June 23– I am so very happy to say that one of my worries is over– our new grandson, Charlie Wilde, arrived quite unexpectedly and two weeks early! Despite having a slower heartbeat prior to birth, Caroline was still able to have her home delivery in the little cabin down by the lake. After 18 hours of labor, he arrived at 5:25am on June 16th. Both mom and baby are doing well!

I’ve been trying to help out with meals and laundry, and of course, a lot of baby holding! You would think I was the mom– I am Just. So. Tired.

To have this little soul safely in my arms is incredibly healing after some of the other not so great developments in my life. This Luna moth hung around the whole day– I looked it up and the Luna moth is the symbol for renewal. I certainly hope so.

When I have been able to sneak up to my sewing room for just a few minutes, it’s been all about new starts! There is nothing I enjoy more and the mental health breaks have been sorely needed.

I did start buying the monthly Sew Sampler boxes again, and May’s project tickled my fancy. It’s all about summer and I am hugely nostalgic for the days of little kids running back and forth in the waves at my mom’s shore house in Ocean Grove, NJ. It’s called “Whitecaps.”

It’s a tad too tropical to accurately represent New Jersey, but it looks fairly simple to make. I have a sit ‘n sew day coming up on Thursday, so I’m trying to precut most of it and made myself a goal of maybe having ten blocks done by the end of the sewing day.

I did go ahead and make a ton of needed HSTs. The Sew Sampler box had “Triangles on a Roll” included. I’m not sure if it’s my favorite way to make them, but I dutifully did what I was told.

All it is, is the Magic 8 method, but instead of drawing the lines on yourself, they are there for you. The method is very accurate, but then there’s the moment when you realize you have to pull off all the sewn-in papers.

To add insult to injury, when that’s done, you need to snip off dog ears on all these pieces. But here they all are.

As easy as this quilt looked to make– a couple of people have already posted finishes on the Sew Sampler Facebook group– it certainly is taking more time than I hoped. There’s no getting around the fact that quilting is a time consuming hobby! I hope I finish it this summer and I’ll just keep it for a wedding gift or maybe theme the guest bedroom as “beach.”

Another project I am so far just toying with starting is the little book of triangles I bought at the shop after my last sit ‘n sew day. I picked out a charm pack, and I even found a yard of background fabric at Marden’s for $6.99. Maybe I’ll just make a couple at my sit ‘n sew– the fabulous SUE is always there to help with directions, and it was her table runner that made me want to start this.

My niece’s poor ice cream quilt has fallen by the wayside– the wedding is August 1st. I am making the excuse that things are just a bit out of control here, and how am I going to pack an 80″ x 80″ quilt in my suitcase anyway? So I’m taking the pressure off and maybe I’ll mail it later in the month.

Posh has also taken a hit– I have one more row to stitch-in-the-ditch on my longarm. I’ve also decided not to do a whole bunch of custom quilting on it. I don’t think it needs it for more stability– it would be a total fluff project that I just don’t have time for. So I’m leaving it with just the plain looking SID, and doing a straight up binding. I’ve even thought to myself– heck, maybe I put it on a bed!

Sew Kind of Wonderful gave me a nice comment on my Instagram account– I appreciate it.

I stopped working on Charlie’s winter themed Christmas stocking for now. Since I was pretty wrapped up in worries about my baby, too much negativity got in the way! I have plenty of time to finish, but I’m writing in my calendar on September 1st to make sure I leave enough time.

The Summer Sampler has been just the happy thing to boost my spirits during hand stitching time. I breezed right through this sunflower.

I’m going to try to get everything done in that center diamond this year– it’s doable, since some of the things like the bees and shells are backstitch only.

I also pulled out this summer thing– I told you, the nostalgia for my mom’s beach house is strong! According to my memory, I bought this thing to make for her beach cottage– but the date on it, 2007, does not match what I remember. That’s well after she sold it– pushed out by high taxes, and off we all to moved to California, where the taxes were even worse. I might make up a fun thing like “Seaside Saturdays” and stitch on it that day this summer– I’d love to just finish that nautilus shell in the bottom left. I love it.

No progress on Sweetland Stars– what is it, the 23rd today? Haha. The 21 stars of June was not meant to be. I really need to get the fourth applique block glued up, but my daughter usually helps me with the Cricut, and she’s busy! I miss her so much– how long will it be before she and Charlie come up for a little craft time?

So that’s the update, ten days after that horrible day we had here on Sugar Meadow. I do want to keep up my blog just as a personal diary and it helps me to not worry about publishing right now. I was feeling too much pressure to make progress on things and just trying to process everything that was happening in my head. Next week, I have an MRI for my shoulder which will determine next steps, and I may be out of commission for a couple of months! If you’re reading this, it’s because it’s the end of the summer and I’ve decided to share it. Thanks for allowing me a little break from social media and most of all the pressure I put on myself to be productive! It has honestly been a fantastic break.

xox
Carol