Wednesday, February 29, 2012

WIP Wednesday: The 'Isn't She Lovely' Edition

Not only have I officially survived my first week back at work, but I have a finish to share with you!  My Matriochka Doll Mini Quilt is done and I LOVE her!


I tried free motion quilting for the second time ever on this mini quilt and it was not without issue. I wanted to quilt bubbles. This led to a heck of a lot of thread ends to cut - two for each circle! I wonder if there is a way to avoid this? I feel like there should be but I have no idea what it might be!


Tension was also a problem. I tried to adjust it without success. I used a different colour thread for the bobbin in order to match the backing fabric and this made the tension issues quite apparent. I'm not too proud to show you the back.

If you click the image to make it larger, you will see that the blue thread is showing on the yellow side. I couldn't fix this, although I tried a number of different tension settings. I think my starter Kenmore just isn't made for FMQ. Luckily, this particular quilt is a wall hanging so no one is going to see the back!

I decided to draw on the face rather than embroider it. My hand sewing skills just aren't that good and I wanted this quilt finished and hanging in my office quickly.  I think her face is very pretty. I used nail polish for her lips and cheeks.


Other than finishing this quilt (tonight!) the only sewing I got done this week was continuing to hand sew the binding for my sampler quilt. It's taking forever! I really hope to finish it up this week, but my weekend is jam packed so who knows if I'll find time for it.

And now...for my weekly status report:

WIP status report
Farmer's Wife QAL - no progress
Sew. Happy. Quilt. QAL - no progress - nine completed, I'm now TWO WEEKS BEHIND! Eek!
We Bee Learning Bee - March block was just posted but I haven't given it any thought yet.
Sampler Quilt class @ The Workroom - binding is in progress
Wonky Log Cabin Placemats - no progress - 2.5 of 4 quilted
Levi's Growth Chart - no progress, but embroidering is halfway done!
Levi's Bed Quilt - on hold until I settle on a pattern
3 x 6 Bee - no progress but I've cut the pieces for half the blocks
Office Matriochka Mini Quilt - DONE AS DINNER! Hooray!

As always, I'm linking up with WIP Wednesdays at Freshly Pieced and the Canadian Needle and Thread Network. Do take the time to check out what my talented internet friends are working on. There's so much inspiration just waiting for you!

EDITED to add link to TGIFF, my first Friday Finish!

Thursday, February 23, 2012

We Aren't Robots

Have you noticed recently that leaving comments on Blogger blogs has become more aggravating? The new word verification widget that Blogger implemented is crazy making! I have often had to refresh two or three times in order to be able to decipher the words well enough to enter them correctly. So very frustrating. So, I was thrilled to read M-R's post on Quilt Matters yesterday explaining the change and MORE IMPORTANTLY, linking up to explanations for how to undo word verification. Blogger hasn't made it easy, let me tell you! The new interface doesn't have an option for turning verification off.

Lucy from Charm About You wrote about her frustration and even created a blog button to draw attention to the issue. So did Claire over at Sewing Over Pins.   They also explain why spam shouldn't be a concern so both posts are worth reading. But even better: both posts link to instructions for turning word verification off. Hallelujiah! The last thing I want to do is discourage people from commenting on my blog and really, how many times are you willing to retry entering words before throwing your hands in the air and giving up?!
Charm About You

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

WIP Wednesday: The Beyond Exhausted Edition

Okay, seriously people, please tell me this gets easier! Today was my first day back at work and I feel like I've been hit by a truck. Levi welcomed me back to the working world by waking up three times last night: at midnight, 2ish. and 5. Putting him back in his crib after the 5 a.m. feed doesn't work, but if we keep him in our bed, he is able to fall back asleep. In theory, this means that Kivi and I also get some more shut eye. In reality, Levi's snuffling and mewling allows me to doze but not sleep soundly. Boooo! After picking him up at daycare and arriving home at 6, it's a rush to get him fed, bathed and into bed for 7. I'd be happy to keep him up longer but he is totally exhausted by then and begging for sleepy time. Thank goodness I made meals for the week on Sunday.

