Overwhelmed?!!??!

As I read through my blog reading list I keep coming across the same theme over and over again. We are all completely exhausted, thoroughly worn, stressed out, running behind, catching up, making excuses, giving apologies, and beating ourselves up. As I read the updates, my already jam-packed, quick-paced, whirl of a life begins to feel even more cramped and overwhelming. I find myself making more lists, noting more fabulous projects I want to start, worrying about Christmas shopping, counting the days since I last posted and obsessing over the countless WIP's I have sitting at home beckoning to me while I sit at my "real" job and worry!

When I get home I find myself hoping Liam will be able to entertain himself long enough to allow me to get some quilting in or I'll be forced to stay up until midnight while he sleeps and forgo the few hours of peace I get in a day because "I have to get something done!" Wait, wait, wait, this seems slightly backwards...

I think most of us put quilting in the hobby category. Quilting is so often the "thing" that gives because we; can't dress in dirty clothes, eat from dirty dishes, munch on un-bought food, live without sleep, or be content without devoting those few free moments to our children, they are only little for so long.

So tonight, I will go home and clean my room, finish the laundry, organize my life and play with Liam to his heart's content. When he finally falls asleep in my arms; I am going to hold him, kiss him, stare at him, squeeze him and love him fully without so much as a glance at the idle sewing machine sitting in the corner. "Tomorrow," I say quietly to myself. "Tomorrow I will conquer the world." Today, I'm going to be content just living my life!

A Kindergarten Smock

My favorite 5 year old started Kindergarten this year, and boy were we thrilled! Although, Matthew has previously attended Head Start, this is his first year with a little bit more freedom. Kindergarten is a very large jump from Head Start, so along with a big school comes a big list of school supplies.

One of the things on the list was an art smock. The school recommends buying one at WalMart or using an old adult T-shirt. Well let me say that no little brother of mine need wear a used, oversized, plain jane T-shirt; so I got down to business.

I received this upholstry fabric from Liam's Aunt Kristine (this woman is a life saver). She happened to find it for 50 cents at a yardsale, talk about a steal! 

Below is a picture of Liam with his Aunt Kristine, Uncle Scott and only cousin Logan (you'll find them mentioned countless times on my blog, they truly are a blessing!)

I started the smock by just taking measurements and praying for the best.  I followed the idea behind this tutorial and kind of made the rest up as I went along.

Unlike the tutorial I sewed up the sides, I have found that little boys need clear arm holes and neck lines or they're sure to end up with a leg sticking out of one of them.

I put a fairly large pocket in the front because little boys like to keep trucks, cars, and various other life necessities always at their fingertips.

I put a strip of velcro along the back because a tie or snap is far too difficult, especially behind the neck.

We practiced getting into and out of it over and over again, until we finally got the hang of it!

It has been sent off to school and hopefully when we see it again at the end of the year it is covered in paint, glue, marker and glitter, because if not we will certainly question what IS covered in those things...

They grow up so fast! Love you little brother!

One Puppy, Two Puppies, Three Puppies, Four!

My Little Liam and his Puppy inspired by this quilt at Red Pepper Quilts! I am submitting this quilt in the Fall 2011 Bloggers Quilt Festival, check it out!

When I was a little girl my fabulous mother made me a blankie, as she did with my younger brothers William and Christopher. Since I was the first child, mine was obviously the best and most unique and intricate as compared with my brothers' later models. This is/was my Puppy!

For obvious reasons Puppy was the "pet" name (no punn intended) that I gave my childhood quilt. It is the perfect size, made of cool feeling fabric and missing a lot of the original pieces (he is well loved). I say this "is" my Puppy because he still serves a very active role in my life (i.e. I still let him keep residence in my bed)!

I attribute a lot of my personality and individuality to my Puppy. He has been there in good times and in bad, through sleepless nights and home sick days, a tissue when I cried at 4 and when I cried at 24, in every place I sleep including cars, hotels, planes and even on vacation to Mexico and Hawaii (you should see the stumped look on TSAs' faces as they notice Puppy hanging out in my carry-on luggage).

Puppy has taught me that...

Some things never change, they just get older.
Home is where the heart is.
A mother's love is unconditional.
It's ok to cry or fall apart sometimes.
Everyone has something or someone they can't live without.

I always joked (although I was quite serious) that if there was a fire; Puppy was the first thing going out that window!

Since I'm quite positive my brothers always envied my Puppy and his steadfast love, they also chose to call their blankies "Puppy" as well; despite their total lack of any dog-like qualities what-so-ever!

This is William's (it went nicely with his boy doll, Dapper Dan; he loved that doll! My mother has since tried to find one for Liam to no avail):

And this one belongs to Christopher:

Liam has been very blessed to recieve a variety of blankets from all our family and friends. This one is from Jill; the mother of one of my very close friends.

