Week 34 | Daisy Granny Square + Quilt Top

Week 34 | Daisy Granny Square + Quilt Top

Annetta | Wow, we are almost finished with 8 months of this year-long project. Like always, it's been one tough ride. These yearly projects are never easy no matter what creative field you choose. Anyway, I am plugging along with my squares while still joining my first granny square blanket from the first half of this project. This weeks square was fun, but I realized it's too blue. I did only crochet two and still have two more to do. The next two will have the same daisy colors, but the background will be turquoise. In the end, there will be four blue and four turquoise daisy granny squares. My pile of squares are growing, but in the end, I think it will end up being a small blanket because the squares in and of themselves are fairly small.

Favorite moment of the week: This week was a chill week, but rough. I came home from our trip to Austria with an infected foot that had forced me to stay off of it this whole past week. A favorite moment was when I made myself get out of the house for about 10 minutes on Friday. I grabbed by camera and went for a very slow walk with my son and dog. It felt so great to leave the house even if it hurt.

Stephanie | Earlier this week I was wanting to sew, but I didn't want to start a new block, so I decided to start putting my 1st quilt top together. I first laid out all the blocks in order in which they were made, but the colors were very sporadic and I needed to rearrange them to spread the colors around evenly. I still need to finish embroidering the Autograph block in the center.

Favorite moment of the week: This was the first full week of the school year. With that came the back to school night. I loved visiting the classrooms and hearing about the things the teachers have planned. I mostly loved how excited my girls were to show me their rooms and the things they have done/made already. My hubby and I also worked on making a coat tree for the front door. Once it has its finishing touches I will post a picture. We also scored some new trees and roses at Home Depot for only $10 each!!

Week 33 | Sawtooth Star + The Aztec Granny Square

Week 33 | Sawtooth Star + The Aztec Granny Square

Stephanie | So now that I am repeating all of the blocks, I look back at my first round and try to come up with different color options so I don't end up with matching blocks. I didn't do that this time, I just went for it. I like the teal/pink color combo. I dont like how the flying geese come together, they are never quite right, the instructions for them in this book kinda make me mad.

Favorite moment of the week: Finally getting the kids sent off to school, now we are getting back into a routine and it feels great. We also had some friends over for dinner and I got to snuggle their new baby the whole time, it was a great night.

Annetta | This weeks square was easy peasy and to tell you the truth, I needed an easy peasy one plus quick. I also like the looks of this square. I've decided to make all four of my squares the same color and not change it up on each square. When I make the next four squares I'll do the color change then. The only thing that I did differently is I added the row of white to bring my stitch count to 22 stitches like the rest of the squares. I'm looking forward to this one in the next round of four.

Favorite moment of the week: This week we went on our last vacation. It really wasn't a vacation, but a conference that we went to, but it was in the Austria Alps and super gorgeous. We stayed at the conference centre almost the whole (the conference centre was a castle). There was one day where we went into a canyon that took up 2,000 meters up with a wooden boardwalk and stair while a ragging river roared below. There were so many favorite moments this week, but this one was one of them.

Week 32 | The Compass Granny Square + Squared Up

Week 32 | The Compass Granny Square + Squared Up

Annetta | I've had a full week with so many personal projects from photobooks to new sweater because I feel like I want to be ready for fall this year plus many people came to stay with us this week. I therefore only managed to crochet one square this week and not 4 like I was supposed to. I did catch up on my squares last week so I am sure I will catch up yet again. This weeks square was a new one for me. It wasn't hard, but there were moments where I really needed to focus on what I was doing and having a house full of guests didn't help things. I've done a lot of circle squares, but this one seemed to have so many stitches that it kinda took a while to get through the whole square. I am happy that this square looks more like the heart one I did a couple of weeks ago. I'm amazed at how quickly my granny square pile is growing.