My level of tiredness tonight does not bode well for my sewing projects, not one bit. Tonight I hope to finish hand sewing the binding of my sampler quilt while watching Survivor. There is just no way I could manage cutting or piecing.

On a positive note, I BOOKED MY ROOM FOR SEWING SUMMIT! I am sooooooo excited. Is anyone else going??? I need a roommate!

Haven't heard of Sewing Summit? That's fair, it's only in its second year. It's a sewing and blogging conference for modern sewists and all of your favorite quilt bloggers will be there. There are classes and parties and SWAG. Woot!  Check out all the deets here and then sign up!

And now for this week's progress update.  I don't have any new photos so I'm recycling a few. You understand, right? New working Mom and all.

WIP status report
Farmer's Wife QAL - no progress
Sew. Happy. Quilt. QAL - no progress - nine completed
We Bee Learning Bee - February block is done and in the mail
Sampler Quilt class @ The Workroom - quilting is done, binding is in progress



Wonky Log Cabin Placemats - 2.5 of 4 quilted
Levi's Growth Chart - embroidering is halfway done!
Levi's Bed Quilt - on hold until I settle on a pattern
3 x 6 Bee - I've cut the pieces for half the blocks
NEW! Office Matriochka Mini Quilt - paper piecing is done but I'm out of batting so won't be able to work on this again until the weekend.



As always, I'm linking up with WIP Wednesdays at Freshly Pieced and the Canadian Needle and Thread Network.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Behold the Cuteness


Isn't she lovely? She still needs her face embroidered on, of course, and then to be quilted and bound, but I'm just tickled pink at how well this mini is turning out! It was definitely the right choice to start again and use primary colours. It was so fun to make I'm tempted to keep going and make a larger wall hanging with maybe four blocks. Maybe one day but for now I want to finish this girl up over the weekend and get her hanging in my office.

I'm terrible at drawing so I'm waiting to enlarge the photo from the pattern and trace her face. I guess that's a benefit of returning to work: easy access to a photocopier (not that I advocate photocopying on your employer's dime - we have expense accounts)!

I'm linking up with Fabric Tuesday today (see my sidebar for the link).


Monday, February 20, 2012

Matriochka Doll Take Two

When I saw the beautiful paper pieced Matriochka doll that Heather of alamode made last week, I knew that this would make the perfect mini quilt to hang in my office. I want to have something on the wall at work that will remind me of my maternity leave and all of the creative endeavours I accomplished. My parents have two sets of these traditional Russian nesting dolls. One set depicts a peasant woman and the other is a bourgeois woman. My father traveled a lot for work when we were younger and I believe that both sets were purchased during trips to Moscow.

I bought the pattern on Friday and Levi and I went to Kinkos today to enlarge it to a 12x12 block. I started piecing the block this afternoon.  After finishing the third of five parts, I realized that I'd chosen a focal fabric that was mainly white and that it wasn't really standing out because I was also using white as my background. I also hadn't paid close enough attention to directional prints.  I hemmed and hawed...should I keep going to start again?

It should come as no surprise that I decided to start again. Perfectionist much?  I'm using more traditional colours for this version of my Russian stacking doll. My new plan used a midnight blue background, red scarf, green dress and yellow coat. I hope to finish it by end of day tomorrow.

**********

It's Family Day here in Ontario, which meant that Kivi was home from work and Levi wasn't at daycare. Kivi had some work to do so he set up a barricade to try and keep Levi out of the den.

This box is full of CDs and too heavy for Levi to move out of the way.

Levi wasn't thrilled. Until Mommy came over to play with him, that is.  Hooray!


