Category: Celebrations

Late Summer Puttering

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It’s that blissful time of year when we spend quiet time at home tending to whatever happens to strike my fancy. Mornings are spent in the yard, talking to my little hummingbird friend when he hovers two feet away from my face while I’m drinking my morning tisane, and the sultry afternoons are spent in the craft room in air conditioned splendor. The squawking baby birds have flown from their nest tucked in the eaves of my neighbor’s porch, and I am low-key struggling to find new ways to get my family to eat ripe tomatoes and zucchini. I love late summer.

Rachel’s Graduation Signature Quilt

I was able to spend more time on this in the last week and the backing is almost completely done! As predicted, I ran out of the outer border fabric. I went to my local quilt shop to buy more, but they didn’t have any, so I put in an order at Fat Quarter Shop and it should be here next Saturday.

I shifted to working on the quilt front, which will be made from Riley Blake Confetti Cotton Solids that match the Crayola fabric I’m using on the back. I’m almost done cutting that fabric; hopefully I can piece the top this coming week? (Let’s be realistic, it’ll probably take three weeks…I don’t know why, but that’s just how things go in real life.)

Renaissance and I have been spending a lot of time together this summer, which has been awesome; we’ve even started watching movies and shows in the evenings in the craft room. That has been a big reason for the sudden action on Rachel’s quilt. I love this time with my girl. She works on her little projects, I work on mine, and we laugh at whatever we’re watching together. Most of the time we talk very little; it’s just nice to have another heartbeat in the room with me. I know I’ll cherish this extra time with her when I look back on this chapter.

Husband Christmas Socks

I did a lot of work on these this past week. These are the most complicated socks I’ve ever made (which isn’t saying much) and I am very proud of them. I think Michael will be very pleased with them on Christmas morning. I’m about 15% done with second sock?

Gardening

I woke up yesterday morning with an inkling to spend time in the garden and try to tame the craziness that it’s become after two years of being allowed to lie fallow. I figure, I may not get much out of it this year, but I can clean it up and it get prepped for an easier start next spring? That should work, right? Ha ha.

I came across a cute little bird’s nest tucked beneath the rhubarb stalks:

I have a cherry tomato plant that is sluggishly growing some tomatoes, and my container blackberry and raspberry plants actually produced a couple bowlfuls of berries in the past weeks. Not terrible for the zero amount of effort I put into them throughout the season.

According to my previous years’ notes, I could still sow some spinach, beets, turnips, and radishes for a little fall harvest. I’ve missed the date to sow carrots by a week or so, but I’m tempted to give them a go anyways. Wouldn’t it be lovely to get a little bit of produce out of this neglected garden before winter arrives?

I’m thinking about moving my blackberries or raspberries into the area of my garden where I usually grow beans. I think it’d benefit our family far more to grow berries than beans because we straight up like berries better and can’t get enough of them, while nobody around here is particularly passionate about beans. It seems like picking sugar over substance, though, so I’m having a somewhat Victorian moral dilemma over it all. I guess beans can grow the containers I currently have the raspberries in, so a swap wouldn’t be the end of the world…hmmm. It might not be the ethical quandary I’m turning it into in my head.

Autumn Approaches

I’m refusing to give space to autumn just yet. We’ve been so busy this summer that I haven’t felt like we’ve really gotten our share of the season! Hopefully we can find some meaningful ways to stretch out fully into these last days of summer break and be fully re-energized before school starts up again.

Methinks some homemade ice cream needs to happen, yes?

When Wildfires Cancel Your Plans, You Quilt

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Things are finally calming down around here; I feel like I can actually check in this week, which is AWESOME. I love me some good ol’ dog days of summer when we can just putter around the house!

Rachel’s Graduation Signature Quilt

I managed a few hours in the craft room this week, mostly due to the bad air quality provided by the wildfires in our region—many outdoor activities were cancelled on account of the smoke, so I spent my unexpectedly freed-up time working on Rachel’s graduation quilt.

Jelly Bars Quilt in progress for a graduation gift.

