WIP Wednesday

All my dreams of sewing this past long weekend never happened.  I was just too busy cooking, eating, and visiting with out-of-town friends.  As much fun as it was, I'm starting to get a little nervous about my lack of progress on my tree skirt.  Fortunately, my tree still looks like this! 

We bought it Saturday, but we still don't even have the lights on it!  Hopefully Hubby can get up to the attic tonight!  We'll see though, we have a dinner guest this evening, so probably not!  Oh well, at least it smells like Christmas in here!

I'm THIS close to finishing a Christmas project from last year.  All I have to do is handsew the binding to the back.  Why do I let my projects get to that point then stop?  I always feel so dumb when I do that!  I think one of my New Year's Resolutions is going to be if I get a project to the point of handsewing the binding, I have to finish it!!  Ridiculous!  Here's a sneak peek:

I'll hopefully have some finished shots for you tomorrow!

How is everyone else doing with their holiday sewing?  I'm sure there is a lot of holiday sewing taking place at Lee's, go check it out!

WIP Thursday...The Thanksgiving Edition.

Things have been crazy busy around here lately!  For the first time, we our having dinner at our house just the four of us and we can't wait!  The smell of the turkey is starting to fill the house and it is almost too much to take!  Needless to say there hasn't been a lot of sewing going on the past couple of days between shopping, baking pies, and making turkeys.

However, I have made another square for the tree skirt.  Yeah, clearly my piecing skills leave a lot to be desired, but I'm hoping once it's quilted and under the tree the mismatched seams won't be so noticeable.  Besides, it's for us and we don't care if it's not perfect!

I have a lot to be thankful for this year!  My health, my lovely home, my wonderfully supportive and loving husband.  Mostly, I'm so grateful for my little turkeys!

I hope everyone here in the States has a very happy, safe Thanksgiving.  Also, if you're going to do the Black Friday thing, be careful!  I'm too chicken, I'm staying home and sewing!

Friday Night Sew in Results

Well, I wasn't able to do as much as I wanted, but I did get quite a bit accomplished this evening.  I finished sewing my first block for the tree skirt and I love it and so does my husband!  We are both so excited to have a tree skirt this year!  Since we've been sharing a home we have wrapped the base of our tree with an old blanket from Ikea.  Well, not this year!

Sorry for the horrible pictures!  It's late and my sewing space is in the basement, so this is the best I could do.  I was also able to cut out one more block which really speeds up the process. 

While sewing this evening I decided that this is not the best project to work on while sewing with the guild.  I, like most people I'm sure, usually end up talking more than sewing when I go to these meetings.  While this isn't a hard block to sew if I'm not paying attention, I'll sew it together incorrectly.  I learned this the hard way tonight when I had to take out the seam ripper twice because I was paying too much attention to HBO and not enough to my sewing!  All of that to say, tomorrow I'm working on my Fruitcake quilt.  At the rate I'm going I just might have a Christmas quilt this year!

So not a bad night of sewing considering I stopped in the middle to brush teeth, read bedtime stories, and make Cranberry Orange Bread.  Now I'm off to bed because it is way past my bedtime and I have an early, busy day tomorrow!

Hope everyone else had a successful night!

Friday Night Sew in

It's here again!  How is that possible?  The months go by quicker and quicker!  Tonight's post will be super fast because I have a really busy, jam packed quilty Saturday planned.  First, I am going to meet with the Quilting Angels for the blessing of the quilts they have made this year (I'm too new, I haven't completed anything yet), and then I'm rushing off to meet with the DC Modern Quilt Guild for a sewing day.  Needless to say, I can't wait!

Tonight I'm going to cut out pieces for my tree skirt to sew together tomorrow with the guild.  I'm hoping cutting out the pieces ahead of time will make the process go faster!  I only have about a week before Christmas tree season!  Wish me luck!

Is anyone else sewing tonight? 

WIP Wednesday

How is it possible that it's Wednesday already?  I can't believe we are so close to the end of the year!  Before I know it, I'll be thinking about my New Year's Resolutions!

This past week has been absolutely crazy!  All three of the men in my life were sick this weekend.  I don't know who was more pitiful, my 10 month old, my two year old or my 35 year old!  Fortunately, they are all doing a lot better!  Sadly, that meant I didn't get a whole lot accomplished as far as sewing.  This weekend I was pretty exclusively a laundress, chef and nurse.  :(

I did start working on my Christmas projects which has been fun.  I sewed a couple of blocks for the Fruitcake quilt.  I know I say it everytime, but I just love this fabric line!  If I don't finish until after Christmas I think I can safely leave it out after the holiday.  I will think of this as more of a winter quilt than Christmas!

I also started cutting out my tree skirt.  (The link takes you to Tallgrass Prairie Studio.  The tutorial for the Starry Forest tree skirt is located towards the bottom of the page on the right side, if you are interested in a sneak peek.)  My husband has been hinting lately how much he would like it if we had one this year, so I think that's going to be the top priority for now.  We always get our tree the weekend after Thanksgiving, so I'm sure I won't finish it by the weekend after next, but I intend to try!

Sorry for the awful pics, but the combination of a late night and basement lighting doesn't equal good photography!
The only progress I made on stockings was buying an ugly, cheap one from Target to trace for a stocking shape.  I think I'll start working on these when the tree skirt is finished.

