Closing Out a Tough Year

In my last post I had have high hopes of new beginnings and was ready to get my life and blog back on track. If you are a follower, you know this time last year brought great tragedy to my family.  Sadly, at the end of September, my middle sister also took her life. She dealt with the same mast cell disorder as I have and just couldn't take the sickness and struggle any longer. The circumstances were grueling and unbearable. I won't get into it here, but know, it was a huge blow to my family. Prayers are requested for my Mom (all of us really). However and whoever you pray to, please do so. This is the third sibling I have lost in 3 years, now it's just me and my oldest sister. Such big things happening has kept my health a little rough, but I'm getting by.

I want to share the few small things I've finished since my last blog post. I need to put this year to an end and start over. Therefore, the pictures are simple and taken with my phone. Just a quick update so I feel like I'm caught up and can move forward with new projects.

First is this beautiful wreath made with Moda mini charm squares. My daughter Ashley kindly made this up for me to gift to my dear friend Lara. I love how it turned out and I'm so grateful to Ashley for helping me get this to a very deserving friend. Isn't it pretty?!

The  Halloween quilt that drug on forever was finished in September. It turned out so good and I wish I had better and more photos. The fabric is Witch Hazel by Riley Blake. This fabric came from Simply Love Fabrics a long time ago! I simply alternated full blocks with 9 patches. I didn't want to cut it up too much. It finished about 54x72 I believe. The back is a dark gray spider web print I also bought a long time ago from Fort Worth Fabric Studio Along with a strip of orange gingham from Marshall Dry Goods The orange polka dot binding is also from the Witch Hazel line. It's quilted with an Aurifil gray.

The Annie I bought a couple years ago from Raggedy Old Annie's on IG, so cute!

I whipped up this little runner for my Mom's fireplace with a Moda French General mini charm pack.

I bought this adorable panel by Katie Doucette for Wilmington Prints called Autumn Road. She is becoming a new favorite of mine, such cute stuff! I found this at Fabric Shack For the back I found a cream with brown polka dots print in some fabrics from my grandmother's stash, so that was a fun addition. This was my first time trying organic wavy lines and I love it! Such a forgiving and no stress way of quilting. I quilted it with Gutermann eggshell and it's bound with Aurifil 2214. I had a piece of scrap batting so it's a cute, inexpensive finish.

I won a Technicolor jelly roll and Kona charm pack from Christa Quilts several years ago. I used a tutorial from the Fat Quarter Shop called jelly roll twist to sew up this quilt top. It will be a donation to the Ronald McDonald house. I will do another post when it's finished. It feels good to use up some things that have been hanging around too long!

I belong to a mast cell group for people that do crafts. I participated in the secret santa gift exchange. My partner requested something Tuscan, green, purple, burgundy or a cooking apron. Luckily I was able to find this apron panel from Wilmington Prints that fit all her requests! I'm glad it was an easy sew because the post office lost it for a few days.

That's what I have to share today! I'm hoping to get the donation quilt completed by the end of the year. Thanks for stopping by and again, I'm so grateful for the quilting friends here and on Instagram, ya'll are the best, really. Have a very Merry Christmas and I hope the New Year brings everyone good health and much happiness!