Finish-A-Long Goals Q1

I have been proudly showing off all of the things I have actually finished lately, but for each one, there is probably 2 things that are unfinished and 10 things in the grand ideas stage. That is how it is for me in this stage of life. One day I will have lots of time to sew, but that day is not today.

However, there are some things that my girls are waiting on, and I want to get them done before they grow up any more than they already have. It would be nice if I could just hit the pause button on that growing stuff while I get some stuff caught up around here, but I can't.

My youngest is almost 2 1/2 and her baby quilt is still not finished. I actually made it larger because I know myself better than that. I want to quilt the top by hand and that will be a great project for winter- snuggling under a warm quilt on cold days!

My 4yo is waiting on a new apron. She has been using her sister's old one, but that one is getting small and is ready to be passed down to the youngest. She wants to match my apron, so I will share pics of both when I get it done.

Last year, my 7yo got a doll bunk bed for Christmas and I let her choose fabric for the sheets and pillowcases. I am also making two sampler block quilts to match and I want to get those finished up, too.

I am linking up with the 2016 Finish-A-Long so that hopefully I will be a bit more motivated to get these things done! I have a lot more unfinished projects, but I am just focusing on these three for now!

Getting Ready for Fall

This summer is really flying by! There has been a lot going on around here.  I have been working on a lot of new things for my etsy shop. I plan on expanding things quite a bit this fall. I am working on some fall decor items...

I finally got some of my bird art pieces listed:

I haven't been sewing much this week since I finished Naomi's quiet book, but I did whip up a crocheted baby hat the other night. I really love these colors together! I think this will be a nice hat for fall.

My crafting time has been drastically reduced now that we are starting to get some veggies out of the garden. We are up to 19 quarts of green beans so far. I think we are a little over halfway there. 

The zucchini is doing very well  now and I hope to add some more zucchini recipes to the blog- if I can manage to snap some pics of zucchini dishes before they are devoured by my hungry little children here.

How is your summer going? 

Sneak Peek ~ A Little Sewing Time in the AC

My sewing machine is in the air conditioning. 

I have really been in the mood to sew a lot lately!

First up, I expanded upon this years' Easter collection:

I made a tie for my very unhappy son who says that polka dots are "girly" but I think it is very classy.  I also made a purse for Grace with scraps from her Little Diva Dress.  She is really into purses right now.  I used the Buttercup Bag pattern, but it came out a little short and funny-shaped this time. Oh, well. Good enough. A 2yo doesn't care.

This is more gluing than sewing, but I am working on some headbands for a very bald little girl I know. ;)

I have also been making more maxi skirts. Tutorials on the way 'cause I have some clever new tricks up my sleeve. I just need more pictures of the final products where I don't need to crop my belly out to post it here. I might have to leave the AC for that one. :P

The biggest project I am working on right now is this jungle themed star quilt.  I pieced it over five years ago! I am machine quilting with multi-colored thread it in these loose, "organic" wavy lines but my new sewing machine is having tension issues. :(

This quilt is also my July goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes.

Finally, some non-sewing.  I made a Pinterest-inspired July 4th cake. I had good intentions of making red, white, and blue layers.

I forgot that my bright yellow, farm fresh egg yolks would affect the cake color...

Oh, well. I am giving myself points for effort. I am enormously pregnant, it feels like it is over 100 degrees out there with this humidity, and I have five kids to take care of here. The fact that I went to the trouble to bake anything down in my kitchen with no AC has got to be worth something!

I hope everyone is having a great holiday weekend! Happy Independence Day!! :D

Sneak Peek in the Studio Friday #3

Lots of crafting this week! I am just plugging away!!! (Guess this is my version of nesting since the more things I finish the closer I am to moving my sewing stuff for Baby#5)

This pretty basket and the quilt it is sitting on (full blog post on the quilt next week when I finish its complimentary doll version)...I LOVE SUNFLOWERS! I finished this embroidery and frame for my etsy shop.I went through a patriotic quilt phase a few years ago. Here is a little one I made and finally did the binding for. I never had navy blue to do it, and never remembered to get any. For the sake of getting something off the pile I used white. I am still thinking about tea-staining the whole thing...

Now on to the newly started things...

Some baskets for a custom order- this is how I flatten out the bottom!

On Saturday afternoon (I have been sewing on Saturdays a lot lately) I made the entire quilt top for my other baby niece (only 7 months old now), but this is all I can reveal because I don't want my sister to see it yet!

I am linking up at StudioJRU's Sneak Peek in the Studio Friday which you can find here. It is a great motivation for me to finish some things to show you all on Fridays! :)

Sneak Peek in the Studio Friday #2

I am taking part in my second Sneak Peek- I was pretty busy last week, so I have extra things to show you all that I have been working on. There are other things, too, but they are either listed in my shop or I don't have pics yet.

A cute kitty taggy blaket for my neice from my pile of things started. She loves tags, but will not play with it. She even threw it down to reach for the tag on a nearby stuffed cat!

Pillows for my hubby. I made the other 2 panels into pillows for my father-in-law for Christmas.

My own Buttercup Bag, modified. A full post on what I did coming soon. LOVE this fabric!

Snowmen. With Baby #5 coming, I have to start now to be able to make any ornaments this fall. I want to have lots of them "ready to assemble"! (And see my daffodils poking up outside!)

My first ever hair bow. I just want to make some for my girls. I figure it will be a lot cheaper and I can make them to match their outfits. I had some pig ribbon cause my 2yo loves pigs!

So, this is some of what I have been up to. I will be linking up HERE!

Psst... make sure you check out this great giveaway going on HERE!

Sneak Peek in the Studio Friday #1

I have been awfully busy this week! I got a lot of craft projects completed that I had started, although I now have some more started that are not completed. Hmm...

First, the finishes...

Decoupage Easter eggs (I wanted to make these last year, but never got around to it)

"Blessings" embroidery- I tried a different technique painting the frame.

A BIG finish for me - well, almost... It took me two years to do the hand quilting on this beauty, but now my quilting lines I marked won't wash out! Here it is soaking in OxiClean (again). That is what I get for procrastinating, I guess.

Now, the started projects...

I can't decide on how I want to do the face for this bunny.

I have to finish the liners for these baskets, but they are still drying.

I made this CUTE Buttercup bag for my daughter, but I want to embellish it somehow with the wee bit of scraps I have left over. I also enlarged the pattern to make a bigger version for myself, I just have to get some magnetic snaps first.

And while I was being productive, my kids were productively messy with things like THIS!

I am linking up to StudioJRU's Sneak Peek in the Studio Friday party!