{WiP} Wednesday ~ 16/52

Slow and steady wins the race, right? Well, I won't be winning any races, but I've got a bunch of bee blocks to make, and I'm trying to chip away at those whenever I get the energy, the time, and the mental wherewithal to work on them.

The mental wherewithal seems to be the rarest of them all.

I'm partially finished with that Bee Happy pieced heart I mentioned last week. I got the heart part all paper pieced like I want it, but now I'm stuck on how to add the white around the outside. Any suggestions? Everywhere you see tan paper is where there needs to be white fabric.

(like how the heart is drawn?)  :o)

And I'm also partially finished with my "block" for the {Faith} Circle of the do.Good Stitches bee.

All that's left is to trim the squares to 4", then sew them together in a randomly scrappy zig-zag pattern.

Then I've got to bust a move and make 2 Mod Mosaic blocks for Jeannette. Once I get those done, I can relax and work on one house block for Audrey, one bookshelf block for Natalie, and one Gee's Bend-inspired block for Nicole. AND...by the time I get done with what I have to get done, I'll get instructions for 6 new blocks!

(it's no fun being this far behind!)

You know me, I've got a million other things in the works, too, but nothing worth losing sleep over.

Especially considering how precious little sleep I'm getting right now!

In other news, Jenn at Sunny in Cal really really surprised me when she nominated me for the Liebster Blog Award. She did that 2 days before Rocket Man was born, and I haven't quite gotten myself together enough to (a) thank her, (b) blog about it, and (c) nominate others! :o)  Shame on me!  I will get to that...

You know what? I'll do that Friday. Friday I'll do that. And post some pictures of other stuff. I promise I'll do it Friday.

I'm linking up with Lee of Freshly Pieced (of course!) for WiP Wednesday. You should go over there and see what other cool stuff people are working on this week.

{WiP} Wednesday ~ 15/52...the NEXT Big Finish of 2012

Yes, I did fall off the face of the planet.


Can you blame me?

The Juice Man came into the world last week, and I somehow missed posting to WiP Wednesdays last week!

Go figure. :-)

I really think I should change his name to Rocket Man, though, because that is so much more appropriate.

My birth experience goes something like this:

5:40 am: Get to hospital for check-in, into labor and delivery room and into the gown. Then I answered the barrage of questions they ask.
6:15am: Learned that my "immediately upon arrival" epidural will have to wait an hour because of an emergency C-section. (dangit!)
6:30: Get my IV set up and hang out.
7:00: Met my labor-and-delivery nurse, Farrell. And answered a bunch MORE questions, including detailed accounts of how my two previous labors had gone. My favorite line of the conversation was "Well, I don't know how they did it in California, but we do epidurals right. You're little, so you won't need much." I'm pretty sure I rolled my eyes at her. She was a really good nurse, though, and that's what matters. :-)
7:30: Anesthesiologist came in and got my "low because you're small" epidural set up.
7:45: Epidural was flowing, and we waited till it took effect to start the induction.
8:30: My abdomen was numb, I was 2 cm dilated, the OB broke my water, and they started the Pitocin. Although I am pretty sure it was actually rocket fuel.
8:45: I was at 4cm and kinda feeling a little pain.
9:00: I was at 6cm and feeling a LOT of pain. Way way way too much for having an epidural "done right". :-). And it was only on my right side. Youch!! I gave myself one shot of epidural, hoping it would help. It didn't.
9:20: I was at 8cm, and still feeling WAY too much. Farrell called the anesthesiologist back in for a big shot.
9:30: I was good and numb, which was a good thing, because I was 9 cm and 100% effaced. Farrell called the OB to come over.
9:45: I was 10 and crowning. The doc got ready, Dave and Farrell got ready, I got ready...
9:58: I started pushing. I pushed through 2 contractions, and...
10:06: Rocket Man was born. 6 pounds, 12 chunky ounces, and 21.5" long. Gigantic compared to my 6-8 and 19.5" girls. :-)

90 minutes from start to finish.

Now do you see why I think I should call him Rocket Man? :-)

I haven't done much other than try to rest, bond with the baby, and spend some good quality time with my girls.

I am working on some bee blocks, if only in my mind. :-) This pieced-in-heart is still stumping me. I want to paper piece it, but I'm stuck at where to start. And I've got a million other bee blocks to do.

But for now, I'm just hanging out with my lovely littles.

I hope you have a great, and productive week!

I'm linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced for her weekly {WiP} Wednesday party. 

{WiP} Wednesday ~ 13/52

I hope you saw the reveal of my Sea Glass quilt last week. If not, here's the link. Kelly posted about it on Wednesday afternoon, but I wanted to give it a full post of its own. :o)  I'm not sure what pleases me the most -- that she loves it, or that it's finished! :o)

The only other finishes I have this week are bee blocks, but 4 of them are Mod Mosaic blocks, and those....take.........time...  Whew!

And I also made 4 little butterfly blocks for the {Faith} Circle of the do.Good Stitches Bee. Oh. My. Goodness! These are adorable!! (And fast!) I can't wait to see the finished quilt. :o)

And I got a handful of receiving blankets made, but haven't made the matching burp cloths, yet. Maybe tomorrow. Or Friday. :)

As for the actual Works in Progress, I'm disgustingly behind with my Bee Happy bee blocks. :-(  Bad Bee Mama!! 

For February, Rosanna sent us red Asian fabrics, and asked us to make a pieced (not appliqued) heart. I've been stumped because of how I wanted to piece it in, but I think I've given up on that idea, and I'm just going to paper piece it.  Here are her fabrics:

For March, Natalie sent a large, and eclectic, mix of scraps to make a big bookshelf block. I have NO CLUE how I'm going to do this one! Maybe I need to sleep with the fabrics under my pillow so inspiration can come via osmosis.

I've still got to make the car seat canopy! Ack! Best push that one to the top of the list. :)  And I've got some more thread tails to bury on the Harrison quilts.

And, finally. Juice. He's still a {WiP}. I had an ultrasound yesterday, and he's looking great. I'd share the picture, but that requires learning how to use my new scanner... :o)   Since we're inducing on Monday, April 9th, you'll see actual pictures very soon!

I'm going to link up with Lee at Freshly Pieced for her weekly {WiP} Wednesday feature. Go see what other crafty peeps are working on!

A Year Later

If you're visiting from Apartment Therapy, WELCOME! I am honestly astonished and amazed that they chose to feature my quilt in their 10 Modern Quilting Inspirations post. Apartment Therapy is always on the cutting edge of home design, and I think THEY are the inspiring ones! :)

It's hard to believe that the tsunami hit Japan over a year ago. And hard to imagine how long it will take them to put the pieces back together.

I'll never know what happened to the quilt I made to send to a needy family after the tsunami, but I trust that God sent it to a family that loves and appreciates it.

I love the original design, and the original inspiration (a random guy's t-shirt in a cafe), just as much as I ever did, and hope to make another one for myself one day. :o)

For now, I'm finishing up making receiving blankets and burp cloths for my own little "tsunami" who will be here in 8 days. :o)

Have a great day!