Another Year . . .

2012 is almost over.  I'm not ready!  It's gone by so fast.  It was an off year for me in my athletic endeavors and I only managed to run one half marathon and one half marathon relay.  There were plenty of 5k's and 10k's though.  The last half of the year was replete with surgery, back issues and bronchitis.  I'm not complaining; it was all totally manageable.

2012 is also the year that I purchased a serger that actually works and I've been having a blast with it.  Sure, I'm only doing the basics, but it is super fast and really very quiet.  I like that aspect of it.  I should have kept better track of all of my projects, but maybe that'll be a goal for 2013! 

Here are a few of the end of year projects:

 I really like making these bags.

 

 I gave this one to my niece at Thanksgiving.

 

 I made this apron with just the serger.  It was just a test project, but my niece liked it so it was hers to keep!

 

 This quilt is now finished and quilted, but I haven't taken any pictures of the finished project.  It includes an additional 1 red and 2 blue borders.  It's for my niece who spends part of her summer with me and goes to horse camp while she is here.

 

 Do you ever have ideas in your dreams?  I do all the time and so this is the execution of one of those ideas.  I cut out a little girl's skirt pattern and then layered strips of fabric on it. 

 

 I sewed them down about 5" or 6".  Some of the shorter strips were left free.

 

 I cut the strips to the edge of the skirt.

 

 Added a pocket to the back.  The strips are also only sewn down a couple of inches.  There's also some detailed sewing lines from the pocket to the bottom of the skirt.  I don't believe I took any pictures of that.  The skirt was finished off with a red elasticized waistband and several rows of topstitching at the hem.  All in all I was happy with the end result.  I wish I could find a little girl to model it for me.  Since it was a pie-in-the-sky idea, I did not use very good fabric for the base skirt.  If I were to do it again, I would definitely use a better and a more fun fabric for the base.

 

 This bag was a test project also as I attempted to put it together with just serging.  It is also fully lined, but at the end of the day, I like making the bags without serging them. 

 

 These bags were all requested by my SIL and I made them for her to give as Christmas presents to her coworkers.  I've heard they were a hit!  Yay!

 

 I got together with Donna for Christmas dinner and these are all the goodies I went home with.

 

 She even made me a handmade snow globe.  I love it!!

 

And my final charity project for the year included making 31 pillowcases to give away.

 

So, 2012 is ending.  I'm not sad.  I wish it could have stayed a little bit longer, but it is what it is.  Here's hoping that 2013 arrives smoothly, without any hitches and brings each of us much happiness and lots of laughter.  Oh, and gobs of creativity!! 

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!