A Present from my Quilting Friends

At the last sew day, I was very surprised and pleased to be presented with this lovely quilt for my little boy. Several of my friends got together and put this together for me. They each did a block and their names were each written into the white of their blocks. I love the variety and the thought that went into it. I smile every time I see it. It was also quilted with a wonderful Star Wars quilting. If you are reading this. Thank you ladies.

Big Brother Monsters Blanket (and Pillow)

While I was visiting my mom in October/November I happened upon a large fleece remnant of a Monsters University print. At the time, Nate was obsessed with Monsters, Inc. I picked a green remnant that matched well hoping I would be able to make a good-sized blanket for him. After using my mom's accuquilt die for an 8 inch finished fringe square, I realized I needed just a few extra squares, and luckily I had the purple remnant that I had picked up to use for rat hammocks, which was the exact right color to match Mike's hat. That even allowed me to have enough that I could pull out the squares with Mike and Sully well visible to put on a smaller pillow, so he would stop dragging the one from his bed all around the house when he wanted to watch Monsters.

I was thinking I would give it to him for Christmas, but was quickly convinced that I should save it and give it to him when his little brother was born. This worked out really well. He even tried laying down on the floor at the hospital with it when we gave it to him. He sleeps with both parts every night, and frequently carts it around the house to play with it.

I've been pleasantly surprised at how well he has handled being a big brother. Some of his new learned phrases are "Kyle sad," "Kyle wake," and "Kyle asleep, shhh." It has been cute. He also likes to kiss Kyle on his head, and tries to give him his binky all the time. He gives him hugs when he is in his swing, or on a blanket for floor time. He is also way too smart for Mommy. He knows it is harder for me to come after him if he is acting up while I'm holding Kyle.

A Good Bouquet of Flowers

For Valentine's, my husband got me flowers, an Amazon gift card, and we got to go to the arcade together without the boys thanks to my mother-in-law being here and watching both boys.

I always give my husband a hard time about the flowers on Valentine's Day. He doesn't like to get me roses because they are what everyone gives. He is really good about picking out a pretty bouquet that lasts for about 2 weeks every time. I don't know how they manage to live so long. One thing I love about the flowers he does get me is that there is always a wide variety to them. In this picture you can see at least 4 different kinds while still not counting the baby's breath and fern. He is so sweet to keep giving me flowers. I hope he realizes I do love them and smell them frequently while he is away.

Crazy Busy

Well this week I thought I'd try something a little different. I was thinking that if I had 20-30 minutes of time to work on craft stuff then I would add a little to a post that I would then wait and post on Sunday. The problem became that I was just getting way to much done in the little time I had. So as you can tell from the last post I ended up with a fairly long post for me and that only covered through Wednesday. Part of what helped me get so much done this week was the fact that I had a day that I declared a sick day (I was running a fever but seemed completely fine otherwise). That meant I exempted myself from folding laundry and working on dishes and instead let myself work in my craft room. And thus, I got a lot done.

One of the things that has started to fester in my mind is the mess in my craft room. That's where everything ends up when I don't have time to put anything away, that includes all the important papers for the family, any shopping purchases for the house or crafts or even the boys, and the odd present or two. Having tried many different crafts it is also cluttered with a lot of craft supplies for crafting I don't do anymore (or never had time to do) so my goal is to try and consolidate, get rid of excess, and just generally make my room a more pleasant place to be in. This includes the desire to get a better desk/cutting table. My husband even seems to be getting on board with it this time. He even took our little family up to Ikea (40 min drive), so that we could compare some desk/tables that I had seen online and was considering. I'm glad we did because one of the corner desks I had wanted was too small in my opinion to be good for much except claustrophobia, especially if paired with another table for cutting. So now I know how much I need to save up for, which will also give me some time to work on cleaning up/out my craft room to have room for those tables.

If you have craft room storage ideas that you love please let me know. I would love input on this topic.

Quick Projects

Monday- My Celtic Solstice is all ready for borders.
I love how it has turned out.

I also realized that I would need to adjust how much I have to cut out to make it fit on my Grandmother-in-law's bed. Not by much, but just enough that I'm glad I caught it now and can get extra pieces cut for part 1.

I'm wondering at the amount of extra fabrics I have for my Celtic Solstice. I'm thinking I have enough to grow it just a little bit more, so I can guarantee it will fit on my queen size bed. We shall see. I think I will just work on cutting the extra alongside the second one I'm doing.

 Tuesday- I finally managed to finish my tank that I replicated. All I had to finish was the straps. I wanted them to be detachable to I could still use the taking while nursing. I could not find the snaps I wanted anywhere. I finally decided to settle with swim suit bra hooks. I think it turned out really well.

