Almost done...

Stars Over Bali Skies BOM complete quilt top

Yippie! Hurrah! Hallalejer! My BOM quilt is almost done! I finished the November block and added the border for December. Next, I need to purchase/prep backing, then send it out to be quilted together. Add binding, and DONE! An aside from last month, that troublesome block was really no trouble at all. Maybe I still have the luck of a novice and didn't have the sense to be scared of it! Gonna lay off BOM's for awhile (this one lasted 10 months) and see whatever sewing mischief I can find for myself! I am thinking about taking a class on making fabric bowls; finding projects using a few dozen of those hundreds of fat quarters (which I've recently reorganized! [see below]) I've collected; and dabble in this-n-that.

From Simple Gifts Artists Sale

I've been having quite a time with the Zipper Bracelets I made for the Simple Gifts Market last month. In addition to selling quite a few to friends and customers, I sold over 30 to Blue Seven, a specialty gift and clothing store. That was pretty exciting. I haven't decided if I'm going to continue making them or change 'em up a bit. I've got all sorts of tools and supplies so think I'll be playing 'jewelry' in the future, too.

I finally got tired of my fat quarters collection being only 'kinda' organized. I dumped out each of the boxes, re-color-coded them, organized them as images on my iPad, then refilled the boxes. Ahh, Fabric Peace. Yes, this is how my brain works. Scary, I know.

Mostly fat quarters—three boxes plus batiks!

Eloise, aka Ellie

Checked out the Deluxe Indie Craft Bazaar today down at the fairgrounds. I pretty much got what I went for, an adorable sock monkey from Fried Okra, aka Adrian Mix. I was especially tickled to find a 'just perfect' little sock monkey for a little one coming into the world in a few short weeks. But this one is mine. She is Eloise, but I'm gonna call her Ellie. I absolutely love her dots and stripes (dashes?). Maybe her last name is Morse. And that big, cheesy grin—what a girl! She's already got a built-in sock monkey family here and they welcomed her with open arms. I'll get a picture of the whole gang posted next time. I also picked up some wonderfully fragrant handmade soaps. I'm a sucker for a good scent!

I've almost completed my first year of quilting. It's been a fun and productive time—new sewing machine, lots of fabric. And while the BOM is my magnum opus, I've enjoyed all the other smaller projects, mostly for other, especially the baby quilts.

C'mon 2012! Whatcha got for me?