I’m still here!

I haven’t been working on much quilting lately, no time at the sewing machine and the hexagon diamonds have taken a back seat for awhile.  I spent most of August and September working on a cross stitch present for my parents 40th anniversary, now that it’s been given to them I can talk about it.  Unfortunately I was dumb and didn’t take a picture before I gave it to them!  I should be going to their house this week and will see if I can get a picture.

I’ve also been working on some Christmas presents, which I can’t talk about until after the holidays.  I have 1 stitched up and I am working on the 2nd, still have 1 to go after that.  We just made some decisions yesterday about presents that I am making, boy do I have a lot of work in the next 2 months!

Still looking for a hand quilting class to take.  I’m debating seeing if there is someone in the guild that would teach me.  I seem to be taking more of an active role in the guild.  I am now doing our guild blog.  I need to go back and put the newsletters going back to January 2012, but I don’t think there is any hurry. 🙂

Alex is now 2 and I can’t believe how quickly the time goes by!  He’s not talking yet, but some words are starting to come out. He’s so smart (I know, every mother says that!) and understands so much!  Since I don’t have any cross stitch or quilting pictures, you’ll have to settle for one of Alex’s 2 year pictures.

*sigh*

I know, I know….it’s been AGES since I’ve posted anything. This 15 month old little boy takes up all my time! 🙂 I can’t believe how quickly time has passed. He’s 15 months old, walking (and running) and so damn cute it kills me! And smart too! Ok, you didn’t come here for me to gush about my little one, did you?

I’ve been doing some cross stitch, haven’t finished anything since Halloween though. I made this little wall hanging just in time to put up for our Halloween party. You can’t tell in the picture, but some of the thread glows in the dark, boy was that a pain to stitch with!

Trick or Treat Wallhanging

I haven’t really worked on my hand piecing project lately. I was working on cross stitch and just put that away recently to work on Dear Jane applique blocks. I was talking with some of the ladies at guild and they reminded me that I need to make time to work on my sewing – it’s been MONTHS since I turned it on! In fact I just cleaned it off a week ago! Mended a shirt for Alex that has been sitting here for ages and now it’s ready to work on some quilts! So I’ve decided to start working on Dear Jane again. Finished 2 blocks in the past few weeks and I’ve got another almost done, in fact it should be done tonight since there’s a basketball game to watch!

J-11

JS09

Saturday the guild is doing a sew-in from 12-4 and I’m thinking that I’m going to go. I really want to sew and this would allow me to do nothing but that! I think that hubby can take care of Alex for 4 hours, especially since he’ll most likely be napping for half of that. So I’m planning on working on Star Crazy. I’m going to get as much prepped as I can before Saturday, I’m hoping I can get the top put together in 4 hours. Heck I’ve already got the center done!

And just because I love posting pictures of my son….

Alex - January 2012

It’s been awhile….

I know, I’ve been absent for awhile. I don’t get much time to sew anymore since I spend all my free time (and some that’s not free) with Alex. I can’t believe he’s going to be 5 months old on Monday! Time is going by way too fast!

Anyway, since I don’t have time to sew at my machine anymore, and since I’ve been kinda jealous of Karen with all the hand piecing and hand quilting that she does. And because I have my little tubs full of already cut up scraps of fabric, I decided to start hand piecing a quilt. Once Alex goes to bed at 9, I’m just too tired to sit at the sewing machine to sew. But I’m awake enough to be able to hand piece blocks while I watch basketball games or movies with my husband! I’m making 4-patch blocks, 2 white and 2 scraps. I had to pull a bunch of white fat quarters out and cut them into squares with my Go, because I just don’t have a lot of white scraps. Not quite sure why. I took it with me last night to guild and managed to sew 17 pairs of 2 together. This is not something I even care about being finished right away, and I might set it aside and work on something else, but for now it’s the only sewing I can do!

The start of the hand pieced quilt!

I did pick up 3 kits from guild last night to make charity quilts. I need to help more in the guild and I really need to get in front of my sewing machine before I forget how to use it!