That's it for me!  Now that everyone is starting to feel a little healthier I'm hoping to fit in a little more sewing time this week especially this weekend.  Stop by Lee's to see what everyone else has been up to this week.  It's always so inspiring!

Sunday Stash Report

Well, I have a pretty boring stash report this week.  I've been sewing, but I still can't count anything out.  The good news is, I haven't added anything.  I don't have any chance of being in the black before the end of the year, but with Christmas around the corner I really want to keep my fabric spending as close to zero as possible.  It is so easy to overspend this time of year, so I think fabric should be an easy thing to cut out.  I have a handfull of Christmas projects I want to make for my family, and I will only buy fabric if I need it to finish a project.  Honestly, I probably have enough Christmas fabric to sew for at least 3 families!  :)

That being said I have set all of my current WIPS aside to work on Christmas items for my family.  My objective today is to start cutting out the pieces for a tree skirt.  My husband has said twice this weekend that he would love for us to have a tree skirt this year (subtle, isn't he?).  We always get our tree the weekend after Thanksgiving, so I have to get working!

Yesterday I pulled out the squares I was working on earlier this year for a Christmas quilt.

I just love this line!  I'm not sure I'll be able to finish this before Christmas, but it is fun to pull these out and work on a couple at a time!  Hurst is really into snowmen lately, so he loves it!  I don't want to put too much pressure on myself, but it would so nice for him to be able to cuddle up in this quilt this season...

Has anyone else been bitten by the Christmas sewing bug yet?  I usually try to wait until after Thanksgiving, but I'm too excited this year!

Onto the numbers:

Used this week: 0 yards
Used YTD: 34.75 yards
Added this week: 0 yards
Added YTD: 137.75 yards
Net Added YTD: 103 yards

As I said, no chance of ending the year in the black, but Christmas sewing from my stash should help!

To see how everyone else is doing, head over to Judy's.

WIP Wednesday

I am so thrilled to be participating in WIP Wednesday on it's one year anniversary!  It has been such a pleasure keeping up with everyone this past year!  Congrats Lee, you've come a long way baby!!

It is this time of year that I start getting in panic mode about Christmas.  I've decided this year not to do it!  That's it, you heard it here...not going to do it.

I've decided to not pressure myself about sewing Christmas presents this year.  The people in my life will be just as happy with something from a store as with a homemade gift.

I am however, hoping to sew up a whole bunch of stuff to celebrate the season for MY family.  Stockings, a tree skirt, pillows and maybe even finish my first Christmas quilt.

So for now all of my other WIPS, with the exception of my Kaleidoscope (I'm determined to finish that before the end of the year) and at least one stocking for Stockings for Kids, are going to be set aside.

This stack of lovely fabrics, mostly from Michael Miller's Funky Christmas, will be used to make a tree skirt.  I wanted to do this last year and it didn't work out, so hopefully I'll have time this year.

My favorite print from Funky Christmas.  I think it will make the perfect stocking for little Graham. 

This little stack of lovelies from Riley Blake will be for my stocking.  I think I might have to pull a little green from the stash, but other than that I think this will work nicely.  I'm thinking about using this tutorial.

Lastly, here are the Fruitcake blocks.  I started this earlier this year and then set it aside for more pressing projects.  It's just a simple framed square block made from a jelly roll and a charm pack, should be easy enough to complete!  I think Hurst will love this!  Lately, he is obsessed with snowmen!

Sorry to be in Christmas mode already, but it is the most wonderful time of the year!  I'm already so excited for it to get here.  I started teaching Hurst how to sing Jingle Bells yesterday and he's almost got it!

To see what others in blogland are doing to keep themselves busy, head over to Lee's.

To blog or not to blog...

I have been driving myself crazy the past few weeks debating whether or not to continue this blog.  I haven't been posting much recently because frankly I haven't been sewing a whole lot.  Also, when I do have some free time I feel like I should sew instead of blog.  However, being really honest, lately I'm so exhausted the only thing I feel like doing is looking at blogs and admiring others work, hoping that one day I'll have the energy to quilt again!

The main culprits for my sleep deprivation:

These two little angels!  While they are adorable and have so many other wonderful qualities, they do. not. sleep.EVER!  To make matters worse, we live in a tiny urban home, so my darlings are now sharing a room.  I'm literally up with one or both of them at least 5 times a night!  Don't get me wrong I love my children more than anything!  My husband and I had to wait a long time to have our first child, so having two little boys has been a dream come true for both of us!  But now, we dream about sleeping, and sending them off to college (just kidding...kind of)  :)

The more I thought about my blog though, the more I realized I'd really miss it if I stopped.  I don't have a ton of followers, but I have to admit when someone comments on one of my posts I'm absolutely thrilled!  I love sending my thoughts and pictures out into the great unknown and having someone respond to it!  There really is nothing else like it.

So, long story short, I'm sticking around.  Please be patient with me while my little family and I work through these growing pains.  I know we will make it through this, it's just going to take a little time!

I can only hope that as I find more time to sew and spend more time with my awesome local quilting groups (this one and this one) I will be back to blogging more regularly in no time!

Take care everyone and thanks for listening! 

By the way, I have reached two milestones recently: my one year blogging anniversary and writing my 100th post.  For those of you that love a giveaway (who among us doesn't?), be on the look out for one soon!