to tell you the honest truth

quilt progress.

The Christmas quilt is coming along and I am ready to get to some sewing on it today.  There is a lot, so I'm sure it will take a few rounds of getting to the machine.  So, here's the sneak peek!  I think this one below is my favorite quilt block.

baking and making

BAKING

On a rare occasion I have the urge to make cinnamon rolls.  And by rare, I mean rare, like once every year or two.  It's more the dough making, sticky hands part I really don't care for, not the eating of the cinnamon rolls.  Although it pretty much consumed about 5 hours of my day, the results were fabulous!  I made some that were extra gooey, some that were less gooey and I also did a batch of plain rolls.  I also made some icing.  I left for a doctor's appointment right when my last batch came out of the oven.  When I came home, all the boys (including the very oldest and largest of them all) had made themselves sick from eating so many cinnamon rolls and rolls!  A whole plate of cinnamon rolls were gone!  At least we didn't have to come up with anything for dinner! :)  Pete thinks I should do this every few weeks, so I guess he was pretty happy.

This is what Austin did for quite awhile...no one really was into the helping, but that's ok.

MAKING

I am eager to get going on a new Christmas quilt!  A quilting blog called Crazy Mom Quilts (sorry...remember I hate doing links, but it's in my sidebar!) has got me wanting to test out a new pattern.  It should be pretty quick so the goal is to have it done by the time other Christmas decorations come out.  These are some new fabrics, mixed with some that I already had.  I kinda want another green and another red, but we'll see.  I think it will be cute either way.   I really have a polka dot obsession, but oh well.

Don't worry, I haven't completely slacked on my red and aqua quilt.  I have all the blocks done, but I figured it could be on hold for now! 

 
C-ya!

more girl stuff

So even though I am still crossing my fingers about this baby girl, I can't help but think about girl things and plan some things out.  For example, her room.  Oh me, oh my, I think it's going to end up pretty darn cute if I ever get out what's in my head.  Definitely going for a vintage, shabby chic look.  Nothing too matchy-matchy, but just coordinating colors and style.  I want to find some fun items at antique stores and thrift stores.  And definitely getting one of those cute shaded chandeliers.  Anyway,  this past week I was itching to do something, make something.  I only used what I already had, no shopping involved, and I ended up loving what came about. 

The Quilt


I machine stitched around all the little figures to get a quilted look and I am happy with how it worked.  Took a little longer than I thought it would, so I wasn't too picky about perfection here....I'm not THAT patient of a sewer.  I would rather get something done and not worry about every little stitch, than to not ever get it done because of worrying too much!  After washing it, it even took on more of that vintage style puckered look.  I debated about the binding.  Of course, I worried that it would look stupid and tacky.  I thought something pink would be so safe and predictable.  But how boring would that have been!??  So, I stopped worrying and analyzing and just went for it.  I am SO glad I did the red and aqua patchy binding.  Much more my style and I am in LOVE with this color combo.  To me, it adds some extra cuteness to the quilt.  The darker aqua actually came from a favorite vintage pillowcase that I used up when selling my quilt kits on Etsy.  I do still have a tiny bit left for another quilt....I did keep it ON purpose....just in case I ever needed it.  :)  I pieced the backing of the quilt for more color fun and because I didn't have enough of one kind of fabric to do the whole backing.  I definitely like the pieced backing, especially in this case where I didn't have a fabric on hand that I really loved by itself. 

 

The Hearts

I also made these little stuffed hearts...well I still have to stitch up the sides where I stuffed them at.  These too, I just used what fabrics I already had and didn't stop very long to analyze, just grabbed what first came to mind.  If I start thinking too much, I just drive myself crazy and sometimes don't ever get it done!  I think they are pretty cute though, even though I couldn't get them perfectly shaped.

The Artwork

I am also looking forward to using some of my artwork in her room.  You can see how much I have loved this color combo for a while now, since I did this art at least 8-9 months ago (can't remember) and the colors are perfect!  Yeah!

One last thing...I have to thank everyone who has left the nicest comments with all this news of us having a girl.  It has been so fun to have friends and family be so excited along with us.  Seriously, it has meant a lot to me.  I have also gotten emails and tons of hugs and happy comments at church and it has made it very fun for me to know so many people care and are excited for us!  Thank you Thank you Thank you!  Now just please continue to cross your fingers (praying is good too) with me that it really is a GIRL!  ;)  (Not that boys aren't precious too)

P.S  Did you see?  I'm  HALF WAY!  :)

call me crazy, but i really miss these guys!

Although it is great fun to make something and have somebody like it so much that they are happy to pay you money for it, it really is sad too that these cute bits of happiness are no longer hanging around.  I had such fun creating things for my etsy shop and now I am missing them!  AM I CRAZY!?  Especially my bigger quilts!  They are so cute!  They made us all smile and want to stare at them!  We all miss the cute things I was making!  Since I am not doing my shop anymore I have been in a creativity rut, but I am determined to get out of it and make some things over the summer.  And I will KEEP them!  It is strange the way I am most productive with artsy type things when I am selling them, but just for myself or for the home I have a harder time.  ???  I really need to do art to keep sometimes!  So....wish me luck and I'll let you know how that goes!  :)