I'm still here, I promise!

Ok, my updating is getting worse and worse instead of better, but I blame my body. I am currently 35 weeks into my pregnancy, have been having contractions since Monday afternoon, am on medication to stop said contractions, and am generally physically quite miserable. At my ultrasound last week, the baby was estimated to be around 6 lbs 8 oz, which certainly explains my discomfort!

His nursery is finally done and ready for him, even if he still has to share it with my quilting frame for the time being. Its ok anyway, as he'll be sleeping in a bassinet in our room for the first couple of months. About the only thing we need now is a glider/rocking chair & ottoman for late night nursing. And a baby. But things are pointing towards him arriving fairly soon, possibly by the end of next week.

I have 3 commissions to get cracking on. Fortunately they are all for friends and family, so they understand that it will be a little bit before I can get them completed. One is partway there, as I was able to get the materials and get started back in February, but the other two aren't so lucky. Another fortunate thing- it's heading towards summer, so the quilts aren't as urgent as they could be.

Things are changing, wish us luck! =)

Success!

One quilt down, 8 more to go!

I was able to complete Victorian Lullabye today. In the immediate future, this pretty little crib-size quilt is headed to the Boy's & Girl's Club to accompany Sailor Boy Green in their spring auction. Afterwards, one of them will return to my Etsy shop.

I got the top nearly complete and realized I didn't have any single piece of fabric that would be big enough for the backing, so I decided to do a pieced back. I don't generally do them, as I struggle getting them lined up properly, but I'm very happy with how this one turned out.

I quilted it using a meandering loopy 'pattern' that ends up resulting in a densely quilted piece which is far sturdier for a kid's quilt. I also machine stitch the bindings for durability. Art quilts always get a hand-finished binding, though.

On the baby front, we're in the countdown. Approximately 9 weeks left until his expected arrival, but as anyone who has had a baby knows, they come when they're good & ready. We're closer to getting his nursery completed, and hopefully can paint next weekend. Poor kid will have to share his room with my quilt frame for a little bit longer, though, since I won't be able to paint the concrete floor in my work room until after he's born. I'll post photos when it's complete.

My poor blog...

It has been so neglected recently! Between exhaustion from the pregnancy and working full time at the firm (I'm an accountant, it's tax season, you do the math), my mom visiting for almost 3 weeks (not exactly tiring, as she did a lot to help around the house, but didn't get to visit near as much as I wanted to, thanks to the previously mentioned exhaustion), trying to keep the house clean for myriad visits (Super Bowl- now we know Who Dat!, baby shower, UFC fight nights), trying to spend more time with my daughter & husband, I just haven't had time to sew or to keep up on posting here!

Well, yesterday I was determined to accomplish something. I currently have 2 commissions, fortunately neither one has a hard deadline. One is in progress, the other I picked up the fabric for yesterday. One of the local machine/fabric shops has a special shopping day once a month, so I always try to get over there to see what the deals are that day. I managed to pick up everything I need (I hope) for the second commission, a twin-size Sunlight & Shadows quilt, so will start that as soon as I finish the crib-size Woven Ribbons variation quilt I'm currently working on.

Country Fences (in progress)

I also have a twin-size Rail Fence ready to be quilted, along with 2 baby quilts (one for the shop, one as a gift) and Hawaiian Punch, a block of the month mystery quilt, that's been hanging out since April, waiting to be quilted. Then there's the 2nd quilt for the Boys & Girls Club spring auction that needs to be finished by the end of March, and another block of the month mystery quilt (that isn't such a mystery anymore) that has been languishing even longer than Hawaiian Punch.

Hawaiian Punch (in progress)

No UFO's here, I don't know what you're talking about! :-) It does bode well for my shop, however, once I can get items completed & listed.

This morning, I decided to break down & set up the quilting frame, because I'll never get all these quilts finished without it. I've been holding off, hoping to get the flooring in my workroom, but it's looking like it won't get done until the summer (when I can figure out how to install porcelain tile- Whee!). So I went ahead & set it up in the baby's room. It's the only other room that has the space for it, and where I can close the door to keep fur to a minimum. Baby can share his room for a little bit.

These next three months are going to both drag and go by so fast. So much preparation left to do for baby's arrival!

Sewing Saturday

My New Year's resolution isn't about eating healthier (although we are trying), or exercising more regularly (although the doc did give me the ok to do so again), but about actually spending time working on my shop in order to build it into the viable business that I wanted 4 years ago.

This is a hard thing to do, since I am an accountant (this is the start of tax season after all), and work is an hour commute each way. So during the week, my sewing machine doesn't get much love. On the weekends, however, I try to spend a few hours each day either organizing, cutting or sewing. Yesterday, Sammie took over my studio for a few hours, working on Pearler bead projects, and starting another quilt.

I'm teaching her about strip and chain piecing now, and she's doing a fabulous job. Her seams are getting much straighter and much more consistent, and her four-patch blocks are lining up properly! I think I've created another monster... Ok, so she's been a monster since the day she was born, but now she's got the same sewing bug that plagues the rest of the women in the family.

I was able to get a quilt top mostly finished, another gift baby quilt. Mom doesn't think skulls can be girly, and dad isn't a fan of pink. So they're getting a pink, girly skull quilt and matching pacifier- I just couldn't resist! (And I hope they're not reading this blog- that would ruin the surprise!)

I'll post the quilt top once it's finished. Now I just need to find pink or purple camouflage fabric for the border, back & binding, and we're done! The princess is due in about 3 weeks, I believe, so I have plenty of time. Wasn't aiming for it to be done before she was born, at least, so that's helpful!

Today I plan to make a second quilt top that matches this one, but it will be bordered with a guitar print fabric I found- it's name will be 'Punk Rock Princess' and will find itself in my Etsy shop, which has been sorely lacking in new product since our move. I also have 6 other UFOs hiding in my studio, I hope to finish off one more quilt top that just needs borders, and start on a second.

Hopefully I'll have my flooring installed soon (or at least before the baby is born), so that I can get my quilt frame set up. The UFOs I have will all need to be finished on the frame- I just can't (wo)manhandle them through my other machine.

Maybe later during the week I should gather photos of my projects completed in 2009 and make my Year in Fabric post, like so many other quilting bloggers have been doing. It sure helps one feel better about progress when you can see them all in one place.

Community Service Quilts

Last spring my daughter's elementary school held a community service night with various projects being worked on, including Packages From Home for the soldiers fighting overseas, and a quilt project to be donated to nursing homes in the area.

Since Bug & I couldn't attend the project night, I volunteered to assemble the quilts. Of course, what I didn't plan on was moving, getting hurt, having 3 baby quilts to finish in a month & a half after moving, and then getting pregnant myself!

Yesterday I finally finished up the third of the quilts- I had only been asked to make make one, but was given batting for two, and there were plenty of squares left to make a slightly smaller third quilt. They go back to the school tomorrow (I had hoped for last Monday, the first day after winter break, but couldn't pull it off)

I think she'll be pleased, as will the final recipients.