I have a project that I'm hoping to finish this year (get it?...that's tonight).  I've been knitting a pair of socks for Pumpkin since before Peanut was born.  Knitting socks is kinda like making a Wedding Ring quilt for me...I had to do it to prove I could.  And I did, er, am.  I'm almost done with the second sock and then I'm planning to finish the Wedding Ring quilt for DH's birthday in January.  I started the Wedding Ring quilt 7, maybe 8, years ago.  So, in comparison the socks have been a quick finish for me (that's a joke for you, my beloved, grins). 

Here are a couple of photos of what's on my mind.

And the fabric I'm using in Peanut's quilt.  I'll work on this after I finish the Wedding Ring one for daddy.

I made these little shoes awhile ago but then didn't get a chance to post about them.  I needed something for Peanuts feet as the weather started turning colder but didn't want to pay for the expensive ones.  The pattern was fun and easy.  The only problem I had was that they didn't fit my guy.  So, I gave them to a friend who has a newborn. 

I wouldn't say the size is off but rather that Peanut makes up for lack of girth in his shoe and hat size.  It would be easy to adjust the size by redrawing the pattern but I haven't had time to do it. 

I made these with some scraps of corduroy sandwiched between scraps of quilt batting.  You don't have to line them with quilt batting.  I just wanted to make them warm.

For Pumpkin's birthday I made her a "princess" dress for the holidays.  I made the size 4 so that it will fit for awhile.  So, it appears big on her now.  I started it early but the material and adjustments I made to the original pattern proved a bit time consuming.  (Plus, I have three small children and anything I sew takes longer than you'd expect.)  I ended up having to put in a couple of late nights last week to finish in time but the result was rewarding! 

Plus, I got all the fabric on clearance at JoAnn's (the half-off the red tag stuff sale) and spent about $12.00 on this project (minus the labor, of course). 

Kate wore it to church and beamed the whole time.  Before we left for service yesterday she and Pickles played "Kingdom".  He was the prince and she was the princess.  It was very cute!  I'm glad to see that the concept of chilvary is making it through to them. 

My username has long been Quilt2Day.  I love to quilt!  I love cutting up fabric and making lovely things out of it.  In recent years (read: since we've been blessed with children) my quilting has slowed to the pace of a dripping faucet.  It happens...just not often or consistently.  And, honestly, I'm quite content with that.  I love taking long walks, playing in the backyard, and homeschooling my kiddos.  I know that there will still be fabric to stitch and quilts to design when my family is grown.  So, for now, this love of quilting has been replaced with constructing garments, a new love practical use of my sewing skills.  In a sense garment construction is fun because it feels like instant gratification.  :)  I can finish a garment much quicker than I can finish a quilt!

I thought I'd share some photos of some of my quilting projects.  They are mostly (if  not all) gifts or to mark milestones in our family life.  I hope you enjoy!  I often feel like my quilts express who I am and how I see the relationships around me.

Baby quilt for DS 1....he still cuddles with it almost 4 years later. 

Baby quilt for DD...I loved working with the pink.  This quilt was asking to have red in it!

This is a quilt I made for my dad.  I finished it this past Christmas but had started it over four years ago.  Sometimes quilts are like that...they don't like deadlines!  My inspiration for this quilt was my dad's flannel shirts.  My dad worked in a automotive factory and wore a flannel shirt to work everyday of his 30 years of employment.  This was a gift to say "thanks" for all the handyman jobs he has done for dh and I over the years.

There you have it...my greatest love when it comes to hobbies.  I've found great peace and joy in quilting throughout the years.  Some of my darkest days seemed liveable because of working with a project.  As I cut out the pieces or sewed the seams I had lots of time pray and meditate on the Word.  I am a busy beaver type of person so sitting still in a chair is hard for me but I could do the repitive tasks to make a quilt top while deep in thought and/or prayer. 

Now, I find joy in marking our family milestones with these cuddly quilts.  I know that they will receive lots of washings and wear but that is why I made them!

