works in progress, and a lot of hot air

Xander's quilt is finally pieced and ready to be quilted, but he insisted he wants it for Christmas (I swear that middle children are the weirdest, with apologies to my brother) so I've kept busy doing little bits of other things. I made a few squares for my soon-to-be-born niece, Willow Rae, using some Far, Far, Away II as my centerpieces:

Ever since I cleared out all the newborn-ish clutter from Mal's room, it's been looking pretty pathetic and sparse. I mean, I've never been the type to stress out that my kid's rooms don't look like something from Apartment Therapy or Ohdeedoh (mostly because I have boys and I can't even get them to keep their rooms clean, let alone CUTE) but really, his room was just sort of boring and depressing. So I finally, after about two years, made myself hang up his alphabet cards I bought him when I was still pregnant. AND I made this paper mache hot air balloon that I ended up liking so much that I'm planning a whole flotilla of different sized balloons to go with it. He loves it, although it angers him sometimes that he can't actually play with it.

 I have a few other projects in the works, but I don't want to spoil any surprises soooo...again I must say NO PICTURES FOR NOW.

And I leave you with this question...has anyone else ever canceled a blog subscription based solely on the author's bad spelling and grammar? Yeah, yeah, it's probably just me. I think I might have a problem being too uptight about people knowing how to speak English.

too many ideas. not enough time (or money).

Take a gander at this. I know loads of people have been anxiously awaiting Anna Maria's new line of fabric (and naturally, I am one of them) but for me this picture is like the holy grail of what I want in my closet right now. Cute dress WITH SLEEVES??? Awesome anthropologie tights? Mmm-hmmm. And the red shoes??! I could die right now. 

Unfortunately, I just spent WAY too much money on fabric for quilts (and a new textbook for Ilya, and this book for myself, um, yeah, I have issues this week) so for now, fun and quirky outfits like this will have to stay a little pipe dream in the back of my head.

 *******

In other news, I'm nearly finished with both Xander's quilt and my mom's mermaid painting. More pics to come upon completion. Ticking things off my to-do list always makes me do a happy little jig--at least as long as no one is looking. 

Happy Wednesday.

xoxo

{busy}

A few weeks ago we returned from a great trip to California (if you're interested you can pop on over to my other blog to check out the pics) and ever since we returned I feel like I've been in a whirlwind of activity.

First of all, school started, and MAN has that totally changed my whole routine. I guess I just didn't take into consideration that adding a Kindergartner, taking on several more subjects, and trying to avoid being climbed on by Mr. Needy One-Year-Old during lessons would put such a huge cramp in my free time. But boy howdy. I spend hours at the table up there, staring at those pencils and that stack of books, daydreaming of a month ago when I had all the time in the world to crank out projects like nobody's business. Oh well. If there's one thing I've learned from life so far is that things almost never go back to the way they were, so it's best to just get over it and move on. 

The result of all this busyness, other than the obvious deceleration of production, has been an indifference toward this blog. I mean, what do I put on here now? 

"Today I cleaned up eggs off the floor while trying to keep the baby away, all while drilling Xander on the difference between a parallelogram and a rhombus!"

What? That's not interesting?? Well, it does say "jenn of all trades" up there. I just forgot to draw a picture of a crazed homeschool mom on my banner. 

Okay. Well I did do a few things recently. First of all....drumroll please...I FINALLY sewed the last bit of my wing back chair (the cushion) so that it is now officially DONE. Here are some pics of the process:

Huh? Huh? Whaddya think?? Do I have a future as a re-upholsterer or what?

Also, this past weekend we had another meeting of the Tampa Modern Quilt Guild, where one of our members, Gayle, showed us how to make fabric postcards. It was a little hectic because we had two little ones underfoot but it was still nice to get together and work on crafty stuff together. I started a big one (not postcard sized) that looks awful right now so NO PICS FOR YOU. I did do this little one the other day, it's still not finished and I'm not sure I like it but hey. 

Also, since the team from our church is heading over to Swaziland next week, I've finally been able to start working on my middle son's long-promised quilt. He knew I couldn't start it until the Swaziland madness was over and done and he was very patient, but it was time. I had a nice quilting break but now I'm back in the saddle again. I just go a LOT slower now. 

I hate the way this picture came out but oh well. His request was for a quilt with rockets, that was red and had blue in it, too. Since that seemed a little garish I decided to throw in some charcoal and ash and the result was a little more pleasing. 

My friend Elizabeth made a quilt top for her friend Carly, who was in a bad accident recently, and she asked me if I could quilt it for her. I started it today and came THIS CLOSE to finishing, but I broke four needles today and now I'm out. So aggravating. And it's not like I can just pop on over to Jo Ann Fabric in my imaginary car and get some more. I think God is trying to teach me patience today cause I about tore my hair out over that.

Oh yeah, and Heather over at A La Mode Fabric invited me to join round 2 of the Quilt As You Go project. I was flattered to be invited, so of course I said yes. Have I actually done anything yet? 

Try to guess. 

xoxo

Why I make my own

Rachel over at Stitched in Color asked the question: why make your own?

So I'm answering this question for you, for myself, and for the giant ear that is lurking around the corner listening.

I make things because I want to. I am compelled to. I can't NOT make things. Sometimes I make a thing because I wonder if I can, sometimes it's because I want something that I made to be part of my space. Sometimes I make things for other people because I'm not very good at expressing how I feel. So I make them something that takes me forever, hand it to them, and run away all embarrassed and hope they understand what it means.

I sew things because I have a sewing machine. Because I love fabric and most of all because my mom took the time to teach me how to sew when I was a little girl.

I write music that nobody but God and possibly my husband will hear, because I figure if God puts a song in my heart then I'd better at least write it down and practice it a little. Even if I perform it to a crowd of one, sitting in my bedroom feeling slightly foolish and hoping the neighbors can't hear me.

I write stories that a few people might read, because it's fun and I secretly harbor the desire to be a good writer, even though I know in all likelihood I won't be. Ever.

I paint and draw and doodle because sometimes my hands just itch to. Because I have blank walls to fill. Because I love a good painting or drawing or print.

I've been doing this for as long as I can remember. I've always been into DIY, making things out of nothing, giving my parents little drawings and handmade cards, baking them things while I was home alone so there would be something yummy for them to come home to. And now as a wife and mom, I make cards and bake goodies and design t-shirts and sew monsters because I know those things mean more than something I picked up at Target, even if they cost more to make, even if they don't look as polished as something spit out of a Chinese factory. They are somethings I put my own time and thought and effort into.

Mostly I make and do things because I feel like if God gave me even the slightest gift, the least I can do is use it. To bless others, or just to bless Him. And I hope that's what I do.