Needles and Pens

Over the weekend, I finished the purple/lavender ragtime quilt, which was a special order. This was on my to-do list last week, so I guess technically, I did get it finished! Here are a few pictures... It's so hard to accurately show that deep purple in photos, but it is such a pretty, rich purple. I bought a lot of it, too, so there will be more purple raggies in my future for sure! And now for my list of to-dos this week: Dinosaur ragtime quilt - My daughter purchased the dinosaur quilt from my shop this weekend, and I still have enough of the dino fabric to make another and just switch out the photos on my listing. (And that purple above would look great with the dinos...) Make a few more purple/pink scrappy string blocks With all the ragtime quilts I've been making, I must say I'm missing my pieced quilts. Need to stay on top of that project so it isn't completely forgotten/buried in my sewing room! Vacuum Not fun, but my whole house needs a once-ov...

...and it's Friday again. Didn't quite finish my to-do list this week, but I did come close: Finish the lavender and white ragtime quilt. Not done, but started. I wasn't completely happy with the purple I ordered for this one, so I ordered another, which just came today. Still not sure which one is best. But I have made a little progress on the blocks that I am sure of. Started quilting the white flower blocks, and cutting and crossing the others. Once I have all but that bothersome purple done, I'll lay them all out with each option and decide which is best. Finish the green/music ragtime quilt. Done, and listed at Hushabye Street: Musical Frogs Ragtime Baby Quilt Take down remaining sheetrock around bathtub. Done. Who knows how long it'll stay like this? It's my husband's turn to do his thing here, and he tends to work on his own schedule. The tub needs to be leveled and a leaky pipe fixed. Then it'll be sheetrocking and taping again f...

I can't believe February is already here! Amazing how the weeks fly by when you give yourself loads of things "to-do!" Again, I almost finished everything on my list for the week . Almost. Plus a thing or two I hadn't planned on, so I guess that's fair. Straighten the basement, get the TV hooked up and get on the treadmill. (My excuse is that I'm waiting for my hubby to hook up the TV. Realistically, I could probably do it myself if I tried. Mostly, I just don't really want to get on the treadmill. LoL) Clean out the front hall closet. (What an amazing improvement. We can all hang our coats up now! Just wish I had taken a "before" picture... it was BAD.) Personalization on pink ragtime quilt. Make another pink ragtime quilt for shop. Shabby Chic Baby Pink Flannel Ragtime Quilt And this was not on my list, but since I was kind of on a roll with the flannel quilts, I also finished one that's a little more boyish. Shabby...

So, last week was so incredibly productive for me that today I'm kind of sitting here in a daze wondering, "Now what?" and anytime I feel that way, I know I need a list, ASAP. First priority this week, finish what I didn't do last week! Straighten up that basement room and get the TV hooked up and GET ON THE TREADMILL. lol (Even without any extra exercise, I managed to lose another three pounds last week. Imagine the fat I could burn if I added a daily workout to the mix!) One other house project that's been driving me crazy: Clean out the front hall closet. It is stuffed with coats and things that nobody wears, while all over the house there are piles of coats and things that they do wear. This has got to change. I had the first sale from my etsy shop on Friday -- yay!! The buyer requested personalizing with the baby's name, so I need to get that done and then get it packaged up. I also need to replace that item in the shop. It wasn't even listed ...

Well, again I didn't quite complete everything on this week's to-do list , but I did accomplish a lot -- and even squeezed in a few things I hadn't planned! My Monday shopping spree netted mostly batting and thread. Much-needed, but not too exciting to share about. However, I did buy a pretty piece of yellow minky for a future quilt back, and I couldn't resist a couple of heart print flannels for Valentine's day. I made those into receiving blanket/burp cloth sets for my new Etsy shop, Hushabye Street ! I'm having so much fun making things for my shop. I don't know why I've put off doing this for so long. It's quite a learning experience, but not nearly as overwhelming as I'd imagined. I just hope that business will take off before long. If you know of anyone expecting a new baby in the family, I'd be so grateful if you'd share my link with them! :o) The quilt I posted about on Monday is also finished! I finally decided I needed ...

In an effort to hold myself accountable this week, I posted two main goals on Monday to have finished by Friday. And... it worked! Okay, so we didn't quite finish everything, but progress was made! My son's bedroom is one layer closer to clean, and the paint is purchased. In the color of his choice. Very, very yellow. Suffice it to say, this is going to be one bright room. (And we've had some pretty bright rooms through the years.) But I'll do almost anything to inspire the removal of the last few layers. As for the quilting I wanted to get finished -- it's finished! Here's a photo I took before it was washed and crinkled, outside on the fresh-fallen snow. I couldn't resist. You can hardly tell that's really snow, but it is. See? I really had fun with the quilting on this one. On the center star, I did straight-line crosshatching through the checkerboard and into the star tips, and then more straight lines around the diamond surrounding the...