I am happy to report that the signature blocks are complete and assembled together. I next need to attach two borders. However, the original plan for this quilt was that the signature blocks would be the front of the quilt and then I’d use a simple backing. But now I’m going to use the signature blocks as the backing of the quilt, so the outermost border will need the extra four inches on each side for the quilt backing, and because of that extra four inches, I do not have enough of the fabric I’m planning to use for that border. I’ll need to hunt some down, oh dearie me! I think I actually saw a bolt of the fabric in one of my local quilt shops a couple months back, so I guess another visit in order, and soon.

Once those borders are in place, or while I am waiting to secure more of the outer border fabric, I will start working on the new front of the quilt. I do have the fabric for that. I also ended up with too many signature blocks, so some will be worked into the design of the front of the quilt, too.

Husband Christmas Socks

More time went into knitting these this week as well, yay!

I made the mistake of using some waiting-in-the-car time to work on them with the windows down, and eek, I had a raging headache from the smoky air within ten minutes.

I’m so glad from the temporary reprieve from the smoke, but it looks like the air quality will go back to yucky in the next week. I’m all for finding silver linings in challenges, so I am thankful when I get some free time due to cancelled activities, but it feels wrong to be getting so much personal good out of so much widespread destruction. I would happily give up the extra time to sew if it meant we got a miracle storm of rain to squelch out all these horrible fires.

We’re finishing up studying the story of Esther in the Old Testament this last week…maybe it’s overdue to look to the examples in that story and apply them to the current wildfire situation ourselves?

#craftygoals: August 2026

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July was busy, too; mostly with driving people places and trying to adjust to the different activities that summer brings. Good weather makes it difficult to stay indoors as well.

Debrief: July’s #craftygoals:

In-progress graduation signature quilt
  1. Rachel’s Graduation Signature Quilt: There has been progress. All signature blocks have at least two of their four borders.
  2. Husband Christmas Socks: Finished the first one! (It looks SO GOOD!) I’m only on the ribbing of the second one.

August #craftygoals:

Rachel’s Graduation Signature Quilt: I know myself. If I move off of this project before it’s done, it will languish. So I am not going to make goals for any other project, besides the Husband Christmas Socks, until this quilt is completely finished. Summer is a hard time to find crafty time, so I’m just hoping to get some work done on this; it was silly to think I’d finish it last month, but here we are.

Husband Christmas Socks: I’m just going to keep trying to find thirty minutes a day to work on them.

If I manage to finish Rachel’s graduation quilt, I’ve promised myself I can jump back into working on the Fat Quarter Shop Sewcialites 3 sew along. But not before.

Kind of a boring update, but there it is. Enjoy these last days of summer! Being in Washington State means we don’t start school until later than most, so we’ve still got a good month of summer vacation to enjoy, and I do mean to enjoy it as much as possible, preferably outdoors because the winters here are gray and wet and very indoor activity-oriented and I feel like I’m going to lose my mind by the time February rolls around. You have to balance that part of the year out with by using the summer months to engage in a frenzied amount of watching the sunrise while walking through the woods and eating dinner in the backyard until it gets too chilly to stay outside anymore. Doesn’t leave a lot of time for the craft room. How I manage to forget that every year is baffling. 😉

A red, white, and blue sawtooth star quilt block with farm animal fabric squares

Crafty Goals: July 2026

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Welcome to Full-on Summer, otherwise known as July! Whew! You guys, the Brookes were very, very busy in the month of June; I’m so glad I didn’t make any actual crafty goals for the month because there simply wasn’t any time available for crafting.

Debrief: June 2026 #craftygoals:

Music and artist ribbon graduation leis in maroon, gold, and white.

Graduation: Rachel is officially graduated from high school! I love graduations so much; the only celebrations I love more are weddings and babies. These life milestones are so special, and I try hard to make sure that they feel extra special for the individuals involved. I made a cute artsy ribbon lei for her and music note lei for one of her friends in the band because I think she’s awesome, and we threw a big ol’ graduation party as well. So much work! But everything went well and the party was well attended, so I’m satisfied.

