What I'm working on

Well, I know that I have been talking about not wanting to start a new project until I finish some of my UFO's, but I needed something new since I had gotten bored with what I was working on. Besides I have gotten several things done lately. So, I was browsing quiltville and came across this Oklahoma Backroads quilt pattern and it spoke to me. I have made 13 blocks so far and am enjoying the process. It looks less wild in the picture than it does in person. I was thinking about not having borders (since I hate putting them on), but I think that it is going to need some just to calm it down a bit. I am thinking that I will make this twin sized for my son when he moves into a big boy bed from his crib. I like the idea of a scrap quilt for this purpose since it will not likely show stains and it will definatly be a quilt that gets used and abused. I am already thinking that I will need to quilt this pretty heavily in order to make it sturdier. One nice thing about this quilt is that it is a stash quilt, coming mostly from scraps. In fact alot of these pieces I are coming from my 2 1/2" squares and strips. I am having to go into my stash for lights though since I seem to have mostly mediums and darks.

In other happenings, I am having baby withdrawls with Alex camping with his grandparents for the weekend. I had forgotten how borring life was before he came along. I was really hoping that Abbie would decide to make her appearance this weekend but so far no luck. I have a feeling she is going to be like her brother and wait until the very last minute to make her appearance.

Clothes for Alex

Well it's a good thing that I worked so much on Alex's coat last week. My parents are taking him camping this weekend and he is going to need warmer clothes. I am pretty sure that he has outgrown the coat he used last winter. I finished the new coat today and also made up a pair of sweatpants since he has outgrown all of his warmer pants. I tried to get him to model the coat today but he wasn't having it.

I am also including a picture that Joe took yesterday. For some reason Alex loves to play with my hat.

In other news Abbie seems to have dropped today. I don't remember Alex doing this but today after my nap Abbie was definatly much lower than she has been. I have an apointment with my OB on Thursday and following that I am getting a massage and some foot reflexology. So, maybe we can convince this little girl that it is time to come out and meet the world.

Happenings

Well, I managed to complete one and a half out of the three goals that I set for myself this week. I just could not make myself work on the king sized quilt. I seem to have a block against working on it. I guess I just need to set it aside for a while and work on something else. I also managed to clean off the quilting machine but have not taken any pictures. I am not going to set any goals for this week because I am really hoping that this baby will decide to make an appearance. I have to work a 12 hour shift tomorrow so maybe that will get things going.

Yesterday a friend threw a joint baby shower for me and another friend that is due about the same time as I am. This was a no gift shower since this is the second baby for both of us, but my family did bring gifts. It was nice to have a chance to socialize with friends, especially since I know that the next three months or so are going to be a big period of adjustment. I know with Alex I didn't really feel normal again until he was about a year old.

Everything is ready here for Abbie to make her appearance. All of the newborn sized clothes are washed, the diapers are washed and ready and today Joe put together the dresser that my parents bought for Abbie. I even washed her quilts (one that I made and one that my Aunt Joanie made for her). Have I mentioned that I hate waiting and that I am not good at surprises. I just want to get this over with. I am sleeping a little better and that is a blessing.

I did manage to get a little quilting related work done today. I had (actually still have, but it is significantly smaller) a pile of scraps sitting on my cutting table from various projects waiting to be cut up a-la Bonnie and I managed to make a good dent in the pile. I haven't used my scraps for much yet (except my strings quilt) but I know that one day I will be able to go into my room and put together a quilt with all of these pieces that I have cut up. I have been focusing on making 2 1/2" strips and squares and probably have enough now for a rather large quilt, all I would really need to add would be a background fabric or lights since I seem to have more mediums and darks than anything else.

I am posting 2 pictures. One is of the wonderful ABC quilt that my Aunt Joanie made for Abbie and the other one is of all of the newborn sized clothes that I have for Abbie. I have only bought three sleepers for her all of the rest were either loaned to me or given to me. If Abbie is anything like her brother, she is going to outgrow the newborn size before she can even wear all of these clothes.

