Today I worked on the back side of the quilt (way faster than the front, as you can see it’s not as intricate).  It took some time cutting the strip pieces to the correct size, then realizing that I didn’t cut enough.  *sigh*  Add two more mistakes to the quilt, equaling 10 total (not new ones, but the wrong cut I made from the day before on a piece of fabric had to be used again today).  Not the end of the world.

I still have to “sandwich” the quilt together (sewing all three pieces (front, batting, and back) together).  Then the last thing will be the binding, which is mostly done by hand, so takes a lot longer to do and your fingers hurt, so I’m guessing I’ll do that part within a few days (not all in one).

It’s all coming together pretty quickly and starting to take shape.  I can’t wait to see the end result.  More pictures to come.

Wow!  I ran all of my errands today AND managed to finish the quilt top.  I can’t believe I was able to finish it today.  I’m definitely at a stopping point for tonight.  I hope to have time tomorrow to work on the back of the quilt (something new I’ve never done before for the backing…not exactly fancy, just more work than usual).  I’ll definitely continue to take pictures along the way.  At this rate, I hope to be done with it by the end of the weekend (depending on if we decide to do something or not).

So, the day started with me thinking I’d piece together the rows and then stop.  I picked up the first few pieces (walking in and out of the other room where I had everything laid out in the right order).  As I go into the other room to get another piece to add to what I had already sewn, I found Oscar laying smack in the middle of my pieces.  I wanted to shoo him off, but figured all the pieces would fly everywhere if he leaped off them fast enough.  I just let him lay there, but he wasn’t there for long (as he was frustrated with me going in and out of the room so often…poor guy couldn’t sleep).

I ended up getting all the rows and the sashing in between the rows sewn together before I ran my errands this afternoon.  After dinner, I started working on the quilt again and had hoped to finish the top yet tonight.  Yay…I reached my goal!  I’m very pleased with it (mistakes and all…have you noticed them yet?  There’s 8 total…told you I messed up pretty big.).  I am definitely starting to like the colors and patterns together and can’t wait to see the finished quilt.  Stay tuned for more pictures.

Yesterday I ironed the fabric and cut off the salvage edges.  My afternoon started with the ironing for this project and before I even got started, I burned the inside of my arm, right near the crease for where it bends at the elbow.  I have no clue how I burned myself there or that it was even possible.  It happened so fast.  What a way to start the afternoon out and this (what was suppose to be fun) project.  *sigh*

I thought I’d stop there, but the bug hit me, so I continued on (the iron burn didn’t defeat me).  I went ahead and cut all of the fabric pieces to size, so that everything was ready to go.  I didn’t think I was rushing, but made two very costly wrong cuts in the fabric.  I’m determined not to go back to the fabric store and spend more money to replace a stupid mistake I made, so I sewed pieces back together to make the proper lengths.  It will be noticeable in several areas of the quilt, but I’m hoping no one will really notice it unless I show them.  We’ll see.  I’m trying not to stress about it (my perfect baby quilt is not perfect anymore…*shakes head in disgust*).

I thought I’d stop there, but didn’t (not letting the wrong cuts defeat me either).  I went ahead and sewed all of the quilt squares together, ironed them, and laid them out in the other room with my next step in place (that I hope to have time to work on today).

My sewing machine was not cooperating well, so when my husband came home, he came home to a very irate pregnant wife who was extremely exhausted from trying time and time again to figure out what was wrong with the stupid sewing machine.  It took me so many tries (taking the stupid thing apart and putting it back together each time), but I finally (think) I got it all figured out and we’re good to go again.  We’ll see how today goes (fingers crossed).

I’ll sew the little blue pieces in between the quilt squares to the squares and make five rows.  Then I’ll sew the strips (not shown) in between each row, then add the borders. At that point, the top part of the quilt will be finished.  Ideally I’d like to do that today and then come to a stopping point, but I have several errands to run today and groceries is one of them (we’re in desperate need of food in this house). I’ll continue to post pictures of the quilt as I work on it, so check back.