Sunday, February 19, 2012

Weekend Snapshots

A glimpse of our weekend...
  • Learning the joys of daycare: green snot and goopy eyes. I knew these were coming our way when a couple of the kids in Levi's group were sporting these symptoms last week.  Gunk coming out of your baby's eye is the definition of gross!
  • Levi's first taste of peanut butter: he LOVES it. He licked the crackers clean and ignored everything else on his plate. Then I dipped his green bean in peanut butter. S'okay though, because he's fallen off his growth curve again and we've been instructed to add fat to his diet wherever we can. 
  • A new MacBook Pro! My Macbook was almost five years old and had seen me through a lot, but it's battery stopped holding a charge a couple months ago and I was seeing that spinning beach ball more and more. These past few days it became clear that the day when it would no longer boot would soon be upon us and so off to the Apple store we went. This baby is a beauty and oh so fast!
  • Cutting fabric for my 3 x 6 hive mates blocks. Halfway done.
  • Pondering a new quilt-a-long: the granny squares QAL at Canoe Ridge Creations.  I have a Flora charm pack that would be perfect for this. I'm thinking of making giant blocks using the charms as is, rather than cutting them in four. I would make four, six or nine blocks total if I went this route. What do you think?
  • Binding! I'm in the final stretch of my Sampler Quilt. I'm hand stitching the binding to the back of my quilt. A few more hours and this project will be done!

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

WIP Wednesday: The Sneak Peak Edition

Today was the very last Wednesday of my maternity leave. I really wanted the last two weeks of maternity leave to be like a mini vacation. A last hoorah, if you will. So far, I've spent far too much time on volunteer commitments and errands and not enough time quilting. I'm happy to report that today, however, I spent about four hours quilting my sampler quilt. The quilting is going wonderfully. Here's a sneak peak.


This is only the fourth project I've quilted and the largest quilt to date (the others included Levi's growth chart, a mini and placemats). Quilting on my machine requires a fair bit of quilt wrangling, that is to say smooshing, folding, squishing, etc. I'm about 75% finished. I hope to do the last of the quilting tomorrow, before my evening class. It would be so awesome to be able to start binding my quilt tomorrow night and to finish this project before my return to work.

Other progress this week included finishing the quilting on my second wonky log cabin placemat and starting the third, block nine of my Sew Happy Quilt and mailing off my February block for the We Bee Learning Bee.

WIP status report
Farmer's Wife QAL - no progress
Sew. Happy. Quilt. QAL - nine completed
We Bee Learning Bee - February block is done and in the mail
Sampler Quilt class @ The Workroom - quilting is in progress
Wonky Log Cabin Placemats - 2.5 of 4 quilted
Levi's Growth Chart - embroidering is halfway done!
Levi's Bed Quilt - on hold until I settle on a pattern
3 x 6 Bee - no progress

As always, I'm linking up with WIP Wednesdays at Freshly Pieced and the Canadian Needle and Thread Network.

First Birthday in Photos

 Our family tradition is waking up with the Happy Birthday song and opening gifts in bed.

First cupcake!


Tuesday, February 14, 2012

One Year Ago Today (WARNING! This is a Birth Story! Not for the Faint of Heart!)

I realized this morning that I never got around to writing Levi's birth story. What better day to do so than on Levi's first birthday?

Kivi and I knew early on that we wanted a home birth. We both feel that birth is a normal and healthy process which is unnecessarily medicalized in our culture.  While completing my women's studies degree at UofT I took (and LOVED) a course called Scientific Constructions of Sex and Gender where I learned about the history of birth practices. Ever since, I've known that I wanted to do everything in my power to experience natural childbirth. This is not to say that women shouldn't be able to choose to give birth in a hospital or birthing centre if they exist where you live. Birth Centres aren't an option in Ontario. (To learn more and support the opening of birth centres in Ontario click here). And if you think a medicalized birth is right for you, no judgement! Or if you plan to go drug free and then change your mind and want an epidural, seriously, go for it! Everyone needs to make choices that work for them and their family. For us though, using a midwife, birthing naturally and delivering at home was a no brainer.

Fast forward to Sunday, February 13, 2011. As was our tradition, before going to sleep we sang the Shema (Jewish prayer) and a goodnight song to my belly (and didn't feel the least bit silly doing so!). I'd been pregnant for 38 weeks and one day and I was so over it! This particular night, I spent a few minutes telling Levi how we'd spent the day organizing his nursery and sorting his clothes by size so everything was all ready for him and he could arrive any time now. The sooner the better, please.

