Finishes!!

I'm happy to announce that I have had a few finishes since the last update!

The biggest finish was ending my tenure of president of the Possum Town Quilters guild.  I entered the year reluctantly and I exit overflowing with gratitude and appreciation.  To have had the encouragement and support of nearly 40 members is an amazing experience.  It's both uplifting and humbling.  We had a great year due to every member bringing their own special gifts/talents to the group.  Each contributing in her own unique way.  And I definitely couldn't have done without my fellow fantastic officers! I was not alone!

I'm going to make a long story short here because I have to mention how special these guild ladies made me feel.  I started my year of leadership focused on encouraging members to step up when volunteers were needed.  And they did not disappoint!! As a reward for their efforts, I offered to take a PTQ quilt top that was in desperate need of some tlc.  I did repairs to the quilt top and and each of their volunteer acts would earn a chance to win it in a drawing at the end of the year...

Well, instead of allowing me to draw a name from the jar, the ladies unanimously agreed to gift the quilt top to ME for my efforts as their leader this year!!!  I was so overwhelmed with emotions.  How blessed I am!!

Getting the repairs done to that quilt top counts as #1 of the finishes.  

#2 was making up little "thank you" gift tins for the PTQ Christmas party.  At my request, my brother, Nathaniel, made small heart shaped bees wax thread conditioners... (Have I mentioned lately that hearts ❤️ are my favorite shape? All my quilts have a heart in some form or another.)  Aren't they a perfect item to put into my "thank you" tin?

(I thought I would put chocolate kisses in, but in the end, there was no room for chocolate kisses.)

I made up some needle holders to fit in the bottom of the tin.  

I found flower needle threaders online, perfectly showing my whimsy side.  

I added spools of thread I had purchased a few months earlier at a going out of business sale.

I think the tins turned out to be sweet little sewing kits 😊

 And look at these straight pins with Spool heads I found on the Hobby Lobby sewing notions wall!  They were too cute not include!!

Finish #3 was the woven basket I showed in my previous update.  I forgot to get a photo of it before wrapping it up for our hand made gift exchange.

Finish #4 - the second ZickZack scarf! And it seems I don't have a photo of this finished item either.  As soon as she saw it was finished, my Sweetling grabbed it up before I could even give it to her 😄.

I did make the comment in front of her that I need to load another scarf on the needles to replace that one. And she's already claimed scarf #3 before I purchased the yarn!!

Inspired by the ZickZack Scarf Pattern by Christy Kamm, I've upsized the yarn from fingering/sock weight to a fluffier Sport weight and the needle size form a #3 to #6.  Already I can see that progress is going to go much faster, and I love the fluffy feel of it compared to the finer yarns.

The yarn is Loops & Threads, Kai collection, colors are Mint Chip and Splash.
The yarn has more of a tweed look to it, and so far it seems to have slow, long color changes.  Possibly the color changes will be very subtle and unnoticeable until looking at the completed project.  I am super curious to see how it turns out.
Usually, I don't care for the backside of stockingnette stitch with color changes, but in this case the tweed effect is enhanced.  I think it's super cool.

Anyway, the knitting is just a side project.
I have a small quilt to finish by Christmas, only half the binding left to do and a label to add. Maybe I'll blog more about it after it's given away.

What I have to do now is concentrate on two quilts I want to enter into Mountain QuiltFest 2019.
One is for our guild challenge with a Christmas theme.  I still have to trim and add the border.  And I want appliqueing holly leaves around the border to make it a Christmas table runner.

The other is Whimsy's Doodles... I want to increase it's size with this pale blue, but a plan hasn't really presented itself on this yet.  Here's hoping a plan comes soon!!  The deadline is in January!

Ok, enough time chatting. I've got lots to do!

'Tis the season to be jolly!  Oh gosh, I still have to dig out the holiday decorations 😮.

Wishing you a very Merry Christmaas! God bless.