January in Review

I’ve been reading:

• Persuasion Jane Austen
• Plain Truth Jodi Picoult
• Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society Mary Ann Shaffer
• Wench Dolen Perkins-Valdez (a friend from high school!)
• Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen
• I just started reading Jane Eyre.

I’ve been knitting:

• socks for the Mister (insert rant about the size of his feet here)

• thrummed mittens for me – This is actually attempt number 2. I ripped out the first mitten because I was too chicken to do the afterthought thumb. These instructions are less intimidating, but I still prefer the look of a gusset.

I’ve been quilting:

• two crib size quilts for my nephews – Finished them last week and mailed them today. Yay!! I ended up machine binding. I had quilted too close to the edge, so didn’t have the room to attach the binding for a hand-stitched binding. Honestly, I could spend a lot of time pointing out the flaws or beating myself up about the fact that I didn’t hand quilt them, but I’m going to refrain. They were made with boat loads of love and I think they are pretty cute. Do you hear that Inner Perfectionist?!?

Next up:

• the second thrummed mitten (as soon as I get more roving)
• maybe a sweater
• quilting the lap quilt that I started two years ago
• possibly more Jane Austen, but I’m open to suggestions

Aunty Made

Last week, I had the chance to meet my newborn twin nephews.  So wee (4 lb 7 oz and 6 lb at birth) and so adorable.

I started working on quilts for each of them in the fall. The tops were finished in October, but I set them aside when I knew they wouldn’t be ready for the baby shower. Instead, I embellished some onesies and sent a box of baby basics in time for the party (literally, it was delivered during the shower).

When I’ve made quilts in the past, I have quilted them by hand. With two on the docket, even though they are crib size, I was a bit overwhelmed. I decided to invest in a walking foot for my sewing machine. I finally sat down to figure it out this week and I feel totally justified in the purchase. With a couple afternoons at the sewing machine, I have one of the two quilted.

I’m hoping to get the second one quilted over the weekend. Binding will take longer, but I now feel confident that I can get these completed and delivered before the boys outgrow them. 🙂