Rainbow paint chips board with bags of chips attached

Summer Plans: Well…sadly, my husband’s mother passed away the day before Rachel’s graduation ceremony. June 2026 was all about graduation plans and funeral plans. Once graduation was done and dusted, I pivoted immediately into funeral trip preparation. I was also invited to sing at the funeral, so I spent the weeks leading up to it feverishly transcribing (finally) a song I’ve been working on for years and working with Renaissance to write a flute part so she could be a part of it, too. I’m happy to report that it went well. With all of that going on, it’s easy to understand why summer planning has not happened yet.  

Family dressed in black at an LDS funeral.

July 2026 #craftygoals:

Time-Sensitive Things That Need Working on ASAP:

Graduation Quilts: All the signature blocks have been collected, so it’s time to start piecing! It’d be really great to get Rachel’s quilt completely done this month, but it will probably take longer than that, much to the dismay of the many people in our circles who have become (in their own words) obsessively invested in the final outcome of her quilt. Hey, if peer pressure helps you move forward with positive, productive things, then put that peer pressure in the driver’s seat and let it motivate you to push towards the finish line! (Looking at this in a realistic light, I think there’s a good chance I can pull off getting both of the flimsies complete in July.)

I am not sure when I’m going to get to Renaissance’s graduation quilt, though. With the realization that I want to put the signatures on the back of the quilt, I now need to create an entirely new quilt for the front of the quilt. As luck would have it, I just purchased a pattern not too long ago to make for her “someday,” but it’s a bit involved. I might work on a “palate cleanser” project once I finish Rachel’s grad quilt and before I get going on Ren’s again. I want to finish Ren’s grad quilt before the end of this year, though, that is a definite goal.

Sewcialites 3 Sew Along: I knew June would be busy and I’d fall behind on this, so I’m not panicking, but it is a goal to get caught back up with my blocks in the upcoming month. It’s just NINE blocks, no big deal…ha ha ha. I guess I’ll shoot for three per week. Oh, man…

Things to Work on After the ASAP Projects:

Machine Stitching:

  • Rainbow Coin Strip Quilt: The binding is done and Emily even slept under it when she was here for Rachel’s graduation. The label is not done yet, and I got it into my head to make a complicated label, so I’m working on piecing the label during my self-imposed mandatory 15 minutes of “Finishing Time” at the start of every work session in the craft room. It’s possible to get this done this month and do a legit photoshoot and all, but I can also see this label taking longer than that. Hopefully it all gets finished this month.
  • Riley Blake Designs’ Block Challenge Quilt: There’s so much on my plate this month, so I’m going to shoot for getting six of the chevron blocks done.
  • Baby Quilt: A friend is pregnant! There’s a baby on the way! Yay for babies!!! I’m trying to decide on the direction I want to go with this—I have a flimsy already made, the “Best Friends Farm Wonky Stars” quilt from during my Blank Quilting ambassador days, that would work beautifully, but I feel guilty re-purposing something I already made? That guilt is silly, right? If I decide to go with the partially-made quilt, I’d like to have it basted by the end of the month. If I decide to make a new quilt from scratch, I will need to decide on my pattern and acquire the fabric by the end of the month. As I write my options down and look out upon the expanse of projects waiting for my schedule to open up so I can work on them, I’m leaning heavily towards using the already-existing flimsy.

Hand Stitching:

English Paper Piecing: Get as much work done as possible on Smitten. It’s HOT in the craft room in the summer, so hand-piecing is perfect for this weather. I should set a daily stitching time goal for this. Fifteen to thirty minutes a day or something. We’re in the slog of it; I just need to sit my butt in the chair and stitch and it’ll be over faster.

Knitting: I usually work on the Husband Christmas Socks in secret, but I am much further behind on them this year than I normally am, so I’m going to talk about them because publicly shaming myself works for me. I try to have the Husband Christmas Socks done by the Fourth of July so they don’t hang over me, but here we are, almost at the Fourth of July, and I’m only about two-thirds done with the FIRST sock. Eek! The situation isn’t dire, obviously, but some heat needs to be applied. I’ve been working on them for fifteen minutes a day for some months now, but I guess I need to bump it up to thirty minutes until they’re done. It’d be great to finish them up by the end of the month, but a practical goal would be finish the first sock and get to the heel of the second sock? That’s actually a little ambitious, but possibly doable. I have some other socks I’d like to knit up as gifts this year, so being behind on this is annoying to my Christmas junkie senses.