I started this dress in December thinking I could squeak in a project for myself amidst the crazy Christmas sewing that was happening here.  Well, the best laid plans...  I then focused on finishing it before the cold winter weather was gone because it is made of warm and cozy flannel.  This week I finally finished the dress.  But there were some bumps along the way....

In the rush to finish my Christmas sewing for family and get the house cleaned up for family visits I moved several things around in the sewing/guest room.  Then after our family left dh and I used the same room for gift wrapping central and it was a mess.  Afterall that we then had the yicky stomach bug and my mom came back to stay for a couple of days (yes, she loves us so much she roomed with all the crumpled Christmas wrap, empty bags, and stray threads on the floor, thanks mom!).  When I finally made it downstairs to find things and tidy up a bit I found my Christmas dress partly down and looking so forlorn that I decided to finish it up this week. 

I began to organize and pile and was sure I'd run across the pattern book as I cleaned....surely it is around here somewhere...well it isn't that big of a room...huh?   Maybe I set it down out by the ironing board...humph!  Well, where is that thing at...YEP, I lost the pattern instruction.  I have all the pieces and all the pieces for my dress where cut out but I had no instructions.  I had the dress bodice completed and have made this pattern several times so I thought for sure I could just do it from memory.  Well, that worked until...I remembered that I was making a different sleeve variation this time (that I had not done before).  Oh dear!

Well, I sent out a cry on a sewing forum I belong to and a dear Canadian friend met my need so today I finished my dress.  I was sewing the buttons on tonight when dh commented...that is nice fabric!  It will be a joy to wear. 

No, I still haven't found the instructions.  I hope they turn up before I want to sew another dress from that pattern.  But I'm sure that won't be for awhile.  I have two aprons, an Easter dress, a bunch of burp clothes, spring dresses for dd and a couple new nursing dresses for momma to make.  Whew!  I'm trying to sew it up before I don't fit behind the machine anymore. 

Well, I put a lovely dress on dd today, that I just made this fall, and it already looks like it is shortening up too fast!  So, while at the store I bought a coupld of nice turtle necks that I'm planning to make into t-shirt dresses.  I've read about these on-line and found instructions here.  I'm planning to post pictures when my experiment is finished.  Momma doesn't have time to sew a few more play-dresses so this should be a quick and easy solution.

We had a busy weekend!  It started out a little different than usual.  We had forgotten to call and get on the list for childcare for Good Friday service so we were not able to attend the service at church.  It was a blessing!  Daddy and Hayden had done a lot of yard work that day and were very tired.  So, instead of rushing off to church after dinner we enjoyed a service together at home.  We read from our new SL story Bible about Jesus being crucified and then momma played piano while we sang "The Old Rugged Cross".  It was a very child friendly service with casual dress (daddy was still in his work clothes) and it was just grand!  Momma even cried.

Then we colored Easter eggs on Saturday!  Daddy helped keep Kate from falling into the dye and Hayden did most of the egg dipping while momma (as always) captured the event on film (well, digital computer files anyway).  The children had a blast and we didn't stain anything.

We woke to 30 degree temps here in Arkansas on Resurrection Morning!  Brrrr!  We were all pretty sleepy from our work during Friday and Saturday so we laid in bed too long and ended up late for service.  We found out that the parking lot was pretty much full and that the main worship center was full.  So, we hiked it in from the corners of the parking lot and went to a different worship venue than we normally do but it was still a great day!  We praise God for the reminder of what Christ has done for us.  Thank you, Jesus, for choosing to die for us!

Below you'll find a picture of dd in her Easter dress.  I made this dress from a vintage 50s pattern that my Grandmother gave me this Christmas.  It was such a joy to see Kate enjoying her very girly dress.  Every time she would land on her bottom the big pleated skirt would poof out around her.  It made me giggle and it made me think of my Grandmother making such lovely dresses 50 years ago.  Thanks Grandma!