Life is not allowing much time for sewing or quilting right now, but Mom and I did finish up this quilt for my cousin's baby over the Christmas holiday. Their last name is Bell, so there is a very clear bell theme to the quilt. The bells in the center were my first experience with applique, and I'm pretty happy with how they turned out. I made a template from heat-resistant template plastic, and used a wedding bell cookie cutter to trace the shape! I assembled the top, and Mom marked the hand-quilting and got us started. In order to get it done and send it home with my aunt when she was visiting, I helped with the hand-quilting. The 9-Patch blocks have stripes, and the offset blocks have big bells with a "D" (baby's first initial) in them. I'm very pleased with how this came out, and you can even see most of the quilting in the pictures below.
I started the year with big plans for more stash-busting and finishing lots of projects. So far, none of it is happening. I think part of it is that D doesn't nap - when L was this age, he still did and I'd get a good 2 hours one or two times each week. But now that he is in 2nd grade, and she is awake all the time, there just isn't as much time. Also, D will be starting Kindergarten in the fall, and I'm realizing that I don't really have that much more stay-home days with her (2 weekdays each week, plus weekends). And I want to spend that time with her, not stressing about sewing. So if I make it to the sewing room for a bit, great - but I'm trying to just refocus my priorities for the next eight months or so. Right now, the plan is that I will stay part time even once she starts school, and that will drastically change how much time I have for working on some of these projects. I'm still going to keep track of my stash increases/decreases, and will post here when I have something to share, but I have other things to think about right now.
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