Earlier this year she contacted me about starting a new circle and asked if I would be willing to oversee it, of course I was elated! What an honor! With that said, the Believe circle was born.

I was privileged enough to come into contact with 9 other amazing woman who i've come to know, some i've had the privilege to meet, work with and be inspired by.

When Rachel organized this Celebrate! project for do.good, as a way to highlight the circles and the work they do throughout the year, I was excited to have my circle enter to show off their hard work and dedication to such an amazing program.

We were given the task of selecting one quilt of our completed quilts this year to represent our circle for the open voting. Now, we haven't been a circle for a full year yet, but we rose to the challenge and selected this quilt..

"Wonky Pinwheels"

It was donated to "My Very Own Blanket"

October 2012

Now, Rachel has set up an open voting, so make sure you go check out the quilts and pick your favorite. If you're inclined, pick ours! Help us celebrate the amazing people that take part in this organization and all the good work that they do throughout the year.

Lorelai, Megan, Kim, Stephanie, Vicki, Kersten, Courtney, Jess, & Kelli

Thank YOU for making this an awesome experience for me and helping to make the Believe circle a success!

Family Recap

As some of you may know boyfriend's parents were visiting for the past two weeks so sewing has been minimal, but the fun was excessive! We decided to island hop and take in the sights at Kauai while they were here -- vacation for us! Seems weird, we live on an island, but the normal problems people experience are here with us, so it was great to get away for a few days..

Warning, picture overload :)

boyfriend and I are clearly excited.. and a bit tired

really really little plane..

Molokini coastline

Taro ponds on Kauai

Finally on the beach!

Did I mention we were at the St. Regis

(same hotel from the movie "Descendants" when they're on Kauai!)

Christmas in Hawaii

Honolea Bay

(as in the song, Puff the Magic Dragon!)

seems like a great place to park.. right?

boyfriend clearly enthused about driving the mini van

view from our room

spouting horn on Kauai

If you've never been to Kauai, I definitely recommend a visit, the locals describe it as a older Maui (meaning its less developed) but moreso than Lanai or Molokai -- the one word I kept using to describe it.. lush. Think green, gorgeous mountains, untouched lands and just nature at its finest. Great trip!

Back to our regularly scheduled programming tomorrow with some sewing i've been working on! :)

Help!

I've been having some problems with pictures lately. I found out I had used all my available space with blogger, so I upgraded and will be paying monthly.. however, I'm not able to upload my mobile pictures -- previously, they would just upload automatically, now, nothing.. anyone have similar issues/can offer some help?

Winner Winner

Thanks to everyone who stopped by during the Sew Mama Sew giveaway day! This was my first giveaway using the Rafflecopter and i'm definitely a fan!!

On to the winner.. a $25 GC to Knotted-Thread was up for grabs, and the winner is..

Helen Scobie!

Congatulations Helen, i've emailed you :)
If I don't hear back in 48 hours i'll draw another winner!

Travelin Pic

Hey all, just popping in to let you know that voting has started for the Travelin Pic Stitch Blog Hop! You may remember my lozenge pieces that I turned into a wall hanging..

I'm no. 3 in the America category.. I'd love it if you'd pop over and vote for me

but even more if you'd check it out!

Thank you again to Katy and Laura for hosting this!!

You two officially started my addiction to EPP :)

Just Three- December

I've been rocking and rolling this month, busting out projects and completing things on my list.. its an amazing feeling!! First, let's check out November..

November list-

1. Mystery Christmas Project- complete it. - Finished tonight! done! Full post after Christmas.

2. Commissioned Christmas Gifts -  15 down, 25 to go. complete it. - done! 

3.  Stockings and Tree Skirt -  complete it. -- done - full post after Christmas!

Phew.. On to December. I'll be traveling through December so my goals are minimal..

1. Sidekick Tote (small version)

2. Christmas order- custom order to finish and ship asap.

3. Hurricane Sandy Relief quilt - yellow/gray/black needs to be pieced /quilted/bound, and one more scrappy needs to be quilted/bound in NJ.

Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day

It's that time of year again!! If this is your first time to my blog, welcome! If you've been here before, you know how this works..

We'll keep it short and sweet since there are MANY blogs to be visiting. I'm offering a 

$25 Gift Certificate 

to Knotted-Thread

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We've got some amazing fabrics in stock with more showing up regularly! Notting hill, Ombre Yardage,simply color precuts, etc. etc.  Be sure to stop by and check it out.

Now, just enter using the Rafflecopter - this is my first time using it so bear with me if there are any kinks!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway