Random Thursday

I just had to revise the title of this post when I realized that it was in fact Thursday and not Friday. It seems that my posting has taken on a schedule that is more weekly update of randomness than anything else, really. So, what have I been up to this week? 

It seems that the cure for laziness is announcing it to the world, since after my declaration I don't think I have had a lazy day. I have cleaned all our bedrooms and done a large purge of clothing and toys, switched out everyone's winter wardrobe for summer, and gotten a bit of sewing done. 

After realizing my kids didn't have much in the way of summer pajamas, I made the older boys three pairs of pj  shorts each, and actually used my serger. I loved it! Though I am apparently a slow learner about some things...

You can't serge over pins quite like you can with your sewing machine. I wish I could say this was the first pin that went through the knife on my serger. I also would be lying if I said it were the last...

But thankfully when I checked the mail I found plenty to keep me distracted for the rest of the week.

That's right, all of this was crammed into our mailbox. We used to have a regular mailbox, but if something didn't fit, our mail person would always drive up to the house and lay on the horn until someone went out and took it out of her car. She also always came right at naptime and woke up the kids, so my husband decided to buy the biggest mailbox he could find in an attempt to solve that problem. It is comically large sitting next to our neighbor's. And what was inside these boxes?

Baby Girl fabric!! And several others, along with some awesome Folksy Flannels, all from Pink Castle Fabrics.   I also got the fabric I was waiting for to start a wedding quilt for a couple of my college friends who recently married. I'm using Jeni's Giant Vintage Star tutorial, and I would probably already be done with it, had I been better at choosing background fabrics. No pictures of that yet, but I did use part of the remaining FQs to make a gift for a high school friend who just had her first baby.

I was looking for something quick and easy to make, so after about 10 seconds on Pinterest, I saw this quilt by Maureen Cracknell and had a plan. Now to choose a backing and finish it up!

This afternoon was spent in the garden and now we're getting ready to meet some friends for dinner, so have a great night!

And Another One

We recently had a member step down from our circle of do.Good Stitches, so I volunteered to make another of our April blocks using Lee's Hexing Around the Block tutorial. Honestly, I wasn't paying that much attention to the color assignment when I volunteered or I probably would have passed. 

I read "light blue" and thought of all the aqua scraps I had lying around and thought it would be easy to come up with enough. Then I re-read our original instructions and realized someone else was already making two aqua blocks and another was making medium/dark blue ones so I was stuck with true light blue. Not a shade I have much of, but I think I squeaked by.  The color is a little off here, but for the most part I kept it more light blue than aqua. Thank goodness for those Rainbow Charm Swaps!

I'm still waiting for my fun fabrics to arrive so I can start a few new projects, so in the meantime I decided to cut some squares for another little quilt. 

No real plans for this one yet, just simple patchwork and if I'm feeling spunky I may attempt some orange-peel quilting.

And this is the latest version of child-proofing in our house...

I kept complaining to my husband about all the things Max gets into by pushing around our dining room chairs, so he took action, tying them together with some clothesline. Not the most attractive detail, but so far it works.

That's pretty much all the excitement around here this weekend. What's going on at your house?

Winter Stitching Finale

Winter has been officially over for about a month now, so I guess it is about time I finish up my 

Winter Stitching list and link up with Sarah. Honestly, I don't think there has really been much progress on the list since my mid-winter check-in...

1. Pay-It-Forward gifts...I have three lovely ladies to stitch for and I can't wait to get started on these. It is just a little intimidating to sew for other people, especially super-talented ones who are fabulous stitchers themselves. I have no idea what to make, so I'm open to suggestions!  Done, Done, and Done...

241 Totes for Annabella, Sarah, and Jennifer

2. Quillows for the boys using Nova's tutorial...I want to make one for each of the boys, or at least the older two for now. Nearly every day, Carson sees me sewing something and asks if it is his blanket and proceeds to tell me what color blanket he wants. I made the quilt that is on his bed (Ok, part of it...) but I guess he needs another. And it is getting really hard to keep telling him no, so I think he'll be getting one pretty soon. Done and Done! Well, Wyatt's isn't a quillow, but it is finished so I'll call it a win.

Carson's Quillow

Wyatt's Quilt

 
3. Quilt for Baby M....Some friends of ours are expecting their second baby, due on Christmas Day. Of course this little guy will need a quilt, I just need to plan a little. Done!

4. Christmas stockings...My kids have never had stockings (bad mom!) so I'm determined to get them made this year. I started on some last year, but was 9 months pregnant and quickly lost interest once Max was born. While looking through our decorations, I actually found some really horrible fleece stocking that I forgot I had made a few years ago, so technically they had stockings, though I would still love to make them some less embarrassing ones..

5. Quilt for Baby G....Another couple that we are friends with are expecting their second child as well. I think she is due in February, but they aren't finding out the gender, so I may wait. Or not, and take up the challenge of the gender neutral quilt. Totally didn't happen, though they did have an adorable little boy a few months ago...

