W.I.P Wednesday

I've made good progress this week. I like having a daytime project vs. a nighttime project to work on. That way I can tell what kind of week I've been having. This week I've been sleeping until the boys wake up, so I've had very little time to work on my latest Quilt of Valor. I have managed to sew all of the blocks into rows during naptime. Now I just need to join them together and add the borders. I think I'm going to have to sacrifice a little couch/cross-stitch time this week to work on the quilt. I really want to finish this one up so I can work on my other W.I.Ps. This is a free pattern called Bricks-RWB designed by Mary Johnson of Mary Quilts. The quilt goes together really quickly, but makes quite a striking quilt.

I am very pleased with the progress I've made on H's Christmas stocking! Every morning when he comes downstairs he asks to see what his stocking looks like. Needless to say, that little extra pressure has given me the drive to work on it a little bit every night, even if it's just one row. Maybe I need to have someone in the military call me everyday and ask about the progress I've made on my Quilt of Valor!

Here's a picture of Santa's tummy:

I can't wait to finish this! I think it's going to be so cute!

I'm linking up over at Freshly Pieced for W.I.P Wednesday. Won't you join me? If you're like me and have some projects that need finishing, W.I.P Wednesday really helps you accomplish your goals!

Until next time, have a great day!

W.I.P. Wednesday

Oh, it's been a long time since I've done one of these posts! I'm hoping if I get back into doing these it will inspire me to work on my projects. I really need to clean out my sewing space especially of the WIPs!

I'm still plugging along on my Quilt of Valor. I haven't made as much progress as I would have liked, but slow and steady wins the race!

I try to do most of my quilting in the morning before everyone else wakes up and if there is time in the afternoon while little G naps. At night, after the boys go to sleep, I like to do handwork. That way I can spend a little time with my handsome hubby on the couch. It is a little too messy in the sewing cave currently for him to spend time with me in the basement (hanging head in shame).

I started this cross-stitch Christmas stocking for H this week. I was going to make quilted stockings for the boys, but I fell in love with cross stitch again last year and subsequently Shepherd's Bush's stockings. I'm making Harry's stocking for H and Thomas's stocking for G. Won't these be beautiful over the fireplace I WILL own one day??

The pattern is pretty easy, but these babies are huge! I'm hoping that since I'm starting in January at least one of them will be finished this year. H really wants his stocking, so I'm getting lots of encouragement/nagging from him. I think I'm going to have to get some of these labels for these stockings!

Sometime this week I need to sew the binding onto another Quilt of Valor. Saturday I'm going to the Mother Seton Parish Quilting Angels meeting and I want to turn this in. I really want to work on the cross stitch in the evening but, I will have to start sewing on the binding tonight if I'm going to finish it by Saturday. Oh well! It will feel really good to finish a project and get it off of my couch downstairs!

I'm joining in the fun at Freshly Pieced today, won't you join me?

Friday Night Sew-in Results

Well, I wasn't as productive as I wanted to be, but I did make some progress on my latest Quilt of Valor.

I'm using this great pattern from Mary Johnson for this one. It is a very simple block that comes together quickly, but the magic happens in it's arrangement. If you are in need of a quick project I highly recommend this pattern! While obviously I'm working with red, white and blue, I think any combination of colors would be beautiful!

My fabulous husband has taken the boys to the local Children's Museum for an afternoon of fun, so I'm off to work on the quilt top. I'm hoping to make some real progress today! Oh, and clean up my sewing space. It's an embarrassment!

January Friday Night Sew-in

It's the first Friday Night Sew-in of the year, and I'm so happy to be participating! I made dinner for the boys and headed down to the basement to work on my latest Quilt of Valor. I would love to be able to show you a picture of it, but my camera's battery died. I'll have to show you a picture of my progress later.

Hope everyone else has a great time sewing! It's cold and snowy here, so it's perfect for quilting!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to you from my little family to yours!

I'll be back soon to show you the pajama pants I made for the boys this year!

May you and your family enjoy all the many blessings of the season!

Me and Larry David

There is this hilarious story that Larry David tells about quitting Saturday Night Live. He was frustrated that the skits he wrote weren't being produced, so one day he yelled "I quit" to the producers and walked out of the offices. He reconsidered over the weekend and taking a friend's advice, he went back to work on Monday like nothing ever happened. To his amazement, everyone else acted like nothing happened too.

So, that's what I'm going to do about my unplanned, prolonged blogging break. I'm just going to pretend I've been here the whole time the last six months (I can't believe it's been six months!). You don't want to hear my excuses anyway. Very boring...

I did however finish a project while I was gone...kind of. I finished the cross-stitch, isn't it cute?

 The problem is I took the advice of the shop owner who said the linen I was stitching on was a little short so I should start stitching two inches down from the top. This was not a good idea because I have no room at the top and lots of excess room at the bottom which makes it very hard to frame. I talked to a custom framer who said they could do it for $250. Yeah, I have two kids, a mortgage, and a fabric addiction. I will never spend $250 on a frame!! So long story short, I'm now turning this cutie into a pillow. Which is great except my finished project has suddenly become a WIP. Especially considering I have no idea how to go about doing this, but I'm sure I'll figure it out. Oh well, I wouldn't know what to do with myself if I completed a Christmas project by Halloween. That's just not my style!

One Row Down...

and a pretty good start on the second!

Isn't the fruitcake the cutest?

Speaking of Fruitcake, is it strange that it's looking a little like Christmas around here? It must have something to do with the weather (the temperature will be 100 around these parts today) that is putting me in the mood for a cold weather holiday. When I was choosing a project to take with me this past Saturday to the DCMQG sewing day I knew I needed to take one of my WIPs. While there were plenty to choose from, I found myself drawn to my Fruitcake quilt that I started last year. I made six more blocks to add to the collection.

I have found myself daydreaming about cuddling under this quilt this Christmas with some cocoa and a child (or two) to keep me company. We'll see how that works out for me...

I just love these snowmen!

While I've enjoyed my little bit of Christmas sewing I think it's time to get back to the baby quilts! I will keep working on my Christmas cross stitch in the evenings though. That is too much fun to be put away!