um, hello

This is the long, rambling catch-up post that is ridiculously overdue.  I just noticed that my last post was back in February!  How pathetic!

Not that I haven’t had anything blog-worthy to post.  I have been sewing like a maniac for the past couple months.  Enough projects there for a dozen blog posts at least. 

So, where to start?  How about babies?  Let's start there.  

With both Abby and Hannah pregnant at the same time, due within days of each other, I started working on their babies' nurseries in earnest probably three months ago.  Hannah has a bona-fide nursery for Jeremiah, so that planning was relatively easy.  Abby wasn’t sure how much room she’d have for Ellee’s nursery, so we did the pared-down, abbreviated version for her.  Hannah needed everything from curtains to bumper pads, to changing table cover, quilt, wall-hanging, diaper bag, and other stuff I’m likely forgetting.

Abby’s essentials were quilt, diaper bag, a couple crib/ bassinet sheets, and a smocked dress for Ellee girl to wear home from the hospital. 

I must pause here and inform you that Miss Ellee decided to surprise everyone by arriving a full two weeks before her expected due date.  If you want to read that story and see some exquisite photos, check out Abby’s last blog post if you haven’t already.

So, yes, busy-busy with sewing and quilting and getting all-things-baby-boy made for Jeremiah's nursery.  All-things-baby-girl were packed off to Africa with Lacy, who left on May 27th to stay with Abby and Jonathan for two months.  Incidentally, the smocked dress did not make it in time for Ellee to wear home from the hospital, but it did appear in her newborn photo shoot.  Precious!

More to come about all the baby items, but for now, I'm going to finish with what I've been up to the past couple days.  You see, I was just a little stressed about getting all the parts and pieces in place in time for both babies.  Just when I'd finish one thing, I'd start another, switching back and forth between babies like a good Lollee.  A bib for Ellee, a bib for Jeremiah.  Piece Ellee's quilt top, piece Jeremiah's quilt top.  Make Ellee's diaper bag, make Jeremiah's diaper bag.  You get the picture.  To top it off, the girls kept thinking of additional items they needed.   After Abby issued an SOS for burp cloths, I was literally sewing burp cloths for Ellee the day before Lacy and I headed to Charlotte for her to catch the plane.  (And I won't mention that Hannah just brought me the cushions from Jeremiah's rocking chair, needing a fabric upgrade.)  It's been fun.  It's kept me busy.  It's been rewarding.  

It's been stressful.

So when I finished Jeremiah's crib quilt the other day, I decided to de-stress by doing the most random sewing project I could think of.  It involved digging into my blue fabric scraps and sewing together whatever two pieces I came out with that were relatively the same size.  Over and over and over I did that until I formed a slab of fabric in all shades of blues and aquas.  I kept going, making it bigger, and crazier, and funkier as I went along.  Anything in the blue scrap bin was fair game.  It had to be predominately blue and squarish or rectanglish, but other than that, there were no rules.  I broke all the rules.  

It felt great.

The whole time I've been sewing blue scraps together, I've been listening to a country music CD.  That might not sound like any big deal to you.  That just shows you do not know me very well.  I don't like country music.  At all.  I avoid it whenever possible.  Look over there on the side-bar at my favorites.  Do you seen any mention of country music?  Didn't think so.

But,  you see, my eldest son has turned a county boy, for lack of a better description.  His favorite show is Duck Dynasty.  He has grown a beard and drinks tea from a Mason jar.  And he bought Jeremiah some overalls.

Yeah, I know.  But, it gets worse.

He now likes country music.  Hannah got him started on it.  Thanks, Hannah.

Not only that, he was sure he could convert me.  He and Hannah put together a Country Convert Mix and handed it to me grinning from ear to ear.  I, being the sweet mom that I am, accepted the challenge--twenty songs carefully chosen to win me to their side.

So while I sewed blue fabric, I listened to that CD on my computer, over and over and over.  I'm willing to concede that they did a pretty good job.  While I'm far from being a country music convert, I do admit to some toe tapping and humming along.  I even caught myself once or twice singing along to the lyrics.

This is what it looked like last night when I stopped.  Since then, I've sewed the last piece in place.  I'm ready to get this thing quilted.

That's where you come in.  If you made it to the end of this long, rambling post, you deserve a chance to win this dubious piece of artwork, if you want to call it that.  Think of it as a sort of Picasso of quilting.  You might sell it one day and become rich.  But I wouldn't count on it.

I call it Quilting the Blues.

It's a good-sized lap quilt.  If you'd like a stab at winning it, leave me a comment here or on Facebook or email me at:   thomas temple @ bell south .  net  (remove spaces).

 I'll get a finished photo up here in the next day or so.  Then I'll draw a name and announce the winner.

Love,

Laura Lee