While cleaning up my room and throwing all of my yarn projects into big buckets (since I only need one out at a time) I discovered a little bag kit that I bought a couple of years ago. I decided it needed to be completed finally. Well, here it is. Thank you naptime. Don't worry I also managed to get all my dishes done, laundry washed, and even had Marion come over to get grommets put into a bag she was making, so I wasn't just crafting again.

Wednesday- Slowly making progress. I finished cutting out the extra part 1 pieces I needed to expand the first Celtic Solstice and got them all sewn together. I declared today a me day since I woke up not feeling great.

Fairly Productive Sunday

 Today, I focused on getting the larger blocks of the Celtic Solstice attached to each other. I was sooo close to having all but the borders done on it when Kyle decided he could not let me do anymore because it was bedtime. I love how the pattern is rapidly starting to emerge. Maybe I will try to sneak down there during the week to finish sewing the rows together.

 My poor vomit quilt is waiting very patiently for me to work on cutting up the squares so that I can continue sewing it together. I think it has been very patient, especially since I believe it is one of the oldest projects I have right now.

I picked out fabric for another quilt this week. It was all from my stash again. This is actually going to satisfy two things that have been festering in my mind. The first is that I have been wanting to make a quilt for my grandmother-in-law. I considered doing one for her when I did the Christmas quilts, but decided I wanted to try and do a fancier pattern for her (I just didn't know what yet). The other thought that has been bugging me has been that I wanted to try and do another Celtic Solstice in another colorway, but I just couldn't justify starting another one without a purpose (I started thinking about it, just after part 2 went live). So these are the colors I chose for my second Celtic Solstice. I hope she likes it.

I gave in and let myself start it today. I cut out all the pieces for part 1. I told myself that it would be my reward for working on the things that need to be finished. So for every seam I finished on another quilting project I could do a seam on this one. It may make this quilt take longer, but the idea is that in the process I will make more progress on the ones that have been waiting longer. This means if I get the others done I can then work on this one without hindrance. Of course, this could just lead to more partially finished projects instead.

Until Next Week.

Side Project: Simple Swaddlers

One of the many extra side projects I have been working on are simple swaddling blankets for Kyle. I was given large blankets at Nate's baby shower that have been working great. Unfortunately, if I don't keep up with the laundry I can easily find myself without any. Since Kyle has a hard time sleeping at night unless he is swaddled because his hands bug him if they get free, it can be rather frustrating to be without one. So I chose to use some of the flannel I have to recreate those blankets. They are 39 inches by 4 inches. My mom helped me find a decorative stitch to use on the edge to make sure they don't fray while she was here. It was very helpful to get some more instructions on how to use my sewing machine.

January Goal: Uncompleted

Well, I'm sad to report that my January quilt will continue to be unfinished for a bit longer. I did get some work on it. All of the 5 inch squares have been pinned to my design wall. They have not been cut yet. With only a few minutes at a time, I have actually been working more on my February goal since it was spread out on top of my cutting table. I justified it by saying I was just working my way down to the cutting mat.

Here is the first row of my January goal, which is the pineapple I'm making using greys and the 5  inch squares from the vomit swap, my quilting friends and I did last year.

My February goal is Bonnie Hunter's Celtic Solstice Mystery. I am currently putting together the big blocks using the little blocks. I hope to be able to finish the top in February. If I'm really lucky I will be able to get more work done on January's goal too. We'll see how much the boys will let me get done.

Celtic Solstice Update

 

I'm still attempting to slowly chug away on the Celtic Solstice Mystery. This was a post I tried to get myself to post from the hospital but that didn't work out. This picture was taken the morning I headed to the hospital. It shows the completed parts for parts 1-4. Thanks to the most recent sew day and random 10-20 minute segments (some while holding Kyle), I have completed part 5 and have begun to put the larger blocks together. More pictures to come.

Been a bit busy

Sorry, I kind of disappeared again. I think I have a good excuse this time. Say hello to Kyle. He does not like to be put down very often. We've had a lot of tv time in the last few weeks. Our library has been helpful. Nate got to enjoy Cars 2 for the last week. And we now have Planes for a few days. My mom also introduced me to a good murder mystery show on Netflux, Murdoch Mysteries. Nate likes that one too.

Moose Quilt

This was the first of monthly mystery quilts that I got from my local quilt shop. They display the fabrics that they will use for the quilt (and offer in the kit) and we can sign up at any time during the month to be included. On the last Tuesday of the month, they reveal what the quilt looks like and you can pick up your kit. They are $29 and include everything for the top. It makes a generous lap size quilt.

