Half Empty or Half Full: A Mid Year Review

Howdy y'all! Hope your weekend is kicking off to a good start! Over the past week, I've been spotting Mid-Year Reviews pop up on my blogger feed, so I decided to join in the fun. I was hesitant at first because I feel like I haven't done much in terms of quilty endeavors. Things have been a bit rough for the first half of the year, but I'm still hopeful for the last half! So let's see how I'm measuring up to those goals from the end of December! 

• Make a quilt to give away. I actually did this! I have one baby quilt ready to be donated and one quilt top in line. I'm really glad I've jumped on this one! It's been so nice to work within my stash and make something for somebody else.

Charity Quilt #1!

Quilt top #2, waiting to be finished up!

• Try new things, with the main one being CURVES. I haven't done this one yet. I've bought a pattern to try out curves and paper piecing, it's just waiting on supplies. 

• I've had a pixel quilt on my mind for as nearly as long as I've had this blog. I did all the planning, all the math, all the quilty crap. And then I did the price math...and now it's an idea sitting in my quilting notebook. Maybe someday, but this one is definitely on hold. However!! I have been making some smaller pixel quilts and feel like I'm continuing to get better matching seams! :)

  

  The 3rd Youtube themed mini I made - if you follow me on Twitter, you've seen this one!

  

  The first Youtube themed mini I made!

• Finish some WIPs! YESSSSSSSSSSSS! 

  

  City Blocks!

  

  Peels of Patience

  

  Miss Kate Quilt Top finished - just waiting for more supplies to finish it completely!

• A quilt for Mr. LBC. Bad wife is bad. Lol. I haven't given much thought to a quilt for Mr. LBC. Nothing is really inspiring me for him, so this one is on the back burner.

• Label, label, label! I've been on the ball with this one! Everything that has left the studio (with the exception of a few mini's on my wall) has had a label!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• More consistency with blogging. I had hoped to keep up posting once or twice per week, but that hasn't happened much. I did good for a while, but life has a way of stalling progress. I'm still posting, but it's closer to once every 10 or so days. 

• I'd like to clean up and update my blog a little bit. Haven't done anything with this one yet, though I do plan to before the end of the year.

Overall, I felt like I hadn't done much this year...but then I got looking! And I've actually been fairly productive. I'm not going to post links of everything (and I'm too tired to wrangle a mosaic together, sorry.) but scrolling back through my posts, I've been a sewing machine! (PUN TOTALLY INTENDED!) It actually brightened my day to see the finishes, the WIPS, and all the fun I've been having in this space. So a huge thanks to Quilting Jetgirl for hosting this Mid Year Review link up! 

It's Good to Be Back

Howdy y'all, long time, no see, right? The month of May has been eerily silent here, both in posting and commenting. I wish I could say I've been busy sewing and creating and hadn't taken the time to share yet. Or even that I was making progress but nothing worth sharing yet. Honestly, though, heading into May, I was losing steam and just had to stop. I ran myself down to empty and it caught up to me, as it often does when I try to do too much for too long. I did the bare necessities to get by, then would hide under a quilt and just be. 

My desire to create was gone. Not forever, I knew that wasn't possible. But there wasn't an urge to play with fabric and tackle the WIP's I had planned to. I sewed a seam every few days or so, but it did nothing for me. So I would shut off my machine, whisper 'Maybe next time...", and retreat back to my quilt. Rather than force myself to sew miserably, I stepped back. Some days I cut fabric from a Craftsy kit I bought ages ago. I even started cutting into my Alison Glass fabric when I started feeling a bit more inspired. But for the most part, it was the same: Maybe next time.

Last night, I sat down and sewed. And my heart was happy. :)

It's good to be back, friends. Happy Sunday!

4x7 Sewing Challenge - Week 1 Update!

It's hard to believe we are already 1 week into February! It has absolutely flown by! It's been a flurry of doctor's appointments, physical therapy, and birthday and Super Bowl parties for me, but I've managed to have selfish sewing time everyday this week and have kept up with the 4x7 Challenge hosted by Berry Barn Designs.

Every day except 1 day was spent playing with these hexies! I love how colorful they are in my little fox bucket. I've got an idea floating in my head for a quilt, though it's not your typical grandmother's garden or hexie quilt. I just don't think I have the patience for one of those yet! Lol. I also basted my Orange Peels one of those days, so it was a double dose of goodness. :)

The one day I didn't do any work with hexies, I tidied up my sewing space and stash, pulling out some fabrics I could use for hexies as well as some fabric for future projects. Getting it out into view will help me think of some design ideas I think! All in all, a good week of selfish sewing in my book!

Progress Check!

Happy Sunday y'all! I've been buzzing along slowly with my work this week and just didn't have the time to document and blog it until now. I've got 3 different things to share, all in different states of progress.

The more I look at it, the more it grows on me.

The smoothest basting I've ever had, I couldn't believe it! Hahaha

I Spy Supernova dots!

First up is the baby quilt! Since you last saw it, I've got the top pieced and basted! It's not at the sewing table, ready to be quilted. I had leftover backing from my Supernova that seemed to fit the bill and I had juuuuuuust enough for this little quilt. If that doesn't say destiny, I don't know what does! Lol. I'm thinking some FMQ-ing on it, though I haven't decided 100% yet.

Next up is the primitive/Americana quilt I talked about previously. I also finished piecing it this week. I have to see if I have enough scraps to make a back or if I'll have to buy some backing for it. I'm not sure what kind of quilting to do on it, so suggestions are appreciated!

And lastly is something in the very beginning stages. Val over at Purple Boots and Pigtails is doing an awesome project. She is challenging the quilting community to help piece blocks for EVERY color of Kona fabric. That's right, EVERY SINGLE ONE! She wants to make all the blocks into a quilt and asked for everybody's help in accomplishing this goal (if you're interested in joining, just let Val know!). Check out some of the blocks she has made already here and here! I hadn't planned on participating at first; I've never took part in any sort of project like this before and, honestly, I wasn't sure how much it would cost to ship something all the way to Canada! Lol. But after a little talking, I decided to jump on the bandwagon and at least make a couple of blocks. I originally decided on Canary and Flame, but at the last moment, I saw Bluegrass was a color. Being a born and bred Bluegrass citizen (GO KENTUCKY!), I could NOT pass up the opportunity to let the Bluegrass State have a place to shine in this Canadian quilt. :)
                                          

So there you have it! Not a ton of progress, but enough to make me happy. :) If I get to feeling better, I'm hoping to get cracking on those Kona blocks this evening! Take care y'all!