Embroidery: None for this month. But it is July and hand stitching is lovely in the summer, so hopefully I get through my projects so I can visit some embroidery projects. There’s nothing like sipping lemonade and embroidering in the garden while the bees buzz in the lavender plants.

Summary of July’s Crafty Goals:

  • Rachel’s Graduation Quilt: Finish both the signature back flimsy AND the pencil crayon top flimsy.
  • FQS Sewcialites 3: Sew up blocks #15-23. (3 per week.)
  • Rainbow Coin Strip Quilt: Finish the label, photoshoot, blog post.
  • Riley Blake Designs’ Block Challenge Quilt: Sew up six chevron blocks.
  • Wonky Stars Baby Quilt: Baste. (Do I need to secure a backing and batting?)
  • Smitten EPP Quilt: 30 minutes of stitching a day.
  • Husband Christmas Socks: 30 minutes of stitching a day.
  • Embroidery: Indulge in some summer garden stitching on Sunday afternoons and soak in the aesthetic.

Proud family of a White River High School graduate, class of 2026

Rachel’s High School Graduation

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Another graduate in the Brooke household! Rachel graduated last night in the rain!

White River High School graduate, class of 2026
Proud family of a White River High School graduate, class of 2026
White River High School graduates toss graduation caps

It’s been such a great week with all the graduation buildup and festivities. Emily flew back home to be a part of her baby sister’s big day and it’s so great having all my Brookelets under the same roof for a little while! (NOT a fan of this whole “flying the nest” business of parenting!)

In true Washington State fashion, it rained on and off throughout the graduation ceremony, so we were pretty damp and chilled by the time it came to taking pictures afterwards and we struggled to find our brightest joy on film, ha ha.

And now we’re taking some easy days to get over all the craziness before Rachel’s grad party. Whew!

I’ll leave you with the picture that makes me laugh the most, which just sums us all up so perfectly most of the time:

Family graduation photo preparations

All the blocks in the Riley Blake Designs Block Challenge 2026 sew along, sewn by Cara Brooke of That Crafty Cara in blue, pink and green.

craftygoals: June 2026

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We made it to the summer! We’re in the midst of end-of-school chaos and fun, so I’m just going to leave a quick update!

Cara and Renaissance Brooke serving cake at the end of year band concert
Ren and I serving cake at the end-of-year band concert.

Debrief: May #craftygoals:

Graduation: We are working on it! It’s finally here! Made some leis, sent out most of the invitations, and Rachel and I have run quite a few errands to prepare for her graduation party. We even did her “Senior Skip Day” together because she wasn’t interested in doing the stuff her peers had planned to do, and wanted to go quilt shop-hopping with me instead! Such a fun day!

Cara and Rachel Brooke going quilt shop hopping on Rachel's high school Senior Skip Day.
Senior Skip Day: Quilt Shop Hopping!

Riley Blake Designs Block Challenge Sew Along: I finished all sixteen blocks! It still needs its setting blocks and final construction and finishing, which I had hoped to do in May, but alas, that did not happen.

All the blocks in the Riley Blake Designs Block Challenge 2026 sew along, sewn by Cara Brooke of That Crafty Cara in blue, pink and green.

Fat Quarter Shop Sewcialites 3 Sew Along: Kept up with the blocks until this last Friday because I caught the cold that’s going around these parts and I’m recuperating from that. Did not work ahead on June’s blocks as I hoped I would.

Blocks 1-14 in the Fat Quarter Shop Sewcialites 3 Sew Along, sewn in green, pink, red, orange and yellow fabrics.

Graduation Quilts: Received the last block I was waiting on for Ren’s quilt and bought some fabric for the new top I’m going to make for it. Received the fabric for Rachel’s quilt top but haven’t started on it. Sent out lots of blocks to be signed for Rachel’s quilt and received most of them back.