This one is just waiting for me to put the borders on. I was very productive this day. That was the 3rd project I got to a finished state on that sew day (in November).

They ladies pointed out that it may have been part of my nesting period. Unfortunately, this may now sit around waiting to be finished for quite a while.

Scrappy Mountains Majesty

I decided for my next door neighbor's new baby boy that I would make him a quilt instead of trying to knit something, since I'm still working on a knit one for a baby girl that was born in May (oops). When I saw, Bonnie Hunter post a Scrappy Mountains Majesty that someone else had made on her Facebook page, I decided that that was the pattern I wanted to use for this little boy. Towards then end of the pattern, she offers a few variations on how to lay it out and one of those really struck me. I could see pinwheels trying to stand out in it. I then rounded up some of my more boyish fabrics (I have quite a few.) and picked the ones I thought paired well and played well together. I utilized the extra sew day my friends scheduled in December to get it done and even added borders. I'm very pleased with how it turned out. Now to figure out how I'm going to quilt it (or get it quilted). What do you think?

2013 Challenge Quilt

Here is the quilt I finished for the 2013 Peteetneet Quilt Show Challenge Category. It was the only quilt I entered. It is foundation pieced, and each block represented a member of my family. On each block, I added the name of the person it represented, with the shell in the corner containing our last name (ok my old last name). I gave it to my mom for Mother's Day (very late since I didn't get it to her until my trip in October).

The fancy boat is my mom. The smaller boats are my 4 brothers and I. The 5 beach umbrellas are the 5 grandkids. The angelfish is my dear late sister-in-law Annie. And finally, my dad and my husband are the beach balls.

It is hand quilted (my first hand quilting project). It also was my 3rd finished quilt. I was very pleased with how it turned out.

Baby #2

Kyle Alexander was born at 4:21 pm weighing in at 8 lb 8.8 oz. He is 18.5 inches long. We are all doing well.

Baby #2

As of 10 am today, I am headed to the hospital to be induced for Baby #2. Hopefully, I will be able to post pictures soon of our new arrival.

Nate and the Animals

 During our trip to Leeds for Thanksgiving in 2012, we took Nate to the family farm to see the horses. Aunt Kay even let him sit on her horse for some pictures. It was very special for all of us, since the horse passed away before we made our next trip down in July for the family reunion.

 We were also pleased to find that a donkey had joined the farm. The donkey seemed really sweet, and Nate was completed enamored with him, and kept going back to see him over and over again.

Mass Hammock Production

At the moment, I have quite a batch of hammocks in process. Here they all are partially cut.

 Some have made it to a paired and pinned state.

 Others have made it through the first round of stitching, and getting flipped.

Others are merely cut and paired, waiting to be pinned.

I'm trying to get a good batch of them done before baby #2 makes his appearance.

Happy New Year

I would like to wish you all a Happy New Year.

As it is the time of the year for resolutions, I thought I would share a few that I have thought of for myself.

• I would like to complete at least 1 quilt every month.
• January's main focus will be my vomit quilt.
• I would like to add new items to my Etsy shop at least 1 time every month.
• I would like to learn to manage having 2 children.

Celtic Solstice Link Up 5

 I finally managed to get some more work done on each of the parts of the Celtic Solstice Mystery that have been sitting partially done. I got a chunk of sewing done for part 2, and finished pressing all of part 3 which finished it off. I also cut more for part 4 and began my cutting for part 5. I decided that I would give myself a half an hour for each part today. I just needed to feel like I was making progress instead of just falling further behind.

Here are parts 2, 4, and 5 looking all neat and organized waiting for me to come back to them again.

I'm hoping I can get back to them before the Link-Up on Monday, but we shall see. Baby #2 may make his appearance instead.

Update: Well Monday morning is here, and Baby #2 is not. I managed to get a bit more work done on part 2. I'm still not done with it, but today happens to be a sew day with friends, so getting caught up is my goal for the day. Maybe I will be able to post again later today, saying that I have managed to get caught up. Check out all the progress everyone is making. I am number 74.

Beads

Ok. He is definitely my son. I decided to get my collection of plastic beads out for him to play with, in an attempt to start working on colors. He was not interested in sorting in them, but had all sorts of fun seeing all of them and just running them through his fingers. It made a bit of a mess, but he had fun. He kept taking handfuls of beads between the 2 containers. He also keeps asking to play with them more. Maybe we will be able to work on colors soon. It's a good thing I don't need them organized in any specific way right now.