In addition to working on the hand pieced quilt, I’ve decided that I want to learn to hand quilt. Again, since I don’t have a lot of time in front of the machine, I need to do things that I can work on in the family room while Alex is playing or we are watching tv at night. There is a class in May that I’m going to sign up for, hubby can take care of Alex for a 3.5 hour class! Oops, just realized that I have a dentist appt that day, now I don’t know if I can sign up…..doggone it!

I’ll try not to be a stranger anymore….I need to start reviewing books, blogs, something!!! Oh and here’s a gratuitous picture of my baby!!! 🙂

Alex lounging on Lady

Sewing Update

Well, I really wanted to keep working on the Quilt Show 2010 BOM, but I decided I needed to spend the time yesterday working on some terry cloth bibs and burp cloths for my son. I had bought white and pink terry cloth a few years ago intending to make bibs for my cousin’s baby. At the time I was going through a miscarriage and just couldn’t make anything baby related. So these 2 yards of terry cloth have just been sitting. We have now gone through all the small bibs that we were given because my wonderful son just got too big and drools so much they just don’t hold it all! And I’m still trying to understand why companies make burp cloths that don’t cover your shoulder all the way, because this kid loves to spit up on mommy!

I’ve made 2 bibs so far, and I have enough white left to make at least 4-5 more when I get time. I used up all the pink for burp cloths since my husband doesn’t mind if Alex spits up on pink, he’s just not allowed to wear it! Hopefully I’ll be able to get some of my own sewing done soon!!

Bibs and burp cloths

November Blocks!

Oh my goodness I finally finished my November blocks! Took me awhile to get all the pieces cut out, but I’ve finally figure out how to make the most of Alex’s nap time! As long as my household stuff is done (try and do the night before after he goes to bed) I can work on sewing during his naps. With chain piecing, I flew through the half Irish chains, but I noticed my cutting wasn’t always as precise as I though it was. You’d think after almost cutting this entire quilt out, I’d be better at it, but I guess I have more room to grow! I also noticed that we cut a few more white pieces than we needed, not sure why, but I know I have 1 full Irish chain block and 12 half blocks, which is what we are supposed to have! On to December’s blocks!

November blocks
Alex 🙂

Happy New Year & Dear Jane

I hoping that I will be able to start posting more in 2011 – at least I’m going to make an effort to try! 🙂 This year has ended on such a happy note for our family and I can’t remember what life was like without Alex in our lives.

I’ve been able to work on applique at night this week after he’s gone to bed and finished 2 blocks. AND I was able to prep a few more and complete a pieced one today. Lucky me, I got to end 2010 with some sewing! The applique isn’t perfect on these blocks, but I think they look ok and I’m not redoing them! With the one I completed today I’m now happy to say that I’ve completed 75 of the 169 blocks needed. I need to get to work on the triangles too!

Hope everyone has a safe and happy new years!

Dear Jane Update

I have finally been able to work on some of my applique blocks after the baby is put to bed at night. I’ll need to prep some more so I can keep working on them! I’ve been toying with piecing blocks by hand just so I can get them done, since I don’t have time to sit at my machine these days. My only free time seems to be when he’s napping and he isn’t always consistent with the length of his naps! I think I’m getting better with my applique, I still need to work on the turning points though, some of them are a little messy. I’ve now completed 72 blocks and 5 triangles, I’m making slow progress! I know this is supposed to be a quilty blog, but I just can’t help posting pictures of my handsome son once in awhile! 🙂

October Blocks – FINALLY!

Well, it took me almost 2 months, but I finally finished my October blocks. The first 2 weeks in October I cut out all my pieces, but due to the fact that I was 9 months pregnant I couldn’t really get to the sewing machine. My little boy was born October 14 (10 lbs even and 21 inches long) and I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect child! Trying to get into a schedule of some sort took time, and this was the first time I have been able to actually sit at my sewing machine in 2 months! Took me 2 days to get everything together, I had to fit it in with his feeding schedule. I am hoping to get November’s pieces cut out tomorrow, as my husband is still home from work and can keep an eye on him.

I haven’t been to guild in 2 months and I’m looking forward to going in December. Alex will be going with me, I think the ladies would kill me if I didn’t bring him!