2012 Year in Review: Schnibble Style

I've had fun seeing how other bloggers did a "Year in Review" of the fun year-long "Another Year of Schnibbles" quilt along, so I decided to do one too.  Good thing you can search blogs (including your own) by keyword to remember what projects go with which month (and also to figure out if you missed a project or two or three).

 Way back in January (can we even remember way back in January????) was  "Full House."  I made mine in French General fabric (it still needs to be quilted).  

February. What was February?  Looks like I didn't make February's quilt called "i.s.t.h. (insert snappy title here)."

March was "T is for Thelma" aka Bibelot.  This was a fun quilt to make and a fun quilt to lay out all the blocks and hope that the cats didn't decide to "help" rearrange them.

April's quilt was an out-of-the-box quilt for me in colors and in flying geese (not a flying geese fan). I do like this quilt though and Edgar Poe seems to like it too. 

May was "Doc" and I made this version from Moda Zen Gray solid and Kate Spain's "Good Fortune" line.  I adore this quilt and as soon as it gets quilted, I'm hanging it up in my living room.

June's pattern was "Leap Year." There is nothing better than a 16-patch block.  I just love these made from the "Little Apples" line.  I used a lot of gray fabric this year.  I'm glad it was popular for 2012 and I hope I stocked up on enough for when gray is not a popular color.   

July was a choose your own Schnibble.  I love it when it's a choose your own.  I had to check my blog and see what I did for that month.   Oh look!  I made this older Schnibble called "Four Corners" out of Kate Spain fabric. I just love Kate Spain fabric. This quilt was fun to make with the happy Central Park charm packs I've been hoarding.  (I really need to get this one quilted too).

August was "Dimestore."  I guess I didn't make this one. What was I doing?  I need to go back and check my blog and see what I was doing in August.  Probably melting from the heat and complaining about the drought. Looks like I didn't do much of anything in August so let's move onto September.

September was "Speck" and look I actually have one that is quilted. AMAZING!  Called the media. (I am so slack about getting even these little quilts quilted.  It's just not my favorite part of the process.)

October was "Hubble." Oh how I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE this quilt.  More Kate Spain wonderful lovely Serenade fabric and my favorite plumy goodness Eggplant Moda Bella solid. I can't wait to get my pennies saved up so I can get this one quilted.  Sigh. I have the backing and binding all ready. 

November's pattern was "Drop."  Didn't make this month.  October/November is always really busy for me.  

Here is December's "Morsel" pincushions. These were great fun and I think I *need* to make more of these in 2013.

Well I made 9 out of the 12 projects and enjoyed every one.  And 9 out of 9 project have gray fabric in them.  Love gray!!! And 3 out of 9 are Kate Spain fabric (did I mention I love Kate Spain fabric?) 

This was a fun year and I love seeing all the other versions out there in Blogland.  HUGE thanks to Sinta and Sheri for all their hard work and Carrie and Miss Rosie for their wonderful patterns!!!   

A Trio of Finishes

Well things are finally starting to slow down for me after the rush, rush, rush of the holidays.  Doesn't it seem like yesterday was Thanksgiving?  How does time go by so fast?

I was talking to my dear friend Karin on the phone about getting back into sewing when I realized that I have finished a few projects that I haven't blogged about.

First up, this month's Another Year of Schnibbles project.  I love making these pincushion and plan on making some of the other ones in the pattern during a less busy time.

I made these scraps of Vintage Modern and the irresistible Moda twill tape that holds bundles together. 

After making my sister-in-law a charm square scarf, I made one for myself out of a Morris Apprentice charm pack and a striped flannel on the reverse (I used a gray stripe from the Marmalade line by Bonnie & Camille).  I love William Morris fabric and I am looking forward to wearing this with the new black wool coat that S. bought for me for this winter. 

 I also quilted September's Schibbles project. This is Speck with some simple straight-line quilting and a thin dark chocolate brown polka dot binding.

I made a scrappy back from leftover pieces.

Time to get busy catching up on BOMs, BOWs and planning for next year.

Waiting for Santa

Remy, Gomez, Stella, Edgar, and I wish you and yours a Merry Christmas.

Holiday Weekend in Washington, DC

Happy Hanukkah to all those that celebrate! Hope you are having a wonderful holiday.

Last Thursday, S., E., and I went to the greater Washington, DC area to visit S.'s family for a long weekend.  We planned the trip far in advance, and because I had never been to the White House on past trips to DC, I thought it would be a great time to visit while it was all decorated for the holidays.

The process to tour the White House is much more complicated in this post 9-11 world than in Thomas Jefferson's day when each morning visitors could just walk right in. Today, you have to go through your U.S. Congressperson's office and submit information for a background check.  You only find out if you are accepted for a tour about two weeks before your trip so it's good to have backup plans.

I was overjoyed that we were accepted for a tour, especially since we would be five out of the 90,000 people expected to go through the White House this season.

There was so much to see from the architecture, paintings, portraits of former Presidents and First Ladies, flower arrangements, antique furniture, not to mention the beautiful Christmas decorations.  It is impossible to adequately describe everything.

To add to the festivities, on the day we visited, an a  capella group from Smith College sang carols in the ground floor visitor's entrance and a group from a New York church played English hand bells in the East Room.  

Here is a view of the official White House Christmas tree in the Blue Room.  The theme this year was "Joy to All" and the tree was decorated with red, white and blue ornaments made by U.S. military families from around the world.   This tree was nearly 19-feet tall.

The White House gingerbread house complete with the First Lady's garden and beehive on the right and First Dog Bo on the left.  I just love gingerbread houses and this one is incredible with the painstaking details and stonework-like finish.  It is also huge, weighing 300 pounds.  Wonder what happens to it after the holidays?

A portrait of President Lincoln in the State Dining Room.  I thought the decorations in this room were delicate and airy looking and matched the plasterwork on the walls, the gold tablecloths, and the floral pattern in the carpet.  

Can you image what my cats would do to garland with glass ornaments?!?!? Remy would be hanging from the walls, breaking everything!

The State Dining Room is much smaller than you would imagine and seats 130 for dinner. Can you tell I read my White House brochure?

Here is the East Room, the largest room in the White House. The portrait is Martha Washington with the famous painting of George Washington on the other wall.  The Christmas trees are just amazing. You could spend all day looking at one to see all the different ornaments. Unfortunately, there are 80,999 other people wanting to see it too so time to move along.

Here is the famous portrait of President George Washington by Gilbert Stuart that Dolly Madison saved when the British burned the White House in 1814. The portrait was painted in 1797.

Yes, I paid attention in art history class.

And read my brochure.

In the grand entrance hall and cross hall of the White House were four large Christmas trees decorated with ornaments representing past First Ladies as well as ornaments honoring Gold and Blue Star military families.  There were also gold and bronze star metals on the trees.  A poignant reminder to remember our troops and their families this season.  

For more info about the White House history and decorations and to download a tour book and even  try a White House cookie recipe visit this link: 

 http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/inside-white-house/holidays

There is also a super-cute You Tube video of Bo giving a tour of the White House decorations. 

For even more history about the White House visit the White House Historical Association website at this link:  http://www.whitehousehistory.org You can see decorations and Christmas cards from the Kennedy administration through the present. 

And because a post is not a post without one or more references to Remy, here is a statue at the National Gallery of Art that reminded me of a certain leggy kitty at home.