May - The Family Month

A little earlier this month, when my husband said he was going to take the Dude to see Godzilla, I said the good movies don't come out until May.

It might have been May 16 when this conversation took place.

So... I also didn't notice May was pretty much over by this morning. So this is a bit rushed during my precious Daniel Tiger distraction time.

Finished

Cat Tails - and my family! My AYOLF for the month.

Piecing

Running T-shirt Quilt - all but the two hardest blocks are pieced! They require very careful cutting, so I saved them for last. And I need to wiggle around the color placements to break up the darks.

Weekly Churn Dashes - a lovely set of green. It was hard to choose this month; I really like my greens!

Cardinal Charms - my NewFO - I started this Christmas quilt as my leader/ender, since it's easier to have out than Celtic Solstice.

Other

And I made a running skirt for the Portland Rock'N'Roll Half Marathon...a mere 7.5 days after getting back from Korea. YEAH. That was insane.

Other than that, this month has just been getting to know my toddler and making this new family dynamic work. We're slowly getting there. Most things are good, other than communication. And I know that will come...eventually. And since most other things are good, I can't really complain.

But I'd really like him to learn "more" and stop slamming his plate on the table.

Linked:

Rainbow Scrap Challenge @ SoScrappy

A Year of Lovely Finishes

Fresh Sewing Day @ Lily's Quilts

NewFO @ Cat Patches

Weekly Progress - Learning Patience

The Little Man and I started working on a routine this week, and working out issues with patience. As in, he has none, which makes prepping dinner lots of fun.

And I'm being patient and waiting for those few moments when I can get things done. Which is pretty much naptime, snacktime, and Daniel Tiger time.

T-shirt Quilt - I can't iron when he's awake, so I spend morning snack preparing {ie, triple checking my measurements}, naptime ironing fusible interfacing, and afternoon snack cutting out blocks. It's very slow, but steady progress.

Yeah, I no longer have space for a design wall...or a design floor...there are toys everywhere.

Weekly Churn Dash - one of my favorite greens, a print from Sandy Gervais' Lollipop.

...and...that's it...

Linked:

BOMs Away Monday @ What A Hoot

Design Wall Monday @ Patchwork Times

WiP Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced

Linky Tuesday @ Freemotion by the River

Rainbow Scrap Challenge @ SoScrappy

Scrap Basket Sunday @ Kim's Big Quilting Adventure

Fabric Frenzy Friday @ Fort Worth Fabric

Weekly Progress - Back from Korea

So, yeah, the adoption/new toddler thing was my major progress within the last two weeks. {Three? How long has it been since I posted one of these? I may be sleep deprived.}

Also, I finished Cat Tails. Don't be too impressed - it was done to the binding before I left, and it took three days to do 90 minutes of binding. The Little Man and I are slowly working out a routine of distract/sew/distract/sew/stop fingers from pushing buttons/sew/sing a silly song/sew/distract/give up.

I finished all the blocks for Spin Cycle and set them aside. Not because I'm too lazy to sash them - but because Bonnie & Camille named their next collection after me, so I'm waiting for its release to decide on borders and put the whole thing together.

And I made a running skirt in Half Fanatics colors for my half marathon on Sunday. Yes, that's right - I ran a half marathon on Sunday. When I scheduled my races back in December, I really thought I was cutting it close with the January one. Never once did I think I would be coming home within a week of the May one.

Finished some quiet book pages before I left. The button one was the biggest hit.

In piecing, I started to catch up on my green churn dashes.

And started my leader/ender, a simple charm pack tessellation-esque thing.

And finally, in planning, I started on a t-shirt quilt order - they came very well labeled! All the shirts are measured and the design is worked out, so now I have to wait for nap time to get some steady stitching done.

Nap time is the BEST.

Linked:

BOMs Away Monday @ What A Hoot

Design Wall Monday @ Patchwork Times

WiP Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced

Linky Tuesday @ Freemotion by the River

Rainbow Scrap Challenge @ SoScrappy

Scrap Basket Sunday @ Kim's Big Quilting Adventure

Fabric Frenzy Friday @ Fort Worth Fabric

Cat Tails - Finished!

This one didn't linger too longer on the UFO pile. It was slowed down by the move, and a delay in getting more background fabric, but it got done just over a year after I started it. That's really not that bad, for me!

Cat Tails was born from this pattern, although I knew from the start that I didn't want any incomplete cats. That means, of course, I planned it out and knew how many fewer cats to make when I started the quilt.

Haha, yeah, right. I just merrily made cats until I was done with my fat quarters, and only when it was finally laid out did I realize that it was going to be HUGE.

But, you know, my family expanded this week with the finalization of my younger son's adoption, so we need a bigger couch blanket to snuggle all of us. See, I did have a plan!