DISCLAIMER: Here's where things start getting graphic folks, so if you aren't into birth details, I suggest moving along. The abbreviated story is that Levi was born the next day, okay? Seriously, things are about to get REAL.

Still with me? So at around 6:00 a.m. Kivi woke up to get ready for work and I headed to the washroom and lost my mucus plug. Yay! I know this means labour could start any time but could also not start for a week. Since we'd decided to invite my mom to the birth and she lives in Ottawa, I called her to give her the heads up. While on the phone with her, my water broke. Well, that was a surprise! We'd learned that only 10% of womens' waters break before labour begins. Huh. We told my mom to book a train ticket and head to Toronto because this baby would need to be born within the next 24 hours (that's the window the midwives give you to deliver once your waters break). Since I wasn't even remotely in labour yet, we decided that Kivi would work from home and I'd try and get some sleep.

I woke up at around 11:30 a.m. Still no contractions. I think I took a shower but I'm not 100% sure on this. I wanted to get this party started so we decided to go for a walk to see if that would bring on contractions. Almost immediately I got the feeling that I had to, um, use the toilet. My sister had given birth the month before so I called her to ask if this was a sign of labour. She said that she'd felt the same sensation early on. Now, I figured I had hours of early labour ahead of me. I couldn't have been more wrong! Four blocks later, in line for my coffee at Aroma, I was having real contractions. But! We were out of laundry detergent! I had two contractions at Grass Roots while Kivi paid for the soap. These ones required me to sit down. But! I wanted berries! Let's stop at Metro! This wasn't the brightest idea but luckily someone let Kivi cut in line when he explained that his wife was in labour. To give you a sense of time, we were out of the house for 30 minutes and I had six contractions during that time. Things were moving quickly 

We called the midwife at around 1:30 p.m. My midwife Emily was off-call which was really disappointing. Our back-up midwife Kathleen was awesome though. I was handling the contractions well and since they weren't 4-1-1 (every four minutes, lasting one minute, for an hour) we decided we'd call back after an hour. Except, almost immediately my contractions were lasting over a minute and were seriously every two minutes or less. I was in active labour. This was not what I'd imagined! I was sure I'd have an early labour period to get into my groove and figure out how to manage contractions. My body had something else in mind.

By the time Kathleen arrived at around 3:00 p.m., I was having back to back contractions and was seven centimetres dilated. The only way I could manage them was to keep moving. I walked a loop from around my living room and bedroom, stopping only to lean against the wall or breakfast bar or hang my arms around Kivi's neck and bear down to ride the waves. Kathleen suggested we try the bathtub. After one surge I was outta there. Sitting down sucked. She suggested a few other positions, all of which made me miserable, so we went with what worked: pacing, hanging off my husband and deep breathing.

I transitioned sometime thereafter. You know how you read about how all women scream for drugs at some point in labour? I totally did that! At around 4:30 I was all, I can't do this, I need drugs, whose effing idea was this natural childbirth thing, get me to the hospital stat! And Kathleen, G-d love her, said "I'm not your regular midwife so I'm not totally sure about your birth plan. You are doing awesome here at home. But, we can totally go to the hospital if that's what you want. Here's how it would work. First, you'll need to get dressed (I was naked the whole time I was in labour - it was most comfortable) and then we need to get you into a car." And I was all...wait?! I'd have to sit down? Screw that! That's impossible! No way! Let's just get this thing done. I asked her to check how dilated I was to get a sense of how much longer I had to keep doing this labour thing, but she said that they didn't like checking too often and it had only been half an hour. We agreed to check at around 6. Spoiler alert: we never checked my dilation again.

Kathleen suggested I try water again, this time the standing shower. It was a good choice. I liked the heat and steady stream of water on my lower back. I spent the next hour pounding against the wall in a steady rhythm. I went inside myself and just concentrated on getting through each contraction, although there was no break in between them. Kivi was with me every step of the way, just being there and letting me do my thing, responding if I asked for something and otherwise supporting me silently, just as we'd discussed. My mother arrived just before 6 p.m. and tried to say hello. I think I growled "no talking!" to her.