Insomnia productivity

Well I went to the doctor yesterday and she checked me and said I was 1-2 and 70-80% effaced. Progress, but I was hoping for a little more than that. She also said that she thought I would deliver in the next week, but I am not optomistic. At the end of my pregnancy with Alex I had a funny metalic taste in my mouth for about the last 6 days before I delivered and that taste went away as soon as I delivered. Well, yesterday I woke up with that taste in my mouth and was very excited, but it has gone away and I am now dissapointed. It is not that the pregnancy itself is that difficult, it's that I can't sleep and if I am not going to be sleeping I would rather it be because I was getting up with a baby. Also, I am not very good with surprises and this whole I could deliver tomorrow or I could deliver 3 weeks from now thing is driving me nuts.

One good thing about the insomnia is that I have made some progress towards my goals for this week, plus a little extra:

1. Clean off the quilting machine and take a picture so that I can get it listed on ebay.

Well, I have cleaned off the machine and now I just need to go take some pictures before it gets covered in stuff again.

2. Get Alex's coat cut out and start of construction

I am almost done making this coat. It has turned out pretty cute and I can't wait for it to cool down so he can wear it.

3. Put the inner border on the king sized quilt

I haven't done anything towards this goal yet.

Lastly, I cleaned out two large boxes full of clutter from my closet last night. Those boxes had been sitting there since we moved in and it was more than time to get them out. I also have managed to do some laundry and make up some more of the new style diaper wipes (I use cloth diapers, and have started making wipes with terry on one side and flannel on the other). I actually am having alot of fun making the wipes because I have been able to use up some flannel scraps that I had left over from making Alex's diapers and also use up some old towels that have been piling up in the laundry room.

I'll post pictures as soon as I finish Alex's coat.

Joe's Back

Joe got back last night and took today off and watched Alex all day. It was nice to have a day off, but I really didn't get as much done as I had hoped. I did manage to get Alex's coat cut out and start on the construction. I think that it's going to be really cute. The pattern has a problem and with the middle front section, but I think that it is going to be okay in the end.

I saw this quilt on someone else's webshots (sorry I don't remember who it is) and I am dying to make it. I love 30's fabrics and have a rather large collection and I have been looking for a good pattern to use some up. Someone on stashbusters said that they kept a list of 10 ongoing projects and when the finished one project they could add another to the list. I think that this might be a good way so that I can start new projects without feeling guilty. Maybe I will work on that list tomorrow.

Goals

Well I managed to complete all of my goals for last week. Here are my goals for this week:

1. Clean off the quilting machine and take a picture so that I can get it listed on ebay.

2. Get Alex's coat cut out and start of construction

3. Put the inner border on the king sized quilt

I am keeping the goals small because if this baby decides to come I am not going to have any time to sew anyway.

Insomnia

Well the pregnancy insomnia has hit me hard tonight. I went to bed at 10:30 and finally gave up trying to sleep at 3am. Called in sick to work. I am supposed to meet my supervisor today for my annual evaluation. I don't think it looks good to call in sick on your eval day. I did tell them to have her call me and that I would come in for the eval. I feel doubly bad because I took Alex to stay with his grandparents last night so that I could work today. I am sure that my mom won't truly mind. I think that one of the reasons that I couldn't sleep was that Alex wasn't here. I have been with out Joe in the house before, but this is the first night in almost two years that I have been at home and Alex has not been here.

I did manage to be a bit productive tonight. I am putting in some pictures. The two star blocks are the BOM from Quilter's Delight. I am glad to have them done so that if Abbie is born before I can go show them at least one of my firends should be able to bring them in to show and I won't have to pay. The other two blocks are the log cabin variation that I have shown before and the alternate block. It is hard to see in the picture, but the alternate block has a row of the background fabric around the outside and is the same size as the other block. I am not sure that I like this enough to make up a twin sized quilt, but I think that it will make a cute baby quilt. I'll have to let them age a bit. The two piles of hst blocks are the "waste" from making all of the flying geese for the star points of the BOM. I think that I will make some kind of sawtooth border for the final quilt. By the time I have made all 12 blocks I will have 96 hst blocks made for eash quilt. The last picture is of the string blocks that I am using for leader/enders on my machine. I have made 15 of them in the short time since I finished my last string quilt. It has been fun to pull out the string pieces and remember what quilt the original fabric came from.