Jill is also an amazing quilter and a fabulous person to be around (Liam just loved her)!

This quilt was fabric my grandmother picked up and I chose to bind in different orange fabric, I think it is very adorable!

This afghan was made by a family friend and wonderful person, Mary.

And lastly, this afghan was made by Liam's Great Grandmother, she makes truly beautiful blankets!

Although all of these blankets are more than adorable, none of them contained those, oh so necessary "Puppy" qualities... so I set to work!

My mother enjoys pointing out that ALL of the blankies she made were completed BEFORE the child was born. Now, as I enter this exciting and beautiful chapter of my life I have decided to follow in her footsteps. (Although I will tell you that Liam's blanket was not finished before he was born. I blame it mostly on him being born four weeks early, but let's be honest; I could barely put on shoes at 7 and 8 months pregnant let alone attempt to baste a quilt!)

This is what Liam's crib looks like so I tried to make his blankie along the same theme. I love the fishies and whales, blue and green go with everything baby!

The back and center pieces of the blocks are fabric from an old Pottery Barn sheet that was given to me by Liam's Aunt Kristine.

The rest of this quilt was made using mostly scrap peices and some stash.

I love using recycled fabric and scrap pieces, it makes me feel so thrify and resourceful! I feel it also helps to tell a story and stitches meaning into the seams.

I did an overall stipple pattern on the quilt and only deviated for one brief moment in this square.

Here, I put a heart to serve as a constant reminder to both Liam and myself of my love for him. He is incredibly special to me and I hope he loves his Puppy (or Fishie?) as much as I have loved and continue to love mine! Sometimes, he and I cuddle up with Puppy and I'm reminded of just how special he is and how lucky I am to be so blessed.

Even as I write this post, a tear sneaks out the corner of my eye, not unnoticed. I have learned that despite the heartache we sometimes go through in life, the love of family and friends will always surpass any obstacle, overpower all negative thoughts, break down those confining walls, and serve as a reminder that we are never truly alone and we are always loved.

Trick or Treat?

Tonight was Fright Night in town! That is where all the local businesses stay open from 6:00-8:00 pm and hand out candy, treats and toys and have fun Halloween activities like face painting, cookie decorating and haunted houses. Liam was dressed up as a dragon and at four months old he was completely adorable and very tolerant, I'm so proud!

This is my brother Matthew! He was a champ! He is 5 and so very excited for Halloween this year! You'll notice he has two candy buckets in his hands; one for him and one for Liam... or Liam's mother. Someone should definitely recieve the benefit for Liam's cuteness, why not me?

We even carved pumpkins this year! From left to right, Pepe's (the cat), Mine with the apple, Liam's with the baby face and Matthew's with the angry face.

We had a really good time taking out the gooey insides, Oh to be young again!

More Beanie Bags

They must be contagious! After the initial Bean Bags I had a request for additional ones, and there is nothing I like more than requests! It makes my life easy when I know exactly what to make. Not only that but they sent me fabric to make them with, it doesn't get any easier than that.

These Bean Bags are for my nephew's cousins and the fabric they selected is absolutely adorable! They were for...
Samuel:
Matthew: And Andrew:
I think they turned out great and I even had enough time to make little bags to keep them in. I've noticed that my little brother could have used something like this to keep his together!
Now I just need to get around to making them for Liam, I'm thinking either his name or the alphabet as it calls for in the original design.
The best projects are for children, they are so much more fun to make and rewarding to watch being used!

Speaking of being back, I'm also back to Work!

Although NOTHING slowed down around here, I look every day for some "me" time to work on my outstanding projects. Speaking of my outstanding projects, here are a few that seriously need to be worked on. First there in this quilt I have named Pandora (the name speaks for iteself). This quilt needs to be ironed (it has sat around for WAY too long), basted, quilted and bound.
Next here is my fall quilt I started last year and never got the chance to finish, the quilt top is not fully assembled and therefore there is ALOT of work left on this one!
I recently started this quilt, inspired by this quilt and these quilts made by Amanda Jean at crazymomquilts. There is just something about green and pink that I absolutely LOVE!
These bean bags are a lot like the other ones I previously posted and deserve a post all their own, hold tight for further explanation later.
Here is a quickie of Liam's quilt which will absolutely have it's own post to come!Here is a smock I made for my little brother over the summer in anticipation for the start of Kindergarten, it deserves a post of it's own as well! See what did I tell you about my posts' queue, plenty to talk about!And lastly, since I am back to work I have also joined quilting night on Wednesday's at work. We are making a Christmas Tree skirt following this pattern. I really don't have much to post yet since we have only had two meetings so far. This is the centerpeice, and I will tell you that I was very hesitant to cut up my Christmas fabric (I absolutely love it) but I'm sure I will be very glad I did when I finally finish this adorable project. P.S. there's paper-piecing involved... not sure how I feel about that! ;-)