Family Challenge: 2016

Well, hello.  It's been a while since I visited this space. The little vacation was everything I needed. 

Over the holiday my Grandmother and I revealed last year's Family Challenge quilt. We both look forward to this event all year. 2016 marked our 4th year of the challenge.  It's fun to look back over the years and see how far we have grown as quilters. Both of us try to stretch our current skills each time.

Here are our latest quilts, mine is on the left and Gram's is on the right. Her quilt is Twin sized! We split a fat quarter pack of Atrium by Joel Dewberry for this years challenge. Last year we randomly pulled for a color way, warm or cool. Each of us got 13 fat quarters. 

(Sorry about the poor photo quality, the sun and snow didn't want to cooperate.)

My Gram has been experimenting with FMQ, and this is her first go at wavy lines.  She did a great job keeping them consistent! I also LOVE the bike print she put on the back of this quilt!

At Thanksgiving we talked about a rules change for 2017  Many of our quilts sit around after they are completed. We decided to pull other family members names and make a quilt for a specific person.  These two quilts went to a couple of the cousins. Then we pulled names for next year. My Gram got my cousin Mitchell, and I got my sister. Instead of having a specific fabric to work with, we are making the quilt to fit the person's colors/style. 

The moment I pulled my sister's name I started scheming up ideas. She loves animals and flowers. Now I just need to finesse my ideas into a cohesive quilt. 

LIFE UPDATES:

So, what else has been happening during my blogging hiatus?  

First, we are in the process of buying a house! The whole process is exciting and scary all at the same time. The closing date isn't until mid February and it cannot come soon enough. One more month to go. I have been picking up decorations and furniture here and there for the house. All I want to do is decorate! Now I will have my very own sewing room.

Second, I have taken up running again, it feels good. This past weekend was my first 5k in almost a year and a half! The time was embarrassing, but I finished. During the race a man collapsed and was taken away by ambulance. As we watched the whole thing unfold it was a reminder to live and enjoy every moment. Life and time work in funny ways. We did find out later that he is ok and resting up at the hospital. 

Third, slow sewing. Over the past month I have planned and started two slow sewing projects. The whole switch in mindset about not finishing projects quickly has been great for me.  I purchased some EPP papers and started glue basting (so much faster). I have 100 pieces ready to start hand sewing any day now. My other project is hand quilting a scrap quilt I whipped up over the holiday break. It's been so relaxing to sit and sew. In the last month I have finished watching The Crown, Rebellion (both Netflix originals) and started Call the Midwife. All three are so good.