January finishes

Well hello!

What a crazy week!

Goal #1 is accomplished!

Connor was delivered by c-section on January 20, 2014, at 38 weeks 1 day. He's got dark hair and long lashes, and he's another mini-me for my hubby!

We all adore him already!

I'm tired and very sore and stiff. But doing pretty well.

Goal #2 and Goal #3:

1 1/2 blocks finished on the baby's star sampler.

1 1/2 blocks finished in Sylvia's Bridal Sampler (there were some hang ups with correct sizes of enlarging the block from 6" to 12")

Side note: I received several emails from ladies requesting how to make my firefighter Maltese Cross Dresden. So I sidetracked from the other goals and started another block and a tutorial. I'm not sure when I'll have it finished, but hopefully soon. I was working on it on Monday, and not feeling well, so I decided I needed to go to the hospital....and my doctor decided to deliver me right then!

Bits and layer cakes

It seems my days are just filled with getting by and surviving, spending time with my little guy/s, resting, and getting little bits done on my projects. Just waiting for this baby...this is weird but good because I've never gotten this far in a pregnancy before! (I just wish I didn't have a yucky cold/cough too!)

Last night, I printed off the fabric requirement charts from Melissa Corry's new Quilt Along starting next week: "Starlight, Starbright"

www.happyquiltingmelissa.blogspot.com

I want to attempt it. I spent some time going through my stash of fat quarters, trying to make some bundles I like. Here are two:

I won a bundle this past fall from Quiltmaker Magazine, of "Always Blooming" by Susy Pilgrim Waters for P&B Textiles. These were, in my opinion, the "usable" and attractive prints in the collection. I like the medium grey background to set off the brights. (I would need to purchase the grey--I never have background fabric!)

My new favorite color scheme is purple plus aqua on the Kona White background. Loving them!

Today, I pulled off the paper templates from the Patriotic Mariner's Compass sections, ready to sew them together.

Then I spent some time trimming HST. I have a ton of bonus HST from doing my son's Swoon, so I thought I would trim them and try to make some kind of quilty gift for his teacher and (3) teachers assistants.

I worked on turning them from the (left) to the (right) trimmed at 2 7/8" squares. I still have a lot to trim. Baby steps, little bits--my hands are weak and numb.

And finally, the little guy and I hopped into the car to meet up with my new friend with an Etsy shop: ForSewItSeams2. By day, she's an officer for the county Sheriff's office, by night she's a quilter, crafter, shop owner and mom of 6!

She had some awesome Riley Blake 10" stackers that I purchased from her (stackers are layer cakes, but with only half the pieces of regular layer cakes).

It must be nesting, but I'm dying for quick projects to sew up for my new little baby. The star sampler is more of a "masterpiece" type quilt. I saw this project post on one of the Craftsy classes I'm taking, and couldn't rest until I found the tutorial and drew a mock-up into my Quilt-Pro program!

It's called "Charming Stars" by Stefanie Roman for Moda Bake Shop, posted in 2010. It uses charm squares and a background fabric!

Here's my purchases:

"Maverick" World War II style military bomber prints. Perfect for going with Disney Planes for the baby, or even for my dad or brother in the Air Force.

And the newer line "Snips and Snails". So adorable baby boy, right? You know that  old nursery rhyme "Snips and snails and puppy dog tails, that's what little boys are made of!"

And a yard of Alphabet Soup thrown in on the right!

I couldn't resist cutting right into the stacker of Snips and Snails tonight! At 21 pieces, and each 10" piece cuts into four identical 5" charms, it's the perfect amount for a baby Charming Stars of 3x3 blocks (13.5" blocks).

Should I go totally scrappy with all different prints around each star like the tutorial and class project, or more controlled, like in my chart above?

Paper-piecing

I decided that paper-piecing is pretty much the easiest thing to do while I'm still pregnant and my hands are the way they are.

Here's my first block for the baby's star sampler crib quilt:

The Mariner's Compass!

Isn't the Fairy Frost just gorgeous? It all just sparkles, just like bright stars in the night sky. I love it!

This is the Tennessee Star, or Liberty Star. It's on my Quilt-Pro program as Liberty Star, and Sylvia's Bridal Sampler as Tennessee. Basically, you just paper-piece strips together and cut out the diamond shapes, and put it together like a LeMoyne Star.

And here's the replacement Mariners Compass, in progress, for Sylvia's Bridal Sampler.

Did I tell you that story?

Last January, my cousin still in high school had a multi-genre project to complete. She chose to gather stories about our grandfather (history subject), who passed away April 2012, and make a quilt (math and sewing) featuring some of these stories, to present to our now-widowed grandmother. She needed to type these stories and her own thoughts into a report (writing assignment).

She contacted a bunch of us in the family to contribute memories of grandpa and blocks for the quilt. I think that only I responded, along with our aunt, who also sews and makes quilts, contributed blocks. Sad, huh? A few others contributed stories and memories. (I still have not seen the results of this project.)

I decided that since she gave me so little time to respond, that I would sacrifice my Patriotic-colored Mariner's Compass block (and make another later). I chose to write my memories of my grandfather centered around the theme of the Mariner's Compass. Some reasons I used the Compass as a symbol for my grandfather:

1--he was a family man.

2--He knew how to work hard and play hard.

3--he was a religious man and faithful, constantly reading and learning and living his beliefs, with the Savior Jesus Christ as his guiding star (like the Compass guides the sailors or travelers)

4--he served an LDS proselyting mission to the Hawaiian Islands, during the time when Pearl Harbor was attacked in 1941, and has memories of the attack. When he returned home from his mission, he joined the then-Army-Airforce and trained and served in California during the rest of WW2. So I used the Mariner's Compass as a symbol of his military service.

Here's the completed star that I contributed to the project:

Now I'm linking up to Kristy's weekly Paper-Piecing Party at her blog Quiet Play:

http://quietplay.blogspot.com.au/2014/01/paper-piecing-party-upcoming-patterns.html?m=1

January goals

I'm still here and the baby is still incubating! That's great, because I'm already farther along than I got with little J.

With this birth pending, I have no idea what I will be able to do with sewing and quilting. But I will try and set a goal.

1--Deliver a healthy baby at full-term! (that means 37 weeks to me!) That might be all that I accomplish!

Ha ha ha.

1-a-- Complete one or two blocks of the baby's star quilt.

1-B--Complete at least two blocks from my Patriotic Sylvia's Bridal Sampler. I really need to finish those remaining blocks! Especially because two of the blocks that I haven't finished yet, are ones that I want to include in the baby's quilt. So I can kill two goals with one, because they are the same blocks!

First finish of 2014

Yay!

My first finish of the new year: a cuddle wrap for a coworker's first baby on the way. We're both due just a few days apart, and we're both having boys. I think it's boy season in the ER right now. :-)

I just love whipping out these cozy little wraps for swaddling new babies. There are big curves with minimal cutting, only three pieces, and only a little sewing. I like finishing the edges with bias binding, but the pattern gives instructions for two other easy ways to finish. Now I just need some more fleece for myself and a few other coworkers.

Also, I am really glad that I ordered these cute little personalized "made by" tags from Annie's Catalog. You can't see the embroidery on the tag, there on the right "wing" of the wrap, but they're easy to sew into my project with my name on it.

2013 finishes

Happy New Year!

Time to take stock of what I accomplished for 2013!

The basement room before....

And after! Little J is all moved into his new downstairs room, to make way for new little brother coming in the upstairs bedroom.