March's bag, and current projects

Hey everyone!  Sorry I didn't blog last week, we had a crazy day in the shop!  We didn't have very many votes for March's bag; in fact, there were only two!  As a result, we had to flip a coin to choose the bag for March.  The winner was the Be Green Market Bag from Paradiso Designs:

We have discussed our plan at the shop for the Bag of the Month, and decided that it's a lot of pressure for you to choose twelve bags in rapid succession.  So what we're going to do is start with these three bags, and we'll choose the rest of them.  If anyone has an objection to this, please let us know and we'll do something else.  Otherwise, we'll take care of choosing the rest of the bags and let you know what we'll be doing for each month as it's happening.

In other news, it's cold out!  What have you been doing for crafts lately?  Sylvia has been working on several different quilts.  One of them was a quiltalong that she and I did at my church this summer, the disappearing 9 patch.  Click here to view a post from a different blog about this pattern.  Hopefully she will share pictures soon, she's almost done putting the final borders on it!

I've been working on lots of different things too.  I have made quite a few of the Four Corners Apron, which is really fast and fun.  It's also easy to make in a variety of different fabrics.

 

I also have several quilts I'm working on, most of which are gifts so I can't tell you about them yet. :) I did finally finish a quilt that was a gift for a wedding in 2008.  Yikes!  I'm also getting ready to revamp some furniture in our living room.  I made new cushions for a loveseat that was a gift from my parents when we got married, but they aren't really comfortable, and I figure that two and a half years of uncomfortable furniture is long enough, and it's time to redo it!  I'm hoping to use extra foam and polyester batting to make the cushions extra cushy and comfy.  Mostly, however, I've been knitting.  Right now I'm working on a pair of thrummed mittens for my mother-in-law.  This is what they will look like when they're finished (the left one is inside out):

They are super cushy.  I have the first one done except the thumb, and I'm working on the cuff for the second one.  They are actually quite quick to knit once you figure out what you're doing.  I'll give more details about yarn and patterns used when I'm done.

I also bought yarn this week for three more pairs of mittens for family members, my two sisters-in-law and my future sister-in-law.  They each picked out their own mittens, and these are what they chose:

These are for Chelsea, my future sister-in-law.  These are fine and dandy, but what you can't see is that there is a lining in these mittens that is another mitten, so basically I'm knitting four mittens for her.  It's a good thing I like her! :)  My sister-in-law Hannah chose these Owl mittens:

 

Her mittens will be made with a gray background and rosey pink owls, to match her jacket.  Claire chose mittens with flamingos on them:

 

Her mittens will have a black background with darker pink flamingos to match her jacket.  I also may or may not have promised my hairdresser and her daughter mittens as well (yes, I'm crazy too), so I'll be knitting mittens for awhile.  I'm really hoping to get some sewing in there too.  If I'm lucky.

What are you working on during this cold weather?  I'd like to say that cold weather makes me get back into crafting, but I never really stopped over the summer so that would be a falsehood.  Cold weather makes me want to stay home and craft all the time, however.  We would love to hear what you're working on, especially if you want to share pictures!  Stay warm, and we'll see you soon!