I used Civil War reproduction fabrics because I love the rich tones with this pattern. I can't quite imagine it in the neon of the original pattern. Plus, I got to use some fat quarters that I got for free in shop hops, giveaways, or just didn't know what I was thinking when I bought them.

Weird blue ferny-thing looks okay as a cat.

If you care about matching directional prints, this is NOT the pattern for you. I normally care, but decided to throw caution to the wind on this one.

I used the same background fabric in several different projects, and to my horror, ran out with a half yard to go. And no one around here carried Dimples, which I thought was the most basic of basics! I ended up sending a scrap to the actual Dimples store, and they quickly matched it and sent it back to me. Excellent service!

I'm still not sure how I feel about the quilting. On the one hand, I watched a series of videos on swirls and I love the quilting in the background.

I knew I wanted to do more than an allover design with the cats, but I wasn't sure what. Because - ugh - the thought of changing colors so often, and all those threads to tie off...

After consulting with my long-arm rental place ladies, I decided on a spiky...thing in each cat. I don't love it, but I'm not changing it, so I'll learn to at least like it.

And it makes the back look weirdly impressive.

Wrapped it all up with a binding from the thrift store. It's more of a 50s reproduction, so the blues and reds are bit brighter than the cats, but I think it's a good frame.

Quilt Details

Fabric: various reproduction fabrics, Dimples beige

Backing: blue flannel

Binding: no selvage info

Size: 78x87"

Pattern: Kool Kats Kwilt {modified}

Linked:

Blogger's Quilt Festival @ Amy's Creative Side
Whoop Whoop @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict

TGIFF @ My Quilt Infatuation

Finish It Up Friday @ Crazy Mom Quilts

Link A Finish Friday @ Richard and Tanya Quilts
Sew Darn Crafty @ Sew Many Ways
Fabric Tuesday @ Quilt Story

I Quilt @ Pretty Bobbins

Needle and Thread Thursday @ My Quilt Infatuation

Let's Make Baby Quilts @ Michelle's Romantic Tangle

Feline Friday @ Sarah Did It!

Finish-Along @ The Littlest Thistle {FAL List}

May Goals

I don't really have many goals beyond, um, getting and then getting to know my toddler. I think that might keep me busy this month.

But hey! I can be unrealistic anyway!

In old news, there's plenty of binding to do, especially Cat Tails, which will be my Blogger's Quilt Festival entry and therefore my AYOLF goal.

Ripples and Reflections needs to be started since the official one-year-countdown to my MIL's 60th birthday starts in a few weeks.

St. Paul's Cross should be an easy one to do a few steps here and there. Save me the slow frustration of hating paper piecing when I'm only doing it in spurts.

And if I move enough things through the columns of my spreadsheet... {Yes, I have a spreadsheet tracking quilt progress. Doesn't everyone?} 

I think I'm going to call the Cardinal Charm Tessellation the new leader/ender project. I want it for Christmas for my FIL, and it'll take a while as a l/e. But mindlessly sewing squares to corners is a good l/e.

Linked

A Year of Lovely Finishes

Something Old, Something New @ Never Too Hot to Stitch

Felt Friday Finish - Quiet Book Pages

This is the start of an on-going project, much like the soon-to-be-revitalized {or at least the Dude hopes} Felt Food Friday.

Since I'm about to have a toddler I have to entertain for a God-awful amount of time on an airplane, I made some quiet book pages.

Of course, it's not really a book yet. I have some grommets to put it together, but the grommet tools are...not working with me. So right now, I have some pages and a whole lot of ideas.

But aren't they cute pages?

In action!

There's still a lot of stuff that still needs to happen. Like Doctor Who finger puppets. And grommets in the shoes so they can be laced. {Coincidentally, those are the Tenth Doctor's shoes. COINCIDENTALLY, I said!}

And more clothes for Pororo - a Korean cartoon character. That's his usual hat and goggles, but I'm going to make a police outfit and fireman outfit and Jedi robe and....etc.

The Dude loves this project - he designed the monster himself. He's been helping me come up with a list of pages that we have to have - like match the socks, Tic Tac Toe, braid Princess Leia's hair, and pet the Wampa.

{Okay, so we're not a normal family. But the Little Man was going to figure that out soon enough anyway, right?}

Linked:

Whoop Whoop @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict

TGIFF @ Quokka Quilts

Finish It Up Friday @ Crazy Mom Quilts

Link A Finish Friday @ Richard and Tanya Quilts
Sew Darn Crafty @ Sew Many Ways
Fabric Tuesday @ Quilt Story

Needle and Thread Thursday @ My Quilt Infatuation