I remember feeling that I had to push. Kivi got Kathleen and she said that she needed a few more minutes to set up. Two minutes later I told Kivi to tell her that I had to start pushing. She needed another minute. One minute later I told Kivi that I was pushing NOW! They walked me over to the bedroom and we were off to the races. I birthed on my back, with Mom and Kivi holding my legs. Poor Mom got a serious workout and I destroyed her neck when pushing. Sorry Mom! After about 40 minutes, Levi was on my chest.

Levi was born at 7:36 p.m. He weighed 6 lbs, 13 oz, perfect for a Jewish baby (there are 613 mitzvot). After greeting him by name Kivi and I whispered the Shema in his ear. He and I stayed skin to skin while the midwives worked on me. After delivering the placenta, things got a bit hairy. I lost a lot of blood and needed two bags on saline to get back into shape. There was minimal tearing, but major clotting. At one point there was concern that we'd need to transfer to the hospital but my midwives were superstars and by 1 a.m. Kathleen was wishing us good night.

I could not have asked for a better birth experience. My body and my baby knew exactly what to do.  It was fast and furious and I got everything I'd wanted: a natural birth at home and a healthy baby boy. It was incredibly empowering. I wish every woman could have an experience like mine.

Happy birthday to my beautiful, curious, clever little boy. Mama loves you!





No Time to Think

Life feels particularly busy these days. I haven't gotten too much sewing done, although I am making progress on the quilting of my Sampler Quilt. I'm holding off to sharing it until it's completely finished.

Today I finished the block nine of the Sew Happy Quilt. I love this QAL! The block turned out beautifully and came together quickly.


Here are all nine blocks to date.






And now I am off to make a birthday cake for my baby boy's first birthday! Stay tuned for his birthday post.

PS. I'm hoping to link up with Fabric Tuesday, but I've been having difficulty. Let's hope it works today.

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Goodbye Maternity Leave, Hello... What?

In less than two weeks I will be in a suit, at my desk, for the first time in 13 months. I'm having trouble wrapping my head around this idea. In the past, my career was a huge part of how I saw myself. My identity was wrapped up in what I did for a living. Moreover, it was wrapped up in being good at my job. This is no longer the case. I know my experience is not unique. Many women have written about how their priorities change after starting a family. I mean, how could they not change?! Right now, I feel like my life is exactly as I'd always hoped it would be.  As someone who has lived with depression and anxiety for most of my life... that I am in this place? That I have have a husband who I adore and who loves me to pieces? That I have an amazing son, a beautiful home, a community of friends, and a creative outlet that brings me joy? That I am so incredibly happy? There were many years when I couldn't begin to imagine that I could have these blessings in my life. It's mind boggling at times to look around and see what I've created for myself. I did this. Me! Amazing.

This past year has been such a gift. I've experienced less anxiety and depression than ever before. And yet, maternity leave can't last forever. I don't actually want it to if I'm being honest. I like earning an income. I like the intellectual stimulation and social interaction that my work offers. But I am nervous. Uncertainly has always been difficult for me and I am entering the unknown. Like so many women, I'm about to be thrown into the juggling act that is working full-time and parenting. I'm trying to figure out how dinner will get made, when laundry will be done, how I'll maintain my volunteer commitments (I have no interest in pulling back on these because it's important to me to be someone who contributes to her community) and when I'll find time to sew. It's hard to visualize exactly how it's going to work. And so, I find my anxiety escalating.  And I remind myself that change isn't easy. That I don't need to problem solve. That a month from now I'll have more information. That I can take the next few weeks one day at a time. That it's okay to feel anxious and it doesn't need to be a BIG DEAL or anything more than just some nervousness about the unknown that will work itself out with the passage of time.

