More FOs and WIPs

There's another FO for the blog!  I've lost track of how many years this particular project has been in hibernation.  It spent some time in a basket in the closet, I think, then moved to the computer desk, where (surely!) I would see it and be inspired to finish it.  (No, I just stopped noticing it altogether and only touched it when it was in my way or needed to move so I could dust or tidy the desk.)  

However long it's been, I finally made myself finish Kimberly's hedgehog mittens.  They are not perfect or identical, but they're done, and you know what they say-- done is better than perfect!  

All that was left to do was to attach the fluffy part (eyelash-type yarn) and the ears, then embroider the eyes and noses.  I just hate doing that type of fiddly stuff, so I kept putting it off.  😖 Well, at least it's all in the past, now, and I think I can safely promise myself that I'll never make hedgehog mittens again! 

Here they are in their imperfection:  

As delayed as they were, Kimberly seemed happy to receive them.  (She said she'd forgotten about them!  That's how long it's been!)  So she's happy to have them, and I'm happy to have them out of the house and off my conscience.  All's right with the world! ...At least as far as these mittens go.

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During the lead-up to Christmas, I also blocked a handful of small doilies (a couple of which went into Carrie's gift).  

I think the patterns for all these are from Patricia Kristoffersen's 99 Little Doilies. (I made multiple versions of a couple of the patterns.)

Here they are in no particular order:

Sometimes a little doily is more fun than a large one.  They're closer to instant gratification, and they're more flexible in terms of where you can use them, since they'll fit in all sorts of places where "full-sized" doilies won't.  

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Now for a couple of WIP updates.  The autumn leaf blocks are still on the design wall, waiting, right where they've been for, oh, well over a month now-- but the second "Tall Tales" quilt is on the frame!  I've even quilted the first pass.  (And then stopped because my tension wasn't quite all that it should be.  Shh, hush...  It'll be okay... A little light eyelashing on the back of a quilt isn't the end of the world... Sorry, got sidetracked trying to calm myself down again... 😜)

I toyed with the idea of making one of those quilts where you piece a block for every day of the year.  I wasn't going to try to piece one every single day, but instead aim to have made 365 by the end of the year, even if that meant making a several on some days and none on others.  That seemed more manageable and realistic to me, knowing myself.  

However, after making a few of the little blocks, I've realized that it's not something I really want to do as a year-long WIP.  I find those kinds of projects interesting in theory but boring and restrictive in practice.  They end up feeling like a chore, and who wants to turn their hobbies into chores?  We get enough chores in life without inventing new ones.  

I'll probably make enough of these houses (at my leisure, as and when the mood strikes) to make a small piece to hang on the wall.  I could simply work them into the current crumb quilt, but I think a mini wall-hanging would be more fun.

If you're interested in trying the pattern itself, it's a foundation paper-pieced pattern-- "Tiny Shipshewana House", by Hanne Schneider.  Follow this link to her blog post for the free pattern.  It's available in either the 3-inch version ( which is what I'm making) or a 6-inch version.  These cute houses would make a great quilt!  Worked in the 6-inch version, it would feel more "do-able", and would probably play more nicely with novelty prints, should you want to have interesting things/characters peeking out of windows or doors. 

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That does it for this up-date.  I hope it won't be too long before I'm able to finish the quilting on the second "Tall Tales", because I've just received a set of feet for the quilting machine that I'm excited to try-- the set that includes couching feet!