Yesterday, I stopped by the fabric store.  I walked in so excited to get started and quickly felt defeated.  I walked around the store (very slowly) four times before I had someone ask me if I needed help.  I luckily got a wonderful lady who was with me and helped me make my final choices.

I was at the store for over 2 hours and with her for well over an hour.  Poor lady!  I showed her a couple of thoughts I had and we just couldn’t find things to coordinate well (at least I wasn’t the only one having that problem….she couldn’t find things either).  We finally came up with some blues and browns (after me thinking if I should go in a different direction and do the blue, gray, and red option).

I’m not totally thrilled with my fabric choices.  I had hoped there would be more Amy Butler type fabrics (fun edgy prints) that were in the blue and brown family.  I had no such luck (and you wouldn’t believe how many fabrics they have in store).  *sigh*  After seeing the fabrics together, I’m feeling a bit better about them.  They’re still not what I originally had in mind, but I’m thinking they’ll look nice together with the pattern I’ve chosen for the quilt.

I washed the fabric yesterday and hope to take some time today to get the fabric ironed and some pieces cut.  I’ll make sure to take some pictures along the way and post my progress on this quilt.  I can’t wait to see it finished (and certainly hope I’m not disappointed).

If you’ve been reading my blog, you’ll remember my post back in February about my very first taste of Gelato (and how I like it far better than even ice cream).  Well, this past weekend, I happened to notice that the grocery store sold Gelato.  Out of curiosity, I had to buy some (to see how it tasted compared to the Gelato I had that was freshly made back in February).  I have to say that I was quite impressed!

I purchased a pint size of the Double Dark Chocolate Talenti Gelato.  It’s so soft and creamy with some mini dark chocolate chips in it.  It’s rich, so a little will go a long way (making the pint last for way more than one sitting).  I will definitely buy this again.  What a great treat and it’s all natural ingredients (even better)!  I would get this same flavor again, but may venture out to try another.

Last night I made a new “eat clean” meal from the Fall issue of Clean Eating magazine. I had my husband glance through some recipes and he picked this one (and a good one at that). It didn’t take near as long as I thought it would to make and it tasted really good (we’ll definitely be making it again!).

I used my Wok for this meal. We received it 12 years ago as a wedding gift and maybe used it twice in our first year of marriage. After so many moves, it’s hard to believe I even knew where to find it, but I went right to it (go figure). I think we’re going to have to make more Wok meals. Things cook so quickly in them. I just hate the clean up (since it doesn’t go in the dishwasher). Maybe that’s why I haven’t used it in years (plus it’s not in the most convenient area to get).

View Recipe…

Taking cue from Ali Edwards website, I thought I’d do an “Around The Room” post too.  I found hers to be very interesting and I’m sure whoever reads my blog may be curious to see what my space looks like that I create in and do my posts from.

So here we go….around the room… (you can click on the pictures to enlarge them)

This is the view looking into my studio from the hallway.  My studio (called studio instead of office so my husband and I know which room we’re talking about….he has the “office” downstairs and I have the “studio” upstairs) is located upstairs at the end of the house (directly above my husbands office, yet we still IM each other).

Here is my desk space.  I use a laptop, but my husband surprised me with a flat panel monitor a couple years ago and it’s made such a HUGE difference (so much easier to work on projects and such on my computer….I can see more).  I have my printer right next to me (over the filing cabinet).  The phone, remote to my space heater/fan, my chapstick, planner, and tumbler full of water is always within arms reach.

Looking around the room, I have my project table (which is always in use) with my comfortable, adjustable height chair and built in storage.  I have a ton of storage bins in this room full of all things creative (you’ll see more as you continue your journey around my room).  I found the floating frames on the wall (what they’re called) at Linens N Things (before they closed).  They were on sale for $6 and I found images I liked with colors that went well in my studio and printed them out to frame.

This is the most plain wall in my studio.  I found this frame and thought I could do something with it.  It just happened that three14 fit well in the spaces.  I had wanted to put the word “creations” behind it (to get the full name of my website), but needed to get it filled quickly last year before we had guests and just haven’t taken time to update it.  One of these days….