This is a sewing and craft blog. I don't generally veer into the personal. But I feel like I'm approaching a significant transition and writing about it here just feels right. I don't have a tidy wrap-up statement for this post. I don't even have closing thoughts. I'm reminding myself to take comfort in the knowledge that this life I've built, and the people in it, will hold me up as I feel my way through the changes coming my way.

Did You Notice?

If you clicked through the links in yesterday's post you may have noticed that I make a mistake in my Mosaic Block.  My diamonds were all facing the same direction. Exhibit A:


My seam ripper and I spent a few minutes together this morning and fixed this block. I will say that I was unimpressed with the quality of the Riley Blake beige fabric I used in this block. Mucho fraying. I have an FQ bundle of twelve solids (I think) to use up. Hopefully using a lot of starch will stem the fraying in the future.  I'm not sure I would purchase it from Riley Blake.

Exhibit B:


Wednesday, February 8, 2012

WIP Wednesday: The Short and Sweet Edition

Today's WIP Wednesday is going to be a quickie, because I really want to get some sewing done tonight. I spent the afternoon with my friend Sara and completed the February block for my We Bee Learning Bee. Shiloh asked for a Mosaic Block in deep purples, olives and tans.  It was fast and easy to put together because it's all HSTs. Here's mine:


I also improvised a siggy block for her and I think it's pretty adorable.


Oh, and I should share that I've decided not to make the sewing table after all. It's not a necessary piece of furniture or expense right now.

All in all, it was a pretty productive week. Here's the rundown (progress since last week is bolded).

WIP status report
Farmer's Wife QAL - no progress
Sew. Happy. Quilt. QAL - one more done, seven total
We Bee Learning Bee - February block is done!
Sampler Quilt class @ The Workroom - top and back are done!
Wonky Log Cabin Placemats - 1.5 of 4 quilted
Levi's Growth Chart - embroidering is halfway done!
Levi's Bed Quilt - on hold until I settle on a pattern
3 x 6 Bee - three test blocks completed, block design selected

As always, I'm linking up with WIP Wednesdays at Freshly Pieced and new this week, with the all Canadian Needle and Thread Network.

Monday, February 6, 2012

3 x 6 on the Brain

I've been busy auditioning blocks for my 3 x 6 mini bee. I wanted to choose something that was visually interesting, but not too onerous since I'd be making six identical blocks. While I have three months to complete them, I'd like to finish them before I return to work (t-minus two weeks, two days). Initially I wanted to keep the fabric variety to three or four prints per block, primarily because my hivemates chose colours that I don't have a lot of in my stash. This is no longer a requirement because I went shopping on Sunday. I love an excuse to buy fabric!

My first two test blocks used a Quilty Cross I found on Flickr. In one I used four different fabrics and in the second, two.



I learned that using this method for this block really requires you to use only one fabric for the cross.  Although I like the look of the second block, I don't love it so I decided to keep looking.

I've been lagging on the Oh My Stars! QAL progress and wanted to get moving on it but all I could think about was the 3 x 6 bee. Enter the recently posted Quattro Stagioni Star.  I decided to make it in my colours to see if it would be a good match for the swap.  BINGO! We have a winner! I love it!


Last, but not least, I completed this week's Sew Happy Quilt QAL block. It's another Flying Geese Pinwheel block and despite the fact that I made one of these recently for my Sampler Quilt, I ran into all sorts of problems with it. I ended up ripping quite a few seams. Still, the end product is pretty terrific, if I do say so myself.


I finished my Sampler Quilt top tonight and it looks fabulous, but I'm not ready to show it to you just yet. I'll be completing the scrappy backing tomorrow and I want to show them both to you at the same time. Until tomorrow!  In the meantime, check out Manic Monday on Jenna's blog.

Sunday, February 5, 2012

My Ears are Burning


Remember the 3 x 6 Sampler Quilt Mini Bee I recently joined? You can read about it here. The first task is to make an inspiration mosaic for the members of your hive (group) using your chosen colours and giving a sense of your style. Here's the mosaic I made: 


Well, Sarah, of So Sarah Sews saw my mosaic on Flickr and commented that she liked the colours so much she decided to use it as the inspiration for a charity quilt she's making. You can read about it here.  I'm so honoured that she liked what I put together, that of course I'll be making a block for her quilt! I love the online quilting community!

