At long last, I finished Asa's quilt back in May. I'm really happy with the way it turned out. I love the colors and the pattern (it's called a Candy Jar quilt), and I made it plenty big so it's not a pain to keep tucked in. Most importantly, he loves it!

A couple months ago I found myself with a real need for a project. Linda happened to be around at the time and got me kick-started on this little quilt for a soon-to-be-born nephew, Abbey's first. I love the way it turned out, and it was really fun to make. I learned to applique and hand quilt on this bad boy, so I figured I'd better record it in great detail for posterity. Or really just for me. Ta-dah! Here's the front view. It uses a block called a drunkard's path. I did it a cheater way so I didn't have to sew on the curve. My friend Holli taught me the hand quilting. It was way more time-consuming than I'd planned, but it was fun, too. I liked being able to design each animal just the way I wanted it. I'm putting pictures of the fronts and backs of each of the animals so I can remember how I quilted them. Thanks to Holli and Natalie for helping out! And how exciting to learn a new skill! Blue butterfly Squirrel Hed...

I love sewing. More than sewing, I love sewing quilts. There's something magical about starting with a giant mountain of folded pieces of fabric and a few spools of thread, and turning it into one big piece. And as a bonus, it just has to be a rectangle. No cinching up the waist or letting out the armholes, just a big fat rectangle with only straight-line seams. I started on Leah's quilt when I was expecting Asa. It got me through a long pregnancy and year one of four kids. Sometimes I worked on it every day. Other times I worked on it every other month or so. I'm pleased with the result and so excited that it's done and on the bed!   I used lots of scraps, but also took the kids to Joann with me one day and let them pick whatever fat quarters they wanted. We got about twenty that day, and it was a total blast. They picked stuff I would've never touched, but they loved helping, and it all looks so pretty together! Addison and Bryn also helped lay out t...