Favorite moment of the week: I actually enjoyed a trip to IKEA this week. There were some fancy frames that I wanted from there so we went on Monday. When we got to the picture frame section I couldn't find what I was looking for and realized I was too late as they must have discontinued the frames I wanted to purchase. It was a sad moment as I walked through the rest of IKEA deflated trying to figure out what I will do with that empty spot in the entryway. The frames were going to be so perfect there! Upon reaching checkout I told my husband I was going to check the discount section to see if a miracle was waiting for me there and I would find the frames I wanted. After slowly walking through the whole discount section with all of its odds and ends I see two boxed items near the floor. I didn't see the frames, but I KNEW that those two brown cardboard boxed held the last TWO frames in all of Europe. I picked up the boxes and squealed. I must have looked funny as people turned around to stare. PEOPLE, the two frames that I wanted were sitting right there waiting for me and they were on sale!!! I mean come on! That was my favorite moment of the week. I didn't realize how big the frames were but upon hanging them they fit just perfectly. And can I say THANK YOU JESUS!! Yea... I'm pretty excited about this big love hug from God.

Stephanie | This week has been such a blur that I didn't get to my sewing until today. Its a busy season right now with back to school prepping that my focus hasn't been sewing or anything else. I like the fabric choice for this block this round. I can't even remember what I did last time, but I like it this time. I like the contrast between the dark navy corners and the tiny pop of pink. I haven't even used this green fabric, so it was fun to play with it, I think it adds just the right amount of green to blend in with the floral feel.

Favorite moment of the week: This week are are swimming in chicken eggs as the babies really get into laying. And we bought a new car. It was time to upgrade, our Tahoe wasn't meeting our needs anymore and it was blasting hot air only which is no fun when its 100+ degrees out.

Week 31 | Hole in the Barn Door + Sunshine Square

Week 31 | Hole in the Barn Door + Sunshine Square

Stephanie | When I made this block last time, I used only red tones. I wanted more contrast this time around. It took a while to come up with a good color combo. Some times I feel I have too many color options and sometimes it seems like I don't have enough. This is where it felt like I didn't have enough. I ended up picking this dark navy and the contrast and a floral beige. I hadn't used either one hardly at all this whole project. The more I look at it the more I like it together.

Favorite moment of the week: This has been a crazy week. School is starting up soon, so I am in mass cleaning and purging mode right now trying to get ready. Sorting all kids clothes to see what we need to buy for them, cleaning and organizing bedrooms, and a 2nd round of lice (in the last month) thrown in the mix, its been crazy.  I can't think if a favorite moment...

Annetta | I left last Sunday for the family cottage across the country and have been gone all week. I just got back a few hours ago and realized the week didn't go as planned. I had planned to crochet all my square at the cottage, but there were other priorities that needed taking care of and therefore never got to it. When we came home I worked up my first square of the week! I realized I made a mistake and have to redo the square, but all in all, I like the pattern for this week. Tomorrow I plan to finish the other three I was supposed to get done, but for now, this one will have to do.

Favorite moment of the week: Like I said, I've been at the family cottage all week. My favorite moment from that week was going to dinner with all of my husbands family from his father's side. After 10 years of being married that side of the family are still like strangers to be, but after this week I don't feel that way anymore and that is a great feeling! The cottage itself is filled with family memories and treasures as they value handmade.

Week 30 | Cluster Flower + 9 Patch

Week 30 | Cluster Flower + 9 Patch

Annetta | My personal opinion about this weeks square is that it is ugly. I first tried it in a solid color like my other squares, but then the pattern really gets lost and you just don't know what's happening there. My last option was to make it with all my colors and again, not thrilled. I was thinking of making a new replacement pattern but changed my mind in hopes that when the blanket is all done it this ugly square will blend in nicely. I think making this square have all the colors loses the charm the rest of the squares have. Oh well...

Favorite moment of the week: This was a tough week. First, my husband was sick and then I got it. It's just a cold, but my how miserable it can make you feel. I had to steal my favorite moment as it involved me forcing myself outdoors and taking some pictures of the beauty around me when all I wanted to do was stay at home, watch Netflix and knit. The outdoor time was good for my soul though.