6. Hometown Quilt... no idea about a pattern, but I think I will use it to make a quilt for my sister-in-law. They are doing a massive remodeling job on their house and from the descriptions of it that I've heard from her, I think Hometown would go really well in their new living room. The quilt may not get done by Christmas, but it can still be a house re-warming gift I guess. I think I've whined about this quilt enough. Not done, and I would be completely shocked if it were finished by next winter. But here is a picture just in case you want to see what Neglect looks like...

 

7. My parents' quilt...Not sure about this one yet, either. Their 40th wedding anniversary is in June, so that deserves a quilt, don't you think? Possibly Swoon.... Not likely to happen, unfortunately. I haven't given up all hope, but I'm a realist and I can state pretty confidently that it won't happen. At least not by June. Maybe I should shoot for their 45th....

8. Sewing Machine Cover...Pretty self-explanatory, really. I never remember to put the hard cover over it so my machine keeps getting dusty and sad, but I think if I had a pretty quilted one I just might take better care of it. Didn't do this either. Shocking I know...

But, there were quite a few things that I finished that were not on the list. Swaps and bee blocks took up the majority of my sewing time this winter. 

Bee Blocks...

and swaps.

OK, so according to my list I'm only looking at roughly 50% success rate but overall, I'm calling it a success!

 If you would like to see what some really talented stitchers did over the winter, head over to 

FairyFace Designs for the link-up.

I'm a Sloth

No, I haven't been hanging on clotheslines or anything like my silly boys, I have just been a total sloth lately. I really don't feel like I've gotten anything done in the last few weeks. Pretty much if my kids are sleeping, so am I. Or I am at least reclined somewhere playing solitaire, fantasy fabric shopping, or completely neglecting my email. Which is really okay since I have three kids to take care of, meals to fix, and a house to keep somewhat clean. And let's not forget that baby girl I'm currently gestating. But with my want-to-sew list growing exponentially in the last few days, I really need to get off my bum and start something! 

So last night I actually ordered fabric for a few projects that I need to, and I came up with this mosaic:

I have been going back and forth about what colors I would like to use when I start making things for the newest baby. Did I want to go with aqua, pink, and red similar to Ruby or Vintage Modern? Or keep it a little warmer with more yellow, pink, orange, and coral? I'm pretty sure most of you could guess which one I would end up using, given my fondness for orange. 

I absolutely love this quilt by Anna of Noodlehead and let's not forget Hadley's beautiful Stained quilt. I think adding in the yellows and oranges helps me accept the pink just a bit more easily. I've always said that if I had a girl I did not want to overdo the pink factor, but now that we are having one I do find myself wanting a touch of it here and there. 

So, yeah. Not much actual sewing going on over here right now, just plenty of list making. 

What is on your To-be-Sewn list?

Big News

So, we went to the doctor yesterday for an ultrasound and found out that we are having a ...

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GIRL!!!

I'm still in a bit of shock, but now I'm on the hunt for all the fun girly tutorials I can find!! Have a great weekend!

Mystery Charm Swap

I love a good charm swap. They are great ways to get a sampling of all kinds of fun fabrics without committing to yardage. Not to mention the convenience of having all those 5" squares already cut and waiting to be sewn into your latest project. 

The ever-creative Jenelle of Echinops & Aster and Sunni of Love Affair With My Brother are hosting a really fun pair of charm swaps in conjunction with Pink Chalk Fabrics, and sign ups start today.

Here are the details:

Joint Mystery Charm Swaps hosted by Echinops & Aster, Love Affair With My Brother, and Pink Chalk Fabrics.

- The two themes for the swaps are Orange, Aqua, & Grey (Echinops & Aster) and Polka Dots (Love Affair With My Brother).

- There are 27 spots open in each swap on a first-come, first-served basis.

- We will be selecting the fabrics from Pink Chalk's amazing online inventory based on our respective themes.

- We will cut, sort, and mail the charm packs all under the utmost security. ;) The actual fabric choices will remain a mystery until the charm packs arrive.

- This swap is open to international participants.

- Participants will buy in via PayPal.

- Sign-ups begin this Monday, April 16th on each blog and run through April 30th.

- We will announce on our blogs once each swap is filled.

 

Sounds fun, right?  So hop on over and sign up!

Weekend Sewing

Did all of you have a good weekend?

Ours was pretty great, really. Lazy and relaxing. Not much on my "to-do" list actually got done, but I did get a little sewing time in yesterday afternoon. Roger took all three boys outside with him after naptime to clean out his shop and work on the planter, which means I had a few hours of uninterrupted sewing time.

So what did I make?

After my relative success with the Dana Top, I decided to try another Sis Boom pattern and attempted the Meghan Peasant Top thinking it would be another good candidate for maternity wear. Though the pattern was great and fairly simple to make, I'm not as in love with this one. For one, I'm just not a fan of elastic around my ribcage. I also used a very soft Lisette Fabric for this and had all kinds of tension/puckering issues. I'm not an experienced enough sewist to work with slippery fabrics yet and actually get them to behave. I also made it way too long, so basically I have a new nightgown. Which can be fixed easily enough. I do like the fabric that I used and the shirt is fine, just not exactly as exciting as I'd hoped. But I'll still call it a success.

And what did my husband bring me as a gift when I was done sewing?