Rainbow Coin Strip Quilt: I am SO CLOSE to being done with the binding; there’s only about two feet left to hand-stitch.

Sew Many Stars BOM Christmas Quilt: Nope.

Smitten EPP Quilt: I put in some decent time on this on a beautiful sunny Sunday afternoon. Rachel has started her own Smitten quilt, and she is surging forward with it, which lights a fire under my keister to finish up mine because mine’s been in progress for almost six years now. Can’t let her beat me!

In-progress shot of a scrappy "Smitten" English paper pieced quilt in a rainbow of colors.

[H1] June #craftygoals:

Time-Sensitive Things That Need Working on ASAP:

Graduation: This is it! We’re there! The next two weeks are going to be such a whirlwind of activity! All focus is on graduation, so I doubt I’ll work on anything outside of that.

Summer Plans: I always flail a little bit when we head into summer break, but there’s a lot going on this summer with Nathaniel, so there’s a lot of logistical details to execute for him throughout the season.

Things to Work on After the ASAP Projects:

I am actually not going to make any goals for June. I’m going to be so busy with graduation and the inevitable clean-up and reset afterwards that I don’t want the extra pressure on my shoulders. IF I find some downtime to work on creative stuff, then great; but I’m not going to publicly declare any intentions.

Heads-Up on Possible Radio Silence:

This is going to be a very busy summer, so the blog and social media channels might go silent. If that’s the case, just know that I fully intend to be back in the swing of things by October, as always. Hopefully I can remember to check in at least once a month, but you know how it gets with sunshine activities and gardening!

In case I don’t pop through until autumn, I wish you the happiest of summers!

"Cherry Limeade" birthday cake, made by Renaissance Brooke in shades of green, yellow, red, pink and white.

FQS Sewcialites 3 Check-in: May Update

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More than halfway there! Blocks I sewed up in May:

Block 11: “Snuggle Patch,” by Edyta Sitar

Block 11 "Snuggle Patch," in the Fat Quarter Shop Sewcialites 3 Sew Along, designed by Edyta Sitar and sewn up in yellow, green and pink.

I really like how this block turned out; I’ve been hoping I’d have a chance to use that lemon print at some point in this quilt, and using up some of that lime green and red “Little Ruby” print made me very happy as it’s a tough one to use as well. I was delighted to find some of this pink Lori Holt cherry print from her “Calico” collection in the scrap bins, so of course it had to make an appearance in the Cherry Limeade quilt!

Block 12: “Shoo Fly,” by Sharon Holland

Block 12 "Shoo Fly" designed by Sharon Holland, for the Fat Quarter Shop Sewcialites 3 Sew Along and sewn up in red and green.

I really like making scrap quilts because I happen upon leftovers from previous projects that make me smile. This sock monkey fabric is leftover from an apron I made for Renaissance when she was 3 or 4 years old, and I HAD to fussy cut a sock monkey once I saw it.

Block 13: “Back Porch,” by Joanna Figueroa

Block 13 "Back Porch," in the Fat Quarter Shop Sewcialites 3 sew along, designed by Joanna Figueroa. Sewn up in red, pink, orange, yellow and green.

While scrap-tossing I found all these fruity prints and wanted to use them in this block, which will probably be the center block of the quilt, so I wanted a lot of negative space around it to help it stand out. I thought I used up all of that orange and yellow Sandi Henderson apple print, but a few days later I found another scrap of it. Love these fruity scraps!

Block 14: “Criss-Cross Star,” by Lori Holt

Block 14 "Criss-Cross Star," designed by Lori Holt for Fat Quarter Shop's Sewcialites 3 sew along, sewn up in Heather Ross fabrics in pink, orange, yellow and green.

While combing through scraps to start this block, I happened upon the green Rapunzel fabric and I decided to make this block entirely out of Heather Ross fabrics. It includes fabrics from all three of her “Far, Far Away” collections, plus fabrics from her “Briar Rose” and “Kinder” collections. I knew the pink apple print for the background was a bit of a stretch, and I ultimately believe the block would look better with a less busy fabric for the background, but it made me so happy to pieces all these brilliantly-colored scraps together that I couldn’t possibly go back and remove the apples. I smile every time I walk through my craft room and notice this block. It’s just one busy block in a quilt full of better-balanced blocks, so it won’t matter in the long run!

