Four Years and Counting

I have been working on this quilt for almost four years. I found a Princess fabric line at my local quilt shop and fell in love. Then I found the perfect pattern for it in a book that I already owned. Finally, as a gift for Gwyneth's 3rd Birthday, my mother bought me the fabric to make the quilt.

The pattern was simple but there were lots of little pieces and over 100 blocks (I decided to shorten the quilt, so I actually only made around 90 blocks). It is not the most difficult pattern that I have ever done, but it is the most tedious.

I cut out all of the Princesses by hand using a template in order to make sure there was an entire Princess in every center square. I did the same thing with all the sashing setting squares (you can see part of one in the upper right hand corner) in order to have a centered image (flowers, butterfly, magic wand) in every little block. Then I had to sew the whole thing together...

It took me about 1 1/2 years to complete the top. I finished it shortly before Henry was born. I thought about having it sent out to quilt (on more than one occasion), and it has been on my list of things to do for a very long time.

Finally yesterday morning while Henry was at the babysitter (after once again contemplating having it sent out to quilt) I pulled it out and got busy. I got it layered while Henry was still at the sitters, and I pinned it while he was napping. By the time Henry woke up I was done. Now I just need to get quilting.

I am planning on outlining all of the sashing, each of the orange stars, and all of the yellow center Princess squares. I am tempted to just stipple the entire thing, but I know the quilt design will really pop if I outline all of the blocks. My least favorite part of making a quilt is the actual quilting, so this may be the most arduous part of the entire project. Hopefully everything, including my sewing machine, will run smoothly.

My goal is to have the quilt completed by Gwyneth's birthday at the end of April...

Getting it Together

I have so many projects I want to start. Unfortunately, I also have lots of old projects I have been meaning to finish (some for a very long time). I have decided that I will only start a new project once I have completed (or discarded) an old one. Maybe this will give me the motivation I need to get some of these things done!

I am also always in the process of trying to simplify my life and home. I recently found this quote:

Have nothing in your house that you don't know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.- Anonymous

It is far from earth shattering. However, now as I go through my projects and my simplifying efforts, I am finding it easier to make decisions. So often I find myself keeping things because of sentimentality. Now I ask myself: do I really use this or do I really love this? This simple question is helping me to put my things and my works into some perspective. I only have so much time in this life and I want to spend this time surrounded by my loves not my obligations.

Haircut Adventure

Today I finally took Henry for a haircut...he really needed it. Sweetie has been begging me to take him in for months! I just loved his curls so much and hated to see them go. Luckily there are still a few little ones framing his adorable face. He does looks much more grown up with his shorter hair.

I took him to a chain called Pigtails and Crewcuts it was pricey, but I was worried about how he would do without the distractions this place has to offer. I was not dissapointed. We had to wait about 20 minutes for our turn. Henry spent the time playing with the Train Table in the waiting area and trying out all of the car chairs:

The Police Car

and The Airplane

There was also a Fire Engine and a Taxi Cab. Henry did amazingly well once his turn finally came! He sat still the entire time and barely flinched when they brought out the clippers...I promised him a lollipop if he did a good job and he definitly earned it! We both had a fun time so I guess it was worth the price.

Sweetie has said about 20 times how happy he is with the new haircut! Next time I may try to do it myself (I definitly will not be forking out another $20 for a 2 year olds haircut) now that the crazy mane has been tamed!

Unattended

This is what happens when Henry is left to his own devices...I was downstairs cooking lunch. He was upstairs...washing his half-eaten apple...

the most difficult part...

....is getting started. I have been fiddling with all the settings and formatting features in this, my new (first) blog. I am feeling overwhelmed by all the things I don't know (pings, sitefeeds, backlinks...nevermind HTML)...I spent at least an hour last night trying to figure out how to load a picture into my profile (I actually had to get into the HTML to make it happen - wow!) SweetHusband is thinking I am a bit nutty - telling me things like "it can't possibly be that difficult look how many people have blogs out there" - I haven't figured out yet if this is a compliment?? It is all making me feel a little Old!

So in the interest of keeping it simple I am just going to get started and let the details work themselves out as I go along...

Not much planned for today...I am supposed to be running but with the house to myself after a busy weekend I am enjoying the time to collect my thoughts in peace!

I need to run to the library to pick up at least 6 books on hold (maybe more after the long weekend). I love being able to get on-line to pick out my library books. However, I do tend to forget how many books I have requested, and they all seem to arrive at the same time. The only time I browse at the library any more is in the children's section with the kids. Maybe today I will head into the stacks and look for a book on HTML - hehe!