Continuing to look around the room, you’ll find more storage.  I love these IKEA shelves (so much space)!  I actually got this one off of Craigslist and then went to IKEA to get the matching smaller one for the other side of the room.  I also love my “creativity” definition on the wall (courtesy of Right On The Walls).

This is my much loved Project Table.  I use this for everything!  It has great storage in it (on both sides) and my large trash can fits nicely underneath it.  I got this on clearance at Pier One (it was the first piece to go in my studio…long before anything else was in there and before the room was painted).

My magnetic board (from IKEA).  I have several weight loss things on there (for encouragement), although I won’t be using them until after the baby is born and I can get back to working out.  You’ll see another frog and some magnetic storage tins.  I need to change this board to some more creative things.

My storage area that’s to the left of my desk (with descriptions of what I have in each area….you know you want to know).

And here’s the storage area that’s to the right of my desk.  I use stuff in these bins all the time.  They are so valuable!  I’m not much for open storage (if you see how cluttered my open areas look, you’ll know why).

And a fun picture to finish things off.  This is Bailey (our first cat).  Both happen to take turns with who sleeps on either my or my husbands desk (and now you know why I keep my keyboard in a keyboard tray).

I hope you enjoyed taking a peak into my life (which most seems to be spent in this room).  I’m getting ready to head to my project table now and work on some handmade envelopes for a Swap-Bot swap.

My niece goes to a Christian camp each summer and loves it.  I usually send her a fun journal that I purchased somewhere for her to use.  This year, she requested that I make her one (and has no clue what I’m making or how it will look).  She’s so easy to please, so I know (hope) she won’t be disappointed.

I used my Bind-It-All for the first time and LOVED it!  Never mind that I’ve had it for two years now.  I got it as a Christmas gift (it was on my wishlist).  I had planned to use it all the time.  I guess I’m one that has to have an idea first before I use something.  I can’t just create something and hope to use it later to be something else.  I will say that the Bind-It-All was SO easy to use and so much fun.  I created the whole journal from scratch.  How cool is that (yes, I’m patting myself on the back)?

I’m surprising my niece with handmade post cards (already stamped) to use while there.  I’m also surprising her with her own personal “calling cards” to hand out.  She and her friends are always sharing their addresses and emails with each other.  I figure if I make her cards with this information on them, then she won’t have to write it out so many times for others (plus I hope this takes on a cool factor with her).

I’ve uploaded some pictures of this journal to Flikr.  Click on the pictures below to see more!

www.flickr.com More of three14creations’ stuff tagged with campjournal

I searched online for a new quilt pattern for my baby quilt.  I wanted to do something different from the two previous ones I’ve made (although I really liked them both too).  I came across a pattern both online and on Etsy (go figure it was from the same person), so I knew that was the one for me (what are the chances of me finding this same pattern twice and loving it from the start….so meant to be).

I chose the Mixtape Quilt, created by Elizabeth Hartman from Oh, Fransson!.  The quilt pictured is one of hers and is much larger than the size I’ll be creating.  I’ll have 20 squares on mine and it will measure 40″ x 48″.

Her instructions are incredible!  There is so much detail to them and the pattern makes 9 different sizes (with instructions for each size).  I can’t get over how simple she makes it look (I guess details make all the difference).

I plan to go fabric shopping some time next week and can’t wait to choose some boy fabrics.  Not sure what colors I’ll go for, but off the top of my head, I’m thinking blues and browns (the color of the nursery).  We’ll see.  I’ll post pictures as things progress with it.

Today marks 20 weeks and the halfway point for me.  Yay!  The baby is the size of a cantaloupe (no wonder my back is hurting more).  At our ultrasound this past week, the doctor said he weighed just over 11oz., so he’s a bit heavier than the average (hope that doesn’t mean he’s going to be a big baby).

I need to make it out to the local fabric store and pick up some boy fabric to make a quilt.  I’ve made two baby quilts in the past, but both for girls.  I’m excited to be making a boy quilt and of course have to make one for my baby.  I’ll certainly post progress pics of it when I get started.  If anyone knows of a fun baby quilt pattern, feel free to pass it my way.