Friday, February 3, 2012

Sampler Quilt Progress

I'm so excited to share photos of my Sampler Quilt with you! We spent last night's class cutting our sashing and border prints. I didn't get very much sewing done during class. With seven sewists and only two irons, pressing and cutting takes a long time. I spent this morning attaching my sashing and it looks great.  Next up, adding my border print!



Yesterday afternoon I worked my scrappy backing for this quilt. It was totally improvised and is almost done.


My folks are visiting us this weekend the blog will be quiet. Have a wonderful weekend and see you Monday!

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

WIP Wednesday: The Where's My %#*&ing Camera Edition?!

It's been a rough week people. Levi started daycare on Monday. We decided to do two half days and then go whole hog with full time. Didn't happen. I picked him up at 3 today. Both today and yesterday I arrived to find a crying child. He was being attended to when I arrived, it's not like he was sitting alone bawling, but still. It's tough on Mommy. The women working in the infant room are lovely and attentive and I'm thrilled with the care they are giving him. He's refusing to take a bottle from them, even though he's taken a bottle (of breast milk) from his babysitters and Daddy in the past. I feel guilty about this, even though I know I shouldn't. I worry about him being dehydrated and that it's my fault he won't take a bottle because I've only provided one for him when necessary, i.e. when we are apart for more than three hours or so. I'm pretty sure he's just holding out for the boob and I'm praying this will pass after he gets used to being at daycare. The high note today is that he took his nap in his crib! Sure it was late and short, but it was in the crib! Small victories! He's also eating his breakfast and lunch nicely.

Anyway, enough of that. It's Work in Progress Wednesday and I have stuff to share. I don't, however, have good photos because I can't locate my camera. So annoying. I'm sure I've mentioned before that I'm messy? This means lost of misplaced items. Le sigh.

I spent this afternoon working on the backing for my sampler quilt. I decided to improv piece it, which I have no experience doing and didn't bother reading up on. Yeah, you can guess how this is going to go right? I want to use up the scraps from my various blocks. I started by laying it out.



You might notice there are two pieces of the Kona Zucchini. I accidentally bought only one metre instead of a metre and a half. Oops! I ran to the Workroom today and got the extra yardage. No big deal.  Next, well, I just started cutting and sewing. I didn't get very far, but I have all day tomorrow to play around.


I'm making progress on Levi's Watch Me Grow Chart. I'm starting to get the hang of embroidering the numbers. I'm at the 20 inch mark.


I got some farming done this week. Here's #76, the Sawtooth block. It's paper pieced. I regret using directional prints, but not enough to redo the bloc.! The prints themselves are two of my very favorite prints of all time, Jewels from Outfoxed and the other is from Basic Grey (I think).


My sewing to-do list this week is massive. I have to do my block for the Sew Happy Quilt QAL and I am getting VERY behind on Oh My Stars QAL blocks so I'd like to get some of these done too. The February block for my We Bee Learning bee has been posted but I have a few weeks for that. Also, I have to make my mosaic for the 3 x 6 Sampler Quilt Mini Bee I've joined. Super excited about this bee. You can read about it here. Oh, and Sara and I are building my sewing table!

Here's my weekly status report:

WIP status report
Farmer's Wife QAL - one more block done
Sew. Happy. Quilt. QAL - six completed
We Bee Learning Bee - February block to do
Sampler Quilt class @ The Workroom - six blocks completed, backing has been started
Wonky Log Cabin Placemats - 1.5 of 4 quilted
Levi's Growth Chart - embroidering has begun
Levi's Bed Quilt - on hold until I settle on a pattern
3 x 6 Bee - need to make mosaic and pick a block

As always, I'm linking up with WIP Wednesdays at Freshly Pieced and new this week, with the all Canadian Needle and Thread Network.