Crud

Why am I such a sucker for sweet little girl fabric designs???

First there was Briar Rose by Heather Ross.  I bought a fat quarter bundle with the intention of making a quilt for the Bug.  With hope, she will like it and it will live on her bed (must include lots of pink for this to be successful).

Then I found, fell in love, and bought Fort Firefly.  Yes I did.  This will become a throw-size summer quilt.  This fabric screams to me, summer summer summer and takes me back to those barefoot, green, magical days.

And now.  Now I cannot get over Sarah Jane's new collection, Wee Wander.  I have fallen in love yet again.  Seriously people, I die over the cuteness.  I want it.  I *need* it.  But I'm not sure what to do with it!  Perhaps I should use this for the Bug's big girl bed, it does feature a lot of pink afterall.  But then what should I do with Briar Rose?

The question is, how many quilts does a little girl really need?  I need to start making things other than quilts, but in ways that I, I mean my children of course, can enjoy and treasure the fabrics.  Pillows? Bags?  Yes, but what else?

Weekending

This weekend I:

Caught up on some reading,

(If only I had time to make every single project in these books!)

Found more enjoyment rummaging through my scrap bin than I had anticipated,

And began to work on a little valentine present.

Overall, a very good weekend.

2014

Hiyo 2014!  Let's kick butt this year, ok?  To keep me on track, here's my 2014 creative to-do list, in no particular order:

1. Bind, wash, and enjoy my Good Folks HST quilt

2. Finish and gift the Uptown charm square quilt 

 

3. Make and gift another belated wedding quilt 

5. Paint the Bug's big girl bed pink (everything needs to be pink at her request)

 

6. Make a quilt for the Bug's big kid bed 

 

6. Paint and hang pictures for the Bug's room

 

7. Makeover the kid's bathroom -shower curtain, window shade, pictures

 

8. Make a baby quilt for a friend's spring baby

 

9. Finally make quilts from my wedding napkins

10. Make a queen-size Single Girl quilt (gasp!)

 

11. Make Olive and Archie dolls for the Bug's birthday

 

12. Finish this alphabet sampler

Let's do this!

 

2013

Oh 2013, you kicked my butt.  This was a wonderful but tough year for my little family. Despite getting adjusted to a family of four, I still somehow managed to sew some stuff.  Sometimes sewing is what kept me sane through some stressful, sleep deprived times.  Some projects I started and actually finished this year, others were projects I started in previous years.  

I don't have pictures of all of my 2013 finishes yet.  Taking timely pictures and sharing them here is a 2014 resolution of mine.  I want to document the things I make so I can look back and remember the time I put into a project, what was going through my head when I was making it, etc.  Life gets busy and it's so easy to forget the things that at one time consumed large amounts of you (physical time making it as well as the time spent thinking about it!).  This blog is a great sewing journal and I want to keep it up.

So here is a list of things I finished in 2013:

1. Swoon (started in 2012)
2. Ironing board cover
3. Stars and squares

4. Nora's baby quilt (details coming)

5. Teddy's baby quilt (details coming)

6. Baby bibs

7. Doll quilt 

8. Scrappy Trip Around the World (details coming)

9. Elsa's baby quilt (details coming)

10. Stacked coins quilt (details coming)
 

Not bad for a working mom with two kids under two! 

Quick Quilt Recommedation?

Recent Favorites, a photo by CreativeReveries on Flickr.

1. Fig & Plum Quilt, 2. "You Plus Me" Quilt, 3. Glam Clam front, 4. striped chevron quilt, 5. Log Cabin Wall Quilt, 6. fall tabler runner, 7. Maple Leaf Rag Quilt, 8. my fair lady quilt, 9. flying geese mini, 10. Untitled, 11. XandO quilt, 12. PTS7 all finished!, 13. It's hip to be square, 14. HST BOM - January, 15. DIamond Quilt, 16. bee blocks

I'm trying to catch up on some very overdue wedding quilts. If over a year has gone by since the wedding, I really have no choice but to make a quilt, right? I mean, I can't just show up with a gift card and say "Congratulations on your marriage of two and a half years!"

So I have two weddings quilts at the top of my list of things to make. I want a quick project, you know, so I can move on to the quilts in the queue I want to keep for myself (selfish sewer?  Absolutely!). I love how quickly the stacked coins quilt sews up from "Last Minute Patchwork and Quilting," but I've made it twice now (here and a preview of one here) and I want to try something different. Anyone have any recommendations for a quick quilt project?

Head down, chin up

Life is slightly more crazy than usual at the moment, yet I've carved out time to sew.  It's the only thing keeping me sane at the moment; that and coffee. Oh, and let's not forget wine.  My friends, we've got the terrible two's happening at my house.  Combined with a bad cold.  It's not been fun.  So as soon as that little girl's head hits the pillow, I start sewing.  Sometimes with an adult beverage in hand.

I needed something quick and mindless to sew so I pulled out two charm packs of the now out-of-print Uptown line by Erin Michael and some sashing in Kona cotton Stone. This quilt is heavily based on the beautiful charm square quilt by Don't Call Me Becky from many years ago.

Row by row I sewed.  This kind of sewing is so cathartic.  The kind where you don't have to think too much.  Unfortunately I didn't think enough and ran out of Kona  cotton.  Darn.  I guess I'll have to buy more fabric.  Darn darn darn (she jokes, she jokes!).

Something small

Ok, so it's only a doll quilt.  But, it's something!  Something I finished! Celebrate the small things in life, right?

I have so many thoughts swirling around in my head lately about sewing and being over inspired and trying to "keep up." I'm hoping I can find the right words at some point to put them down.  But not right now.  I'll just start small right now.