FIP (Friday in Progress?)

I'm calling this Friday in Progress, and sadly, Friends, I have little to report. Vanilla is apparently quite snug in my stomach and wants to stay put, a fact with which I am finally coming to terms--but I have been busy with lots of baby prep and even some resting. My freezer is full of ready-to-cook crockpot meals, everything for baby is laundered and put away, our homeschool is planned through the end of the year, and I've knocked a few other annoying tasks off my to-do list. I haven't felt a huge rush to nest this pregnancy--with Fava, I decided one weekend that our dining room table had to be completely sanded and repainted because there was no way I could bring a child into a home that featured a table that chipped--so I've been taking it slow. Which is good. Because walking slowly seems to absolutely wind me at this point.

And for some reason, my motivation to sew has been zapped. I picked up my middle son's big boy bed quilt from the long-armer, and I love the way it turned out. The boxy design is maybe larger than I expected, but I actually like that about it. I've yet to trim this bad boy or even start work on piecing the binding, but I do know I'm planning to bind it in the lime solid we used. My son is sooooooo excited for it to be done, and he's asked if he can sleep under it every night once I've finished. That does a mama's heart good.

I attached the binding to Vanilla's baby quilt, but I've gotten little done on the handsewing front. (I'm one side down as of this morning!) I really need to step on this, especially since I'm still planning to handquilt those friendship stars, but even as I type this, I'm yawning. Maybe something about that quilt just makes me sleepy?

I have been making some knitting progress on my mama's shawl. I went up a size in needles after my other shawl turned out too small, but even still, I think this is going to run on the small size if I just stick with the pattern. Thankfully, this one looks like it will be a breeze to just add rows until I'm content with the length. I'm enjoying the pattern and the look, and I'm thinking I might knit up a second one after I finish this one, but with much larger needles.

That's what's going on around these parts. How are you? 

Stash Bee 2016 Blocks

Friends, I had the honor of hive mama-ing for Stash Bee Hive 5 this year. This was my third year being a hive mama, and while I won't be doing it next year due to increasing home school commitments and the fact that I will have a very new baby, it has been a lovely experience. I'm a big fan of Stash Bee.

Sign-ups for the 2017 year opened up yesterday, and if you've been considering joining, I thought you might like to take a look at some examples of blocks you might be asked to make. I asked for the Five Crosses block in the center of the collage, and I received a lovely batch of blocks that I turned into a quilt for my friend K.

One of my favorite parts of the bee is that it allows me to make blocks I wouldn't normally make, often using color palettes that are outside of my 'usual'. I had a super fun year with a super fun hive, but I'm pretty sure the collage gives that away!