Block 15: “Split Star,” by Lissa Alexander

Today’s new block is the “Split Star” and I have contracted the cold that’s making its way through our community, so I probably won’t get to sewing it up for a little while. Rachel’s graduation is also fast-approaching, so all crafty pursuits might come to a standstill for the next month. I had hoped to work ahead on this quilt so I wouldn’t fall behind, but May is a busy month and I couldn’t find the time. Oh well.

Happy birthday to me!

I am so glad I committed to this quilt as it’s been so much fun to sew! I talk about these blocks and the lovely sewing community in the Facebook group all the time, so much so that Renaissance themed my birthday cake on this Cherry Limeade quilt this year:

"Cherry Limeade" birthday cake, made by Renaissance Brooke in shades of green, yellow, red, pink and white.

Isn’t it the cutest?!?! Seriously, make time to bake with your children as they grow up; you might just raise up a pastry chef that makes holidays and celebrations all the more beautiful in your family! It’s so much fun to watch her in her pastry program.

Download the free block patterns for yourself:

High school senior girl bowling senior night with personalized sash and gift basket in maroon and gold

High School Bowling Senior Night

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I’ve been busy in the craft room preparing for Rachel’s Senior Night for bowling. There were two seniors on the team this year, so I was able to do a little bit of extra special stuff because I only had to produce two of each thing. Rachel is such a princess girly-girl who likes to sparkle, so I decided to just run with it and hit ‘em with the full princess treatment for Senior Night: Tiaras, sashes, and everything personalized and sparkly!

A senior high school girl wearing a personalized Class of 2026 senior sash with gold and maroon letters

I’m not a regular user of my Silhouette cutter so I always feel like I’m discovering how to even use the thing beyond its most basic of functions, but I saw some really cute examples of senior sashes on the internet and decided to give it my best try. Now I can proudly say I understand what “offset cutting” is and how to apply it! I love how the sashes turned out! 

I also put the Silhouette cutter to use for the tags for the signed bowling pins and the name plates for the gift baskets.

High school senior girl bowling senior night with personalized sash and gift basket in maroon and gold

The mom of the other senior supplied the flowers and balloons and it all looked so, so cute!

Senior Year feels like it’s officially underway with this event done and dusted. It’s just going to be a flurry of senior events from here on out, I think. Sigh, another baby bird getting ready to leave the nest. It’s good, but tugs at the heart pretty hard. 

A senior high school girl wearing a personalized senior sash with gold and maroon letters
Handknit socks made with self-striping American Flag yarn from The Painted Tiger and royal blue contrasting heel made with Cascade Yarns Heritage yarn.

American Flag Socks: Michael’s Christmas Socks 2025

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It’s the first Sunday after Christmas, which means Michael’s wearing his brand new pair of socks to church for the first time. I made him a really great pair this year! He was completely surprised by them and has dubbed them his most favorite handknit socks EVER.

Handknit socks made with self-striping American Flag yarn from The Painted Tiger.

Details:

Pattern: #216 Beginner’s Lightweight Socks, by Diane Soucy of Knitting Pure & Simple

Yarn: Journey Sock Yarn in colorway “Grand Old Flag” from The Painted Tiger, and Cascade Yarns Heritage in colorway #5636 “Sapphire” from Simply Socks Yarn Company. There’s a fair amount of each leftover, but I haven’t weighed anything to give you specific numbers. I also used two spools of Lang Reinforcement Thread #290, purchased from Simply Socks Yarn Company.

Handknit socks made with self-striping American Flag yarn from The Painted Tiger and royal blue contrasting heel made with Cascade Yarns Heritage yarn.

Needles: US 2 (2.75 mm)

Modifications: None beyond the contrasting heel and toe.