Stephanie | I really prefer the color choice on this round of the 9 patch. It's much softer and flows better together, my 1st attempt was too dark. I needed to make a block quick this week as I knew my weekend was going to be filled with some large garden projects and housework.

Favorite moment of the week: One of our summer bucket list items was to have an all day game day. We don't normally play a lot of games as a family, but this was one of the activities on our list that i was excited for. We played Payday, Zeus on the Loose, and Yahtzee together. It didn't end up being an all day event but we were lucky to squeeze it in today after church and chores. It ended up being tons of fun. I love seeing how creative the girls are getting at playing games. 

Week 29 | Cogwheel + Heart Granny Square

Week 29 | Cogwheel + Heart Granny Square

Stephanie | This version of the Cogwheel turned out much better than my 1st attempt. I used a fabric that had a stronger contrast to the white, so the pattern stands out more, you can see the center squares so much better.

Favorite moment of the week: My favorite this week was when my husband took a day off in the middle of the week and we as a family were able to do some things on out Summer Bucket List. We went into Sacramento and did another Old Time Photo, we did this when we first moved here last year, and it now will be our summer tradition. We also went to the zoo and got ice cream after. I also loved a surprise package that Annetta sent to me. She can't keep a secret to save her life, so having this waiting for me was such a shock! She sent me this cute coffee mug designed by Angela Staehling. I just love it, and that she wanted to love on me with a gift makes it so special. We also celebrated 10 years of friendship this week <3

Annetta | This week crochet square is called the Heart Granny. It was an easy square, but I would be lying if I said it didn't take me a while to figure out how to do two different colors on the same round. I like how this classic granny square was turned into a heart and think it's pretty clever. I did four square in all with all the four colors I've chosen for this new blanket. It also feels great to be doing one little square for four days and then take a break for the rest of the week. I like to do my square straight after I finish my part-time job so that I have all day to work on other projects. So far this has been a very fun project and I seem to like it more than my last.

Favorite moment of the week: This Saturday we went to my favorite little gem of a town. I call it gem because it is tucked away in the hills of Slovakia and its such a gorgeous town! I've been there so many time and still feel like it's the first time every time I go. Tin wasn't feeling the greatest on the trip because the road to the town is super windy and makes him car sick. I am looking forward to making another trip there in the fall when my mom comes to visit from the States.

Week 28 | Maybelle Flower + Friendship Star

Week 28 | Maybelle Flower + Friendship Star

Annetta | This week I've been working on a few things for A Year to Inspire. I am firstly slowly working always on joining all the squares from the previous blanket. It's going slower because I still have to add the final rows on some of the squares. Joining squares is never a fast thing, but a slow process. After all the squares are all joined I'll be plugging away at the border which might take forever. I didn't want to get stuck at this finishing bits and started my new project. Finding another crochet project like my last had proven to be difficult. I decided to put together the same squares into a blanket and make a chevron blanket all at the same time. We'll see how it all goes, but so far the two blankets are gorgeous. I'll show both of them.

Favorite moment of the week: All week I've worked part-time while my son had been home for summer break. That leaves not much for the rest of our days. We've spent our week at home or running errands. Saturday is the only real time we can go out and enjoy the week. So my favorite moment was heading out of the house yesterday. We went to a pretty cool cave yesterday. I don't have pictures because it cost about $9 for the right to take pictures. After the cave, we went out to eat and then met up with a friend and her kids for some ice cream and a short walk. It really was the perfect Saturday with a slow morning, afternoon adventure and a quiet evening at home.

Stephanie | So this friendship star looks more like how it is supposed to look. If you remember this was my epic fail block from Week 19. Where I was making a completely different block but totally screwed it up and had to salvage my cut fabric into a different block. So this is my 2nd attempt at this block and it looks so much better! I used printed fabric in all the squares unlike my original where I used more white and it looks unfinished.

Favorite moment of the week: I was able to fully assemble my meadowland quilt this week and now I am all ready to hand stitch the binding. After all these gifted quilts, I will finally have a quilt for me.