We were discussing his growing collection of handknit socks last year after he opened his 2024 pair, and he mentioned that it would be really cool to have some striped USA socks, but it would probably be really difficult to start and stop with the red and white yarns and how that was too much to ask of me. I tucked that little quip away in my note-keeping app and when it came time to decide what to make him for this year’s socks, I decided to take a quick look on the internet to see if some self-striping Americana yarn already existed out there. I happened upon The Painted Tiger’s version and bought it as fast as I could. So exciting!

Handknit socks made with self-striping American Flag yarn from The Painted Tiger with contrasting heels knit with Cascade Yarns Heritage sock yarn in royal blue.

You know you’ve done a good job when you’ve been knitting for over twenty years and your husband opens his present, after squeezing it and saying, “This feels like socks,” and exclaims, “WHOA! Did you make these?!?!” He was so pleased with the colorway! I’m really happy with his enjoyment of how they look already!

I don’t know if I can top these ever. I’m not too worried about it at the moment; it’s just been great to listen to him fawn over this pair. Merry Christmas, my love.

Note: These socks were originally given the code name of “Cherry Twilight Socks” as I worked on them earlier in the year so I didn’t give away their very distinctive design feature. All posts tagged as “Cherry Twilight Socks” have been updated with the “American Flag Socks” tag.

#craftygoals: December 2025

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Debrief: November 2025 #craftygoals:

Rachel Brooke, wearing a light pink formal gown, and her family at the Daffodil Princess selection ceremony
  1. Daffodil Princess Dress: The dress was altered and hemmed in time. Rachel looked so beautiful! Nathaniel was her escort and I was so proud of the two of them working together. Rachel wasn’t selected as Daffodil Princess, but she says she learned a lot about public speaking and the like, and she really enjoyed “princess lessons,” so the net sum of the experience is positive overall.
  2. Penguin Party Quilt: I attached the bottoms sashing to two rows before deciding that I really do need to take some growth/width out of the penguin block rows to get them to fit the sashing strips better. Life has been an absolute carnival with Daffodil Princess prep, the school district K-12 musical, battling COVID for the second time this year, and Thanksgiving, so I’ve not got back to working on this since then.
  3. Rachel’s Gingerbread Christmas Quilt: No progress
  4. Woolly Wee Sheep Ornament(s): I started one! It’s a finicky pattern, but I’d say I’m about 2/3 done with it.
  5. Christmas Alphabet Embroidery Sampler: Haven’t done anything with it since finishing the stitching. I have the frame for it in possession and just need to do all the things you do to frame an embroidery piece.

December 2025 #craftygoals:

Time-Sensitive Things That Need Working on ASAP:

Christmas Alphabet Embroidery Sampler: I blasted through finishing up the stitching for this so I could display it this year, so I better get it framed!

Wee Woolly Sheep Ornament(s): They’re meant to go on the tree so I need to finish them.

Fair Isle Christmas Balls: I was on a bit of a kick with planning the Wee Woolly Sheep Ornaments and decided to go all in on knitted ornaments, so I bought the books and yarn to make some Fair Isle ornaments, too. Hopefully I can get at least one done!

Things to Work on After the ASAP Projects:

Machine Stitching:

  • Penguin Party Quilt: Fixing the width of the rows and hopefully finishing this top!
  • Say-It Sew Along: Lori Holt has designed the cutest seasonal banners to go along with the release of her newest fabric collection, “TYPE/ography,” and I want to sew along! She released the instructions for the “Merry Christmas” and “Let It Snow” banners at the end of November and I’d really like to make them.
  • Rachel’s Gingerbread Christmas Quilt: I’d be lucky to get to work on this in December, but I’ll put it on the list anyway.

Hand Stitching:

English Paper Piecing: No plans for anything this month.

Knitting: The above-mentioned Christmas ornaments.

Embroidery: No plans for anything this month.

There’s so much going on in our lives in December, so I’m not optimistic about how much progress I can make on crafty things, but it’s better to have a plan just in case, rather than finding myself with some free time and no idea what to make when I finally disturb the cobwebs in the craft room!

Happy December to you all, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, and hopefully I’ll be able to report back with some beautiful progress on some feel-good projects that elicit those wonderful Christmas-y heartwarmings that we’re all in search of in the darkest month of the year! Drink your cocoa and play your happy music!